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Spotlight NewsletterJuly 09, 2010 |
Volume 1, Issue 154
Whitman's Opposition to High-Speed Rail Shows True Colors on Jobs
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. According to her spokesperson, Whitman opposes the project because the state can't "afford" high-speed rail.
California voters approved the high-speed rail project for its economic, environmental, business and revenue benefits, and the federal government has already contributed more than $2 billion to the project. The construction and operation of a high-speed rail system is projected to create 160,000 construction jobs and as many as 450,000 permanent jobs statewide.
"Meg Whitman's opposition to high-speed rail and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it would create shows how dangerously out of touch she is with the economic realities facing so many California families," said California Labor Federation's Art Pulaski. "California's high-speed rail project is precisely the kind of spark our state's economy needs. Not only would it create good-paying jobs up and down the state, it has the potential to bring manufacturing back to California."
Controller Chiang Fights Governor's Order to Slash Pay for State Workers
State Controller John Chiang is refusing to comply with Governor Schwarzenegger's order to start paying all state employees the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour - 75 cents less than California's minimum wage, and certainly not enough to live on. This week, the Governor filed suit to force Controller Chiang to cut wages, and Chiang filed a cross-complaint to block Schwarzenegger's minimum wage order.
"Reducing state salaries to the federal minimum wage will do nothing to solve the budget deficit." Chiang wrote in an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee. "But it will cost California billions of dollars in penalties and damages for violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the California Constitution."
Join a Rally Next Week to Say NO to Meg Whitman
Thursday: Nurses Protest in Redwood City
Meg Whitman has declared war on California nurses. Her attacks began with an imperious letter demanding the names and personal information of all members of the California Nurses Association. The union declined, citing member privacy, but offered to sponsor a public forum in which both Whitman and Jerry Brown could directly address CNA members. Brown accepted the invitation. Whitman refused, and instead mounted an all-out assault on the nurses - calling them at home, sending them deceptive mailers and putting up smear websites.
But California nurses won't be pushed around. Join the nurses for a rally in Meg Whitman's hometown on Thursday, July 15th. Meet at 11am at 4200 Farm Hill Blvd in Redwood City to catch the shuttle to the rally location.
For more information, email bgallagher@calnurses.org.
Friday: State Workers Protest in Stockton
Meg Whitman has made no effort to mask her attacks on state workers. Despite the fact that public employees have already suffered furloughs, layoffs and draconian cuts under Schwarzenegger, Whitman is still vowing to lay off 40,000 more state workers, and gut pensions for those lucky enough to keep their jobs.
On Friday, June 16th, join state workers in Stockton for a noon rally to oppose Meg Whitman's corporate agenda and her attacks on state workers. The rally will take place at Weber Park in Stockton (corner of Fremont and El Dorado Sts.)
This Week on "Labor's Edge"
Bob Balgenorth of the State Building and Construction Trades Council highlighted Carly Fiorina's numerous failures as CEO of HP.
We posted a column from U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis on the importance of unions and the National Labor Relations Act.
We lambasted Meg Whitman's opposition to California's high-speed rail project, which would create half a million new jobs.
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