A few enduring classics from the Too Good To Be True department: Eat more, lose weight! Get rich quick! Send your financial information to a generous Nigerian prince and he will pay you millions!
Read MoreEl Super Grocery Workers Fight for Paid Sick Leave
El Super employee Martin Ayala. (Photo: Ana Cholo)
To the sources of airborne diseases brought in from schools, hospitals and airliners, add a new threat: Thousands of low-paid food handlers who are compelled by economic circumstances to remain on the job even when they are ill. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Infected food workers cause about 70 percent of reported norovirus outbreaks from contaminated food.” The CDC’s recommendations for containment include, “Requiring sick food workers to stay home, and considering use of paid sick leave and on-call staffing, to support compliance.”
Read MoreQ&A with Labor Leaders: Teamsters General President Hoffa
Corporate America has a new plan: to use labor contractors and staffing agencies to supply workers with no strings attached. Look no further than Taylor Farms in Tracy, California, where the company is using multiple staffing agencies to avoid any responsibility to its workers. Taylor Farms workers are standing up for their rights and are working to pass AB 1897, sponsored by the California Labor Federation and the Teamsters Union, to hold companies accountable for labor abuses of temporary workers.
Last week, Teamster General President James Hoffa joined the Taylor Farms workers in solidarity at the Capitol and again at a rally in Tracy to support their fight for justice at Taylor Farms and advocate for the passage of AB 1897. We asked President Hoffa a few questions about his trip to California.
Read MoreFred Ross Sr. selected for California Hall of Fame
Legendary community and labor organizer Fred Ross Sr. will be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, Gov. Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown announced.
Read MoreCaregivers defeat attempt to limit hours to 40 per week and ban overtime
United Domestic Workers
Yesterday the Legislature voted to protect continuity of care for our clients and fund overtime pay for IHSS caregivers for the first time in history. It is expected that Governor Brown will sign the bill that contains the necessary provisions for caregiver overtime into law before the June 30th deadline.
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City College SF Takes Rogue Accreditation Agency to Task in Sacramento
Hundreds of faculty and community college advocates from around the state converged on Sacramento’s Citizen Hotel Friday, June 6th to mark the Accrediting Commission for Junior and Community College’s (ACCJC) semi-annual meeting. In a spirited protest outside the hotel, faculty and classified staff and students and alumni claimed their own colleges pinning on personalizing “I am…” hearts.
Raise the Wage: Historic Day in San Francisco for Workers
, San Francisco Labor Council
Raising the Minimum Wage – 11-0 with support of Mayor
The San Francisco Labor Council is proud to be part of an historic agreement reached yesterday with the Mayor and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors that puts a consensus minimum wage measure on the November ballot that gets all workers to $15 with the cleanest non-exemption path in the United States.
Read MoreTeamsters President Hoffa Joins Effort to Pass AB 1897, Curb Abuses Against Temporary Workers
, California Labor Federation
Since he entered the workforce 10 years ago, Jose Gonzalez has been designated “temporary.” Companies like Taylor Farms, the salad processing giant, use labor contractors or agencies to hire workers like Jose to do the work that makes the company profitable. Instead of making Jose a permanent worker with rights and benefits, these big corporations suspend workers in a state of insecurity. And when rights are violated, the companies absolve themselves of responsibility, pointing the finger at a subcontractor. In Jose’s case at Taylor Farms in Tracy, it’s damaging his future and robbing him of the American Dream. And millions of workers nationwide are in the same sinking boat.
Read MoreUFCW States Council Releases Largest-Ever Study of California’s Grocery Industry Workers
This piece is an original UFCW Western States Council blog post.
United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council is pleased to announce the results of the largest and most comprehensive study of California’s food retail (grocery) industry to date.
Shelved: How Wages and Working Conditions for California’s Food Retail Workers have Declined as the Industry has Thrived is authored Saru Jayaraman of U.C. Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center and co-founder/co-director of Restaurant Opportunities Center United, and U.C. Davis Associate Professor of Community and Regional Development Chris Benner, and was commissioned UFCW Western States Council. The report contains data expected to have broad implications for the state’s grocery industry.
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Primary Election a Boon for Workers, Bust for Big Corporations
The results are in. While workers are celebrating some huge victories this morning, the corporate crowd is wondering what went wrong in some key races. Last night’s California primary election presented some very clear choices to voters that are critical to the direction of our state.
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