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Walk Against Wachovia in Central Florida

Denise Diaz — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:56:30 +0000

Central Florida JwJ joined the Central Florida AFL-CIO as part of a nationwide effort to demand good jobs and a stop to bank bailouts. On Friday March 26th, a group of 30 people started leafletting in front of a Wachovia Bank located on Wall Street in Downtown Orlando. As people leaflettted, a representative was there on behalf of big bankers to thank customers for their hard earned tax dollars in bankers’ pockets. At the end, a delegation walked into the local branch to deliver the Crook of the Month Award.

Central Florida JwJ is Building the Movement to Keep and Create Good Jobs

Denise Diaz — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:12:46 +0000

The fight for keeping and creating jobs grew stronger in Florida this past week. Central Florida Jobs with Justice mobilized for a rally, organized by the Space Coast AFL-CIO and Florida state AFL-CIO, that brought over 2,000 people from across the state to say “Save Our Space”! Workers and their families traveled to the space coast from Miami, Pensacola, Jacksonville and all points in between to join business and community leaders to rally in support of continued federal funding of this vital economic driver for Florida’s future. The rally featured National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other leaders from the American labor movement who used this dire situation as a backdrop to launch a national jobs campaign that would create 10 million American jobs.

Recent budget proposals working their way through Congress all but eliminate funding for NASA’s human spaceflight operations in Florida. Space operations have long been one of Florida’s most important economic sectors, supporting tens of thousands of good jobs and providing the economic cornerstone for many communities across the state. The loss of funding would eliminate tens of thousands of jobs, decimate many communities, and send shock waves across the state this at a time when Florida is

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Central Florida Townhall and Call to Action on the Economic Crisis

Denise Diaz — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:20:27 +0000

As President Obama announced in Tampa that High Speed rail jobs were coming to Orlando, local community and labor activists came together to understand the uphill battle for workers accessing these jobs. Central Florida Jobs with Justice along with the Central Florida AFL-CIO hosted a townhall to discuss how this economic crisis will impact the city’s outlook for jobs.

With over 40 people in attendance, people heard passages from the study Battered by the Storm: How the Safety Net is failing Americans and How to fix it which shows the severity of families quickly falling into poverty. We also heard from the report Beyond the Quick Fix: ARRA Contracting, Jobs and building a fair recovery that highlighted the lack or transparency and impact of Stimulus dollars on communities of color and low income.

A diverse panel of speakers responded to these reports based on their experiences throughout this economic recession. Paul Wilson, President of Amaglated Transit Union local 1596 representing Lynx, MV and Grant bus operators, spoke on how local counties use the stimulus dollars on things besides operating costs, resulting in no wages increases for bus drivers. David Fernandez, an undergraduate senior at the University of Central

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Tenants Left High and Dry in Florida

Denise Diaz — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:00:40 +0000

As the Florida foreclosure crisis continues to hit property owners, including landlords, renters are often the most vulnerable and least considered.

For three weeks, tenants of Golf Villas apartment complex in New Smyrna Beach, FL were forced to live without water after the owner of this 20-apartment complex inhabited by working class families went into foreclosure and failed to pay the water bill. Tenants had been paying their rent, and were never informed of the foreclosure or neglected water bill.

When the water was cut off, many tenants self-evicted themselves while others purchased bottled water to get by. Residents brought the issue to the City Commissioners, but Commissioners were reluctant to urge the Utilities Commission to work with these tenants to turn the water back on.

Members of the Central Florida Jobs with Justice coalition came together with tenants to fight back. Local faith and community leaders, students, and labor leaders from the Volusia/Flager County AFL-CIO held a press conference to build pressure on the Utilities Commission to follow through with legal proceedings to appoint another person responsible for the account so tenants could have running water. After the press conference, the Utilities Commission met with advocates and started working on getting the water turned on.

However, even after legal

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