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P462 Labor's Edge Blog Articles
7/19/10
Hundreds of L.A. Union Members to Travel to Phoenix to Protest Arizona’s Immigration Law
by Caroline O'Connor
More than 550 union members from 32 different unions in the Los Angeles along with several leaders from L.A.’s community and faith organizations will travel to Phoenix on July 29. We will travel “without papers” or identification the day SB 1070, Arizona’s anti-immigrant law, is scheduled to go into effect.
L.A. Labor’s goal is not only to oppose SB 1070, but to participate in activities in Phoenix where we will pledge to support efforts to register and turn out Arizona’s Latino vote. We will also kick off a new campaign joining Los Angeles and Arizona working families around issues of workers’ rights, good jobs and sensible solutions for national immigration reform.
7/16/10
Rants & Raves for the Week of July 12th
* New green chemistry regulations favor chemical companies over workers * EPI study reveals negative consequences of Congress' failure to extend UI *
*Congress passes landmark Wall Street reform bill * Mine workers demand improved health and safety protections * Court rules against Governor's minimum-wage order * Nurses fight back against Whitman's attacks *
7/13/10
Message to Whitman: California’s Future Isn’t a Game
It’s no secret that Meg Whitman is wealthy beyond most of our wildest dreams. But few know the true cost of Whitman’s wealth. This week the California Labor Federation launched a new online video and video game that highlights Whitman’s job-slashing corporate history. Check out both the video and video game at http://www.WallStreetWhitman.com
7/9/10
By Opposing High-Speed Rail, Whitman Shows True Colors on Jobs
by Steve Smith
Billionaire CEO Meg Whitman continued her hypocrisy on jobs yesterday, coming out in opposition to high-speed rail and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it would create. Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei told the Sacramento Bee that Whitman opposes the project because the state can’t “afford” high-speed rail.
So let’s get this straight… the state can’t afford to create hundreds of thousands of good jobs with a project that’s already received significant federal funding and voter approval? This appears to be another example – a particularly egregious one – of Whitman showing her true colors on job creation.
7/7/10
Realizing the Promise of the National Labor Relations Act
by U.S. Deptartment of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis
Monday marked the 75th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Act - also known as the Wagner Act - one of the lesser known, but key components of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. In addition to Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, a Federal minimum wage and laws regulating child labor - all controversial concepts at the time that we now take for granted as basic elements of fairness - the New Deal included the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) which protected workers' rights to join or form unions and engage in collective bargaining.
7/6/10
Same Old Story: Rich Republican Tycoon Against Pro-Worker Public Servant
by Bob Balgenorth
A wealthy tycoon is trying to buy her way into a statewide office against a veteran public servant with a terrific record on the issues that matter to most to working people. Would that be Meg Whitman, running against former Governor Jerry Brown? Well, yes, she fits the description.
But it’s the same story in the race for U.S. Senator from California, where rich tycoon Carly Fiorina won the Republican primary by pouring her immense personal wealth into her campaign, and who now hopes that her wealth will buy her the seat currently held by a great friend of working men and women, Senator Barbara Boxer.
7/2/10
Rite Aid Workers Rally for Good Contract at Lancaster Distribution Center
by Rand Wilson
Over 75 Rite Aid workers from the Southwest Distribution Center in Lancaster, CA marched off the job during their lunch break to join supporters from dozens of 
other unions demanding that Rite Aid management negotiate a good contract.
The workers began organizing with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) over four years ago. Since then, ther workers have met with management more than 100 times in an attempt to peacefully reach a first contract that would put their conditions of work in a legally binding union agreement.
7/1/10
Thousands of State Workers Join “I Am California” Rally at the Capitol
by Nikki Linnerman
On Wednesday, more than 8,000 state workers and members of SEIU local 1000 descended upon the state Capitol to rally and promote the message, "I Am California", and speak out against the Governor’s draconian cuts, furloughs and layoffs. We deserve our contract to be passed, and we say NO to federal minimum wage. Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker told the crowd that contract negotiations, which started Monday, must lead to a deal that “not only makes sense for state workers, but that makes sense for California.”
6/25/10
Rants & Raves for the Week of June 21st
* Senate blocks unemployment extension for hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans * Meg Whitman launches attack on California nurses *
* Senate and House negotiators reach deal on financial industry reform * LAUSD passes resolution to use only CLEAN carwashes * Air and rail workers move closer to fair union elections *
6/25/10
Nurses to Whitman: Don’t Push Us Around
by Shum Preston
Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has been attacking the California Nurses Association all week, upset that the state’s RNs don’t support her $100-million campaign for the state’s top office. Today, nurses fired back with a rally and press conference of over 100 RNs at CNA’s Oakland headquarters. Nurse leaders said they were insulted by Whitman’s demands that CNA provide her with the home addresses of the state’s nurses, and harassing phone calls her campaign had made to nurses in order to spread negative information about CNA.
6/24/10
Workers Rally to Make It Right at Rite Aid
by James Parks
Hundreds of Rite Aid workers and supporters from Pennsylvania, New York and California rallied this morning outside the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Harrisburg, Pa., to demand good jobs and a voice at work.
During the rally, Sylvia Estrada and Angel Warner, two workers from Rite Aid’s massive distribution center in Lancaster, Calif., described the five-year struggle by 550 employees to form a union.
6/24/10
L.A. Schools Approve Resolution to Use CLEAN Carwashes
by Chloe Osmer
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board passed a resolution yesterday calling for the district to wash its huge fleet of vehicles only at carwashes that have signed the CLEAN Agreement, which commits the companies to abide by minimum employment, health and safety and environmental standards and to respect workers’ right to join a union.
6/18/10
Rants & Raves for the Week of June 14th
* Whitman and Blakeslee team up to attempt corporate takeover of CA * Senate Republicans block extension of unemployment benefits * BP tries to mask truth about sick oil clean-up workers *
* Jerry Brown announces clean energy jobs plan * New study reveals economic benefits of high-speed rail *
6/18/10
Workers Take a Stand Against Wall Street-Big Oil Takeover at Whitman/Blakeslee Fundraiser
by Rebecca Greenberg
Last night, Meg “Wall Street” Whitman teamed up with SD 15 GOP candidate Sam “The Oil Man” Blakeslee for a ritzy Silicon Valley garden reception and fundraiser. Blakeslee, a former Exxon executive who is bought and paid for by the Big Oil interests that want to drill off California’s coast, was trying to squeeze out some last-minute campaign cash before Tuesday’s special election, when he'll face off against labor-endorsed candidate and champion for working families, John Laird.
The idea of Big Oil and Wall Street coming together in an effort to wage a hostile corporate takeover of our state was too unnerving for some South Bay workers, who protested outside the fundraiser in Los Gatos with signs and chants, saying “Sam and Meg, you shall fail – California is not for sale!”