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08/2011 Labor's Edge Blog Articles
8/31/11
“The New American Sweatshop” Sheds Light on Horrific Exploitation of LA Carwash Workers
by Chloe Osmer
The CLEAN Carwash Campaign is teaming up with Brave New Foundation to launch a new video with first-hand accounts of the abusive working conditions that carwash workers face on a daily basis. A product of BNF’s Cuéntame initiative, “The New American Sweatshop” shines a glaring light on the inhumane and illegal conditions that carwasheros are forced to endure.
8/31/11
The State of Jobs on Labor Day 2011
by Sylvia Allegretto, PhD
This Labor Day, two months after the second anniversary of our economic “recovery”, it seems appropriate to assess how job markets are faring in the United States and California. It is informative to note that the official dating committee of recessions, the National Bureau of Economic Research, evaluates several different economic indices when assessing the beginning and ending dates of recessions— job growth or loss is just one of those—which is why many workers are surprised that the recession already ended. But officially it has. By the National Bureau’s reckoning, the recession lasted from December 2007 to June 2009.
At its worst, between December 2007 and February 2010, the United States lost 8.7 million jobs—some 6.3 percent of all jobs. Two years into the United States’ recovery, the jobs deficit is still 4.9 percent, or 6.8 million jobs, which is much larger than any of the three previous recessions. In terms of the sheer losses of jobs compared to pre-recessionary employment, the U.S. labor market today is in a severe deficit.
8/29/11
Nurses to Press Congress September 1st to Tax Wall Street to Heal America
by Malinda Markowitz, RN
As Congress and the White House continue to push an agenda of more deep cuts in spending at a time an economic crisis that is spinning out of control, registered nurses across the country will converge on some 60 Congress members in their local district offices September 1 to demand new priorities that help Main Street, not Wall Street.
RNs will hold soup kitchens, food drives, community speak outs, street theater, and other actions to call on legislators, Republicans and Democrats alike, to sign a pledge to “support a Wall Street transaction tax that will raise sufficient revenue to make Wall Street pay for the devastation it has caused on Main Street.” In many locales we will be joined by many community and labor activists.
8/25/11
Protecting the Rights of Pregnant Women
by Vibhuti Mehra
I gave birth to a healthy baby boy in July 2010. As I recovered from childbirth and later took time off to bond with my child, my union contract guaranteed that I wouldn’t lose pay or my family health coverage for the duration of my leave.
In 2009, Victoria Guillen, a dishwasher at the Grand Hyatt hotel in San Francisco, was pregnant too. Victoria had a difficult, high-risk pregnancy, was advised by her doctor to take a long leave of absence. However, unlike my experience, Victoria had to struggle with her employers for her rights. Her managers wanted her to return to work three days after her due date or not come back at all. Victoria couldn’t return to work three days after her c-section. She lost her job. She fought back with the support of her union UNITE HERE Local 2. After months of petitioning, Hyatt gave in and Victoria was allowed to return to her job. (Read Victoria’s story in her own words).
8/24/11
United Farm Workers Embark on 200-Mile March to Support Fair Treatment for Farm Workers
by Jocelyn Sherman
Two months ago, Gov Brown vetoed the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act, a bill that would have made it easier for farm workers to join a union and speak up for their rights. Arevised version of the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act and another bill to ensure farm workers recieve overtime as other workers are expected to be introduced in the legislature shortly. And this time, the farm workers are using their marching feet to try and convince Gov. Jerry Brown to sign those two bills when they reach his desk.
Yesterday, the United Farm Workers kicked off a 200-mile "Fair Treatment For Farm Workers Now" march up the Central Valley to Sacramento. Over the next two weeks, there will be up to 50 full-time marchers who will be joined by farm workers and community folks throughout the route, and by thousands of farm workers when they arrive at the Capitol on Sept. 4th, Labor Day weekend.
8/24/11
Sen. Boxer Joins Oakland Airport Construction Workers to Support FAA Reauthorization, Save Jobs
by Charlie Costello
On Tuesday, Aug. 23, Senator Barbara Boxer addressed a crowd of construction workers, airport officials and the media at a press conference organized by the Oakland Port Authority. It felt like déjà-vu, as I had stood there at the same spot less than three weeks earlier at a similar press conference that helped turn the tide in getting an FAA reauthorization extension bill approved, just as the politicians were about to go on their summer recess. But this time, there were a few things different: the gate to the job site was open, the crane was set up and working, there were close to 100 construction workers there, and Senator Barbara Boxer was in attendance.
8/23/11
Jobs Committee Chair Bows to Corporate Interests, Stalls Job-Saving Bill
by Steve Smith
You’d think the priority of the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy would be creating and protecting jobs. You’d never know it after a committee vote today on AB 1278. By voting against AB 1278, Committee Chair V. Manuel Perez stalled important legislation that would have prevented companies from laying off workers to claim big tax breaks as part of the flawed Enterprise Zone program.
The bill, authored by Assemblymember Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), sought to protect jobs in today’s harsh economic environment while helping end the practice of rewarding companies that lay off workers with taxpayer subsidies. The bill failed to get out of the committee on a 3-3 vote. Perez joined the two Republicans on the committee in voting against the bill.
8/23/11
Stand Up Against Attacks On Labor Allies And Progressive Organizations
by Melissa Mikesell
We've seen the far right and conservative business interests attack some of the nation's most important organizations, from Planned Parenthood and Media Matters to public employee unions in Wisconsin. The latest target is the local group that helped create the living wage movement and defeated Wal-Mart at the ballot box: the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE).
LAANE is one of the country's leading advocates for good jobs and a healthy environment, and they have helped dozens of organizations across the U.S. enact policies to reduce poverty and pollution. As the late Ted Kennedy said, "LAANE's impressive efforts have changed the lives of countless working families."
8/22/11
Add Your Name to Union Plus Solidarity Map
by James Parks
This Labor Day, it is more important than ever to show the strength of working families.
Union Plus, part of Union Privilege, the consumer benefits arm of the AFL-CIO, is inviting all working people to come together online to show America our strength and solidarity. If you support American workers, join other working people and be counted on the Union Plus Solidarity Map. The goal is to have 10,000 participants on Labor Day, Sept. 5.
Click here to show support for all workers in North America by adding your name to the Solidarity Map and here to view the map, which is updated every 15 minutes.
8/19/11
Senator Feinstein – Protect Social Security!
by Katie Gjertson
Three days following the 76th birthday of the creation of Social Security, 1,000 seniors, students, and community members rallied in front of Senator Feinstein’s San Francisco and LA offices yesterday, urging the Senator to be a champion on protecting Social Security.
Members of the California Alliance of Retired Americans (CARA) have been meeting with Senator Feinstein’s staff to stress the importance of protecting Social Security. To put a human face on the importance of Social Security, CARA asked its members to submit stories to share with the Senator and her staff.
8/18/11
Support for Striking Verizon Workers Spreads from Coast to Coast
Labor’s battle with Verizon Communications Inc. has spread to the West Coast as 45,000 striking telephone workers across the Northeast rally support nationwide for middle-class jobs.
That's why rowdy pickets of CWA members and their allies have been showing up daily at Verizon Wireless retail outlets. Members of the San Francisco Labor Council staged one of the biggest Bay Area rallies Wednesday, including members of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, NABET and other CWA units as well as other labor allies.
8/18/11
Women of Labor Unite in Sacramento
by Rebecca Greenberg Band
The face of the labor movement is changing. Gone are the mostly male unions that were so prevalent just a generation ago. Nowadays, fully 45% of all union members are women, and by 2020 women will make up the majority of the unionized workforce. Union women are powerful activists, and have begun stepping into leadership positions like never before.
This year’s “Women of Labor” conference, sponsored by the California Labor Federation and UFCW Women’s Network, brought union women from around the state together to foster solidarity and leadership for a new kind of workforce – and a new kind of labor movement. The second annual conference, which took place this week in Sacramento, drew more than 200 union women (and some men too) from right here in California and as far away as Egypt, Tunisia and Hungary.
8/16/11
SoCal Grocery Workers Still Fighting to Get Justice and Avert Strike
by Connie Leyva
More than 62,000 grocery workers at Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons in southern California have been working on a contract extension since March, when the grocery chains proposed new health care provisions with higher premiums, deductibles and co-pays that would force some workers to pay as much as half their paycheck for coverage.
The average grocery store worker makes $25,000 per year. We understand the economic realities of the day, but these workers simply cannot afford to have those additional healthcare costs shifted onto their backs -- especially when the grocery chains have raked in $5 BILLION in profits over the last three years. We know they can afford to take care of the people that make the money for them. They just don't want to.
8/15/11
Victory for Workers’ Rights in Santa Barbara “News-Press Mess”
by Melinda Burns
In a sweeping decision, the National Labor Relations Board last week ordered the Santa Barbara News-Press to reinstate me and seven other reporters who were illegally fired nearly five years ago, after our newsroom voted to unionize. I was the first to be escorted out of the building in October, 2006, one month after we voted overwhelmingly to join the union. I was a senior writer, I had been at the paper for 21 years, and I had won local, state, regional and national awards for the paper with my reporting.
Back in July of 2006, the News-Press newsroom faced a crisis. Five top editors resigned, alleging that Wendy McCaw, the multimillionaire owner, was improperly meddling in news coverage, in part by arbitrarily disciplining her own reporters and editors. In September of that year, seeking to protect our professional integrity and job security, we newsroom employees voted 33-6 to join the Graphics Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.