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Regardless of your source of income, your landlord cannot discriminate against you based on your legal source of income. Legal source of income includes Housing Choice vouchers, Social Security, and Unemployment/Reemployment Assistance (Insurance).
If you are experiencing discrimination please contact: Alachua County Equal Opportunity Office
at (352)-374-5275 or jac@alachuacounty.us
For a current and updated version please click here.
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By the Food Justice League
The University of Florida’s food services contract is currently under review by an Invitation to Negotiate Committee, with goals for the contract to be up for bidding by the end of June, with bids expected to be negotiated by August. Currently, UF’s food service vendor is Aramark Corporation, which is responsible for numerous violations of workers’ rights and refusal to engage with goals regarding local sourcing and sustainability.
The Food Justice League is demanding that UF require that the new contract has:
· a $15 minimum hourly wage for all UF contracted food service employees and a union neutrality clause.
· a commitment to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
· justice for farmworkers, farmers, and food system workers
· an increase in local sourcing of food products.
· and concrete accountability measures.
As the University strives to become a top #5 public university, it has a responsibility to provide a living wage to its employees and contracted workers, as well as take steps to become a sustainable component of the Alachua County community.
Please read our letter and sign the petition to show your support!
By Ashley Nguyen
The ACLC, employees and contracted workers at UF, and community allies are actively
campaigning for a $15 minimum wage at UF, as well as the right for workers to unionize without
obstruction from administration. On the wages paid by UF and contracted companies like
Aramark, many employees and contract workers face the harsh reality of living paycheck to
paycheck. A $15 minimum wage is the first step in achieving a better standard of material well-
being for workers who are integral to the daily campus functions. UF is one of the largest
employers in Alachua County, but many employees and contracted workers make well below a
living wage. Workers at UF, particularly Aramark contracted employees routinely share stories
of wage theft, poor management and revocation of sick leave.
At the university level, the ACLC has been partnering with the Young Democratic
Socialists of Gainesville (YDSA GNV) on a Fight For $15 campaign at the University of Florida.
Members have engaged in meaningful conversations and contact discussions with workers,
specifically contracted Aramark employees, about working conditions and workplace abuses at
the University. While UF service employees and contracted Aramark workers are willing to
engage with ACLC and YDSA GNV organizers and share their stories regarding struggles in the
workplace, they have asked that community members and students support this campaign by
rallying around Fight for $15 and the right to form a union without administration from
university officials. Without this crucial support, UF workers feel that they will not have the
requisite insulation from UF hostility as they take steps to build a more fair and just work
environment.
At the City level, the Gainesville City Commission has heard ACLC demands for a more
just Living Wage Ordinance.
These changes would apply to businesses who contract with the city.
The major changes we are seeking are:
● To close the loopholes which allow businesses to skirt the living wage ordinance.
● Lower threshold from current $100,000 to $50,000 so it applies to more contractors.
● Tie the living wage standard to the wage of the lowest-paid regular city employee which
is currently at $13.75/hr. The current ordinance is $12.38/hr which encourages
outsourcing.
● Use the Affordable Care Act market rate (currently $2.17/hr) as opposed to the current
arbitrary $1.25/hr to determine the true cost of healthcare.
● Remove exemption for incarcerated workers.
These changes would build on the successful Alachua County Government Living Wage
Ordinance passed in 2016 by the ACLC.
If you would like to get involved with this campaign, please reach out to
info@laborcoalition.org.
By Sheila Payne
Members of the Alachua County Labor Coalition Housing Committee have been outreaching to city staff and Commissioners to find out when the Safe and Healthy Housing draft ordinance would be finally made available to City Commissioners and the public for mark-up and movement towards a final vote and implementation.
The latest email from the office of the city attorney stated that “…we don’t expect it to go before the City Commission any sooner than February 20, 2020.” ACLC has been working on a Renters’ Rights ordinance since early 2018 after months of meetings with renters about their greatest concerns. Our lawyer with Florida Legal Services, Reina Sacco, shared with us her well-researched white paper with examples of rental ordinances from all over Florida and the U.S. The ACLC shared these documents plus our own position papers with City Commissioners and staff in 2018.
The City Commission Renters Rights subcommittee has been meeting since at least Jan. 2019. The minutes from that meeting show that the program was already laid out with the elements that ACLC had presented and that you can find on ACLC website. Though there were subcommittee meetings roughly every two weeks for five months, a draft ordinance is still not out. We also know that the first year after the ordinance is voted on by the City Commission will be spent on educating renters and landlords and securing the infrastructure such as more housing inspectors to inspect rental properties. Please let the new City Manager and City Commissioners know that you are still waiting for an ordinance to be enacted so that we can stop the decline of housing stock, weatherize rental housing to lower utility bills, and educate renters on their rights to safe and healthy housing.
Jason and I met with the new Code Enforcement Head Pete Backhaus in mid-January 2020. He told us that the draft ordinance had just been circulated amongst involved staff and that he would follow the lead of the City Commission. We were previously involved in meeting with Code Enforcement as they came up with a draft budget for hiring more inspectors, a timeline for a four-year inspection schedule and what would be on the Renters Rights and Responsibilities handouts, among other items. Hopefully, that due diligence is not scrapped. We are now scheduling an appointment with the new City Manager, who seems to be very hands-on (he answered questions directly from City Commissioners this week about progress or lack of with the Living Wage ordinance and contract workers rather than sending an assistant manager).
As you all know, the greatest accomplishment that has come out of our Housing efforts besides lots of meetings with affected renters and public awareness of the shabby conditions of much of the rental housing stock in Gainesville is Alachua County Commissioners adding an anti-discrimination clause to their Housing Codes to include no discrimination based on source of income or citizenship status in April 2019. All cities in Alachua County are included. This means Housing Choice vouchers have to be accepted as income when renting a house anywhere in Alachua County. ACLC is now collecting complaints from renters who have been denied use of their vouchers when seeking housing. We are outreaching to landlords to educate them about the new law. We have also made some beautiful posters detailing renters’ rights and are distributing them. We seek more help on this campaign so we can go door to door visiting with the most affected renters to alert them of the new anti-discrimination law and the upcoming City of Gainesville housing ordinance provisions.
Jeremiah and I went to the County Commission Housing Authority Fair Housing update meeting just before newsletter deadline. There have been 30 complaints so far to the county about landlords not accepting Housing Choice Vouchers. Many of those include large apartment buildings. Also, some landlords will not answer questions on the phone about whether they will accept housing vouchers; they expect the potential renter to fill out an application before they will answer any questions. That would mean that a renter would have to pay an application fee to find out that their voucher will not be accepted as income towards renting. This is expensive and is a method of discouraging applications and obviously a way to circumvent detection of non-compliance with the ordinance.
Community advocates convinced the County to include in its sweeping anti-discrimination ordinance strong protections for those who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and human trafficking. The removal of tenants or denial of housing based on this gendered violence is now prohibited in Alachua County
Upcoming goals based on renters input:
We need more workforce housing. There are many colleges and universities around the U.S. who build workforce housing and also design and build affordable housing through their construction programs in the communities where they are supposed to be part of the fabric of the community. No more studies, “Friendship Seven,” more action! To get involved email, housing@laborcoalition.org.
By Chad Hood
The groundswell of support for Medicare for All continues to grow. Two major Democratic frontrunners for the presidency support the single payer model – to replace our complicated private for-profit insurance system with a single public plan that covers all necessary medical care, spends 97 cents of every dollar on health care, ends medical bankruptcies, and saves billions of dollars (not to mention human lives) in the process. And most other candidates support incremental steps that could potentially move us towards a single payer model. What a difference from ten years ago (!) when with a Democratic House, Senate, and President we couldn’t even get a public option on the bargaining table.
As another indication of the turning tide, last month the American College of Physicians (ACP) endorsed a single payer system. The ACP is the second largest physician organization in the United States, representing internal medicine physicians and related subspecialties, like cardiology, pulmonary, and others. Again, contrast this to nearly a century of opposition from physician organizations like the American Medical Association to “socialist” reform like Medicare – which has saved the lives of millions of senior citizens and kept even more out of poverty.
We should expect fierce opposition, though. Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) recently reported on Canadian physician resistance to implementation of their single payer plan in the 1960’s. At that time, Canadian medical costs were identical to the United States. Now, Canadian spending is nearly half of ours due to a low 2% overhead (compared to 15-20% in the U.S.). Meanwhile, their health care outcomes, out of pocket savings, and patient satisfaction put ours to shame.
In the 1960’s, though, Canadian physician fear and opposition was rampant. Saskatchewan was the first province to enact a single payer health plan. The medical association there led a three week physician strike against the program. While we can anticipate a massive advertising campaign against single payer from the private insurance industry, it’s encouraging to see that in 2020 under a Trump presidency, support continues to grow amongst physicians and physician organizations. About 2/3 of physicians specifically support a single payer plan.
It’s also encouraging to see how opinions change after anti-government and anti-socialist fears fade in the face of a system that puts patients ahead of profits. Dr. E. W. Barootes was president of the Saskatchewan medical association that led the physician strike in the 60’s. Decades later, he professed his support for the Canadian single payer system – which did not interfere with the patient-doctor relationship, as feared. In contrast to Canadian smear campaigns in the U.S., the Canadian health care system has become a beloved national treasure. “A politician is more likely to get away with cancelling Christmas,” said Dr. Barootes, “than canceling Canada’s health insurance program.”
Meanwhile, what can we do here in Alachua County? For one, know and share with friends that single payer is not just a utopian fantasy or policy pipe dream. It’s the reality in most industrialized countries – who spend half of what we do with better health outcomes. It’s the true fiscally responsible pathway to universal health care, covering everyone while saving billions of dollars.
Join us on the ACLC’s Just Health Care committee and help spread the word. We’ve co-sponsored a dozen or so Medicare for All presentations in the north central Florida region over the past year and are preparing an online version to share nationwide. Let us know if you’d like us to bring the presentation to your church, reading group, or organization.
By Phil Whelpton
On January 13th Florida became the latest state embracing the “red wave” in support of public education that began in West Virginia in 2017.
Public education workers and their local supporters from across the state answered the Florida Education Association’s call to “Rally in Tally”, on the opening day of this year’s legislative session, in support of FEA’s “FUND OUR FUTURE” campaign, which demands a “Decade of Progress” to restore funding and reverse the damage done by four decades of neglect, designed to literally dismantle the traditional public school system and bring our public colleges and universities under corporate control of the billionaire class.
In response to Gov. DeSantis’ divisive plan to raise the salaries of first year teachers, with no proportional raises across the entire work force, including Education Support Personnel; and his “more of the same” cuts in funds for traditional public schools, to increase the already obscene amount of state money currently being wasted on unaccountable charters and private schools; “FUND OUR FUTURE” puts forth specific proposals to responsibly increase funding for all facets of public education, while restoring local control to school boards and citizens in every district.
The Decade of Progress calls for a 10 year investment of $22 billion in education funding through 2030. Lawmakers must make a serious down payment this year in the form of a $2.4 billion opening investment, which represents a 10% increase in per-student funding in our traditional public schools. It sounds like a lot, but will only move Florida up 4 spots in the national rankings. The investment will increase the per-pupil funding by $767, of which at least $614 must go to the base student allocation, the flexible money under local district control. This will allow for across the board raises of 10% for every public school education worker in Florida; teachers, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, secretaries, media specialists, social workers, cafeteria staff etc.
Along with the increased funding for the K – 12 schools, the Decade of Progress demands increased funding to Florida’s colleges and universities.
The investment will restore electives including art, music and drama; along with additional funding for lab materials, so students don’t just read about STEM, but can engage in it.
It will ensure access to mental health services, making school counselors, social workers and school psychologists readily available to assist struggling students and families.
And it will help Florida districts better address the struggling schools that have suffered the most from decades of underfunding.
The program also demands loan forgiveness for teachers and laws to protect all college students from predatory lending.
It calls for reducing the cost of teacher certification tests; and a halt to linking student test scores to teacher evaluations by redesigning evaluations to align with teaching and learning.
In support of this bold, but realistic program, 15,000 people traveled in buses arranged by the local FEA affiliates in each school district, or drove their own vehicles to Tallahassee the morning of January 13th to gather in the Tallahassee Civic Center in preparation for the march.
Our Alachua County Education Association, in conjunction with the United Faculty of Florida and the Graduate Assistants Union at UF, organized 300 union members along with members of the ACLC, Democratic Socialists of America, Indivisible, Socialist Alternative of Florida and individual supporters of teachers and public education, for the rally.
As each new district arriving at the Civic Center received an ovation from their colleagues and friends already in the building.
The highlight came late in the morning when the announcement was made that the Polk County Education Association had arrived.
As many of you may know Polk County’s Superintendent, when she realized that more than 600 Polk County teachers and support workers had asked for, and received, a personal day off to attend the rally, contacted the Florida Dept. of Education and Education Commissioner, Richard Corcoran, about any “help” the DOE could provide in covering for those workers. Responding for the commissioner and the department, the general counsel of DOE advised the superintendent that this could be construed as a strike action and she could fire the workers and fine the union $20,000 a day for any missed days. The workers could also have their retirement cancelled under Florida’s law that precludes public employees from engaging in strike activities.
Under this potentially devastating threat Polk County brought their entire contingent of more than 600. Their entrance set of a sustained standing ovation from the crowd.
As did the introduction of the union president, Stephanie Yocum.
From the Civic Center we marched to the steps of the old capitol building where speakers including FEA’s top leaders, President, Fedrick Ingram, VP, Andrew Spar and Secretary-Treasurer, Carole Gauronskas; plus both national education union presidents, Randi Weingarten with AFT and Lily Eskelsen Garcia from NEA; and even the Rev. Al Sharpton, as well as public advocates for education from around our state, addressed the gathering on the urgency to support the plan for a “Decade of Progress” for public education in Florida.
The day ended with everyone energized and ready for the fight to “FUND OUR FUTURE”. The January 13th “Rally in Tally” is only the beginning!
You can join us in this fight: Text EdActivist to 31996.
by Sean Trainor
Last March, the United Faculty of Florida at the University of Florida (UFF-UF) entered negotiations with representatives of the UF Board of Trustees (BOT) on a new, three-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Eleven months later, these negotiations are ongoing.
Negotiations have dragged on for so long that the previous CBA has now expired – though, under Florida law, the two-fifths of UF faculty covered by the agreement continue to enjoy its protections until a new CBA is ratified.
Who’s to blame for these never-ending negotiations? It’s not the UFF-UF bargaining team, which presented most of its proposals last spring. Instead, responsibility for these delays falls squarely at the feet of the BOT bargaining team.
For much of 2019, the BOT bargaining team either sat on their hands or advanced empty proposals aimed at ‘cleaning up the CBA’s language.’ Then, in the last two months, the BOT team has begun churning out revised articles. Seemingly oblivious to their role in the delay, they now demand that UFF-UF respond to these articles quickly.
Despite this flurry of activity, the BOT bargaining team has not responded to UFF-UF’s most important proposals, including the union’s comprehensive proposals on family, medical, and parental leave as well as subsidized childcare.
UFF-UF advanced these proposals back in April 2019, at one of the first bargaining sessions in the current series. At that session, UFF-UF bargaining team members Hélène Huet and Lisa Scott urged the UF administration to reinstate the university’s successful parental leave pilot program from 2010-2013 and expand the program to support family and medical leave as well. Under this program, UF faculty and staff were eligible for 19.5 weeks of paid parental leave. Huet and Scott also proposed language that would require the university to offset the skyrocketing costs of childcare.
These proposals, Huet and Scott argued, would improve quality of life for parents, their children, and aging family members; bring UF’s benefits package into line with other top-tier public universities; and help address inequities among UF employees.
Since April, the BOT bargaining team has repeatedly expressed interest in both paid family and parental leave – though, to date, these statements have not congealed into a concrete proposal. This inconsistency is typical of the UF administration. After abandoning their successful parental leave pilot program in 2013, the UF administration agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the 2017-2019 CBA. Under this MOU, the university pledged to establish a taskforce charged with developing a comprehensive leave policy for campus. In three years, this taskforce has met twice and failed to produce any proposals.
Moreover, while dragging their feet on family and parental leave, the BOT team has stated, on multiple occasions, that they have “no interest” in subsidizing childcare.
Despite these delays, however, bargaining has already produced several major wins for UF faculty – particularly, non-tenure track faculty who lack the job security of their tenure-line colleagues.
First, UFF-UF has won contract language that requires UF to provide a justification when it refuses to renew the contract of a non-tenure track faculty member. Previously, UF was not required to provide any justification for non-renewal decisions.
This change is important as it will allow non-renewed employees to file a grievance against the university – and potentially retain their position – should they believe the university’s justification is inappropriate.
Secondly, the faculty union bargained for contract language that will make summer pay eligible for retirement credit and benefits. Under this policy, the university will now have to provide matching contributions to an employee’s retirement plan, not just for their normal contractual work, but for their summer work as well.
Finally, while UFF-UF has lost the fight for mandatory multi-year contracts for non-tenure track employees, our proposals on this topic have convinced the administration to take advantage of existing contract provisions and begin offering multiyear contracts to select non-tenure track faculty members.
In short: UFF-UF has recorded some significant wins over the past eleven months. But we still have a long, uphill battle before finalizing the CBA.
Here’s what you can do to help us win a just CBA, complete with family and parental leave and subsidized childcare:
Yes.
As a commissioner, I would move to remove the loopholes to ensure that those who contract with the City are abiding by the spirit and goals of the City’s promise of a living wage.
I think the City should continue to partner with programs like Project YouthBuild and Career Source to ensure that we support programs that train and prepare our citizens. I think the City should also look to strengthen our partnership with and adherence to apprenticeship programs to provide jobs and skills building for trade jobs.
If it were possible to set a city-wide minimum wage, then I would be a strong supporter of such a change. Unfortunately, such ordinances are preempted by the State Legislature. What the City can do at this point is continue to raise the floor for City employees so that the private sector is forced to change their practices and pay a living wage.
Yes. I know that this has been addressed in the past, but a satisfactory policy has not been implemented. I would ensure that such a policy is finalized and enforced.
I am not an employer.
Yes. I helped draft and advocated at City Hall for the passage of the Renters’ Bill of Rights. We should have had the ordinances read and approved by now, but City staff has delayed the release of a basic draft despite the current budget having set aside funds to employ new employees and to begin implementation of a policy that received unanimous support from the City Commission. Despite multiple requests for a timeline an estimated time of release for the draft of these policies, we have yet to receive a draft or real timeline on when these measures will be in effect. I am happy to say that the part about anti-discrimiantion passed at the County and is now in effect in the County and applies to all cities within.
The City could, when making zoning decisions, to require developers to offer a portion of the units at a substantial discount from the other units. I hesitate to say that the rent price should be “affordable” simply because affordable is calculated as costing no more than a third of a person’s income. It’s difficult to calculate or predict a price if that is the model used. But developers who wish to do business in our city must assume some responsibility and be conscientious when constructing in our city. We need homes other than luxury apartments and they should help in the production of affordable housing.
Yes. I think the City has a duty to give preference to local programs that are building up our future masters of trade skills. If possible, all City projects should include local apprentice labor.
I support a completely fare-free RTS initiative. I would support a plan that expands the first-mile/last-mile pilot program that is currently in effect. I think we should invest more in public transportation to make it more accessible and intuitive for riders.
As an attorney, I believe that this law is both vague and unconstitutional. Its wording is dangerous for victims and survivors of violence. I have spoken out against this law being implemented at the local level and many times asked our current commission to sign on to the lawsuit against this law.
I would support continuing the GFR Community Resource Paramedic program that provides holistic services and follow-up after a 911 call. With the lack of adequate healthcare coverage facing the country as a whole, programs like this help identify issues in recurrent cases and help provide solutions. While there isn’t much that can force developers and grocery chains to consider opening new locations, the City can look to Baldwin, FL for a potential solution. I would support the City operating a simple grocery store that provided fresh and affordable food to neighborhoods that are otherwise too far from a grocery store.
The University of Florida has only started an open dialogue with the city in the last few years as they have continued to expand downtown. With the expanded growth of ‘preeminence,’ UF should look more to the city to help with issues such as transportation and affordable housing. While there is no magic solution to make UF take a greater role in this community, I do feel that at least having open dialogue is progress.
I think acknowledging that we are a company town and including the university in future conversations about housing needs would be a good start. Trying to incorporate UF into the City’s vision and attempts to improve
workforce and affordable housing is a must if we are to create positive change.
Introduction
Florida is a right to work state. Your coalition has no power. I have been here for 27 years and I have never known your coalition to call for a wildcat strike, a slowdown, a sit-in, a march against an offensive body, e.g., UF utility provider Duke Energy, or a campaign—not a Jeremiah performance to plead that the City be nice– to support visibly the oppressed Gainesville Regional Transportation Union, when several members told horror stories about unfair discipline, overtime hours, discriminatory pay practices. Your mayor Po’ Poe urged them to take individual grievances within the framework of a contract. When the new contract was renewed, the Coalition was silent. It could have cheered or jeered. But Jeremiah is the polite union champion. Far be it for the coalition to clap or cheer when a labor organization gets a good agreement or to boo in the Auditorium when it does not. In short, you guys are a joke.
But you are used effectively by the Democratic Partly Executive Committee of Alachua County to pretend there is a local labor voice. So you will proudly endorse their candidate for the at-large City Commission seat- Harvey Ward’s financially supported darling of the left (yeah right) Reina Saco, ardent activist in Students for Justice in Palestine, Inc., during her salad days at the Levin School of Law, 2015-2017, an organization which does not trouble itself in being clear whether it is anti-Zionist, anti-Jewish, or both.
However, your Mayor Lauren Poe does not include you in his pretense Friendship 7, which includes the Chamber of Commerce. So it stands to reason that the City Commission is not listening to you whenever there is a conflict with the Chamber of Commerce.
What is disgraceful is your willingness to be a pretend voice, e.g. for any issue which might concern labor—e.g. Charter Review Commission, use of prisoners in the labor force, minimum wage, etc., and to show up in mass (e.g. two or three of you) to protest an inequity. None of you—Jeremiah, Rosa, or Jayson—shows any inclination to listen to anyone else.
For instance on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2019, all three of you showed, and applauded the City’s willingness to consider the tough issues, e.g. minimum wage for all people in all of the businesses run by contractors and subcontractors and vendors.
Y’all didn’t utter a peep when I complained that the City EO Office failed in recent years to report on the few contracts or purchases Gainesville makes with or from minority contractors or vendors. Were the minimum wage demands imposed across the board, minority contractors and vendors likely would disappear altogether.
Please, please. Travel outside of Gainesville to, say, California, to see what happens when you have a real union in the vicinity—say, for example a place where teachers strike from time to time—not just go to Tallahassee to bleat that teachers are underpaid.
As organizer of not one—but two successful labor organizations—e.g. Group 4 unfair labor practice success against a magazine publisher, and the local at Latino Justice, chapter of National Organization of Legal Service Workers, UAW-AFL-CIO—I deplore the support you lend to the phony image that Gainesville is a progressive city. Read on!
10 I support free RTS bus passes for K-12 students. You should not be worried about improving transporting but advocating for RTS union employees. Despite your stupid belief that you can come to a fork in the road and take both, stop advocating for issues which actually hurt workers, e.g. RTS workers. Add more routes without getting more benefits and protections for drivers will cause them to flee.
Finally, the Coalition used to hold a forum before it endorsed the candidates of the Democratic Party of Alachua County. I suspect that you could not must a real crowd to attend. Regardless, I would urge you to set up a debate between you all and me on these issues (Of course, that is the same “never going to happen” action as those you preposterously invent. Gabe Kaimowitz, J.D. 1967, M.A. 1988, B.S., B.A., 1952, 2013.