1 min read

Season 3, Episode 144

Despite recent raise, florida state worker pay remains uncompetitive

afscme 79

 

Guest Name:


Paul Whittingham

Guest Website:


www.afscmefl.org

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

LinkedIn

Supportive Documents:


Paul Whittingham, Region 1 Vice President for American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Florida Council 79 and President of AFSCME Local 985, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed how pay for government employees in Florida struggles to compete against the private sector, despite a 5.4 percent wage increase Florida AFSCME workers won in their latest contract.

Many state run facilities are severely understaffed, and the state has a hard time retaining employees because private-sector jobs pay considerably better, Whittingham said. He discussed the impact low pay has had on morale and the services workers are able to offer the public.

Whittingham also discussed the challenges of advocating for workers in Florida, a So-Called “Right to Work” state, and how state workers fared in the early days of the pandemic. 

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

SUBSCRIBE ON:

Group 342

Group 341

Group 343

Group 339

Group 397

Group 397

 

Helmets to Hardhats assists veterans find a career in the trades

Wrapping up the National Apprenticeship Week coverage on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Martin Helms, Executive Director of the Helmets to...

Read More

Safety on the job sets Iron Workers apprentices apart from others

Continuing the America’s Work Force Union Podcast coverage of National Apprenticeship Week, we welcomed Lee Worley, Executive Director of...

Read More