Fisher Island protest - short version

On November 17th, 2007, several boatloads of activists pulled up to Fisher Island in Miami-Dade County, the wealthiest zip code in the country; an island accessible only by boat or ferry.

The activists, organized by Service Employees International Union, hopped off the boats and swam up to the exclusive and segregated beaches of Fisher Island, which under Florida law is open to the public.

Then they marched through the public-funded streets of Fisher Island, demanding better treatment and wages to the workers who clean and maintain the buildings on the island.

Check out photos from the Fisher Island protest here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlosmiller/sets/72157603237226769/show/


The rally was the latest action in the conflict in which 19 workers filed a class action complaint against Fisher Island Holdings, Inc., Fisher Island Community Association Inc., Fisher Island Club Inc., and Fisher Island Community Association LLC with the Miami-Dade County Equal Opportunity Board charging that policies and practices in effect on the Fisher Island Ferry Service that operates between the exclusive island to the mainland segregates Haitian, Hispanic, and African American workers.

The complaint questions policies on the island-owned ferry that the workers must take to get to the island.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• SEIU
• Fisher
• Island
• unions

[MagicCityMedia]

Stay tuned for a longer, more in-depth video that we are putting together. CM

[georgepotter428]

This is one very "womanly" video. =p

[SnowflakeMoray]

Floridas NON RICH are their own worse enemies. They DO NOT vote thus the same Florida fascist Reps ESP in S.Florida stay in power. Stop whining register and VOTE OUT EVERY REP in this fascist state.

Those that dont vote are worse than Floridas fascists

[killerbee632]

Pathetic, I'm a fisher island employee and I think these people were just making up things to get attention and to get to the island as a union just collect some money from everyone. A union is a business and all those people that were there were all people getting paid for being there because no employees were present.

[bugattiowner5]

You all are stupid and you all are wasting your time If you want to get into our property you can do it by buying a house here and paying the 200k membership and trust me your view on lowlifes comming in will change. I f you have any problems or agree with me send me a message back and I will clear any doubts. Why would you want to come hang out with the people you hate so much?!

[AntacidForTheMind]

Great job!

[TotalRecal22]

HA HA HA....soo what you're saying is...that of the 18 people with you, 1 is a disgruntled ex-employee.

Yeah, I can see you're really fighting a worth-while cause here.

With what these people are making, I am not shedding any tears for them.

There are people with a lot better educations who don't make anywhere near as much, or have the benefits these workers do.

And from what I've seen, your effort to make this a racial issue is just for headlines. Go fight a worthwhile cause!

[TotalRecal22]

HA HA HA....soo what you're saying is...that of the 18 people with you, 1 is a disgruntled ex-employee.

Yeah, I can see you're really fighting a worth-while cause here.

With what these people are making, I am not shedding any tears for them.

There are people with a lot better educations who don't make anywhere near as much, or have the benefits these workers do.

And from what I've seen, your effort to make this a racial issue is just for headlines. Go fight a worthwhile cause!

[tanyalias]

the people who participated in the action were former Fisher Island workers, Miami Workers Center, Power U, ACORN members, Coalition of Immokalee Workers representatives, Jobs with Justice, Critical Mass members, University professors, University of Miami and Florida International University students, union representatives and concerned community members. This even was about the community coming out and telling Fisher Island to stop discriminating and abusing the workers

[TotalRecal22]

Who are these people? It looks like they're all UNION WORKERS or people paid by the union to do this, not ex-employees.

It's sad that because the unions are losing ground everywhere due to corruption and not lining anyone's pockets but their own, that they put on this ridiculous display.

Everything I've read seems to say the works are very well paid and taken care of. According to another post, less than 3% of ex-employees were even disgruntled. Show me another employer with that statistic.

[TotalRecal22]

Who are these people? It looks like they're all UNION WORKERS or people paid by the union to do this, not ex-employees.

It's sad that because the unions are losing ground everywhere due to corruption and not lining anyone's pockets but their own, that they put on this ridiculous display.

Everything I've read seems to say the works are very well paid and taken care of. According to another post, less than 3% of ex-employees were even disgruntled. Show me another employer with that statistic.