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Spotlight NewsletterApril 08, 2011 |
Volume 1, Issue 186
More than 10,000 Californians Hit the Streets to Honor MLK and Say ‘We Are One’
“Let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge, to make America what it ought to be.” One day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared these inspiring words with striking sanitations workers in Memphis (who were fighting for the same basic rights in 1968 that are under attack today in Wisconsin, 
Ohio, Michigan and dozens of other states across the nation), he was shot and killed -- but his dream for fairness and justice for all workers still lives on.
On Monday, April 4th, the 43rd anniversary of MLK’s death, working families, civil rights activists, progressive leaders, students, elected officials, seniors and others across the nation came out en masse to honor the legacy of MLK by standing up for workers’ rights and speaking out against the right-wing attacks on the middle class. In California, more than 10,000 joined the dozens of rallies, marches, vigils and worksite actions that were held in every corner of the state. Although the events themselves varied, the underlying message remained the same – We Are One.
Check out highlights and photos from the California actions.
Learn about other 'We Are One' events throughout the country.
New Poll Finds Strong Support for Public Sector Workers in California
A new poll released this week by the California Federation of Teachers and Tulchin Research found that a solid majority (56%) of California voters have a favorable view of public employees, and even more (61%) support their right to bargain collectively for fair wages and working conditions. With public sector workers under assault and major battles over union rights in Wisconsin, California voters also sided with the Wisconsin public employees (56%) over Governor Scott Walker (37%).
This poll comes on the heels of another recent poll indicating Californians’ distain for balancing budgets on the backs of working families. That study found overwhelming support for a proposal to raise income taxes by 1% on the top 1% of Californians – known as “1% on the 1%” – in order to help balance the state budget and prevent deeper cuts to essential services. Nearly four out of five voters (78%) support this proposal with more than half of all voters (53%) strongly supporting it.
View the complete poll results.
Wednesday: Join the Day of ‘Class Action’ to Support CSU
The California State University system has been cut by $1.5 billion in recent years, 3000 faculty members have been let go, course offerings have been slashed and student fees have tripled. Tens of thousands of eligible students have been turned away or given up because of rising costs and inability to get necessary classes.
On Wednesday, April 13th, educators, students and members of the California Faculty Association will be hosting a day of unified ‘class action’ at 23 CSU campuses– along with allies on college campuses across the country. Show your support for quality education but joining a rally, demonstration, teach-in, or other event at a college campus near you.
Find a complete list of April 13th ‘class action’ events.
Gov. Brown Signs Law to Eliminate Health Care Taxes for Young Adults
Federal health reform allows parents to keep their 19-26 year-old children on their employer-provided health plans, a provision that could enable 1.5 million uninsured Californian young adults to access health insurance. But due to the fact that California did not conform to federal tax exemptions for young adult coverage, those parents would have to pay taxes on their kids’ coverage, which would otherwise be tax-exempt.
This week, Governor Brown took action to fix that by signing a new law, AB 36 (Perea), which closes the health care tax loophole and makes health coverage for young adults on their parents’ plans tax-exempt.
This Week on “Labor’s Edge”
Mike Hall of the AFL-CIO promoted the ‘We Are One’ day of action.
We shared highlights and photos from the various April 4th actions around California.
Evan Yeats of UFCW reported back from the April 4th action in support of organizing workers at Fresh & Easy.
SEIU 721’s Lowell Goodman lambasted Riverside county supervisors for voting to gut pensions for public sector workers.
Howard Egerman of AFGE 3172 blogged on his union’s efforts to avoid a government shutdown and save jobs and services.
We posted our weekly Rants & Raves.