The AFSCME Florida family grew yesterday after a unit of the medical staff with the Osceola County Corrections Department vote unanimously, seven to zero, in favor of securing their union voice and
What would you do for $12,800? How hard would you work for it? What would it mean if you had it taken away from you?
These are all questions that Deloris Wells had to answer during the last four years because her supervisor was not completing the annual evaluation form. And without a completed form she didn’t get a wage increase, year after year.
See the full AFSCME national blog post here: bit.ly/1M3JmIw
Rotted-out floors, windows that leaked – even termite, ant and roach infestations. These were the conditions that cashier booth attendants at Florida’s PortMiami, “cruise capital of the world,” dealt with every day. That is, they did until they decided they would stand up to management to demand changes.
Eight years ago, Edgardo Marrero realized things had to change. Staff morale in Miami-Dade County’s Animal Services department was at an all-time low. The workers suffered from bad management, frequent turnover and a lack of control over their day-to-day jobs and their careers.
“The hardworking men and women of AFSCME Local 199 were not surprised by the Miami Herald’s report on the great disparity in pay among county workers, including how many employees are compensated too far below what they should be for the professionalism, hours and service they put into the job.
This holiday season, Brother Miguel Villa will have some extra cash in his bank account. For five years Villa has been working out of class, but never received proper compensation for the work he put in on the job. Villa’s department kept him working out of class for five years in violation of Local 199’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). That was until he decided “enough is enough” and decided to work with his union to do something about it.
Local 199 has fought hard to keep Miami-Dade park attendants on the job, and yesterday we confirmed that no one in parks will be getting a pink slip. In fact, many employees will actually get a step increase!
Out of 129 park attendants, 92 new positions will fall within one of four new classifications, Landscape Attendant, Landscape Technician, Facility Maintenance Attendant, and Natural Areas attendant.
Today Local 199 voted overwhelmingly to ratify our contract with the County.
“The choice was clear,” said Emilio Gomez of the Property Appraisal Department. “We fought hard to win the best contract our union has ever negotiated.”
As a result of the ratification, effective October 1st, employees represented by local 199 will get back tens of millions of dollars (up to 180.00 per month per employee) in pay concessions, including flex pay, premium pay, and holiday pay that was relinquished three years ago during the last negotiation with the County.
On August 28th, negotiations with the County concluded. The Local 199 Contract Committee fought back all the Mayors previous proposals to our union, including drastic wage cuts, extending concessions from our previous contract, and implementing measures that would have removed our rights on the job.
Our Contract Committee also fought for a wage increase and won a 1% raise in 2017!
