(cross-posted from Working Californians)

We have now officially moved into the auto-renewal phase of the contract.  It will continually renew the temporary contract extension until one of the two parties gives 72 hours notice that they are pulling out.  The next meeting is set for the 16th and the UFCW has announced that they do not plan to cancel the extension this week.

The LA County Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, the Screen Acters Guild, Teamsters, CWA, SEIU, AFT and several other unions announced that they have sanctioned a USFC strike request.  That means that the 800,000+ members will honor the picket line in the event of a work stoppage through a strike authorization or lockout.

Maria Elana Durazo at the LA Labor Fed:

Workers throughout Los Angeles have made a commitment today, to stand in solidarity with our grocery workers in their fight to make their jobs, good middle class jobs again.  No Longer will we tolerate companies, who in their race to make more profits, are destroying what once made this city great, a strong middle class.

In granting a strike sanction, the Federation will support the grocery workers in various forms including picket line support, rallies, demonstrations, boycotts, food drives for strikers and coordinating public officials, unions and community support.

Robert Turner:

As an International Representative for the Teamsters, I can tell you this, we will not cross a picket line.  It wouldn’t be morally right to go against workers who work hard to make businesses profitable, but have no health care and struggle to provide for their families.

Elliot reminds us of what happened during the last labor dispute over at the Courage Campaign.

About 8,000 Teamsters tractor-trailer drivers and warehouse employees refused to cross the picket lines during the last Southern California supermarket labor dispute three years ago, forcing the markets to hire replacement workers to keep their supply lines flowing.

You should have seen the store managers trying to back an 18-wheeler into the stores’ loading dock.  Pure comedy.

Hopefully it will not come to that, but it does, there will be hundreds and thousands of people who have their back.

Do you still have questions about where Barack Obama stands on ending the Iraq War? Do you just want to know more specifics about Hillary Clinton’s plan to end the war? Do you want to know how John Edwards would bring the troops home? Do you want to know what all these Democratic candidates have to say about Iraq?

Well, tonight is your chance! Go see the MoveOn Iraq War town hall debate tonight, and learn more about what all the candidates think about the war. I can guarantee you right now that there’s one in your neck of the woods, so you don’t have to go too far to see all the Democratic Presidential Candidates… But I can’t guarantee how long space will last, as these parties are filling up fast!

So what are you waiting for? If you’re in Orange County, go to one of our local debate parties tonight. If you’re somewhere else, go ahead and find a party near you. You’ll get to meet other progressive Democrats in your area, and you might just find the right candidate for you tonight. : )

Today brings us a new Field Poll on California’s attitudes toward immigration. It makes sobering reading for the bigoted Minuteman types and should remind us who support human rights for ALL Californians that we are in the majority. From the SF Chronicle article on the poll results:

Support among California voters for legalizing undocumented immigrants rose to 83 percent from 75 percent last April…California voters increasingly oppose a federal plan for 700 more miles of border fence — with just 37 percent favoring it this year, down from 47 percent last April, the Field Poll found.

What I really liked was this quote from Angela Kelley of the National Immigration Forum:

“You guys are the most informed because you live and breathe this,” she said of California, a state with an estimated 2.5 million illegal immigrants, where more than one in four residents is foreign-born.

As we all know, “most informed” is an unfortunately relative term, with way too many state residents holding bigoted views on the subject not supported by any evidence. Still, these numbers are not just strong, but overwhelming evidence that supporting a path to legalization is shared across the political spectrum. One might even call it “post-partisan” were folks inclined (and I am not).

I hope that a good immigration plan can be passed in Congress this year. If we have to wait until 2008 then there will be more temptation for politicians to be persuaded by the bigots and haters – even though their numbers are vastly overstated, as this Field Poll proves.

(Cross-posted at Trash Dirty Gary, Southern California’s resource for revealing Gary Miller’s true record of disservice to his constituents… AND a place for action in restoring honor and integrity to the 42nd Congressional District.)

“It’s beyond my comprehension why he’s running again… I’ve been hoping that Jay would take the moral high ground and move on with his life.”

So who said that about Jay Kim, the Republican Congressman who sought reelection in 1998 after being convicted of violating campaign finance law? Oh, only some guy named GARY MILLER who was running against Kim in the Republican primary. Yes, apparently back then Gary Miller was interested in taking “the moral high ground”. Back then, Gary Miller wanted to rid the Republicans of a “poster boy” of corruption that Democrats could use against the party.

OK, why am I sensing “deja-vu” here? Do you sense that, too? Well, why don’t we both go after the flip to get our questions answered…

So why exactly did Jay Kim get into all that trouble? From the CNN archives:

Kim, a three-term California Republican, was sentenced to one year of probation and two months of “home detention” after pleading guilty in August 1997 to 10 misdemeanor counts of accepting about $250,000 in illegal campaign contributions during his first campaign for the House in 1992. […]

Federal prosecutors had asked the judge to impose a jail sentence, contending that Kim’s case “represents the largest amount of criminal campaign violations ever committed by a member of Congress.” But Kim, the first Korean-American in Congress, asked for leniency, saying that, “In my enthusiasm of running for Congress, I neglected the very important mechanics of my campaign finances and broke the law.”

Kim has refused to resign and remains undeterred in seeking a fourth term. His spokesman said March 10 that the congressman considers the sentence passed by U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Paez to be no bar to his continued service and no hindrance to his re-election campaign.

Now who does this sound like? Why does this nasty situation sound eerily familiar? Come on now, it’s not too hard to remember this gem from The San Bernardino Sun:

Of all the company’s political connections, its relationship with Miller – who declined to be interviewed for this story – has come under particular scrutiny over the past year.

The relationship dates back more than 30 years, to when Miller was a young developer. In recent years, he and Lewis have connected on a number of business deals:

The company entered into a business partnership with Miller in July 2004, with the congressman investing between $1million and $5million in a Lewis-owned, 70-acre housing and retail development in Diamond Bar that had just been approved by the City Council.

That same year, Lewis officials sold Miller several parcels in Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga, allowing him to shield millions in profits from an earlier land sale from potential capital-gains taxes. The company loaned him $7.5million for the sale.

Meanwhile, the company’s top executives have donated $22,150 to the congressman’s campaigns since 1999. (In that time, Miller has received a total of more than $2.3 million in contributions from individuals and political committees.)

Oh yeah, that’s why. Look who’s the “poster boy” of Republican corruption now. Look who’s lost the “moral high ground” now… Oh wait, did this guy ever have the moral high ground?!

Maybe Gary Miller needs to remember his own advice… And take it! It’s beyond all our comprehension why he’s running again. And yes, we’ve all been hoping that Gary would take the moral high ground and move on with his life. And perhaps Gary should talk with dday about some great ideas for Gary to move on with his life. ; )

I was unexpectedly yet unavoidably unable to attend any of today’s public hearing in Oxnard for the proposed BHP Billiton LNG Terminal, but enough people showed up to make a difference.

The State Lands Commission decided late Monday not to award a lease essential to a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal off the Southern California coast, citing environmental concerns.

In the 2-1 vote, commissioners complicated efforts by Australia’s BHP Billiton LNG International Inc. to build an $800 million terminal in the ocean northwest of Los Angeles, about 14 miles off Malibu and about 20 miles off Oxnard. BHP officials have said the facility would provide a reliable source of low-polluting energy.

The decision was met with loud cheers by the estimated 900 people who packed the auditorium for Monday’s commission hearing. Many were opponents who wore blue shirts emblazoned with the words “Terminate the Terminal.”

900 people, WOW.  That’s some real grassroots action.  I’m guessing that Garamendi and Chiang did the right thing here (although a 2-1 vote the other way elected not to certify the environmental impact report, which keeps the door open for future predations, I fear).

LNG is a lower-polluting energy, but this terminal was unecessary, would have increased foreign consumption of oil, and would have lessened air quality.  It’s good to see it go down (for now).

UPDATE: I want to share with you Marcy Winograd’s firsthand account on the flip:

Though newspaper accounts mention a crowd of hundreds, the head count was more like 2,000 at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, where Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (go 41st AD! -ed.) urged the commission not to approve a project fraught with risk.  Amidst a sea of blue Sierra Club “Terminate the Terminal” (a little Schwarzenegger dig there) t-shirts, scientists, former Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, Chumash healers, Malibu’s Pierce & Keeley Brosnan, the incredible former PUC commissioner Loretta Lynch, Mayor Maricela Morales of Pt. Hueneme, Santa Barbara’s Bob Handy, a rabbi, actors and activists spoke of asthma, smog, greenhouse gasses, and environmental racism (the pipes would run through Oxnard, a city over 70% Latino).

Maureen Cruise, Michael Jay, Mary Pallant, and I waited hours to testify on behalf of the executive boards of  Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles, Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica Mountains, and the Palisades Democratic Club, but ultimately we ceded our time in respect to a Sierra Club organizer who asked that we let the commission vote on the issue, rather than postpone because of hearings that would stretch past midnight.

“All those opposed to the project please stand up,” said the Sierra Club organizer.  Hundreds, maybe a thousand, shot to their feet.  “I cede my time,” he said.  Before the next name was called, Garamendi added, “Wait a minute.  All those in favor of the project please stand.”  Only five suits, (Were they Billiton reps or Oxnard Chamber of Commerce men?) slowly rose from their chairs. 

Yes, it’s lonely at the top of an LNG terminal.

On behalf of the Executive Board of Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles, I want to thank all of you who wrote letters and campaigned to protect our coast. 

Marcy Winograd

Gotta love it.

Real People Denied Real Healthcare is a new, online series of videos featuring patients telling their stories of abuse and mistreatment at the hands of a health insurance industry that makes money by denying care-not providing it.  While Bonnie Drew, who is featured in the latest webisode of Real People Denied Real Heatlhcare, suffers from a lack of quality medical care, the health insurance giants are rolling out new credit cards so patients will be able to pay 30% interest, hospital managers are making millions, and 11-year-old asthmatic loser her healthcare for being adopted.  No wonder activists around the country continue their push for SinglePayer healthcare for all Americans.

Brought to you by the National Nurses Organizing Committee as we organize to make 2007 the Year of SinglePayer Healthcare.

Bonnie Drew  thought she had health care-but when she got sick, she learned the bitter distinction between health insurance and healthcare.  Health insurance doesn’t guarantee you healthcare.

Watch Bonnie Drew’s heartbreaking story (and follow the links if you want to tell your own story).

Contrast her pain with what’s happening at the health insurance companies.  They are having such a good time bankrupting Americans that they are going to start introducing their own credit cards…with interest as high as 30%.

That’s right, you miss a payment (say you get a huge medical bill…or you’re sick) and you get charged 30% interest.

30% interest.

Aetna’s Healthy Living card, offered through Visa, has a 0 percent introductory annual percentage rate for the first 12 billing cycles, after which the standard APR financing rate is 9.9 percent for Platinum accounts and 15.99 percent for Preferred accounts. For late payments, the rate is 29.99 percent….

“Our intent in this is in providing our members a tool that we can use to help to fund their growing out-of-pocket expenses,” said Gene Cronin, senior product management specialist for Aetna. 

Wow, Gene, how helpful of Aetna to provide “members” with this “tool,” which by the way will remind them that even though YOU’RE the insurance company, THEY better be paying the health bills, oh and you’ll get to skim your interest off the top.

Meanwhile, hospital managers are making millions of dollars in pay and an 11-year-old asthmatic loses her health insurance for getting adopted.

Stories like these remind us why we have a movement for guaranteed healthcare in this country.  Writer Michael Corcoran thinks this movement has “the wind at our backs,” while a California consumer activist reminds us to make sure we’re really working for patients, and a California nurse points out that Walter Reed is symbolic of the Bush Administration’s disdain for all patients. 

If you want to join the fight for single-payer healthcare, sign up with SinglePayer.com, a project of the National Nurses Organizing Committee.  You can share your story about surviving the healthcare industry here, and start contacting media here.

Come on, this can’t be true, can it?  Our governor is going on “Pimp My Ride” to pimp his own environmental policies, by overseeing the conversion of a classic Chevy Impala to biodiesel… but he can’t even do something like that unless he gets paid?

It might appear that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to appear on MTV’s popular reality show “Pimp My Ride” later this month is just another of his Hollywood crossover moves. But a closer look shows one of Schwarzenegger’s big campaign donors is also getting a boost in the April 22 episode — Galpin Motors.

One of Galpin’s Southern California showrooms is where the hit TV show is filmed. Owners of the company, H.F. Boeckmann and Jane Boeckmann, are also among the governor’s big supporters.

The Boeckmann’s gave $44,600 to the governor’s re-election committee last year and in 2005, they also gave another $44,600 to the governor’s primary ballot committee, the California Recovery Team.

Also, Alan Skobin, general counsel for Galpin Motors is one of Schwarzenegger’s appointees to the state’s New Motor Vehicle Board.

Seriously, you have to be kidding me.  Is there an political appointee who isn’t one of Arnold’s personal friends or cronies?  Is there a single appearance that doesn’t have campaign dollars involved?  I know this is how Hollywood works, but does it have to be how Sacramento works?