As I reflect on the time I have shared organizing alongside many of you and recall how little I knew about labor history and single-payer health care when the Board hired me back in December 2010, I am deeply thankful for your trust, for all you have taught me, and for how I have grown as a person and as an organizer through our collective struggle and work. As I have heard your stories of becoming politically conscious and active, I have been overwhelmed by your depth of experience and commitment. So many of you have sacrificed time, sleep, money, education, safety and have even spent time in jail for defending your rights, the rights of your friends and neighbors, and my rights as a woman and a worker. And so many of you continue to give time and money towards building a society where true social and economic justice is possible.

Because of the transformative labor, gender equality, and civil rights victories many of you have helped win in your lifetime, I know future change is possible, both on national and local levels. One day we will have single-payer health care across this nation, and I am proud our work as the Labor Party is building towards that future victory. I am also proud of the high-reaching goals we have set for the Labor Party this year, of how several of you are taking ownership of outreach and base-building efforts, and of the new leadership, energy, and talent of our new coordinator, Diana Moreno, who taught me much of what I know about organizing back when she and I were both part of Students for a Democratic Society. As I depart for New York and look forward to becoming a Labor Party Committee of 100 donor in the fall, I leave you with this call to action from Catholic Worker founder, Dorothy Day: “No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do!”

By Diana Moreno (incoming coordinator): Having known Kim for a few years now and worked alongside her on issues like student rights, immigration reform and farmworker rights, I know firsthand I have some big shoes to fill. I’m really looking forward to continuing what Kim started and to bringing my own experiences as a community and labor organizer to work for the Labor Party.

I’ve lived in Gainesville for the past six years, but it became my home only four years ago, on the day I stepped into the Civic Media Center to volunteer. My involvement with the CMC was the catalysts for my political education. The CMC also introduced me to various organizations I’ve been proudly involved in, such as Students for a Democratic Society, Student/Farmworker Alliance and our local newspaper, The Fine Print. I graduated from the University of Florida in the Spring of 2011 with a BA in Political Science, but I give credit to the Gainesville community and the various organizations I’ve been a part of for most of my education. In fact, it was my community involvement that helped me land my most recent labor organizing job with the United Faculty of Florida. It’s been eye-opening to transition from being a student, a consumer of the University institution, to being an organizer, a shaker who empowers and encourages UF faculty to know their rights, join their union, and take ownership of the future of public education, rather than take what’s handed down to them by Tallahassee or UF Administration. My experience with UFF will undoubtedly contribute to my work as the new ACLP coordinator.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that many members of the Labor Party are folks whom I already recognize as leaders and activists within the Gainesville community. I’ve already had the pleasure of working with many of you, and am excited to continue working together towards the Labor Party’s mission of winning economic justice and health care for all.

Dr. Bill Warrick wrote one letter, but the Sun chose not to publish it. On April 13, however, the Sun did run a letter from Al Meyer, which I’ve pasted below. They edited out the parts about H.R. 676 and health care though, which highlights the need for more of us to write letters calling for Just Health Care!

Sticks and stones add nothing to debate

There are plenty of things to criticize Barack Obama for. However, Obama is a mainstream Democratic Party politician and his policies — whether economic, health care or foreign policy — are very similar to what Democratic presidents have done since FDR.

To question his intelligence or to portray him him as someone to be feared reflects biases that go well beyond policy critiques. Rather, they are personal attacks that are more reflective of those making the attacks than of the president.

Name calling or fear monger does nothing to shed light on the problems that surround us. It does help build an atmosphere of suspicion and hate and reduces the possibilities of meaningful debate.

Perhaps that is the real intent of those involved with making these charges.

Albert Meyer,

Gainesville

Have you written a Letter to the Editor recently? Will you? Click here for tips on writing a letter, and here to send a letter to the Gainesville Sun.

Time is of the essence. Together with the office of Dr. Bertram J. Hughes, a local dentist who serves Choices recipients, the Alachua County Labor Party is working to collect 1200 of these petitions by April 24th, in order to re-introduce the program on the ballot.   Please note that to sign the Choices petition, a person must be registered to vote in Alachua County.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
First, (1) help spread the word by forwarding this email and facebook event.  Then, if you would like to (2) collect petitions on your own, you can print them (here), get your registered voter-friends to sign them, and bring them to our next Labor Party meeting on April 24.  If you would like to recruit signatures with other Labor Party members, we have three opportunities at these upcoming community events:

• Saturday & Sunday, April 14-15:  Spring Arts Festival (downtown)
• Wednesday evening, April 18:  Community Farmers Market (Bo Diddley Plaza)
• Saturday & Sunday, April 21-22:  Fifth Avenue Arts Festival (at intersection of NW 6th Street & 5th Ave)

If you and/or a friend can help gather petition signatures at one of the above events, please call Kimberly (352.215.4255) and she’ll make sure you get all the necessary materials.

Let’s help ensure 4500 Alachua County workers have a better chance of accessing health care in the future!  Choices serves as an example for other counties to consider and helps point society towards a single-payer health-care system.

Rev. Dr. King’s arc of history bends towards justice because people consciously pull it in that direction.  Let’s pull together…  Health care is a human right!

• Partner with two organizations in each of these five categories:
  • Union
  • Faith
  • Senior
  • Student
  • Minority
• Host a labor or health care film screening once a quarter.
• Organize a large community event for the fall.
• Recruit one hundred new members.
• Reach one hundred Committee of 100 donors (only 16 to go!).

Tools for Building our Base

We are developing several tools to reach our goals, including a “membership drive thermometer” like the one on the left, which Lynn Chacko created to motivate and help us record each new member as a “degree” until we finally reach 100.  Chad Hood is working on a “pledge of support” for developing partnerships with local groups.  As we brainstormed how best to connect with individuals, several members wanted to develop a resource to offer folks having trouble at work or needing affordable health care in the absence of a single-payer system.  Accordingly, Gaby Gross has gathered an extensive list of free and greatly subsidized community health care services, which will soon be posted on our website. David Hennig, Jason Fults, and Sheila Payne are working to create a list of referral services and possibly a labor review board for workers who call our office searching for just solutions to wage theft and other job abuses. Also to be finished this spring are an updated brochure on HR 676—the Improved & Expanded Medicare for All bill—and a brand new brochure explaining why and how we identify as the “Labor Party.”  Finally, for members seeking a deeper understanding of how different health care systems compare to the single-payer one we seek, Marilyn Eisenberg continues to host a reading and discussion group one Sunday afternoon each month.

A Prescription for Progress:                  Share your talents, time, and gifts!

We are achieving slow but steady progress with our goals:  Jeremiah Cleghorn joined as our first new 2012 member, Scott Billings and Stephanie Ridgeway have joined the Committee of 100, and Marilyn Eisenberg, Dan Harmeling, and Jeremiah Cleghorn are organizing a public forum on single-payer health care at Santa Fe College—our first potential student partnership!  But to reach our goals, we need everyone’s support.  Please consider helping us build our base and reach these goals by:

• Renewing your membership ($20/year; pay online or mail back attached form)
• Joining the Committee of 100 or increasing your current monthly pledge
• Getting active through one of the ways mentioned here, or suggest a new way!

Total costs for the conference (plane tickets, hotel, conference fees) are roughly $1000; we have raised $300 so far, thanks to those of you who gave generously towards the conference at December’s holiday potluck and party honoring Mark.

Also, if you have not yet become a Labor Party member ($20/year) or would like to join the Committee of 100 ($20/month) to help us hire another staff person, you can also do that through our website.  We have 85 Committee members so far but still need 15 more to meet our goal!

Thank your for your time & support. We hope to see you on the 14th (see below)!

We will email you an agenda for the planning meeting early next week; I hope you’ll read it, consider it, and prepare your thoughts for how you might contribute your talents, energy, interests, and resources towards strengthening and expanding the Labor Party this upcoming year.  This year we need to particularly focus on recruiting and building a core leadership and on expanding the Committee of 100 so we can bring on another part-time staff organizer.  Here are the event logistics:

ACLP 2012 Annual Strategy Meeting:  10:00 AM – 1:00 PM; Saturday, January 14 at the Civic Media Center (433 South Main Street, Gainesville)
Mark will be back to participate in a two-part strategy session devoted to leadership development & building the Labor Party’s 2012 healthcare campaign; we will break for coffee & pastries.  If you plan to attend, please RSVP by replying to this email or by joining the facebook event.

Fellow Worker Labor Social:  Saturday, January 14th, 7:00 PM at Cafe Collete (in Wild Iris Books, 802 W. University Ave, Gainesville)
If you are a worker and support economic justice, come on out and raise a glass. Meet folks from other trades and learn more about their lives and work. We will celebrate victories, discuss strategy and build solidarity with one another.  Sponsored by Gainesville IWW and the Alachua Labor Party

On Tuesday, January 10 at 2:30 PM in the Labor Party office (14 E. University Ave, Suite #204) we will be mailing out postcards to remind folks about the January 14 meeting; if you would like to help with this mailing, please also reply to this email or call the office at 352.375.2832 and let me know.

At that session, we discussed a chapter from the book entitled Profit Fever by Charles Andrews. The chapter was devoted to learning the lessons of the failed health care legislation attempted in the Clinton administration. One thing emphasized in the reading was that all the major legislation in our country for expanded freedoms came not from the top down, but rather from wide grassroots’ demands for change. The readings went into particulars of organizing house parties and such to get the grassroots properly mobilized for this effort.

Group participants felt they wanted next to find readings that would help educate them on both the details of past legislation, and ways of cutting medical costs without cutting services to people who need them. At the next meeting, in fact, scheduled at 3 PM on January 8, we will be discussing a good summary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2009.

If interested, contact Marilyn at marilyneisenberg@bellsouth.net or call 376-1208.   Group is limited to 10 people; 2 spots remain available.

by ACLP co-chair, Chad Hood

Mark delivering a rousing address at Gainesville's March 8th, 2011 "Awake the State" rally.

Mark Piotrowski is stepping down as co-chair of the Alachua County Labor Party to take a position in Tallahassee with Florida Education Association, a statewide union for teachers, faculty, and support staff. We thank Mark for his leadership and for more than over a decade of tireless service in building the Labor Party. We are saddened by his departure, but excited for his new opportunity to continue to serve the labor movement on a statewide level in the capital.

Mark has been an important part of the Labor Party from its very beginnings. In 1996, he and a group of delegates from Gainesville joined thousands of other labor advocates at the national Labor Party Founding Convention. Mark already had a long track record of political activism, as a co-founder of the Civic Media Center and an organizer with the Freedom Coalition and other community groups. He remained involved with Labor Party activity after moving to Boston in 1998 to work for the Center for Campus Organizing – a resource and clearing-house for student activists.

Going from student organizing to labor issues was a natural transition for Mark. He says what drew him to the Labor Party was and continues to be its program. “From national health care to a year’s paid severance for every seven worked – these are bold ideas, exciting. That’s what national Labor Party co-founder Tony Mazocchi talked about – bold but simple solutions for the problems that working people face.”

Mark moved back to Gainesville in 1999 and joined forces with Jenny Brown to build a local Alachua County Labor Party organizing committee, chartering our bylaws and becoming our first co-chairs. The Labor Party’s first big achievement came in 2000, when we successfully placed a voters’ referendum for single payer on the Alachua County ballot. As readers probably know, that referendum received more votes than either Bush or Gore in every precinct in the county, demonstrating the widespread support for single payer across party lines.

Inspired by this success, the Labor Party fundraised to keep a part-time staffer working regularly for single payer and workers’ rights. Based on the idea of union dues, the Committee of 100 was formed in 2001, seeking to recruit a regular base of people giving small amounts to support paid work. The Committee of 100 continues to be the backbone of our organization, and Mark highlights it as a key reason behind the Alachua County Labor Party’s effectiveness.

“It is unique for a group of our size to have an office and a staff person, operating on the scale of some larger national organizations,” Mark says. “When I’ve attended national labor and health care conferences, this is something that I am always proud of and that other groups take note of. The Committee of 100 makes that happen.”

Mark became our first part-time staffer on September 11th, 2001, initially working eight hours a week. With the political excitement around getting Bush out of office, he selflessly left his job at UF in 2004 to organize full-time for the Labor Party. Mark’s commitment was a rally call for others to fund this work, and the Committee of 100 and Labor Party leaped forward in membership.

The Labor Party has succeeded in getting people to fund this work, Mark explains, because “we have a program, it has specific elements like single payer, and it resonates with people.” He also thinks it’s because the Labor Party has worked unwaveringly for single payer in specific, as opposed to other watered-down versions or incremental reforms. “We have been bold and deliberate in asking for what people want,” he adds, “and have pointedly asked people to give money to support that work.”

Mark has served as a valuable source of mentorship and continuity for numerous volunteers and has skillfully trained our other paid staffers through the years – Ann Murray, Brooke Macke-Eliazar, and most recently Kimberly Hunter. “From my first day on the job, Mark has been a source of support and encouragement as well as a sounding board and constructive critic for me,” explains Kimberly. “Many times he has sacrificed his lunch break at work just to come and visit with me in the office, checking to see how I am, explaining some computer function I can’t figure out, or brainstorming for the next steps ahead. When I took this job I knew very little about Labor Party history or single payer healthcare, but Mark has taught me a lot and will surely teach me even more when he calls to check in from Tallahassee.”

Mark will move to Tallahassee later this month to work for the union FEA in graphic design and communication. It is the perfect marriage of the design work he has trained for and the political work he feels so passionate about. “People in Florida are facing an enormous and even historic level of inequity right now. The only way to change that is through organizing and hard work.” His job will give him the opportunity to have a greater impact across the state, while continuing to be an ongoing and ardent supporter of the Alachua County Labor Party.

“I think there’s a need for national health care now more than ever,” Mark notes. He hopes the Labor Party can strive to organize thousands of Alachua County residents in support of single payer. “Who knows?” he adds. “Maybe I’ll start a chapter in Tallahassee and do the same.”

To view the local media coverage of last Saturday’s event, please visit the following links:

Gainesville Sun
Saturday, December 3 / Photo Report: Healthcare Speakout!
Saturday, December 3 / Article: Speakout lets locals voice views on healthcare

WUFT 89.1 FM
Thursday, December 1 / Preview Story: Alachua County Labor Party speaks out on healthcare on Saturday

The Independent Florida Alligator
Monday, December 5 / Article:  Occupy protesters host health care discussion

So what’s next, now that we got together, shared our stories, and expressed our frustration with the current corporate health insurance system? 

After the speakout Saturday, those committed to doing more stayed for a 30 minute planning meeting, and our unanimous conclusion was:  Grassroots organizing!  Overwhelming, people felt we need to strengthen our local base for a just healthcare movement.  Mark shared actions the Labor Party has done in the past, such as the successful non-binding referendum they put on the Alachua County November 2000 ballot asking voters if they supported a system of universal health care in Florida — one that would improve Medicare and expand it to people of all ages.   64.5% of Alachua County voters voted YES on the referendum, which passed in all (at the time) 53 precincts and got more votes than either Al Gore or George Bush in Alachua County!

We discussed strategies such as spreading the word through hosting HR 676 house parties and talking to people one-on-one through going door-to-door in neighborhoods, at senior centers (like the AARP and the Grey Panthers), in medical clinics and waiting rooms, at religious congregations, and in community gardening and sustainability projects.

At our next meeting, we will select our first organizing action and set a date for it; then we will try it, evaluate it afterward, and let it inform our movement as we go forward.  If you’d like to get involved, please try to attend the next planning meeting (see below) or contact us at ACLP@FloridaLaborParty.org or call 352.375.2832.

If you’re available Saturday morning, come out early before the above meeting and join Occupy Gainesville in a…

Prescription Transfer Day of Action!

Wise’s 4th Ave Pharmacy:  708 SW 4th Ave / 352.376.8286

Wise’s Parkwood Pharmacy:  3601 SW 3rd Ave, Suite A / 352.373.3547

West Lab:  4410 W Newberry Road #A5 / 352.373.8111

Southeastern Community Pharmacy:  4343 Newberry Road #9 / 352.224.2450