Once upon a time bicycles were seen as a purely recreational form of transportation. Something for the kids in the cul-de-sac or for the health nut who tackles Highway 1 in Big Sur. To most Americans using bikes for commuting purposes was something done in places like Beijing – something to be pitied and dismissed.

Over the last few years this has begun to change, as more and more Californians are using their bicycles to commute to work or to school. To encourage this, May has been declared “National Bike Month” and May 12-16 is Bike to Work Week.

Since January I have been among the ranks of the bicycle commuter. Which just goes to show anyone can do it – I was always the unathletic nerd, but biking has come easy to me and has me in excellent shape. Last month I began serving on the Transportation Agency of Monterey County‘s Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, to help develop a stronger network of bike trails, bike lanes, and to promote safe bicycling for riders, whether they’re recreational or commuters.

One of the most common issues we run into in developing these facilities is a lack of funds. To their credit Democrats have stepped up and proposed increasing funding for bike facilities. Assemblymember Mark DeSaulnier has proposed AB 2971 which would shift some developer fees into construction of bike paths and other safety measures. It was the subject of today’s Democratic radio address, where DeSaulnier linked bike commuting to cutting our carbon emissions as part of the AB 32 project.

It’s not everything we need, and most California cities have a ways to go to catch up to Davis or Portland. But with state support we can make bike commuting a viable method for more and more Californians. Besides, who ever said cars had to be the primary method of commuting? After all they began as a recreational form of travel.

Finally, if you have a bike, and live reasonably close to your workplace, consider taking part in Bike to Work Week. You may not think you can make it – I know I didn’t – but you might surprise yourself. Even if not everyone can have the commute I have (pictured above).

This week I wrote about the Kaiser Permanente / Inter-Con Security Security Guard strike.

The post Security Guards Striking for the Right to Have Our Laws Enforced discussed why the guards are striking.  They are employees of Inter-Con Security, Inc., which contracts services to Kaiser Permanente facilities in California.  This company (not Kaiser) is trying to stop the guards from forming a union and the guards are striking to ask that laws allowing union organizing be enforced.

In Why They (And You) Need A Union a comparison with unionized security guards at Kaiser facilities in other states demonstrated the difference that forming a union can make to workers everywhere.

The post Unions: Sticking Together to Fight Corporate Power discussed how individuals are unable to stand up against the immense power and wealth that corporations are able to accumulate.  Over time workers learned that by organizing into unions they were able to also build enough power to fight back and demand fair compensation and benefits for their work.

Outside of the blogs there was remarkably little coverage of this strike.  Here is a roundup of some of the other coverage:

This is a good story online at Urban Mecca, Three-Day Strike by Hundreds of Security Officers at Kaiser Hospitals,

“The public needs to know that the security officers responsible for making Kaiser hospitals safe and protecting vulnerable patients are being denied our fundamental civil rights. Inter-Con freely uses intimidation, spying and retaliation to harass its workers,” said Shauna Carnero, a security officer in Hayward.

The strike, which began May 6 and included major rallies outside Kaiser medical centers in Oakland, Sacramento and Los Angeles, followed numerous federal complaints that workers have filed with the National Labor Relations Board in recent weeks charging Inter-Con with unfair labor practices over the past two years.

The Pasadena Star-News had Kaiser guards strike,

Hospital security guards went on strike statewide Thursday, citing poor working conditions and lack of health coverage.

About 200 Southern California employees of Inter-Con Security, which is contracted by Kaiser Permanente to provide security guards, joined their Northern California counterparts who have been on strike since Tuesday, Service Employees International Union officials said.

[. . .] Security guards have little legal recourse when they are denied the right to organize, an SEIU attorney said. A loophole in the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 gives security guards only one method of forming a union.

While most employees have the option of holding an election to bring in a union, security guards can only organize if their employers agree to recognize the union, said attorney Orrin Baird.

“It’s sort of out-dated,” Baird said. “If they were not guards they could file a petition with the (National Labor Relations Board) and then they would have to have an election.”

While a few local TV stations carried news about the strike, there was a near-blackout of coverage in the corporate media.  Why do you think that is?

Please visit StandForSecurity.org.

I am proud to be helping SEIU spread the word about this strike.