Maybe He Should Have Signed a Union Card?
After sending out a
sexist email to female employees who work for him, MNPS' Jay Nelson was
reprimanded with a 3-day suspension without pay.
We have to wonder if Nelson will appeal the decision or have his case reviewed by the School Board. Oh wait... he can't! MNPS employees no longer have those rights per Jesse Register's new rules.
Seriously, though. It should be obvious to everyone, especially after this incident, that one of the reasons support staff voted overwhelmingly to form a union at MNPS was to make sure that things like this don't happen. People should be able to report to work and do their jobs without harassment or unprofessional behavior by their supervisors.
Jay Nelson's actions remind us that now more than ever, MNPS employees need and deserve the right to file grievances, appeal disciplinary hearings, and make their voices heard on the job without fear of retribution or retaliation. Our schools are, after all, public institutions and they should be setting the standard for professional behavior and fairness towards workers.
Posted By: Mark Naccarato on 1/26/2012 1:49:00 PM
Jesse Register
,
Metro Schools
It’s Time to Praise Our Public Employees, Not Attack Them
Well, it's the one year anniversary of the Nashville Flood and in typical fashion, many of our local politicians are congratulating themselves for what a spectacular job they did during one of Middle Tennessee's largest natural disasters.
But we know that it was the hard-working people in the public service who risked life, limb, and health to dig the city out, not bureaucrats at the Courthouse.
One citizen gets it and wrote this opinion piece that was published in the May 3 print edition of The Tennessean. Give it a read.
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Posted By: Mark Naccarato on 5/4/2011 11:13:00 AM
public service employees
,
quality public services
The Top 7 Things You Need to Know About Governor Walker's Attack on Middle Class Families
- Governor Walker's reckless proposal to limit collective bargaining for nurses, teachers, EMTs, and other workers in Wisconsin would mean fewer nurses at the bedside and more crowded classrooms. We'd have fewer workers to process unemployment claims or make sure our seniors receive their Social Security checks on time.
- Workers are already sacrificing to keep Wisconsin running. Workers agreed to take 16 furlough days equal to a three percent pay cut. These furlough days and other cuts have already saved Wisconsin taxpayers over $100 million.
- Scott Walker created the budget shortfall himself with giant tax breaks to corporations.
- Teachers, nurses, bus drivers, and other workers in Wisconsin earn 4.8% less than their private sector counterparts. Wisconsin's pension, which workers pay into, is also fully funded. And many public employees do not collect Social Security.
- Walker's attacks are part of a national coordinated campaign by political attack groups funded by big banks, big oil, big insurance companies, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and right-wing billionaires. These attacks are political payback to these groups for spending billions on last year's elections.
- What we need are good jobs, not political attacks. But Scott Walker's proposal will destroy 10,000 private sector jobs. And Walker already destroyed more than 13,000 jobs by rejecting funding for a high-speed rail line.
- Instead of scapegoating teachers, firefighters, and nurses, we need to force Wall Street and greedy corporate CEOs to pay their fair share. 60 percent of Wisconsin corporations with revenues of $100 million or more pay no corporate income taxes. If large corporations in Wisconsin were paying taxes simply at the U.S. average, this would annually generate nearly $1 billion dollars in additional revenue.
Posted By: Mark Naccarato on 2/19/2011 11:38:00 AM
collective bargaining
,
union rights
,
workers rights
,
corporate greed
Fiscal Irresponsibility: Repealing Health Care Reform Will Add $230 Billion To Deficit
Never mind the moral implications of taking away health insurance coverage for millions of children and from those with pre-existing conditions. Never mind the fact that thousands of small businesses across the country will lose the tax breaks and subsidies to provide coverage for their employees. Never mind the fact that the "donut hole" in Medicare would have been filled. And never mind the fact that GOP leaders promised to reduce the debt if given control of the House of Representatives.
Let's skip all that and talk numbers about what repeal of the Affordable Care Act will mean to this country.
Repealing the Affordable Care Act will add $230 BILLION to the country's deficit in 10 years.
That's not some spin coming out of Democratic Party HQ or from SEIU. That's from the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office.
So for those of you who thought you were voting for "fiscal responsibility" when you pulled the lever for the R's in the November elections... think again.
Posted By: Mark Naccarato on 1/6/2011 1:58:00 PM
Affordable Care Act
,
healthcare
New Smoking Policy--Is It Time??
On October 1st, 2007, it became illegal to smoke in Tennessee restaurants. In fact, if you get caught smoking in an area that is designated, you may be charged a civil penalty of $50.00. Following that lead, as of January 1, 2011, East Tennessee hospitals joined together to become smoke free. The announcement was made early in 2010, giving workers time to prepare for the new policy, and were offered help to quit the habit. Smoking areas were removed, and the ban extends to patients, visitors, and vehicles on campus. The initiative is being touted as health oriented, and was designed to encourage healthier lifestyles for the entire community.
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Posted By: Jeff Massey on 12/21/2010 1:05:00 AM
healthcare
,
Smoking
,
workers rights
Metro's Pension "Risk": The Other Side of the Story
A
front-page story in the Oct. 15 edition of
The Tennessean blared an ominous headline... “STUDY: METRO’S PENSIONS AT RISK”. The story was about a new study by two college professors which concluded that “Metro’s pension plan would be insolvent by the year 2025”. This could and should be a huge concern to you as a Metro employee and as a taxpayer. However, as both SEIU and Metro officials pointed out in the Tennessean article, things are not as clear cut as they seem.
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Posted By: Mark Naccarato on 10/16/2010 3:03:00 PM
Metro Budget
,
pensions
The Impact Of 1 Vote
Did you see the Kevin Costner movie Swing Vote?? It is a fun movie that does not come across as political or preachy, but very subtly and deliberately drives the message of the difference one person can make, and drastically affect the lives of others. In the movie, Costner’s character, “Bud”, is an apathetic, beer-guzzling dad who takes everything in his life for granted. His civic minded daughter Molly wants him to vote in the presidential election, but due to a power outage, his ballot gets “hung up”. As movie writers would have it, Bud’s state becomes the swing state to decide the election, and due to a literal tie, Bud’s ballot would have been the one that decided who would become the next President of the United States. Of course, something like that could never happen, right?? Wrong.
The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, was decided by one man and it happened right here in Tennessee.
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Posted By: Jeff Massey on 10/12/2010 9:59:00 AM
collective bargaining
,
elections
,
Local 205
,
union rights
,
workers rights