Note: This is another in an annual series aboout how Florida's corporate media editorial boards - which uniformly despise organize labor in both the public and private sectors - take Labor Day as an opportunity to either ignore or atttack labor unions.
The Tampa Tribune editorial board - writing from Florida's historic bastion of union hatred - is to be commended for issuing words that this writer has not seen in more than a decade of reviewing Florida's traditional newspaper editorials:
Labor Day is time to remember why historic union achievements should command respect
Unfortunately, the
Trib editors quickly add:
It is also a good time to remember why excessive union ambitions demand restraint.
"The disunion of labor".
The Miami Herald editorial board wants to talk about "free trade" today: "Politics on trade trumps common sense". The notoriously anti-union Tribune Company is all about the Everglades and John Mica this weekend, although the Orlando Sentinel gratuitously published a guest column about why unions are needed.
The Sarasota-Herald Tribune editors overlook the existence of unions entirely - even though a monster labor fight* is going on in its own backyard (.pdf) * * - instead choosing to focus on the issue unemployment. See: Too little labor.
The wild-eyed lib'ruls on the Palm Beach Post and St. Pete Times editorial boards ignore unions this Labor Day, hoosing instead to remind us about the unemployment issue: "To create jobs, create calm" and "Jobs crisis demands action".
The right-wing Daytona Beach New-Journal editors are unsurprisingly mute about organized labor, although they were kind enough to publish a handful of letters to the editor.
The notoriously fringe right wing Jax newspaper, The Florida Times Union is polite enough to publish a guest piece by home-boy and president of the Florida AFL-CIO: "Workers' rights must be kept and renewed". Other than that, nuthin'.
Another year, and yet another insult to Florida's labor movement by Florida's traditional media editorial boards.
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* We are advised that Sarasota County has appealed the case; the appeal remains pending.
* * The Sarasota Herald-Tribune apparently has never covered these gross violations of labor law by Sarasota County; funny that: wouldn't want employees to be aware that unionized employees enjoy rights that are not available to non-union employees.