Senate Vote to Halt Dangerous NAFTA Trucks Pilot Program Puts Brakes on Bush Administration’s Latest Threat to Highway Safety

Statement of Robert Shull, Deputy Director for Auto Safety and Regulatory Policy at Public Citizen

The Senate’s sound rejection Tuesday night of the Bush administration’s dangerous North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) trucks “demonstration project” sent a clear signal that public safety is a priority on Capitol Hill.

Congress has made itself clear: The Bush administration must put the brakes on the NAFTA trucks project. The Senate’s 74-24 approval of an amendment to the Department of Transportation appropriations bill would cut off funding for the pilot program. Tuesday night’s vote follows the House of Representatives’ passage of a similar measure by a wide margin earlier this summer.

Under the pilot program, the White House planned to make everyone on the roads guinea pigs in a high-stakes experiment with the safety hazards predicted to result from permitting all Mexico-domiciled trucks to travel on all U.S. roadways. Currently, such trucks are constrained to a limited border zone.

LABOR DAY WORKING FAMILIES PICNIC
Monday, September 3, 2007

This year the Sacramento Central Labor Council will be celebrating its 109th year of representing working families by having a traditional Labor Day Picnic at:

William Land Park
Village Green Area
Off of Freeport Blvd. and
Sutterville Road
11:00-3:00PM

This will be a FUN family event with jump tents, LIVE music, balloon makers, face painting, a magic act and plenty of food and drinks. There will be a Beer garden for those 21 and older (be prepared to show ID).

BRING YOUR OWN CHAIRS AND BLANKETS TO SIT ON AS SEATING IS LIMITED.
Time: Monday, September 3, 2007 - 11:00am PST

Stop the NAFTA Expansion!!

Short-Sighted Trade Deal Heads U.S. Over the Edge
Democrats pave path for Bush to pass more NAFTA expansions, fast track authority?!

This is your once-in-a-decade, unique opportunity to help change the rules of the global economy and stop the race-to-the-bottom.
TAKE ACTION NOW!

Like most Americans, you probably don’t trust this Administration to have more authority over anything! Well, here’s some good news: President Bush’s grant of Fast Track authority – the un-democratic Nixon-era law that transfers Congress' constitutionally-mandated control over U.S. trade agreements to the White House – expires June 30, 2007.

And then there is the shockingly bad news – Democratic leaders recently struck a "deal" with President Bush that could pave his was to new “Fast Track” authority – and more of his devastating trade policy.

Fast Track is how we got into devastating pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). If this new "deal" takes hold, then Fast Track will be used to further NAFTA expansion to more countries instead of the needed replacement of NAFTA itself.

Watch this brand new video to learn more!
"Fast Track to Nowhere" by the IAMAW

One article on the circumstances of why someone would travel thousands of miles across numerous borders for a job and the second on why the "guest worker" program is analogous to being indentured servitude. Click the headers for the entire articles. And lastly, The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Between a rock ...

By age 18, Kelvin already had tried twice, unsuccessfully, to cross into the United States after traveling hundreds of miles from his home in Honduras. The first time, he said, he was beaten and his backpack taken by thieves.

“Mi,” who was robbed while riding atop a train on his way to the United States, lived for five years in Texas before being deported because his work permit expired.

Both Kelvin and Mi laughed when asked if they could support themselves on the salary offered by the vast maquiladora (maquila) network of factories stretching throughout Central America.

“I worked two jobs in Texas, at the 7–Eleven and the Stop & Go,” Mi said. “I could make more money working two jobs in Texas than I can at the maquila.” Yet work in the maquilas is the best most Central American countries have to offer.

And despite the risks, both intended to keep trying to get into the United States, crossing the guarded borders of two nations until they succeeded—or were killed.

No jobs for US citizens without Homeland Security approval

US citizens who apply for a job will need prior approval from Department of Homeland Security under the terms immigration bill passed by the Senate this week.

American Civil Liberties Union pointed out that the DHS's Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) is error plagued and if the department makes a mistake in determining work eligibility, there will be virtually no way to challenge the error or recover lost wages due to the bill’s prohibitions on judicial review.

Even current employees will need to obtain eligibility approval from the DHS Within 60 days of the Immigration Reform Act of 2006 becoming law.

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

UC Davis = last UC to have contracted out workers
By MONICA KRAUTH
Democrat staff writer

UC Davis is the last of the UC systems to contract out food service and some workers said they've have had enough.

They've met with their managers. They've met with administration. And they're still making less money per hour than their university employee counterparts. So Thursday they came out in the hundreds to garner community support.

But Rahim Reed, UCD's associate executive vice chancellor, said he was not sure what they were fighting for as he walked past the crowd that marched toward the administration building and then to the Silo Union where some of them work. The protest ended with some allowed to step into a brown bag luncheon with the university's chancellor.

[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

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.

Thomas Friedman can take his "flat earth" "free trade" policy and stick it where...
Our current trade policies are designed to destroy middle-class America and that's just what they are doing.
--Bill


Flattening the Great Education Myth
by David Sirota
Published on Monday, December 4, 2006 by the San Francisco Chronicle

HELENA, Montana - Helena is not the kind of place that top government officials, business leaders or Washington pundits usually think of when they discuss international trade policy. That's too bad, because had they attended the community meeting in this mountain hamlet last month, they would have seen firsthand how powerless middle America is in what has become a vacuum of national leadership on globalization.

Feel free to contact Mr. Rangel and let him know how disappointed you are at the statements below.
DC office (202) 225-4365
NY office (212) 663-390--Bill

Rangel: Preserve Millionaire Tax Cuts, Consider Soc. Security Cuts, Pass More Free Trade Pacts

By David Sirota

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) represents one of the poorest congressional districts in New York City. He also chairs the House Ways and Means Committee - the panel that oversees taxes and entitlements. This combination would lead the casual observer to think that Rangel, trying to represent his district, would be aggressively using his chairmanship to redirect President Bush’s tax cuts to lower-income people, strengthen and even expand Social Security and renegotiate trade deals to protect American jobs. But, no. That’s not what appears to be happening. In the weeks after the congressional election, Rangel has expressed interest in doing the exact opposite: preserving President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy; considering Social Security benefit cuts and retirement age hikes; and supporting lobbyist-written trade pacts that have no wage, environmental or human rights protections in them. He has, in other words, moved to side firmly with the Money Party against the People Party.

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

If you are not familiar with Bernie Sanders, please tune in to Thom Hartmann Friday mornings @ 9am (1240 AM) for his Brunch With Bernie segment.
--Bill

New Vermont Senator Not Standard Fare
by Amy Goodman
Published on Thursday, November 9, 2006 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Washington)

Bernard Sanders is the new U.S. senator in Vermont. He ran as an independent, but he is the first self-described socialist to be elected to the Senate.

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

Local community members and students are confronting the nation's largest pesticide lawn-service company right here in Sacramento!

We need your support!

Sacramento Coalition Kicks Off Efforts to Refuse to Use TruGreen ChemLawn:

Groups Call for Reforms to Industry's Dangerous Pesticide Mix

What:
Concerned community members and students will gather with local supporters to kick off the Refuse to Use ChemLawn campaign and the newly formed Safer Lawns, Healthier Communities Coalition of California. The coalition is working to reduce the amount of dangerous lawn pesticides being used in our communities by raising awareness about the public health and environmental threats associated with the Sacramento Valley's growing lawn-care industry. Speakers and area residents will voice their concerns and demand that TruGreen ChemLawn, the industry leader, take immediate action to protect our families, pets and the environment from increased exposure to toxic chemicals by offering a safer, non-toxic alternative.