Dennis Raj is the Political Director at the South Bay Labor Council.
Dennis Raj
With an overwhelming 6 to 1 majority vote, the Mountain View City Council passed a Prevailing Wage requirement for new affordable housing projects in the city. Mountain View, like other Charter Cities, was longer required to pay prevailing wages after a California Supreme Court ruling last year that made clear charter cities retain the autonomy to decide prevailing wage for themselves.
A prevailing wage ordinance requires the payment of an hourly wage, usual benefits and overtime, paid to the majority of workers, laborers and mechanics with a particular area. Make no mistake; this is an important victory for the local economy, construction workers and the residents of Mountain View.
Dennis Raj
Fifty years after hundreds of thousands of Americans marched on Washington for “jobs and freedom,” they’re still trying to reach that goal.
Now, fast food workers around the country are walking out, bringing their fight for fair wages and benefits to the forefront of political discourse on workers' rights. In the process, the McStrikers are highlighting the difficulties faced by low-wage workers around the country trying to make a living in the new economy. These challenges include a median wage of http://www.bls.gov/ooh/food-preparation-and-serving/food-and-beverage-serving-and-related-workers.htm#tab-1)” target=”_blank”>$18,130 a year, rising cost of living, and few (if any) benefits. To top it off, the fast food industry has alarmingly high rates of wage theft and other schemes that disadvantage workers, as highlighted by the debit card fiasco.
But these workers are not alone — they have the backing of organized labor — and their movement is growing.
