Spotlight Newsletter

July 23, 2010

Volume 1, Issue 156

After Long Battle, Unemployment Extension Bill Becomes Law

Last night, President Obama signed into law the essential unemployment insurance extension bill to provide much-needed jobless aid for people out of work for longer than six months, including more than 400,000 jobless Californians whose unemployment assistance ran out in May. The Senate GOP had effectively blocked the bill for six weeks, but finally on Tuesday the blockade was broken when Maine Republican Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe stood up for jobless workers and voted to end the filibuster.

The bill quickly passed through the Senate and House, and President Obama wasted no time in signing it into law. "Americans who are working day and night to get back on their feet and support their families in these tough economic times deserve more than obstruction and partisan game-playing that happens too often here in Washington," Obama said before signing the bill.

Learn more.

Take Action to Stop Union Busters at the University of California

Despite being strapped for cash, the University of California is spending much-needed public education dollars on a notorious union-busting law firm, Littler Mendelson. According to the University's own figures, over the past several years UC paid Littler Mendelson nearly $3.5 million and its attorneys upwards of $500 per hour to represent UC in its labor relations.

Working people across California need to send a clear message to decision makers at our beloved public university that we will not tolerate UC spending taxpayer dollars intended for education to fund Littler Mendelson's attack on public employees and their unions. Take action today and send a letter to UC President Yudof and the UC Regents, urging them to terminate their contract with Littler Mendelson.

Take action.

Join the Fiesta to Support the Castlewood Workers Hardship Fund

On February 25th, Castlewood Country Club -- a posh Pleasanton golf course -- locked out its 61 cooks, servers, dishwashers, bartenders and janitors, and five months later, the workers are still fighting to return to work with a fair contract and affordable health care for their families. These workers and members of UNITE HERE 2850 are committed to staying in the struggle for as long as it takes - but they need help to buy food, pay rent and support their families while they are out of work.

Support the Castlewood Workers' Hardship Fund by attending a fun-filled Mexican fiesta on August 14th. The event will feature gourmet Mexican food prepared and served by the staff of Castlewood's elegant restaurants, plus margaritas, sangria, music, a raffle and more. Tickets range from $30-$50, and sponsorship opportunities are available.

Learn more and reserve tickets.

Workers Call on Big Oil to Do Their Part To Rebuild California's Economy

Yesterday, hundreds of workers rallied in LA to take a stand against Big Oil companies that use our dysfunctional budget process to their advantage and get away with pay zero taxes on the petroleum they extract from our state.

The action is part of the larger "Rebuild America" campaign to take back the state budget process from the corporations that keep squeezing benefits and freebies from taxpayers - even while school children, seniors, and hard-working families suffer cuts year after year.

Learn more and sign the "Rebuild America" pledge.

New Report Details Negative Consequences of Tax Breaks

This week, the nonpartisan California Budget Project released a new brief entitled "No Free Lunch: Tax Cuts Widen Budget Gaps," which outlines the negative impact that tax cuts for the wealthy -- like the ones Meg Whitman is proposing - would have on the California economy. The CBP brief clearly explains how claims that tax cuts fuel economic growth are tenuous at best, and those cuts can do even worse damage to the economy by reducing state spending.

According to the report, "States, unlike the federal government, must balance their budgets on an annual basis…. As a result, lower General Fund revenue collections due to tax cuts mean that the state has less money to spend and would have to reduce spending on public programs and services or, alternatively, raise taxes paid by other taxpayers in order to boost revenue collections."

Learn more.

UC Berkeley Labor Center Media Skills Workshop: August 11-12

The annual Media Skills Workshop at the UC Berkeley Labor Center has been rescheduled for August 11-12. This hands-on two-day workshop is designed to help unions and community organizations improve and maximize media coverage for their campaigns.

The workshop will cover a wide variety of communications tactics, and will teach participants about creating a comprehensive communications strategy, developing and practicing effective media messages, learning the nuts and bolts of public relations and integrating social media into field campaigns.