Am I allowed to write this? Is it against company rules? Before I tell you why I ask, let me explain a little about myself.
I’m a split personality of sorts. I’m a diligent employee. I’m always punctual in the RH restaurant where I work as a server at the Hyatt Andaz on Sunset in West Hollywood. I can describe every dish in detail. I enjoy getting to know my guests. I smile. I’m warm. I go above and beyond to offer them a great experience. I have many return guests. Some of them even bring me bottles of wine. I’ll refer to this first character as my “A” personality.
My “B” personality exists outside of the confines of Hyatt. Here are a few character identifiers: He’s a passionate union activist for UNITE HERE Local 11. He shows up extra early to the many rallies, strikes and pickets that are held outside of his place of employment.
You won’t read these headlines in your morning paper: “Public Sector Union Leads on Job Creation and Helping the Environment. Government Agency Exceeds Goals.” Not very good copy from the perspective of opinion writers and editors.
You can’t entirely blame the media. It’s human nature. You notice the power outage, not the lights that go on every day. Still, the constant attacks on the public sector (and public sector employees especially) make it important to point out the things that do work.
So bear with me. Last year, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was asked by the city to take charge of an $8.5 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program to weatherize the homes of low-income customers. The nonprofits that typically do the work didn’t feel they had the capabilities.
Brian D’Arcy, Business Manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 —
» Read more about: Union and Government Partner for Good of City »
Now that we know corporations are people, it may be time to wonder: Is it possible that corporations have feelings?
Does Walmart, Corporate Person, feel bad as communities reject its plans to move in next door?
If so, the world’s largest retailer is bravely hiding its hurt as it marches, head held high, into Los Angeles’ Chinatown. Community opposition erupted a couple of weeks ago as soon as word got out that Walmart planned a store at Chavez and Grand, but Walmart hasn’t flinched publicly. (Queries to Walmart for this post were not answered by publication time.*)
*Update: Steven V. Restivo Sr., Walmart’s Director of Community Affairs, later responded with this message:
“Now that our Walmart Neighborhood Market has received all necessary approvals, we look forward to serving downtown customers soon. We appreciate all the community support to date and will continue to engage with residents and businesses in the area to talk about the jobs,
» Read more about: Walmart: No Friend to Local Business, Studies Show »
Last week I made up my first Twitter hashtag: #wonkygeekheaven. Which is exactly what the first Los Angeles Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference was for me. There was lots of talk about LAANE’s Don’t Waste LA campaign (which my company, Isidore Electronics Recycling, is a new partner of), passionate discussions with labor and environmental groups, analysis of the economic impact of climate change policy on cities and a rally against a big bad waste company.
Like I said, #wonkygeekheaven.
I never thought I would start an electronics recycling company. But while in my twenties I did a stint in (then) City Council President Eric Garcetti’s office, where I focused on public safety and gang intervention and prevention. There, I saw the same truth over and over: At-risk people and those exiting prison need jobs. I headed to graduate school to figure out how to make that happen,
» Read more about: My Quest for a Greener, Cleaner Tomorrow »
Here’s a story you may not be hearing about anytime soon on KPFK — Pacifica, the nonprofit foundation that runs 90.7 FM in L.A., as well as four other progressive radio stations around the country, has retained a high-powered labor-bashing firm. Jackson Lewis LLC, described by the AFL-CIO as “America’s number one union-buster,” is on the Pacifica payroll. “All we do is work,” its site announces – right next to its “Union Free” portal.
Those with long memories of past internecine battles at Pacifica will hardly be surprised to hear about the latest turn of events. This, of course, makes it no less depressing. At a time when right-wing forces are waging war against the rights of American workers to be represented by a union, now is certainly not the time for Pacifica to side with labor’s antagonists.
» Read more about: WebHot! Surprise (Not): Union Busting at Pacifica Radio »
I am an office assistant at the Venice Beach Care Center, a medical cannabis dispensary. I’m also a student at Santa Monica College studying kinesiology. I love my job because it gives me a chance to give back and make a difference — some people who live in pain have chosen an alternative way of healing to manage their sickness, and we are here for them. My job also gives me a chance to interact with people, sharpen my communications skills and develop compassion for patients who need our help.
Every day I wake up and realize I’m a part of something new and historical — and I hope that people’s views of the medical cannabis industry and of employees like myself are changing. Just like other American workers, I dream of a better life for myself — the future I create starts here today, small and local.
Working at the dispensary has made it possible for me to put myself through school and help support my mom.
» Read more about: Blunt Talk: What Marijuana Pharmacy Workers Want »
Last week, the AFL-CIO released a statement – “Restoring Democracy” – on the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in the Citizens United case.
The federation eloquently and accurately inveighs against “excessive corporate influence” in the political process, calling for “greater balance . . . transparency and disclosure . . . restoring Congress’ ability to regulate campaign spending,” and “abolishing corporate ‘personhood.’” If necessary, the AFL states, we should pass a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. To be sure, all of these things are true: Citizens United is bad for democracy in general, and especially bad for labor, as it makes the political playing field further unbalanced in favor of corporations and the wealthy.
In the spirit of full accounting, though, let’s acknowledge that the ruling does give labor something: For the first time in the modern history of a presidential race,
» Read more about: Cash of the Titans: Life After Citizens United Ruling »
Anyone involved in the United Farm Workers campaigns of the 1960s and ’70s will tell you how critical those efforts were – not only to the well-being of farmworkers, but to the participant’s identity and the development of his or her views on labor and the world.
Many activists, like myself, were not vineyard or orchid pickers, but merely college students who helped organize local boycotts and picket lines far from the state’s embattled valleys. Yet even we sometimes glimpsed first-hand the epic human struggles that were transforming California’s agriculture, as I did during a brief summer stint in the 1973 grape strike outside Fresno.
To this day sense impressions remain vivid: The stifling 104-degree heat of the picket lines; the revivifying cold of the Kings River at night; the sweet sound of Superior Court Judge Peckinpah (Wild Bunch director Sam’s brother) ordering the release of thousands of farm workers from jail after they’d been arrested for protesting;
» Read more about: A People’s History of the Farmworkers Movement »
Calling on California’s leaders to invest in their state, the California Labor Federation (CLF) today unveiled an ambitious plan to pull the state out of its economic slump.
The seven-point plan begins by urging construction of the long-planned, oft-fought high-speed railway line that would connect San Diego, Sacramento and the Bay Area. Only a few years ago this seemed like a staggering but plausible infrastructure project – a magic bullet train, as it were, that would create thousands of good, lasting jobs. But when the recession hit, it stalled – and since then territorial politics have stopped the project in its tracks, along with some new cost projections for a much higher than expected construction price tag. The CLF plan asks legislators to begin releasing money from Prop 1A bonds that were passed by voters in 2008.
The CLF plan’s other planks include the following:
» Read more about: Calif. Unions Push for Jobs, Push Back on Pensions »