City Budget: Better Buckle Up

Story updated at 12:25 AM on Friday, Mar. 12, 2010

The forecast for city finances: Ugly today, with a 100 percent chance of looking worse tomorrow.

Get used to talk of potential layoffs, cuts in services and more tax and fee increases for years to come.

For starters, the city faces a $58 million budget hole for next year.

Factors such as decreasing revenues, a flat economy and rising pension and health costs translate into a projected budget deficit of $106 million for next year and $257 million for fiscal year 2015.

Last year's budget process was bruising, involving difficult cuts and a property tax hike. Yet, millions in the "easy" cuts have been made.

Mayor John Peyton's remedies include a 3 percent pay cut this year for city employees (something that remains to be negotiated with the city's unions) and raising fees next year, including garbage fees.

Teacher Accountability Measure Passes First Hurdle

By Brandon Larrabee 11:34 PM on Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010

TALLAHASSEE — A bill to revamp teacher contracts and pay in Florida passed its first test Wednesday, gaining approval from the Senate Education PreK-12 Committee on a party-line vote.

The proposal, sponsored by Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, passed the panel 6-2 after a sometimes contentious hearing in which Democrats and teachers organizations criticized the proposal as anti-educator while Republicans touted it as a key step in education reform.

“This is about teachers, but ultimately it’s about students,” Thrasher told fellow lawmakers before the vote.

Thrasher’s bill, filed last week , would base half of a teacher’s salary on student performance while extending to five years the period during which a new teacher can be fired at the end of each school year without cause.

U.S. Income Equality May Equal Mexico's by 2043

by Tula Connell, Mar 12, 2010

Two reports out this week offer a telling glimpse into the direction of the nation.

•The number of U.S. households with a net worth of at least $1 million jumped 16 percent last year after dipping sharply during the financial crisis, according to a new report. The Spectrem Group study also found “ultra-high net worth families—those with at least $5 million—grew 17 percent last year to 980,000.
•Some 6 percent of all workers were living in poverty in 2008, up from 5.1 percent in 2007—the highest proportion since 6.2 percent in 1994, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2008, some 8.9 million adults were among the “working poor”—1.4 million more than in 2007.

British Airways Closer to Strike as Union Talks Fail

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- British Airways Plc’s 12,000 flight attendants moved closer to a strike after talks with Europe’s third-largest airline over pay cuts broke down.

Officials at Unite, which represents BA cabin crew, met this morning to discuss “next steps,” spokeswoman Pauline Doyle said in an e-mail. The union, which has the legal authority to announce a strike any time before March 15, doesn’t plan to make a statement on the situation today, she said.

US Airways Adds New Routes to Mexico, Canada

Thursday, Mar 11 07:48am

US Airways announced four new nonstop routes this morning. Two are to Canada and two are to Mexico. The airline's Charlotte hub gains three new destinations (Ottawa, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta) while Philadelphia gets one (Halifax). All four routes are scheduled to operate year-round.

Ottawa service begins May 31 with US Airways Express partner Air Wisconsin flying one daily round-trip flight on 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jets. The Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta routes start June 5, with US Airways offering five flights a week to Los Cabos and four to Puerto Vallarta. The carrier will fly 124-seat two-class Airbus A319 jets on the routes.

Southwest Airlines Cargo Receives Highest Honor for Air Cargo Excellence

Press Release Source: Southwest Airlines On Wednesday March 10, 2010, 4:39 pm EST

DALLAS, March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest Airlines Cargo was recognized as the top airline in the world in Air Cargo World's annual Air Cargo Excellence (ACE) Survey released today. Rated against 84 airlines, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - News) earned the highest overall airline score, led all airlines in the Performance and Value categories, and received the highest honor, the Diamond Award. The Air Cargo Excellence Survey, established five years ago and published annually by Air Cargo World, acknowledged Southwest Airlines Cargo for achievements in air cargo excellence in four key areas: Customer Service, Performance, Information Technology, and Value.

United Makes Firm Order for 25 Airbus A350s

Wed Mar 10, 4:01 pm ET

PARIS – United Airlines has made a firm order for 25 of Airbus' A350 extra-wide bodied jets, fulfilling a commitment signed in December, the European aircraft manufacturer said Wednesday.

Deliveries of the 314-seat A350-900s are scheduled to begin in 2016 and run through 2019, Airbus said in a statement.

The order is half of a 50-aircraft order United announced in December, when it also unveiled plans to buy 25 of Airbus' rival Boeing Co.'s 787 jets.

AFL-CIO Jobs Agenda

No one needs to tell America’s families that unemployment and underemployment are at crisis levels. We need jobs—and we need them now.

Wall Street has gotten its bailouts. Now it’s time for Main Street to get some immediate help.

The AFL-CIO is calling on Congress and the Obama administration to take five steps now to care for jobless workers and put America back to work.

A Call to Action on Jobs

A Call to Action on Jobs
March 02, 2010
Orlando, Fla.
AFL-CIO Executive Council statement

Today America is missing 11 million jobs—and millions more workers have either given up looking for jobs or are stuck in part-time work. At the same time, the party on Wall Street continues—producing speculation instead of investment, executive bonuses instead of jobs and sowing the seeds of another financial crisis even as we continue to suffer the consequences of the current one. This is the legacy of the failed deregulatory economic model of the past 30 years and the failed presidency of George W. Bush.

Inside the SEIU War Room

by Ambreen Ali

Some of the most influential strategy on health care was developed not on Capitol Hill, but two miles away in what looks like an ordinary office building.

On the first floor of its D.C. headquarters, Service Employees International United has created a war room to lead labor's fight for an overhaul of the nation's health system. At its crux, the space combines SEIU's grassroots and national efforts into a unified voice for passing the bill.