As the next Congressional fight over payroll tax extensions and unemployment benefits and pipelines gets set up in the next few weeks for either its final chapter or to be kicked down the road a bit farther, one or the other, you're going to hear a lot from our Republican friends about how much they value work and workers; most especially, they'll tell you, they value American jobs for American workers.
After all, they'll say, creating American jobs is the most important thing of all.
But if we were to look back over just the last few months, some would tell us, we could quickly find examples of how Republicans promote ideas that don't seem to value work or workers at all, much less American jobs.
Well as it turns out, "some" seem to be right; to illustrate one of those examples we'll look back a month or two or three to a time some Republicans might wish was long, long, ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
Main Street, USA - Nurses call their neighbors and their elected officials to come to Main Street on September 1, even as many of the elected officials continue chiding one another about returning to DC.
Main Street is where the damage has been done and is being felt most deeply; DC is where deals are cut to protect Wall Street with breath-taking regularity. This is not a time when political posturing for some distant election cycle by those largely insulated from the harsh financial realities they helped create ought to take precedence over the real-time, real-life needs of millions.
Lives depend on it; jobs depend on it; communities depend on it. 170,000 Registered Nurse members of National Nurses United throughout America have come together to re-build Main Street. We need you on our side.
So, on Thursday, September 1, the nurses of National Nurses United will gather in more than 60 communities from Maine to Texas, and Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, California and beyond to call on the nation's elected officials to chose to protect and repair Main Street and stop cow-towing to Wall Street. Find an action on a Main Street near you and join in.
We gotta grow some jobs, and that's a fact, and we probably aren't going to be able to do it with big ol' jobs programs funded by the Federal Government, what with today's politics and all, and that means if this Administration wants to stay in the jobs game they're going to have to find some smaller and more creative ways to do it.
They are also going to have to come up with ideas that are pretty much "bulletproof", meaning that they are so hard to object to that even Allen West and Louie Gohmert will not want to be on record saying "no no no!"; alternatively, solutions that work around the legislative process entirely could represent the other form of "bulletproof-ery".
Well, I have one of those "maybe bulletproof" ideas for you today, and it has to do with how "Made in USA" the things are that our Government buys.
One hundred years ago today, the garment workers of New York were galvanized into action by the gruesome and unnecessary deaths of 146 workers, mostly immigrant women, at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. Many of the workers burned to death because doors were locked, while scores of others died trying to escape by leaping from the 8th, 9th and 10th floors. After the funerals, tens of thousands of working New Yorkers marched, and workers demanded change and a voice in the workplace.
Today, workers in America, especially immigrant workers, find ourselves again in need of a voice. Unionization rates are 6.9% in the private sector; disparities in wealth are greater than at any time since 1928, and corporate America has consolidated its capital and its political power.
The American Dream of the mid-20th Century was built on good jobs - on union jobs. But here in the 21st Century, more and more working people are slipping into poverty. The working poor are everywhere we turn, and Latino workers make up 59% of the working poor in California. Nearly 50% of the foreclosures in California hit hard-working Latino familiesand more than 1 in 4 of the Latino children in California are living in poverty, most of them in working families.
I've been writing about Capistrano Unified School District and the struggles with our current Board of Trustees. The teachers went on strike today even as talks began regarding the contract imposed by the Board of trustees.
The details are important because they seem to be getting lost in translation between the media, the administration, the union and the parents. The issue is that Teachers are willing to take pay cuts, they just don't want them to be permanent. There are other issues as well, which I've written about but the real issue is the board, who funded their race and the ultimate goal of a variety of organizations to privatize our public education system.
Barely one week after a federal jury unanimously found NUHW, Rosselli, Lewis, and the other defendants liable to UHW for over $1.5 million, following a two week trial that exposed their corruption and deceit, NUHW is dealt another devastating blow. By withdrawing from the NLRB election at St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood, California, NUHW only sped up by a few days what would have been the inevitable result - another win for workers represented by SEIU-UHW!
No matter how hard Rosselli's propaganda machine tries to hide it, each day that passes by reveals that NUHW is losing steam, and after 15 months of having gained NOTHING for even a single healthcare worker in California, these "union reformers'" sole achievement has been discrediting their short lived experiment and "leaving their honor behind."
The hardworking members at St. Francis have reclaimed their hospital and can now return to doing what they do best, taking care of the sick. We, your brothers and sisters in the Daughters of Charity network of hospitals, working in the other facilities congratulate you! We too look forward to reclaiming our facilities, returning to normal, and finally being liberated from the unnecessary distractions that have tried to hurt us this past year. See you at the same bargaining table in 2012!
"Adequate control of human exposure would be difficult, if not impossible." -CA Scientific Review Committee
This is the time of year many talk about United Farm Workers' founder Cesar Chavez. Cesar was many things, among them he was a strong voice on pesticides.
Cesar Chavez said, "In the old days, miners would carry birds with them to warn against poison gas. Hopefully, the birds would die before the miners. Farm workers are society's canaries. Farm workers-and their children-demonstrate the effects of pesticide poisoning before anyone else...There is no acceptable level of exposure to any chemical that causes cancer. There can be no toleration of any toxic that causes miscarriages, still births, and deformed babies."
True democracy does not allow for certain things to happen. It does not allow for individual leaders to abuse their power then fight in order to cling to it. This is true of nations and organizations alike. The cause is ALWAYS greater than these individuals! Where this fact has been forgotten, chaos and confusion reigned. And when this happens, democracy requires that its members seek information and hold their leaders accountable.
Next week, the former leaders of our union will go to trial in San Francisco for their actions against us, the members. Much has been said of "Union Democracy" by those that sought to usurp it. Now WE, THE UNION will finally have the chance to find clarity we have hungered for in the mist of these confusing times.
My name is Rudy, and I have taken care of patients for years. Like you, I was confused by all that has happened in the past few months. I am pleased to be there in the courtroom as it all unveils. I will be posting daily reports of the day's events. Like you, I want to move on and take care of my patients, make our union a stronger organization than before...won't you join me?
Luis Medellin and his three little sisters, aged 5, 9 and 12, live in the middle of an orange grove in Lindsay, CA--a small farming town in the Central Valley. During the growing season, Luis and his sisters are awakened several times a week by the sickly smell of nighttime pesticide spraying. What follows is worse: searing headaches, nausea, vomiting.
The Medellin family's story is not unique. From apple orchards in Washington to potato fields in Florida, drifting poisonous pesticides plague the people who live nearby--posing a particular risk to the young children of the nation's farm workers, many of whom live in industry housing at the field's edge.
This situation also often exists in schools in agricultural areas where it's not uncommon to have a school next to a field.
Walmart says it wants you to live better. But they apparently don't feel the same way about the workers who pick the grapes and other produce they sell in their stores. They sell grapes and other produce from Giumarra's Nature's Partner label--despite knowing that this mega company abuses the grape workers who work in their vineyards.
Giumarra harvests approximately 1 out of every 10 bunches of grapes picked in the US. In addition they are a major label of imported and domestic produce. Combined with the market power of the Walmart behemoth, this huge conglomerate helps set the industry standard.
"I am very afraid because I do not know what tomorrow will bring because I am four months pregnant and I worry for my unborn baby. Three days later [after being exposed to pesticide drift], I am still vomiting and have a major headache. My pregnancy doctor could not see me as he was going to charge me and I did not have any money to pay him." -- Julia Rojas Sabino, Organic Onion Worker
Pesticide drift poisonings should be a thing of the past. Agribusiness knows pesticides are dangerous. Pesticide applicators know pesticides drift. Proper precautions should be taken by applicators. Every farm should make sure supervisors know what to do in a drift emergency. It's simple. Right?
At Wednesday's rally in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, a number of brave workers who have been hurt by our broken labor law system spoke out to explain why we badly need this vital new law to protect the freedom of workers to form a union and bargain.
These workers are just a few of the nearly 30,000 workers who are harassed, discriminated against and fired every year for trying to exercise the freedom to bargain for health care, pensions and fair wages and treatment. Their stories illustrate, on an honest and personal level, the real problem with the nation's current labor laws: People who want to form unions are at the mercy of corporations because the laws are badly tilted toward companies, not workers.
In my years as an activist member with SEIU United Healthcare Workers - West I have been a part of many struggles for working people. But in the last months we have been in a different kind of fight. We have stood up to the arrogance of Andy Stern, Anna Burger and other SEIU International officers who, in an attempt to flex their muscles and stifle dissent, have chastened many rank-and-file members and our local, United Healthcare Workers - West with the threat of trusteeship. But I will say now, organized union members will never be intimidated by anyone, International Union officers included. We will stand up to anyone.
I saw this stifling of members' voices at the SEIU Convention in Puerto Rico from the moment we entered the convention center, when our delegation was harassed and followed. I saw this as the Convention voted to move me and other workers out of my union and into corrupt Local 6434, ignoring our right to decide where we belong. The hundreds in Puerto Rico voted to move us 65,000 from California. But we were not intimidated then.
UHW member Ella Raiford, protesting the Convention's vote to force members out of UHW.
In response, we came out in force. At our mass demonstration in Manhattan Beach, where we organized 6000 members to protest another sham hearing, I personally went up to Anna Burger and confronted her, telling her that we will not be swayed and demanded that Stern and Burger meet with our membership. We aren't furniture, we can't be moved around on their whims. We weren't surprised when she said no to a meeting. We stood strong in front of them, never scared.
My UHW brothers and sisters protesting the International's plans to divide us in July.
We continued on to Madison, Wisconsin, where a group of us were determined to meet with SEIU International. We continued in our demands for a meeting with Andy Stern, and to our surprise he agreed to meet us for a brief talk. But he said very little to us, claiming that he couldn't say anything without his lawyers. Instead of our elected officers working for us, Andy and Anna wanted the lawyers to do their job, so they could wash their hands when we pressed them with questions. When faced with dozens of informed, angry union members, maybe our International union officers were intimidated by us!
We confronted Andy Stern; me right after our meeting with him.
And most recently, I and fifty other UHW members occupied the SEIU International office in Alameda to demand answers from out-of-touch union officials who support taking away our voice. We shouldn't be afraid to confront them -- they work for us!
Us confronting International officials at the SEIU Office in Oakland.
This is a movement of union members who have one goal: to keep our democratically run union, UHW, where we make decisions. I and others in our union have confronted our bosses and won, through the power of organized union members. We are not afraid to take on any fight, even against SEIU International officials.
JuanAntonio Molina
Proud UHW Member
In-Home Healthcare Provider
San Francisco, CA
Yes, you read that headline correctly. Federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour, not California minimum of $8 hour. The SacBee has this gut shot of a story.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sign an executive order next week that will reduce pay for more than 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour to preserve cash in the midst of a month-long budget standoff, according to a draft copy of the order obtained by The Bee.
Administration officials said the governor expects to take the action Monday.
How are these employees going to be able to pay for their groceries on $6.55 an hour, or fill up their car with gas, let alone pay their rent? The short answer is they aren't.
This is going to result in a lot of employees needing governmental assistance for basic needs, not that the state has the money to help with that anyways at this point. This is a crisis and this damn well better get some folks up in arms.
Here is the law that Arnold is using to justify this move.
He says that his action complies with a 2003 ruling by the California Supreme Court that made clear that without a state budget in place, federal labor laws require the state to pay most workers "either federal minimum wage or, for those employees that work overtime, their full salaries."
You have to assume there will be some lawsuits, most likely by the unions representing these workers. The pay cut is not the only thing Arnold is doing.
The order would require state agencies to stop authorizing overtime for most employees.
The governor also plans to issue a hard hiring freeze except for state jobs "directly related to the preservation and protection of human life and safety." He also will suspend work for all retired annuitants, permanent intermittent employees, seasonal employees, temporary help workers, student assistants and some contractors.
The one group I know for sure that will be fired immediately are the seasonal employees at the state parks. No longer will they be manning gates and working on preservation policies. There have to be a ton of other agencies effected as well.
This is obviously a breaking story. If anyone has anything to add to what the Bee has up, please leave it in the comments. We don't have a budget and this is a crisis. This is exactly what the Republicans want to see, the government failing and getting smaller. This is what happens when you have a two-thirds rule for both taxes and a budget. A small minority can cause a whole lot of pain to a huge number of people.
Just shameful.
[UPDATE by Dave] Just to chime in, as I was typing this up myself. This is intolerable and it aligns perfectly with the Shock Doctrine of taking advantage of a crisis to cause more economic dislocation and pain while rewarding the rich and connected. The governor's budget plan is to literally create more working poor among a significant percentage of the work force.
The lawsuits should begin tomorrow. This is a breach of trust. And if you think Arnold's poll numbers were bad before, wait until you see them after this stunt. 200,000 workers have a lot of friends and family. What a scumbag.
UPDATE (Bob): I agree with Dave, let the lawsuits start tomorrow, but let the process to recall begin Friday. The GOP does not value an honest day's work, that is why our Lame Duck Governor will destroy the lives of the people who work hardest for him while the Yacht Tax Loophole remains. Time for a Special Election to totally recall. Hope to see press releases from the CDP and any union that values work in 48 hours.
[UPDATE by Robert]: This comment by karyn1 on the SacBee article sums it up:
$6.55 an hour only amounts to $1048 per month. After my rent, that would leave only $218 left. How many of you can live on that? Hardly, am I a rich state employee. As a clerical, I am usually broke by the 10th of the month, and the other 3 weeks of the month I am barely getting by. SacBee comments
[UPDATE by Dave]: Speaker Bass weighs in:
"I don't believe the Governor would put public servants in the crossfire of this budget battle. But this action would speak to the need for all us -- including the Governor -- to negotiate a balanced, responsible budget that protects our schools and the safety net before we run out of cash."
The proposal on closing parks was just a game, but now we're talking about people's livelihoods. Playing around like this is unacceptable.
...OK, so the Speaker just revised her press release by changing "should" to "would" in the first sentence, signaling that she thinks he's bluffing. Why they would re-send a press release for that is kind of absurd, as the implication was already made. I really hope this isn't the result of some talking-to from Arnold's office, or that this is all one elaborate kabuki, because 200,000 soon-to-be minimum wage employees are not amused.
Several weeks ago I posted a diary on behalf of Norma Amsterdam, a nurse leader at SEIU 1199-United Healthcare Workers East. She wrote about how the Alameda County Superior Court quickly overturned a temporary restraining order against SEIU once it was evident that the move was just another CNA publicity stunt. Yesterday, the court sided with SEIU again, issuing a tentative ruling that found no "credible claim of violence or threat of violence" for CNA to have filed the petition. Because such efforts to suppress free speech are a violation of the "SLAPP" statutue SEIU is now entitled to recover attorney's fees associated with its defense.
Today, delegates at the SEIU Convention in Puerto Rico recognized the harm the CNA vs. SEIU struggle is having on workers and unanimously passed a resolution calling for more unity and alliances among labor organizations, particularly within the health care industry.
To find out more about the resolution go to www.shameonCNA.com.
Watch this video of Registered Nurse Sally Baker and her Catholic Health Partners (CHP) colleagues in Ohio describe the exhilaration they felt when--after three long years--they finally got the chance for a free and fair union election at their hospitals. Their feelings turned to shock and dismay when dozens of California Nurses Association (CNA) organizers flew to Ohio, urging them to vote "no" for a stronger voice through SEIU.
Hear directly from the affected workers how CNA's "vote no" campaign shattered their hopes of forming a union and gaining a stronger voice for their patients.
And to learn more about what CHP nurses and other caregivers have been doing to expose the truth about CNA's anti-union efforts, go to www.ShameOnCNA.com.
I'm Karen Backus, a registered nurse on staff for SEIU, posting this statement on behalf of Norma Amsterdam, RN, MA, Executive Vice President of SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
It's amazing how the California Nurses Association continues to cling to its distorted version of events, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary. When confronted with the facts, the CNA seems to respond by ramping up the rhetoric, embellishing their stories even more, and then throwing in a few publicity stunts-like seeking a temporary restraining order against SEIU.
Today the Alameda County Superior Court vacated the temporary restraining order. In the same court, SEIU also filed an "anti-SLAPP" motion to prevent the CNA from further engaging in dishonest efforts to silence its critics.
It's time for the California Nurses Association to stick to the truth:
· The alleged "stalking and harassing" by "mostly male staffers" was actually a registered nurse and respiratory therapist from Ohio-both women-knocking on the doors of CNA board members to ask for their help. See them at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
· The only visual evidence of violence at the Labor Notes conference produced by the CNA is a photo of SEIU organizer Rachael Holland being injured by a conference security guard, which you can see in the CNA's video here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiMH20aJiXg. Read Rachael's heartfelt response here: http://www.openleft.com/showCo...
Clearly, the CNA is hoping their tall tales will divert attention away from the reason for the protest in Dearborn and the hospital workers' attempts to meet with CNA board members-namely, the deplorable actions of CNA organizers that destroyed the chance to form a union for 8,000 nurses and other hospital employees in Ohio.
One of those nurses, Susan Horne, RN, tells it like it is. A videotaped interview with her in Dearborn was featured in a video recently posted on You Tube by the Labor Video Project: http://youtube.com/watch?v=QsK... It's well worth watching for those who want to know what this is really all about.
The 80th Assembly District in California is one of the best pickup opportunities this year, and we have just the transformational candidate to make it happen. Manuel Pérez is a hands-on, no bs, Harvard-educated community organizer from the heart of the Coachella Valley, a direct, unapologetic progressive with experience in building a just and healthy society. He won't promise loyalty in Sacramento in exchange for support, he's getting his mojo the time-honored way: walking precincts, meeting with more union review committees, and he just participated in a podcast on Calitics.
I've been posting on this race since last May, and have yet to compile the best quotes nor list the endorsers adequately. Let's kick it off with the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO:
Art Pulaski, Executive Secretary of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO:
Manuel Perez knows first hand the struggles of working families and will be a champion of healthcare, education and creating new jobs in the State Assembly.
