by Kendra Marr Chaikind, Communications Workers of America

The all-out assault on National Labor Relations Board is threatening vital on-the-job protections for millions of California workers.

The NLRB is the sole agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law and protecting the rights of 80 million private sector employees nationwide. But, unless the Senate majority acts to confirm all five nominations to the NLRB before the August recess, the right to organize and bargain, the right to labor law protections, and the right to free speech in the workplace will all be in jeopardy.

CWA President Larry Cohen told reporters on a conference call yesterday that if obstruction continues, Democratic lawmakers can and must act to reform the Senate rules.

Cohen:

It's up to the Democratic majority in the Senate and the Senate leadership to move forward, particularly on what should be a narrow issue of getting the president's nominees confirmed. The Senate majority must act in July.

In California, the NLRB has recently come to the aid of scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who were unlawfully reprimanded for using JPL’s internal email system to discuss the implications of a recent Supreme Court ruling in their workplace.

Robert M. Nelson, a now-retired JPL scientist who was involved in the case:

Without the support of the National Labor Relations Board, Caltech would have been free to issue a gag order against all communications between employees – a truly bizarre situation for Caltech which prides itself as a research institute dedicated to free and open inquiry.

The board has protected free speech online, ordering clothing store Bettie Page to reinstate employees who had been illegally fired for discussing work conditions on Facebook. At a Dole Fresh Vegetables packing plant, the NLRB settled the case of a longtime employee who was fired after raising safety concerns on behalf of his workers, winning back his job with full back pay.

Robert England, a CWA Local 9416 activist from Bakersfield, traveled to Washington, DC, last week DC to lobby the offices of Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to confirm all five NLRB nominees.

Said England:

The NLRB is what protects workers’ right to join together to improve their lives at work, whether it’s our wages or safety on the job. Because of the NLRB, employers can’t get away with lashing out and penalizing workers – whether they’re in a union or not – for exercising this right. That’s why it’s so important to workers. Even as recently as a couple weeks ago, we have a case that we need to hear back from the NLRB on something as basic as wearing our union shirts at work. I’m happy to say although we haven’t gotten anything back on it yet, we are still proudly wearing our union red shirts on Thursdays.

Cases like these and more will never get justice with a hollowed-out NLRB.

Cohen stressed that non-union workers file on average 4,500 cases each year to the NLRB.

Really this is the key for anyone who wants to speak up, anyone who wants to ask a question about what's happening at work. They have no protection otherwise.

by Jackie Tortora, AFL-CIO

Some say the press is the fourth branch of government. It serves as a "check and a balance" to our elected and non-elected leaders and informs the public of news for the greater good. But what if that was compromised by a corporate power grab?

That's exactly what the panel "Should the Koch Brothers Own The Tribune Newspapers?" will examine next Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. As we've covered on the blog before, David and Charles Koch have expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and other leading newspapers owned by the Tribune Co. 

The Koch brothers also have financed conservative and libertarian causes and founded an advocacy group called Americans for Prosperity, whose stated goals are to limit government, cut taxes and eliminate regulations. Will the Koch brothers’ ownership of newspapers impact fair and objective news coverage?

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement:

It is hard to imagine how the Tribune newspapers would continue to provide quality, independent journalism to the communities they serve if they were under the control of the Koch brothers. As reported by the New York Times, the Kochs’ political strategy includes changing the way the media covers conservative causes. We need newspapers that are dedicated to providing objective and high-quality reporting, not another Fox-news style propaganda machine.

Panelists tackling this discussion are Ryan Grim, The Huffington Post Washington bureau chief; John Nichols, a Washington correspondent at The Nation; Christopher Assaf, video editor at The Baltimore Sun; and Lena Williams, retired senior writer of The New York Times.

The panel will be live-streamed on the AFL-CIO website at www.aflcio.org/Koch-Brothers, Wednesday, June 26, starting at 9am EDT/6am PDT. The Newspaper Guild-CWA is sponsoring the panel. If you're in the DC area and would like to attend in person, please RSVP by sending an email to invest@aflcio.org.

This article originally appeared on the AFL-CIO blog. 

by William Shields, City College of San Francisco

Over a hundred organizers and students of organizing from a wide array of unions, community and educational groups attended the Organize! – The Art and Science of Organizing conference at City College of San Francisco last month. The all-day conference was hosted by the college’s Labor and Community Studies Department and brought participants together to share lessons learned from each other’s organizing campaigns. The conference was English-Spanish bilingual throughout.

National labor educator Bill Fletcher, Jr. called for unions and community-based workers’ centers to organize for all working people. He was followed by presentations on union contract campaigns by AFT 2121, COCAL, SEIU 87 and UNITE HERE Local 2. A panel on union organizing drives was next, led by ILWU 6, SEIU 1021 and Local 2. Member-organizers were a prominent feature of these examples of effective mobilization. This included a moving presentation by Donal Mahon, a worker-organizer with an ILWU Recycling Center campaign, who said she wanted a union so she could recycle, and not be treated like, garbage.

The conference broke for lunch and a musical presentation by the Labor Chorus. Two more panels followed. The first explored day labor and domestic worker organizing with the San Francisco Day Labor Program and La Colectiva de Mujeres/the Women’s Collective. These panelists placed strong emphasis on the fight for immigration and domestic worker legal reform.

The final panel of the day discussed labor-community coalitions, with speakers from Jobs with Justice, the Sonoma Living Wage Coalition and the Save City College Coalition. These presenters stressed the common interests of unions, communities and schools in the fight for social and economic justice.

The conference concluded with a spirited march along Ocean Avenue for immigrant workers’ rights and full funding for City College, led by the percussion group, The Troublemakers’ Union.

Additional participants included members of IATSE 784, ATU 1574 and Bakery 125, the CCSF Department Chair Council and a number of Save City College activists. Participants earned a Certificate of Completion, and all agreed it was a Saturday well spent.

Labor and Community Studies will use the knowledge gained from the conference to strengthen its organizer-training curriculum. The department can lead trainings of three to eighteen hours for unions and workers’ centers on internal and external organizing, as well as representation and labor history. For more information on these classes and on the department’s certificate program, please contact me at wshields@ccsf.edu or 415-550-4473.

by Jennifer Angarita, AFL-CIO

This week, a California worker center that organizes domestic workers and immigrant women, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, affiliated with the San Francisco Labor Council as part of a growing partnership effort by the labor movement and the larger worker rights’ movement to strengthen advocacy and mobilization efforts for day laborers, domestic workers and all working people.

A member of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Mujeres Unidas y Activas is a grassroots organization that empowers nannies, housekeepers and other domestic workers through community actions, leadership development and skills-based trainings. Over the past two years, Mujeres Unidas y Activas has worked closely with the California Labor Federation to pass the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which passed both the state Assembly and Senate, only to be vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) last October.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said

In joining together, the San Francisco Labor Council and Mujeres Unidas y Activas are helping to build a broader, more inclusive labor movement to improve the lives of working people.

By Steve Smith, California Labor Federation

To some politicians, economic development means giving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to strip clubs, fast food joints and retail giants like Walmart. Gov. Brown, thankfully, has a better idea. Today, the Governor announced a broad coalition of labor, business and others in support of his good jobs plan that will flip the broken enterprise zone program into real incentives for creating quality, middle-class jobs.

Gov. Brown:

California’s 30-year-old Enterprise Zone program is not enterprising, it’s wasteful. It’s inefficient and not giving taxpayers the biggest bang for their buck. There’s a better way and it will help encourage manufacturing in California.

Study after study has shown that the enterprise zone program is a waste of taxpayer dollars. The California Labor Federation has been sounding the alarm on this broken program for several years, and now there’s strong momentum for reform.

California Labor Federation leader Art Pulaski:

The Governor’s plan wisely targets our tax dollars to good jobs that build the middle class and strengthen communities. California workers stand with the Governor in his efforts to create good jobs that will spur our state’s economic growth.

The Governor’s plan directs tax credits to businesses that are actually creating new, quality jobs -- something the broken enterprise zone program has failed miserably in achieving. The Governor outlined his program today in a release to media:

The Governor’s plan, proposed in the May Revision, builds on the framework of existing, targeted programs by redirecting approximately $750 million annually from the current flawed Enterprise Zone program to three new economic development programs:

Sales tax exemption: A statewide sales tax exemption on manufacturing equipment or research and development equipment purchases by firms engaged in manufacturing or biotechnology research and development. The proposal is estimated to provide sales tax exemptions worth over $400 million annually.

Hiring credit: A hiring credit targeted to businesses located in areas with the highest unemployment rate and poverty. This credit will be available for the hiring of long-term unemployed workers, unemployed veterans and people receiving the federal earned income tax credit. The credit will only be allowed to taxpayers who have a net increase in jobs. The proposal is expected to provide approximately $100 million annually in hiring credits.

Investment incentive: The California Competes Credit based on specified criteria including the number of jobs to be created or retained and a set job retention period. This component of the proposal is expected to provide between $100 million and $200 million per year in tax credits. 

It’s time to end the enterprise zone abuse of taxpayer dollars. Send a message to your legislators in support of the Governor’s good jobs plan today!

By Rebecca Band, California Labor Federation

There’s power in the picket line. And employers know it.

That’s why, in 2008, Ralphs Grocery Company sued to have union picketers removed from the front of one of its non-union stores. But California has explicit laws to protect labor-related speech, and the court denied the request by Ralphs.

But that hasn’t stopped the grocery chain from continuing its courtroom battle to silence workers – even though they’ve lost just about every case. Last December, California's Supreme Court upheld the ruling in favor of the picketers. Speaking for the California Supreme Court's 6-1 ruling in the Union's favor, Justice Joyce Kennard wrote that the 1975 state law and follow-up legislation passed in 1999 are

justified by the state's interest in promoting collective bargaining to resolve labor disputes, and the understanding that the area outside the entrance of the targeted business often is the most effective point of persuasion.

And this week, California working families scored a huge and decisive victory when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the employer’s appeal on the constitutionality of labor-related speech on private property.

UFCW8 President Jacques Loveall:

This decision is a clear victory for our Union and all working families our state. While we are glad to achieve this decisive legal victory, it is troubling to witness a long-time Union employer taking a hostile stance toward workers' rights to express themselves freely. Educating shoppers and workers about their basic rights to a decent wage, good health care, dignity in retirement and respect on the job should not result in lawsuits and appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Through its YourBreadAndButter.com campaign, UFCW 8 continues its efforts on behalf of employees at Walmart, Fresh & Easy, Nugget, Target, Whole Foods, WinCo, Vallarta, Trader Joe's and other retail chains known as failing to meet industry standards in wages and benefits.

Said Loveall:

Our members are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure all workers have access to the good pay, health care, pensions and job security provisions enjoyed by union members.

by Fred Glass, California Federation of Teachers

It is with deep sorrow that the California Federation of Teachers announces the passing of former CFT president Raoul Teilhet. 

Raoul Teilhet, a Pasadena high school history teacher who believed collective bargaining offered the path to dignity and respect for public school employees before laws existed allowing it, and served as president of the California Federation of Teachers in successful pursuit of that goal, died of complications from Parkinson’s Disease on June 5 in Los Angeles.  He was 79. 

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. said

Raoul Teilhet was a creative leader. I had the pleasure of spending many long evenings with him solving education problems and discussing how we could make California and its schools better for everyone. I’ll miss him.

When Teilhet began teaching in the late 1950s, he said he “didn’t have the least intention of organizing a union, or becoming a member of one.”  He would later joke that he “thought that AFT was the other end of a boat.” 

But when an American Federation of Teachers organizer called a meeting in 1960 in a nearby town, Teihet was one of a handful of teachers who signed the charter founding the Pasadena Federation of Teachers, and he agreed to serve as its first treasurer.  Within a few years he was elected local president, then a member of the statewide CFT Executive Council, and CFT president in 1967.  Teilhet spoke out loudly and early against the Vietnam War when few labor leaders were willing to do so.  Likewise, when State Senator John Briggs placed a measure on the state ballot that would have banned gay teachers from California classrooms, Teilhet debated him across the state and helped turn the tide against the Briggs Initiative. 

Under Teilhet's leadership, CFT grew from 6,000 members to nearly 40,000 by the time he stepped down in 1985.  And his forceful advocacy was one of the main reasons why the California state legislature passed, and Governor Jerry Brown signed, the Educational Employment Relations Act in 1975, legalizing collective bargaining in California public education. 

Teilhet is survived by his wife, Carol Rosenzweig Teilhet. For a complete obituary, photographs, video clip, and more information, www.cft.org.

by Kenneth Quinnell, AFL-CIO

Editor's note: Representatives from California Central Labor Councils and unions are among those who travelled out to DC to lobby Congress on immigration reform today.

This week, working families are calling 27 U.S. senators and urging them to vote for an immigration reform bill that provides a reliable road map to citizenship for more than 11 million aspiring Americans. 

The bill is expected to reach the floor of the Senate this week, and the labor movement is ramping up its national campaign in support of the bill through phone calls, Internet advertisements and by having more than 50 leaders and allies from 24 states fly to Washington, D.C., to lobby elected officials today, the first full day of Senate debate.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined President Obama for a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.

Trumka:

Americans get it—our broken immigration system hurts all working people, immigrant or locally born alike. Justice and politics are in alignment, and the labor movement is committed to putting its full weight behind the cause of citizenship.

UPDATE: The US Senate voted 84-15 yesterday to begin debate on the Gang of Eight's immigration bill, The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, after Republicans failed to muster a filibuster.

NOW is the time to make your voice heard. Click here to call your Senator today and express your support for a roadmap to citizenship.

For more news and breaking updates, visit the AFL-CIO blog.

By Sara Flocks, California Labor Federation

Women have been hit especially hard by cuts to the Medi-Cal program in recent years. And access to care for women will be even more challenged in coming years if large corporations like Walmart continue to avoid their responsibility to pay a fair share of health care costs under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Today in Sacramento, women leaders in the legislature came together with women workers and California NOW to declare protecting women’s health by passing AB 880 a top priority for women this year.

AB 880 protects women’s health by preventing Walmart and other large employers from exploiting what’s come to be known as the “Walmart loophole” in the ACA. The loophole allows profitable corporations to shift their costs onto taxpayers.  By allowing the state’s largest employers to dump their workers onto state-funded Medi-Cal rather than pay their fair share for health care, the loophole shortchanges the Medi-Cal program that is an important source of healthcare coverage for women.

In fact, women make up the bulk of adults who receive health care through Medi-Cal.  The system already suffers from a shortage of doctors needed to deliver health care to women and other low-income, elderly and disabled patients.  Without AB 880, nearly 400,000 workers could be dumped onto Medi-Cal by 2019, according to a UC Berkeley report.  This will put more pressure on the Medi-Cal program and undercut the intent of the ACA to improve health care and make it more cost-effective.

Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus:

California’s women are counting on us to keep the promise of the Affordable Care Act to help women of all ages get and stay healthy.  We can’t keep Medi-Cal strong if we let a few huge companies get away with shifting their costs onto the rest of us, while shortchanging care. As legislators, it's time we hold the biggest employers accountable for doing their fair share for health care by passing AB 880.

Walmart has been pushing its workers onto taxpayer-funded programs for years. The problem has been exacerbated recently as Walmart and some other large profitable corporations are exploiting the loophole by cutting hours and wages so their workers qualify for Medi-Cal.

Connie Leyva, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1428:

When Walmart refuses to pay its fair share of health care costs, women and families suffer. AB 880 is commonsense legislation that demands large, profitable corporations do their part to ensure that workers have access to quality, affordable health coverage.

AB 880 author Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez said his legislation will ensure large corporations are paying their fair share and will help sustain the Medi-Cal system in coming years, ensuring low-income women have access to health care.                                                         

I’m proud to join leading California women today to stand up for the care our mothers, daughters and sisters count on. AB 880 is a responsible solution that protects taxpayers while enabling Medi-Cal to serve California families better. This legislation that holds the biggest, most profitable companies accountable to do their part under the Affordable Care Act while protecting individuals and small and mid-sized businesses who are doing the right thing.

Today’s event was part of the California Women of Labor conference, which brought together more than 150 women workers from across California to speak with their elected representatives about priority legislation like AB 880.

By Steve Smith, California Labor Federation

You’ve probably seen the stories by now: Enterprise zone tax breaks, which are supposed to provide incentives for good jobs, are instead going to strip clubs and low-wage mega corporations like Walmart.

The current enterprise zone program is shrouded in secrecy, with virtually no accountability or transparency. Study after study shows the program is a massive failure, wasting $750 million a year without doing much of anything to create new jobs.

But momentum is building for much-need reform. Last week, Gov. Brown detailed his proposal to flip this broken system into a real job creation program that will help build our middle class. The governor’s reform is a three-pronged approach that tackles tough issues facing our economy in a smart, strategic way.

• The governor’s proposal repurposes the broken enterprise zone program to more effectively create good new jobs in areas of the state with the highest levels of unemployment and poverty. The hiring credit is wisely targeted to those who need it most – returning veterans, the long-term unemployed and low-income individuals receiving public assistance.
• The governor’s proposal also recognizes the important role manufacturing plays in California’s economy. By reinvesting in manufacturing statewide, the plan would boost California’s competiveness and stimulate a vital job sector that is key to rebuilding the middle class.  
• The third prong of the governor’s proposal, the California Competes Fund, requires companies to publicly apply and win approval for tax credits based on job creation and retention standards. This proposal begins a new model of transparency and accountability, recognizing that job creation programs shouldn’t be shrouded in secrecy. Lawmakers will regularly be informed of the program's performance, ensuring the effectiveness of taxpayer dollars is maximized.

We strongly support the governor’s proposal. It ends the waste and abuse of the current enterprise zone program and uses those resources to spur the creation of good jobs. While the governor’s proposal seems like a no-brainer to most taxpayers who demand our dollars are spent wisely, there are a number of politicians who are still defending the broken enterprise zone program, even in light of the overwhelming evidence that enterprise zones are nothing more than a boondoggle. Put simply, they treat enterprise zone funds as their own personal piggy banks for their districts and their donors like Walmart.

To reform enterprise zones, we need a two-thirds vote for the governor’s proposal. We need every legislator to hear loud and clear that we’re not going to allow the enterprise zone boondoggle to continue any longer.

The governor’s proposal grows our economy and builds the middle class. Join us in urging legislators to support the governor’s proposal to create good jobs and stop the waste and abuse of our taxpayer dollars through the broken enterprise zone program. Click here to send a message to your legislators today!

by Chris Hoene, California Budget Project

As deliberations over the 2013-14 state budget continue, one key issue under discussion is the future of California's Enterprise Zone (EZ) Program. This program was created nearly 30 years ago to promote business development and job creation in economically distressed areas, but independent studies have questioned the effectiveness of EZ tax breaks in achieving their goals -- even as program costs have skyrocketed.

A new California Budget Project report on the EZ Program examines the growing cost to the state of the EZ tax breaks, looks at who receives these breaks, and discusses current proposals to reform the EZ Program, including those contained in Governor Brown's May Revision of his proposed 2013-14 budget. Dollar for Dollar: California's Enterprise Zone Program Falls Short shows that:

• The annual cost of EZ tax credits and deductions has grown to more than $700 million and -- without program changes -- is expected to reach $1 billion by 2016. Between 1986 and 2010, the average cost per zone grew from approximately $48,000 to $17.2 million.
• The high cost of the EZ Program is primarily due to its hiring tax credit, which cost the state $414 million in 2010 -- nearly 60 percent of the total cost of the EZ tax breaks. Yet because companies can claim these credits without actually creating new jobs, the hiring tax credit has generally been ineffective in promoting job growth. 
• The EZ Program's tax breaks primarily benefit very large corporations. Corporations with assets of at least $1 billion claimed more than two-thirds of the total dollar value of EZ tax credits in 2010, the most recent year for which data are available. 

This new report includes a set of policy recommendations for improving the EZ Program and making it more cost-effective, with a focus on two areas that are especially important targets for reform: the hiring tax credit and the designation of enterprise zones. Look for updates and commentary on California Budget Bites as the debate over EZs and other key budget issues moves forward in the coming weeks.

Read Dollar for Dollar.

By Rebecca Band, California Labor Federation

Not a lot of elections result in one candidate receiving 73% of the vote. In fact, 73% of voters can rarely agree on anything. But in the recent special election to fill the Assembly seat vacated by Ben Hueso when he moved over to the State Senate, San Diego-Imperial Central Labor Council leader Lorena Gonzalez received a staggering 73% of the vote, while her opponent, former City Councilman Steve Castaneda, garnered just 27%.

Despite San Diego’s reputation as a fairly conservative area of the state, Gonzalez didn’t take the traditional political tactic of “playing to the middle” in order to court more conservative voters. She unabashedly ran on her track record as a labor leader, workers’ rights activist and job creator -- and it paid off on Election Day. Big time.

On May 28th, Gonzalez was sworn in as the newest member of the California Legislature, representing Assembly District 80.  Gonzalez, who’s served as the head of the Labor Council since 2008, has been a staunch worker advocate for years, and plans to continue her fight for the working class from her new office in Sacramento.

This blogger got a chance to ask Assemblymember Gonzalez about her transition from labor leader to lawmaker.  

Labor’s Edge: Why did you decide to run for Assembly?

Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez: I had been approached by then-Senator Juan Vargas who was running for Congress at the time, as well as then-Assemblymember Ben Hueso [who ended up filling Vargas’ seat when Vargas went to Congress]. They introduced the idea, but I was hesitant at first, because I loved my position at the Labor Council. But then, when I went to a National AFL-CIO meeting, I heard the leader of the New Jersey Federation of Labor talking about his state’s program to recruit union members and leaders to run for public office. In his view, that’s the next step -- not just believing in what the [Democratic] party can do for working families, but believing in the actual people who live and breathe union priorities and knowing that they can be leaders. That’s when I seriously first thought [running for office] was a possibility. And when the opportunity came up [to run for Assembly in District 80] I thought,” Rather than complain about another elected official who just thinks about votes and campaign contributions, I want someone who wakes up and thinks, ‘What can I do for working people today?’  That’s the kind of legislator I want, and that’s when I decided to run.

Labor’s Edge: What excited you most about the campaign?

Asm. Gonzalez: What was exciting was the results! I took a very pro-worker approach in everything I did throughout the campaign; in every ad and in every interview, I mentioned my role as leader of the Labor Council and my experience as a worker advocate. I didn’t shy away from it, and people really responded to our message about creating good, self-sustaining jobs.  I think it was the focus on jobs as a theme that really resonated with everyone. When you quit looking at ‘interspace politics’ and when you display unions as a pathway to the middle class, I think they respond to that. The fact that we were able to get 73% of the vote, as well as the editorial endorsement in the conservative San Diego Union-Tribune, I think is pretty amazing.

I'm so thankful for all the union support, both financial and personal, during campaign. The rank & file members who volunteered to walk precincts, knock on doors and make calls felt as much a part of this as I did. It was an incredible experience to get sworn on a day with so many rank & file union members at the Capitol [participating in a lobby day in support of AB 880]. When I got sworn in, I think I said “proud” 18 times.  This isn’t just me coming to Sacramento, it’s all of us coming to Sacramento. It really felt that way, and it was exciting.

Labor’s Edge:  What’s the toughest part about transitioning from labor leader to legislator?

Asm. Gonzalez: The toughest part is not having daily interaction with rank & file union members. I loved my job as head of the Labor Council because I got to work with union leaders and members every day. I got to fight for workers who were in unions, who wanted to be in unions and who weren’t in unions, and I really got to talk to the people who are affected by our state’s policies. It’s tough to be in this [Capitol] building and feel so removed from the rank & file.  

Labor’s Edge: What are your plans, priorities and goals now that you’re in the Assembly?

Asm. Gonzalez:  I want to find ways to increase jobs, particularly in the private sector. We need strategies to reform the Enterprise Zone program and other corporate tax incentives, to make sure we’re providing incentives for good, self-sustaining jobs with benefits. I also am excited and hopeful about helping to get AB 880 passed, so we can ensure that as we expand Medi-Cal, we’re not allowing the Walmarts of the world to dump workers into the system without paying. And I want to make sure we’re keeping the promise we made to the rank & file when we asked for their support of the Affordable Care Act, that they would be able to keep their health care and not be penalized for it.

Labor’s Edge: If you could send a message to other union women and workers’ rights activists about running for office, what would it be?

Asm. Gonzalez:  I would say to go for it, and don’t be afraid of who you are! It’s ok for us to proclaim that we’re for workers, we’re advocates and organizers. There’s nothing wrong with that, and in fact it’s a message that really resonates. I’d absolutely tell them, go for it!

Learn more about Assemblymember Gonzalez.

This article is the first installment of our new Q&A series with labor leaders who are reinvigorating the fight for workers’ rights. Stay tuned for a new installment next month.

by John Logan, San Francisco State University

Last week, non-union Wal-Mart employees began the first “prolonged” strike in the 50-year history of the nation’s largest employer. Last October and November, Wal-Mart employees across the country participated in a series of one-day strikes and walkouts against the company in support of a minimum $13 per hour wage, more predictable scheduling and an end to management retaliation against employees who speak up at work.

Wal-Mart has grown accustomed to isolated protests in the past, but has always believed that they would quickly die out, given workers’ understandable fear of management retaliation. But this time it may be different. Wal-Mart workers in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Washington and elsewhere are striking this week for more full-time jobs, a minimum wage of $25,000 per year, improved working conditions, better health and pension benefits and basic respect on the job. Other protesting Wal-Mart workers from across the country will participate in a week-long “Ride for Respect,” joining the strikers as they head for a national day of action at the company’s AGM in Bentonville, Arkansas on June 7. 

Wal-Mart’s “low-road” competitive strategy hurts not only the company’s 1.3 million employees – who suffer from lost income and economic insecurity – but it also hurts all American taxpayers. The nation’s largest private-sector employer is also the largest employer of workers who depend on food stamps, subsidized housing and child-care, government health insurance for low-income individuals, and other forms of public assistance.

According to a report by the Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the poverty wages and poor benefits at a single Wal-Mart store may cost taxpayers as much one million dollars per year in higher usage of public-assistance programs by both Wal-Mart employees and their dependents. Data released by Wisconsin’s Medicaid program demonstrates that one 300-employee Wal-Mart Supercenter in the state may cost taxpayers between $904,542 to $1.75 million per year, or about $5,815 per employee. 

Wisconsin has 100 Wal-Mart stores, while California has 180 stores. In 2012, 9,207 Wal-Mart employees and their dependents – a higher number than for any other employer -- were enrolled in Wisconsin’s public health care program. Wal-Mart also tops the list of public assistance users in Ohio, with 17,679 employees and dependents on Medicaid. 

California taxpayers have an added incentive for supporting better wages and benefits at Wal-Mart. As Medicaid eligibility is expanded in California and about 30 other states under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the size of Wal-Mart’s subsidy may actually increase. 

Some of California’s largest employers already limit the wages and hours of their employees so they can push the cost of their healthcare benefits onto the state’s taxpayers. In 2004, it was estimated that the reliance of Wal-Mart employees on public health programs was costing California taxpayers $32 million per year. That figure has likely grown since then and will increase significantly under the ACA.

In a brazen attempt to game the system, large retailers are already reducing the hours (and wages) of their employees, who are then eligible for Medi-Cal. Many of Wal-Mart’s employees work part-time and end up on public assistance not because they want to, but because they have no other choice. Assembly Bill 880 (Gomez), which is supported by unions, doctors and consumer groups, would close the “Wal-Mart loophole” and stop low-wage corporations from dumping their hourly-paid employees on Medi-Cal. Under AB 880, large employers who have employees on Medi-Cal would be subject to a fee that would cover the cost of the taxpayer subsidy.

A June 5 report released by the California Workers Foundation estimates that Wal-Mart’s use of public assistance costs the state $86 million per year and that figure will increase significantly under the ACA.

Higher wages, better benefits and more full-time jobs at Wal-Mart’s 4,000 stores across the country would have a broad-based beneficial economic impact. Improved wages and benefits for Wal-Mart workers would make them less reliant on public assistance, help end the enormous taxpayer subsidy of the world’s largest retailer, which is owned the country’s richest family, and give a much needed boost to the economy of urban America.

Wal-Mart workers cannot rely on the good intentions of management to provide better jobs and benefits. The report demonstrating the enormous cost to taxpayers of Wal-Mart’s low-road strategies was a follow-up to a 2004 report that reached exactly the same conclusions. Nothing has changed in the intervening years, except that Wal-Mart has continued to retaliate against workers who speak up against poverty wages and poor working conditions. The situation of Wal-Mart workers, who according to a Bloomberg study are paid an average of $8.81 per hour, demonstrates the need for a significant increase in the federal minimum wage. And while the current strikes are not over issues of unionization, it is only with a union that Wal-Mart workers will ultimately secure good jobs and respect at work.

This article originally appeared on BeyondChron. 

By Rebecca Band, California Labor Federation

We all know that working for Walmart is no picnic. They pay low wages, they slash hours, they offer little or no job security, they exploit and intimidate workers and they use sweatshop labor. That’s why Walmart workers are on strike this week, to protest the corporation’s greedy behavior and shady business practices. Learn more about the strike here.

Many of these striking workers earn so little that they’re eligible for public assistance, like food stamps and Medicaid. And that’s no accident; it’s exactly the way Walmart likes it. We as taxpayers foot the bill for their workers, and the corporate head honchos get even richer.

According to a new report released today by the California Works Foundation:

[Walmart] workers use 40% more public health care assistance than the retail average. The company’s use of public assistance costs California $86 million per year, including $32 million for health care. The 19% of Wal-mart workers who are uninsured cost the state $10 million and the country $202 million. If other companies followed Wal-mart’s practices, it could cost the state $410 million.

And these figures could skyrocket next year when the Affordable Care Act goes into full effect. The law is intended to ensure shared responsibility between workers, employers and the government. But thanks to the “Walmart loophole” in the ACA, big corporations can easily skirt their responsibility by forcing workers onto Medi-Cal. From the report:

Under the ACA, there is no penalty for employers whose employees receive coverage through Medi-Cal or responsibility to offer coverage to part-time workers. When employers fail to share the responsibility for health care, they shift the burden to the individuals who are least able to pay for their own care or insurance, and taxpayers, who pay the costs of insurance through Medicaid and safety net health services at the county level.

According to the report, it’s the biggest and most profitable corporations that are the worst offenders when it comes to slashing wages and hours to dump workers onto Medi-Cal. Walmart isn’t the only one -- Papa John’s, Regal Entertainment Group, Krispy Kreme, Darden Restaurants (the owner of Red Lobster and Olive Garden), Burger King, McDonald’s, KFC, Dunkin’ Donuts, Taco Bell and Wendy’s have all publicly announced plans to cut hours and reduce employment in order to skirt their responsibility under the ACA.

And since the ACA also includes a major expansion of Medi-Cal for working families up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Line (which translates to $15,856 for a single individual and $32,499 for a family of four in 2013), even more low-wage workers at huge corporations will be eligible for Medi-Cal, and we as taxpayers will be footing an even bigger bill.

The report concludes:

 If large employers add their employees to the Medi-Cal program, the costs can quickly add up for the state and federal government. On average, a non-disabled adults on Medicaid spent $4,362 in 2011. Under the ACA, they would be able to shift their costs to the government program without penalty.

Employers’ conversion of jobs from full-time to part-time has been a driving force behind the increase in the uninsured population over the last two decades. Now with the ACA about to take effect, they stand to benefit even further from the expansion of Medi-Cal and the state’s outreach and education to inform low-income Californians of their health options.  Most employers and individuals will fulfill their responsibilities to provide or obtain coverage, but some large employers—those who are most able to contribute to health care coverage—are seeking an advantage at the expense of taxpayers and low income residents—those who are least able to afford the cost of health care—by pushing even more of their employees onto the Medi-Cal system.  This will only add to the challenges facing the state in successfully implementing the new health care law. 

Read the full report here.

Learn more and take action at www.CloseTheWalmartLoophole.com

By Steve Smith, California Labor Federation

We’ve been sounding the alarm on the need for enterprise zone (EZ) reform for years. The bloated, wasteful corporate tax giveaway program is bilking California taxpayers to the tune of $750 million a year without doing much, if anything, to create jobs. After last week’s KCRA investigative report, based on records the California Labor Federation obtained, revealed strip clubs were among the recipients of taxpayer dollars, there’s renewed momentum behind the reform efforts.

At a press conference today in front of Déjà Vu Showgirls club in Rancho Cordova, Republican State Sen. Anthony Cannella and Democratic State Sen. Jerry Hill joined California Labor Federation's Sara Flocks to call on the Legislature to pass significant reforms this year to the program that’s gone horribly awry. In its current form, the EZ program is a huge giveaway to strip clubs, cardrooms and corporate giants. EZs incentivize companies to move from one area of the state to another, laying off workers and devastating families and communities in the process.

Sen. Cannella:

We need to stop strip clubs from getting taxpayer dollars. We need to reform enterprise zone regulation to provide transparency across the state, to ensure a company is not simply moving to the next city to take advantage of the benefits and using the program as an excuse to cut wages.

Sen. Hill is the author of SB 434, EZ reform legislation that would create more transparency in the program, require that companies create net new jobs to claim credits and attach wage standards to ensure the program incentivizes the creation of good jobs. Gov. Brown has also offered a significant reform proposal as part of his budget that would transform the broken program into real job creation incentives with accountability and transparency.

Sen. Hill:

California’s enterprise zone program has devolved into free money for companies like (Déjà Vu). It’s already cost taxpayers more than $4 billion, and it’s growing by 30 percent a year.  The majority of these tax credits go to companies that are just replacing existing workers. This is the kind of government program that drives people crazy.

A report in today’s Sacramento Bee revealed the enterprise zone program is doling out big money to huge corporations like FedEx and Walmart, in addition to the strip clubs. These wealthy companies are primarily low-wage employers with high turnover. Their corporate tax consultants know that they can claim EZ tax credits going back four years, which means companies like Walmart are collecting credits for workers that are no longer employed.

From the Bee:

An assortment of fast-food restaurants, manufacturers and retailers are on the lists. So are two strip clubs in Rancho Cordova, which have claimed a combined 24 vouchers dating back to 2010. Opponents have seized on that fact to assail the program.

"That's just an inappropriate use of money," said state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, chair of the Senate Governance and Finance Committee, which considers tax legislation. "Our schools need money, our strip clubs do not."

The program is shrouded in secrecy so taxpayers have little knowledge of where their dollars are going, or what effect those dollars are having on jobs. The California Labor Federation spent weeks trying to obtain records from enterprise zones across the state that show which companies are receiving tax breaks through the program. The Sacramento Enterprise Zone was the only program to respond.

Today, Flocks called for all EZs across the state to immediately release information that would allow taxpayers to see who’s getting the credits and whether those credits are actually creating jobs. In Sacramento, the data obtained on Déjà Vu show that all the credits the strip club claimed -- up to $37,500 per credit -- were for existing positions.  Not a new job in the bunch.

Flocks:

The enterprise zone program is indefensible. Instead of creating new jobs, this program is giving taxpayer money to strip clubs and mega corporations like Walmart. The reforms proposed by the governor and Sen. Hill through SB 434 would end the waste of taxpayer dollars in the enterprise zone program.  The reforms flip this program into real job creation incentives that prioritize good-paying jobs for those who need them most.

Learn more about enterprise zones.