Confront Politicians Tuesday About Compacts

WE'LL BE BACK!

To Defend Our Right to Organize

All day, starting 8 AM Tuesday, June 26

Meet at 1804 Tribute Rd., Suite K, Sacramento to visit legislators' offices in the Bay Area

Questions/ RSVPs: jeidelson@unitehere.org, (916) 494-1726
Time: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - 8:00am PST

Rally for the Right to Organize!

Tuesday, June 19
12 Noon
California State Capitol, North Steps (Near 11th and L)

Workers at Indian casinos are among the most vulnerable in the state since they are not protected by state law. These workers deserve real rights to organize!

The assembly will soon vote on compacts that allow wealthy Indian tribes to expand already lucrative casinos. These compacts lack important labor protections that were included in compacts approved in 2004 for other tribes.

After a 30 minute rally, we'll take our message to legislators inside the capitol.
Time: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - 12:00pm PST

UC JOBS NOW!
JOIN US WEDNESDAY MAY 23rd
UC Davis MU PATIO 11:30am

On May 1st, Davis witnessed the biggest protest in recent history. Around 800 students, workers, and community members marched from the MU and demanded the end of UC Davis' contracting-out of over 500 on-campus food-service jobs to the multi-national corporation Sodexho, which exploits workers by paying them poverty wages and offering them extravagantly unaffordable health coverage. In order to end this injustice, we demand that these workers be given UC JOBS NOW!!! On May 1st, the UCD administration promised Sodexho workers a meeting within a week in the presence of someone with the power to amend the situation. Three weeks have passed and the administration has refused to meet to resolve the situation.
Time: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 11:30am PST

This event has been cancelled.

The Lotto Commissioners have apparently decided to reschedule their meeting for next week, and to move it to Southern California. Which means while we won't be able to confront them in person, Glendale Hilton workers will.

And the Glendale Hilton contract is listed on the meeting's agenda for closed session.

What all of us can do is call the commissioners this week to express our concerns:

Commissioner John Mass; phone # 310-859-4000 (this is the number at the William Morris Agency, where Mass is Executive VP – ask for Mass's extension)

Commissioner Rachel Montes; phone # 626-625-4886 (this is a cell phone, the only way to reach her)

Commissioner Manuel Ortega; phone # 916-323-0403 (this is the lottery commission office, the only contact info we have for Ortega)

Some talking points are below. If you leave a message, ask them to return the call to Ty Hudson at (213) 250-8720. Please let me know if you're able to talk to one of them. Thanks!

Josh Eidelson
Time: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 10:00am PST

Contacts: Victor Bernal, UCD Student, 209-712-8716
Max Bell Alper, AFSCME Lead Organizer, 510-529-5552
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>Contracted Out Workers, Supporters Forced to Plan Major, Dramatic Action
Time: Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - 12:30pm PST

Resolution adopted by National Executive Board of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers, March 2007

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND VETERANS:
END THE WAR AND BRING THEM HOME!

WHEREAS:
AFSCME honors our men and women in uniform, and recognizes the heroism of their sacrifices; and

WHEREAS:
Opposition to the war in no way implies criticism of the men and women fighting in Iraq; and

WHEREAS:
Both AFSCME and the AFL-CIO have adopted statements saying our troops should be brought home as soon as possible; and

Labor leaders will hold rally Tuesday to demand Congress vote against any further war funding for Iraq, and bring all U.S. troops home now

SACRAMENTO – Labor leaders from major Northern California unions – flanked by rank and file workers – will hold a rally at the Federal Courthouse here Tuesday to demand that Congress support the troops by opposing any new funding for the war in Iraq.

The labor leaders will hold a news conference and rally beginning at 10 a.m. TUESDAY at the Federal Courthouse (5th & I Streets).

Among those attending (partial short list) will be leaders, members and former members of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), SEIU, CSEA, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Sacramento Labor Council and San Francisco Labor Council.
Time: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 11:00am PST

Sacramento Coalition of Labor Union Women awards reception will feature labor view on California health care reform proposals

The labor union view on the California health care reform proposals, labor history storytelling and labor songs will be featured at the Coalition of Labor Union Women's Ruth Holbrook 10th Annual Awards Reception, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 17, at the Sacramento Central Labor Council Hall, 2840 El Centro Road, Sacramento.

Honorees at the Awards Reception will be women activists of the Blue Diamond Almond Workers, the UNITE-HERE Hotel Workers Rising, and the Sacramento Coalition for Justice for Immigrants. Anastasia Ordonez from California Federation of Labor will speaking on the California health care reform legislation.
Time: Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 2:00pm PST

PSA/Calendar Item: For Immediate Release, March 6, 2007
Contact: Gail Ryall (916) 927-1552, (916) 397-7663

Sacramento Coalition of Labor Union Women awards reception will feature labor view on California health care reform proposals

[Click the 1st picture to see Rep. Miller on fire today and the 2nd to see Ivo Camilo's testimony]

Leveling The Bargaining Table

George Miller
February 09, 2007

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., is the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

The overall U.S. economy has been growing since the end of the 2001 recession, yet the median household income in the U.S. has fallen by $1,300. This should worry anyone who cares about whether our economy is fair to American workers or not.

Many different reasons account for the fact that America’s middle class is losing ground despite the country’s economic growth. One of the most important is that companies routinely deny workers the ability to form unions and bargain for better wages and benefits. As a result, unions represent just 12 percent of the U.S. workforce today—a much lower percentage than just a couple of generations ago.

[...]

Consider the case of Ivo Camilo. For 35 years, Camilo worked at the Blue Diamond Growers plant in Sacramento, the world’s largest almond processing plant. But he and his co-workers were worried about job security and felt they had no voice at work. So, in 2004, Camilo joined with some of his co-workers to try to form a union. In 2005, just two weeks after Camilo and 58 of his coworkers informed management of their union efforts, he was fired.

Fellow Sacramento Peace and Justice Activists,

Please come together as we honor Ruth. On Saturday, January 20, 2007, at 1:00 PM, the Sacramento Central Labor Council will hold a memorial for Ruth in the main Meeting Hall. It is expected to be a large gathering, so please come early.

Ruth Holbrook was a woman of slight build, yet she was a powerful presence in the progressive community. She was past President of the Sacramento Central Labor Council and very active in the local anti-war movement (from Viet Nam to the current occupation of Iraq). As a member of Sacramento Coalition to End the War, Ruth worked tirelessly and diligently for what she believed. She was a leading organizer in the successful campaign to convince Sacramento's City Council to pass a resolution condemning the invasion and occupation of Iraq and to call for a prompt withdrawal of U.S. forces there.
Time: Saturday, January 20, 2007 - 1:00pm PST

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Decides to Mislead Investors About Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pay
by Andrew H. Dral

It was more than telling that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced an executive pay reporting rule on the last business day before Christmas. The rule counts the stock options grant amount as pay the year when it vests -- as the executive qualifies to execute the options -- instead of the full grant date amount agreed to in July 2006. In addition, insulting to investors, the SEC neglected to seek public comment, adopting the rule immediately.

At least, at the time of the grant you get an accurate, snapshot in time, value of the options, because the calculation is time and stock value dependent. Options are derivatives, based on the stock price, so the value changes with the value of the underlying stock price over time. As an investor you want to hold the board of directors accountable, so you must know how much the executive is granted at the outset, not years out. To hold the board of directors (the board) accountable, investors need accurate information at the grant date, not as that cost is recognized. It’s the timely intent of the board we need to know, even if the option never gets executed. This rule makes it difficult to judge whether the board is working in the best interest of investors.

The Glendale Hilton is a wealthy hotel. But it pays its workers poverty wages and leaves many of them to rely on the state to insure their kids.
Those workers have called for a fair process to organize and make better futures for their families. But the Glendale Hilton has refused.
That's why those workers have called on customers to boycott the hotel until it changes its ways.
Does that sound like a hotel the California Lottery should be doing business with?
Let's show the Lottery Commission that we expect better.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007
CA Lottery Commission
600 North Tenth Street, Sacramento
Meet at 9:45 AM in the Parking Lot
Time: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 9:00am PST

Did this baby have to die?

Richard and Kathlene Shinn were eager to visit their first-born baby the morning after physicians removed breathing tubes from her delicate 21-day-old body.

But they weren't prepared for what they witnessed when they entered the intensive care unit at Summerlin Hospital at 9 a.m. that November day.

"Alyssa's hands and feet were white. She was critically ill," Richard Shinn said Wednesday.

Within hours, their daughter was pronounced dead.

[...]

Now, the Shinns said they are desperate to learn what happened to their baby between the night of Nov. 8, when they left the hospital, and the morning of Nov. 9, when they returned.

A council defeat for Blue Diamond
In 6-3 vote, a union wins support for its organizing efforts.
By Jim Downing - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Wednesday, December 6, 2006

The 2-year-old labor conflict at Blue Diamond Growers escalated sharply Tuesday evening, as the Sacramento City Council passed a resolution urging the company to agree to the demands of union organizers.

"I think the council showed very clearly that we support what the workers are trying to do here," said Councilman Steve Cohn, a co-sponsor of the measure.

UNITE HERE! Protest at the Sheraton Grand

November 30, 4:30 - 5:30 pm, 13th and J Streets.
Time: Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 4:29pm PST

This event has been cancelled and will be rescheduled at a later date.

LABOR IN THE 21st CENTURY
WHAT TO DO TO BUILD THE MOVEMENT

ALAN BENJAMIN
Editor, Organizer Newspaper
Labor Party Organizer

Will be speaking and leading a lively discussion

DATE: Thursday, November 16, 2006
TIME: 7pm
PLACE: Coloma Community Center
4623 T Street, Sacramento

Donation
Time: Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 6:59pm PST

Thanks Howard

Howard on the Daily Show

The Fifty State Strategy

"We cannot run 18-state campaigns. We've got to be everywhere. We've got to be in Mississippi. We've got to be in Oklahoma. We have to be organized. By the end of this year, we have a goal of having a Democrat in every precinct in America,

STAND WITH WORKERS
from Blue Diamond and Sheraton Grand, Sacramento

Thursday, November 9
Sacramento City Hall
915 I Street

6 p.m. Rally outside with the famous ILWU Drill Team
Time: Thursday, November 9, 2006 - 5:59pm PST

Join workers, clergy and community activists from throughout Northern California -
Take a stand for living wages, safe workloads and affordable health insurance.

Rally with Sacramento Sheraton Workers

Thursday, October 19, 4:30 p.m.

Sheraton Grand Sacramento
13th and J St., Downtown Sacramento

SI SE PUEDE! UNITE HERE! Local 49
HOTEL WORKERS
RISING!
lifting each other above the poverty line
Time: Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 4:29pm PST