by Jenny Brown, Labor Notes
After 15 days on strike, 45,000 Verizon workers will march into work on Tuesday after extracting an agreement from their stubborn employer to bargain. The Communication Workers (CWA) and Electrical Workers (IBEW) will be working under their old contracts while talks continue. They agreed not to strike again for 30 days. Continue reading
Posted in September 2011
by Jessica Newman
After two years in practice and countless years on the books, the 130-meal-a-day limit has come to an end in the city of Gainesville.
This law banned homeless shelters (only the St. Francis House downtown was truly effected) from serving more than 130 meals in one 24-hour period, all in the name of “keeping the homeless population downtown under control.”
On Aug. 18, the City Commission voted 6-0 to repeal the meal limit and instead place a three-hour-per-day time limit on serving food to the hungry and needy (Commissioner Randy Wells was absent). Continue reading
Posted in September 2011
By Joshua Anijar, Florida AFL-CIO Communications Director
Florida’s 2011 Legislative session left people both shell-shocked and outraged at the intensity of assault leveled on working families. This made the need for Floridians to come together, in unity, to take back our state from politicians and big business paramount. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
Jack Price gave the following talk on July 31, 2010 at the downtown library as part of a Alachua County Labor panel “Happy Birthday Medicare: Protect It, Improve It, Expand It.” We’re running it to celebrate Medicare’s 46th birthday this year. Next month we’ll have a more in-depth look at the threats facing this beloved social program. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
Transcript edited by Pierce Butler
This is the third in a continuing series of excerpts from transcripts in the collection of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida.
One of the first women to study law at UF, Martha W. Barnett led a varied legal career and was elected president of the American Bar Association in 2000. She was interviewed by Dr. Paul Ortiz on November 18, 2009. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
The Citizens Co-op grocery store is finally opening its doors after years of hard work and dedications from its members and volunteers. The co-op will open on July 12, and the Grand Opening Celebration will be held July 15, complete with live music (Coffee Project, Lindsey Mills, Dikembe, & Sleeping Spiders) and special giveaways.
The co-op is located at 435 S. Main St., next to the Civic Media Center. For more information, check out the co-op’s website at www.citizensco-op.com.
Posted in July-August 2011
The following is the acceptance speech given by Thomas Drake, former National Security Agency senior official and whistleblower, upon the receipt of the 2011 Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize on April 13.
Thank you, Jesselyn, for your introduction. What a tribute to receive the Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize as a whistleblower. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
By Joe Courter
I had the experience of sitting in a New Jersey living room with my 60-something sister-in-law and her 30-something daughter on May 28, the day the news broke about the death of Gil Scott-Heron. Neither of them had heard of him, they commented. I said he was a very important figure in my life. If you have not heard of him, or need a refresher course, use the web’s great resources and spend some time with this troubled genius. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
by Lauren Byers and Sean Larson
The St. Francis House, a soup kitchen and homeless shelter in Gainesville, has been forced to turn away hungry children, men and women every day. Years ago, the city imposed an ordinance affecting the St. Francis House (SFH), limiting them to serving 130 meals a day. However, the City Commission did not enforce this ordinance until 2009. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
By Arupa Freeman
The Home Van is a mobile soup kitchen and free store that goes out to homeless areas around downtown Gainesville twice a week and also helps out with individual crises going on in the homeless community between the two visits every week. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
The following was taken from an interview on Democracy Now! on June 8 with Bill Moyers. You can find the audio version and the full interview at www.democracynow.org. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
by Joe Courter
When Geronimo Pratt spoke in Gainesville in 1998, I asked him if it would be okay if I taped and transcribed his talk for the Gainesville Iguana. He smiled, and with a twinkle in his eye, said, “Of course, we’re all revolutionaries.” It is a cherished moment in my life, and I was really sorry to read of his passing. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
by Pierre Tristam
There’s really been only one story in Flagler County in the past few weeks: The wildfires.
I’ve had a chance to see the disaster up close a few times, and to see firefighters in action at several of the fires. These men and women’s valor can’t be understated. Continue reading
Posted in July-August 2011
Welcome to the new Gainesville Iguana website. We’ll be making some changes and adding content over the coming weeks so please be patient! We are looking for volunteers to work on adding content to our website. The site uses WordPress, … Continue reading
On April 8, Gainesville Women’s Liberation, a chapter of National Women’s Liberation, and members of the community education class, “Women’s Liberation: Where Do I Fit In?”, organized a speakout on abortion. Continue reading
Posted in May-June 2011
Access to higher education for all people, regardless of economic background, is a fundamental principle of fairness. Changes to scholarship/grants on the federal and state levels, Continue reading
Posted in May-June 2011
For many years Gainesville has been involved with a unique three-way Sister City program (Gainesville-Kfar Saba-Qalqilia – the latter are towns in Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, respectively). Continue reading
Posted in May-June 2011
WGOT 94.7 Low Power FM (LP FM) is happy to have been serving the Gainesville community through quality alternative program for over three years. Continue reading
Posted in May-June 2011
Every day we are bombarded with gruesome details about the unjust wars our country wages in Iraq and Afghanistan. We hear stories about rising death tolls, both American and civilian, and cases of torture in American prisons. Continue reading
Posted in May-June 2011
David Barsamian’s Alternative Radio (AR) has been a regular presence on WUFT-FM for more than 20 years, but not any more. The writing was kinda on the wall, as it had been in the far-from-prime spot of Saturday night at 11pm for the last few months. Continue reading
Posted in May-June 2011