On  April 13th, over 200 domestic workers and their supporters from throughout California converged in Sacramento to call for adoption of the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Following a rally outside the State Capitol, domestic workers and their supporters packed the hearing room, lobby and staircase for the Assembly Labor committee hearing where the bill was passed 5-1.

Based on New York’s landmark law, the California legislation would create guidelines for employers of housekeepers, nannies and other workers in an industry that is unregulated and without clearly defined work benefits.  Authored by Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and V.Manuel Perez (D-Coachella), the bill now moves on to be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

“This victory signifies that we’re moving step by step on the path to victory to win rights that have never been recognized in this dignified work.” said Maria Reyes of Mujeres Unidas y Activas, a Bay Area Latina workers organization

Continue reading Workers Push for California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights

A recent article in the Economist magazine titled “Tough Times for Everyone – Except Public Sector Workers” states that taxpayers are now learning about “the banquet public sector workers have been having at the expense of everyone else” and that many public employees can “retire in their mid-50s on close to full pay.”

These unsubstantiated claims–repeated endlessly in media–stand reality on its head. Such accusations are part of a systematic campaign by corporate America to mislead taxpayers and scapegoat public employees.

California public sector workers, such as teachers, public health nurses, firefighters, librarians, maintenance, park, transit, and social workers are not responsible for the economic crisis that makes drastic cuts to state and local governments necessary. These public employees earn modest, middle-class pay and benefits.

Rather, it was big business and the wealthy who gamed the deregulated financial system to make huge profits. Their speculation in the home mortgage markets triggered the Great Recession; then they proceeded to take billions in bailouts from the government; and last year, Wall Street’s leading investment and financial services firms paid out a record $144 billion in compensation and benefits.

These same corporate

Continue reading Don’t Blame California Public Employees!

Yet another example of why working people need the Employee Free Choice Act.  In 2006, warehouse workers in Lancaster, CA decided they wanted to form a union.  Despite the company’s attacks, a majority the of the workers voted to join ILWU Local 26 in March 2008.  But more than a year later, the workers have not been able to negotiate a first contract.

Today, as these workers continue fighting for a contract, Jobs with Justice is releasing a report to tell their story.  Rite Aid, Oliver J. Bell & Associates, and the Case for the Employee Free Choice Act documents how management employed union-busters and violated labor laws.  Last year, the National Labor Relations Board was prepared to charge Rite Aid with 49 unfair labor practice charges before the cases were settled out of court.

Unfortunately, the problems faced by workers when they formed a union at Rite Aid are all-too-common.  Profitable and unaccountable anti-union firms, like Oliver Bell and Associates, show companies how to

Continue reading Activists Hit Rite Aid Today in Support of Warehouse Workers, Employee Free Choice Act