 |
Labor and Employment Security
|
Check the new
WhoseFlorida
for updates
 | Labor
agency in final days
Scraps of paper are taped to the arms of chairs and the legs of
tables, proclaiming their new destinations. The nail-studded office
walls resonate with that forlorn echo of emptiness.6/27/02
|
| Put
burden of proof on officers
Many people would accept the proposition that a police officer
disabled on the job deserves more generous compensation than another
public employee. After all, police work can be risky. However, what if
the disability is caused by heart disease or hypertension? Should that
be automatically covered as a work-related disability, even if the
police officer is overweight and a heavy smoker? In that circumstance,
many reasonable Floridians might argue that the job didn't necessarily
cause the disability.3/6/02
|
| Two
bills leave workers out of workers comp
The workers compensation bill that should be called an insurance
company bill is back in the Legislature. And this year, unlike last,
the Senate does not look up to stripping off its worst features.
|
| Workers'
compensation fund dries up
MIAMI - A state fund to retrain injured blue-collar laborers for less
physical jobs has dried up halfway through the fiscal year, leaving
thousands of workers waiting six months or more for training.
|
| State
worker trust money fizzles
|
| Florida's
Workers' compensation fund dries up-- MIAMI - A state fund to
retrain injured blue collar laborers for less physical jobs has dried
up half way through the fiscal year, leaving thousands of workers
waiting six months or more for training.
|
| Disabled
adults caught in state budget squeeze - ...State officials
estimate that by June 30, more than 9,000 adults and children will be
on that waiting list for services. And the list is expected to grow by
2,200 to 2,500 every year.
|
| Privatization
program hits snag
Watchdog group pans state program for disabled - A legislative
watchdog agency says Florida's attempt to privatize job training for
disabled residents has caused costs to increase dramatically while
services deteriorated.
|
|
I don't know how any alert person can think Jeb Bush is doing a
good job.
One more example to the contrary: he has ordered staff of the
Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) to curtail services mandated
under law to Florida's injured workers. DWC staff are being told
there is no money available although there is, in fact, $84 million in
the Workers' Compensation Trust Fund.
DWC was provided many useful services to those so severely injured
they can never return to their usual and customary employment.
No portion of DWC operations or services are paid from tax dollars,
but rather from the trust fund into which all W/C insurance carriers
pay by statutory mandate. Now, the DWC, in trying to maintain
some semblance of service, is referring applicants to other state and
local entities that ARE tax funded.
Citizens of Florida, now you shall bear the burden of those
injured workers instead of the employer (and carrier) where the injury
happened.
None of this has to do with terrorists, tourists, or taxes.
It is merely part of the Bush agenda to destroy the safety nets of
Florida's citizens. FDR started the WPA in th 1930's to aid the
country's recovery.
In our century, Bush fires thousands of state workers and removes
the very human support services we will need in the coming bad times
(Oh, yes they are.). Welcome to the state where the Second Great
Depression began. - ...penumbra, 12/4/01
|
|
DWC staff have been told there is no money & have significantly
curtailed services to Florida's injured workers. Other sources
say
there is $84 milliion in their Workers' Compensation Trust Fund -
the
one all W/C insurance carriers pay into. DWC does not operate
with
state tax dollars. Is it true Mary B. Hooks, the LES director,
owns an
insurance company in Palm Beach County?
...Mike, 12/4/01
|
| Wasn't this what we were concerned about
happening with privatization and cutbacks in agency jobs- that
contractors wouldn't be monitored appropriately...
Monitoring
woes jeopardize federal funds
'High-risk' designation clouds $125 million grant
The state board charged with helping disabled people find jobs is not
properly monitoring contractors in its transition to privatization,
according to the federal agency holding the purse strings. 12/1/01
|
|
Florida jeopadizes 130+ million dollars in funding
for the disabled in attempting to privatize the most effective
agency in the State (every dollar spent returns $8 in savings and
tax revenue)
You really should include "a disabled person's
issue" on your article about Service First as there is a law on
the books since 1999 to privatize State of Florida Vocational
Rehabilitation.
A commission has been established to accomplish this to the
detriment of the agency and the public it serves. Loss of
staff, inefficient and lack of leadership, attempts to give away the
130 Million Dollars Plus that motivates the people behind this
movement.
They are, at this moment, wasting your tax dollars with
this greedy plan to give away contracts to private companies who
have no qualifications or any other claim to expertise in this
field. This also in the face of resistance by the Regional
Services Administration who have already threatened to delete
Florida's share of the allocation to States.
The commission is called the Occupational Access opportunity
Commission and you can find a wealth of misinformation on their
website. A plethora of public forums have been held, all of
which have resulted in the public expressing grave concerns about
this move to give away tax dollars to campaign contributors and
friends of the politicians in Tallahassee. Complaints and concerns
have fallen on deaf ears.
...Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, 8/15/01
|
| Bill
Cotterell: Labor facing reprieve on its pink slip
|
| The one industry that stands to benefit the most out of the
abolishment of the Florida Department of Labor is the insurance
industry!! Hmmmm - I wonder why the Secretary of that agency -
Mary B. Hooks - is also the owner of an Insurance Company by the name
of Hooks and Associates in Palm Beach County
...Florida Cowboy, 6/8/01
|
| A good example of ineffective government is the WAGES Program in
Miami-Dade County; when the Department of Labor was in charge of the
program the budget was nine million dollars. The department of
labor placed over 2000 welfare recipients. Lockheed Martin was
awarded the contract to provide the same services $14.9 million
dollars to this day not one report has been produced to document how
many people did they put to work. This is a good example of how
business functions and are not accountable to the citizens and
taxpayers of Florida.
State employees will rally at the Rhodes building located in
Miami at 401 NW 2nd avenue on Friday March 30, 2001, at twelve noon.
We do not intend to stand by and allow Jeb to destroy Our Florida.
We invite all citizens to come together and join forces to send a
strong message Our Florida is not a Banana Republic. Tell Jeb No Way.
Peace unto all people of God. 3/28/01 Liz of Miami
|
(Back)
(Home)
email info@whoseflorida.com
|