Tag Archives: Unions

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What’s Goin’ on?

I wanted to get to a bunch of stories today, but my time is somewhat limited. So, I'll condense them together.

  • Term limits. Remember Dave's congratulatory statement on the term limits initiative getting onto the February ballot? And that it was by less than a thousand signatures? Well, with the sampling methods that the state uses, a change of one or two signatures being ruled valid in the random selection makes a big difference. And that's what happened for this one.  The Chronicle reports that Riverside, San Bernadino, Contra Costa and Alameda counties changed their count after discovering mistakes in their rulings on a couple of names. How many signature does just one of the samples affect? Well, just over a thousand, coincidentally. So, the four or so ruling changes threw the initiative over the top. Methinks Sen. Perata and Speaker Nunez came very, very close to disaster unnecessarily.
  • A lot more bills have passed between chambers and out of the legislature and onto the Gov's desk. Frank at CPR has more on a whole slew of passed legislation here and here. Remind me again why one of the best reporters in Sacto isn't making seven figures? 😉
  • Garry South thinks Arnold will run for Senate. It would certainly make for an interesting race, but then again, this is coming from the man who brought Joe Lieberman from the front of the pack in 2004 all the way up to…um a 3-way tie for 3rd place! (aka 5th in Iowa)
  • A TSA employee was fired for posting union materials in the break room at OAK. A federal court has now said the suit can go ahead. The TSA, incidentally, was deliberately designed to be anti-union. Another great experiment to eliminate organized labor by BushCo.
  • Arnold is getting into his pronouncement mode. Of course, there was dirty tricks. Yesterday, the Governor announced that he's still in favor of the bloody video game ban for minors.  Lucas reminded me that this is the governor whose movie career includes, chronologically, conan the barbarian, conan the destroyer, the terminator, commando, predator, red heat, total recall, terminator 2, true lies, eraser, end of days, terminator 3. Pot, I'd like to introduce you to kettle. I'm thinking Jingle All the Way should have been banned just because it was terrible, but I suppose taste is subjective.
  • And, one more pronouncement: Arnold is leaning towards vetoing the Out of Iraq ballot measure.  Apparently, he's against all this democracy hooey. “Well, I think if you want to get the message across that the people of California are against the Iraq war, I think every poll has done that. To show that the California people are against the war. I, in principle, don't like non-binding resolutions, because it's a federal issue, not a state issue.” (KCRA 9/5/07) Because, you know, it would be sooo expensive to put 20 more words on the ballot and count the votes? If we have to have the third election, we might as well let the people make a statement.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Blog Roundup, Budget, Environment, Health Care

September 4, 2007 Blog Roundup

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Today’s Blog Roundup is on the flip. Let me know what I missed.

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The One Two Thing[s] to Read
Today

The Dignity of Labor

Health Care

The Environment

Electoral, Term Limits,
Redistricting Iniative “Reforms”

CA-03 and CA-04

Everything Else

California

SEIU United Healthcare Workers West looking for an Online Campaigner

It’s yet another testament to the success of the progressive blogosphere that some of the most innovative labor unions in the country are now beginning to take blogging very seriously.  A case in point is SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (disclosure: my former employer), which recently invited bloggers Elliot Petty from the The Courage Campaign and Calitics’ Brian Leubitz to blog about the union’s recent bargaining convention, and which sponsored the Yearly Kos a few weeks ago.

Now UHW is making room for a full time online campaigner to help build the labor movement’s outreach to the netroots.  If you’re interested or know someone else who might be, the job description is beneath the fold:

Online Campaigner

Job description

SEIU United Healthcare Workers – West is seeking a versatile, experienced online campaigner to join our 12-person communications team to:

  * Develop and implement on-line organizing campaign strategy, tools and activities that leverage cutting edge online technologies to support offline organizing and mobilization.
  * Expand current internet and web capabilities to make us a leader in online activism.
  * Develop and implement program to encourage member online activism.

Our ideal candidate is a strong writer, has solid strategic thinking skills, is passionate about social justice, is willing to work hard and can balance competing demands and deadlines.  This candidate must be equally adept at creating persuasive and editorial messaging.

Job responsibilities

  * Maximize the integration of online and offline organizing activities to better achieve our goals
  * Launch campaign initiatives, evaluate success, and modify strategy to improve effectiveness
  * Research, write, edit and distribute compelling action alerts that are coherent with broader campaign messaging.
  * Coordinate extensively with campaign teams, webmaster, videographer and field staff.
  * Ability to monitor and analyze site traffic, leading to more targeted online outreach and maximum public visibility.
  * Monitor online conversations about key issues and identify opportunities for engagement
  * Stay on top of emerging online organizing tools
  * Assist in the development of a member blogger program

Qualification

  * A strong commitment to social justice and the goals and principles of the labor movement.
  * A BA/BS in a related field (such as journalism, communications, computer science or political science) and at least 2 years of experience in online communications and organizing
  * Demonstrated effectiveness using blogs, social networking, viral marketing, internet video distribution, email action alerts, online petitions and other online organizing tools.
  * Excellent writing, speaking, listening, organizational and relationship building skills
  * The ability to strategize and implement plans in the context of a campaign.
  * Self starter, strong work ethic, dynamic and ability to thrive in an unstructured environment
  * Ability to work with a team, drive projects to completion, and handle multiple projects and tight deadlines.
  * Demonstrated skills in managing quantitative data
  * Political and/or other campaign experience highly desirable
  * General computer literacy, proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Access.
  * Willingness to work long, irregular hours, sometimes including weekends and evenings.

About SEIU UHW

With 145,000 members, SEIU UHW is the largest and fastest growing hospital and healthcare union in the Western United States. We represent workers in every aspect of the industry, including hospitals, clinics, homecare and nursing homes. We are committed to building a progressive, democratic labor movement and to achieving high quality healthcare for all.

To apply, send rĂ©sumĂ©, cover letter and 2 writing samples to [email protected]  SEIU UHW is an affirmative action employer.  Women and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply.

Blog Roundup, Budget

August 15, 2007 Blog Roundup

Today’s Blog Roundup is on the flip. Let me know what I missed.

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Budgets are Moral
Documents

Local Stuff

The Rest

Blog Roundup, Budget

August 14, 2007 Blog Roundup

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Today’s Blog Roundup is on the flip. Let me know what I missed.

To subscribe by email, click
here and do what comes naturally.

Budgets are Moral
Documents

Local Stuff

Here Come The Initiatives

Everything Else

Uncategorized

Can the Citizens of LA Have Confidence that the DWP is Ready for Another Hot Summer?

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It’s budget day and this is a fairly local story, but it is important.

One of the best reasons to have a strong labor movement is that unions tend to advocate for issues that benefit many more people than their actual members.  Take what two IBEW Locals are up to in LA, warning the public about the dangers of the Department of Water and Power’s (DWP) failure to ensure the department is prepared to respond in an emergency.

For over a decade, DWP management has been reducing critical staff positions and neglecting routine maintenance. This has left DWP workers frustrated and angry. They are forced to work overtime to make up for staff shortages and then blamed because there is so much overtime. They are forced to use “band-aid” fixes on a system that badly needs real updating and repair. They know that the failure of management at the DWP to address longstanding problems means that the DWP is not ready for another heat wave, like the one that happened in 2006, let alone a major natural disaster or terrorist attack.

The IBEW workers have been highlighting this dangerous lack of preparedness in a series of press releases, direct activism and the production of a DVD exposing the problems at the DWP. They have been rewarded with a nasty editorial in the LA Daily News, attacking their activism. The paper does not disagree about the the problems at the DWP, but uses it to blame the workers for the problems.

THe LADN used it as an opportunity to advocate for privatization and propose that what is really needed is for the workers to give up pay raises so the customers don’t have to pay for a rate hike.  That’s not what voters want. They want the DWP they had in 1994. In 1994, the Northridge earthquake severely damaged the electrical and water infrastructure in Los Angeles. Despite the damage, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power workers swiftly restored safe drinking water and reliable power to the millions of Los Angeles residents who depend on them. The DWP won kudos from everyone for its swift and effective response of DWP workers to the disaster.

That would not be the case today. The DWP is just not prepared to respond to that type of crisis and the LADN admits it. It is the worst sort of cynicism to run a great public utility into the ground and then use that as an excuse to privatize it. What happened with the Enron scandal and the power crisis of the early 2000s proves that when private industry takes over, then ratepayers suffer.

As noted above, the salaries of DWP workers are higher largely because they are forced to work overtime due to the chronic understaffing. If the DWP was fully staffed, there would much much less need for overtime. And really, is the LADN literally asking that workers shoulder the cost of strengthening the system, rather than the consumers? Talk about ballsy. That will really work towards fixing the hiring crisis.

The DVD has been getting a lot of attention.  There has been a number of local TV stories on the direct action by the electrical workers and they have played clips from the DVD.  Check out this KNBC story.

The DWP may not like the tactic, but they generally agree with what the electrical workers are saying.  They need to hire more workers.  The system is vulnerable and they need to work to fix it.  At issue is the pace and the scope of the changes.  The workers have tried for a long time to work behind the scenes.  Frustrated, they are taking their case to the public, much like the grocery workers did with their contract negotiations.  This is not about salaries and benefits, though those are important too.  It is about public safety and working conditions.

We need to ensure that our infrastructure is safe and capable of responding in a crisis.  The more that we can watchdog what our public utilities boards are doing the better.  I am working on getting the DVD in YouTube format and will post it when I can.  Watch the news clip, pass this post around to friends and family in LA.  It’s time to raise public awareness, before it is too late.

For more information check out the DWP tag at Working Californians.

Note: this post is a compilation of several from Working Californians.  The IBEW Locals involved are lead by the two co-chairs of WC.

Uncategorized

Contract Reached Between Grocery Workers and SoCal Chains

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Looks like Southern California grocery workers got a better contract without striking than they ended up getting after the ugly 2004 strike.  Details to come, but this is the email from the UFCW:

Today, Southern California’s grocery workers agreed to a tentative contract with the management of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons. This is a fair contract that obtains our primary goals of wage increases for everyone while protecting health care coverage.

This is not just a victory for grocery workers, this is a victory for all of us. You stood with grocery workers in support of strong, middle class jobs that strengthen our communities, and while it certainly took longer than we hoped, in the end we got a contract without having to go on strike.

Three years ago, Southern California’s grocery workers were forced to accept an unfair contract. Today, thanks to your support, we negotiated a fair contract on our terms.

This took seven long months of negotiations, but it looks like grocery workers will have their first raise in five years.  Good work by the UFCW for standing strong and not backing down.

Blog Roundup, Environment, Health Care, Prisons

July 13, 2007 Blog Roundup

The Blog Roundup is on the flip. LOTS of stuff about Health Care and the Environment. Also a couple less-noticed stories about voting machines, the sanitation workers in the East Bay, and unionization at the LA Times.

Budgets are Moral
Documents

The Health Care Battle

Our Little Corner of the
Planet

The Dignity of Labor

Purty Much Everything Else

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Blog Roundup, Health Care

July 11, 2007 Blog Roundup

Today’s Blog Roundup is on the flip. Let me know if I missed anything in comments.

Health and Health Care

Our Environment

Pretty Much Everything
Else

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Blog Roundup, Environment

July 3, 2007 Blog Roundup

2 Comments

Lots of posts in the California blogs in the last 24 hours, almost all of them on Bush commuting Scooter Libby’s sentence (it’s good to be the king — or his friend). Actual California stuff I found below the fold. As always, if I missed something, post it in comments.

Incidentally, I noticed that for some reason the links sometimes appear as plain text in the RSS feed. They do seem to show up as hyperlinks in the emailed roundup. I’ll see what I can do about that. Until then, just click through for hyperlinking.

Not Working Californians
or California Progress Report

Working Californians

California Progress Report