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A TALE OF THE TIMES
On a dour note, Josh Gellers email to us on November 2, came back to haunt me when my wife showed me what the new Anthem HMO + health insurance was going to cost me.
Whereas I did not pay for access to Loma Linda Hospital care in the past, in order for me to continue with Loma Linda Hospital, it will now cost me $248 each paycheck or $500 a month!
Rafe,
Before you pop the champagne on the Blue Cross HMO deal, check the fine print. It required a modification to everyone's MOU to allow the City to charge for access to the full BC HMO network. Definitely better that everyone has the option to stay in that network, but it comes at a price to those who wish to remain in that network.
Thanks for all your hard work.
Josh
So, yes Josh, you were acutely aware of what it was exactly that had actually befallen upon us.
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BLACK FRIDAY WALMART OPPOSITION GROWS
Guys,
I apologize for entering your domain at this time on a day of solemn reverence and family solidarity.
However, it seems to me that the Labor movement is at a tipping point with the Black Friday Walmart Opposition Movement possibly being the catalyst for a major shift in the public's social political consciousness regarding Labor.
This issue is a national one.
This issue crosses all ethnic lines who are struggling at the poverty level.
This issue crosses all income levels that are represented by organized Labor. Case in point are the professional educators whose hours are being threatened so that their employers can avoid the universal health care guidelines.
The policies that Walmart employs in its work places are dehumanizing at the expense of its workforce.
If you are a parent, worse yet if you are a single parent, Walmart (along with other major corporations) play you along with minimum wages (below a living wage - with which to keep you out of poverty) and less than forty hours a week. Often forcing workers to work broken shifts on the same day.
Not providing health insurance.
Preventing Unions to represent workers.
In my opinion, Walmarts are the plantations of the twenty first century.
As I mentioned earlier in this newsletter, I may not have been able to participate in the anti Riordan actions by SEIU 721 because of my logistical reasoning. But, I find myself today in a situation where I can get involved locally, just as many of you can, because there is a Walmart in most communities.
I remember as a young man shopping in progressive communities that there was opposition to selling grapes because there was a Farm Workers movement. I was young and naive. Politically uniformed and so I did not understand or see the big picture.
However, today, I am older, have seen the Civil Rights movement, the Womens Rights movement and the Gay and Lesbians Rights movement make strides that without them our social standards, acceptances and laws would be a far cry from what they are today.
In the interim, correct me if I am mistaken, Labor has lost ground.
So, today, I ask you to consider this. Take a moment. Go to this link:
If there is an action taking place relatively close to where you live and you have a grandchild, nephew or niece, son or daughter, consider this.
Show them the poor and restless who are struggling to survive against the mega corporate plantation owners who threaten our standard of living in the name of greed.
When I was fifteen years old, a Union activist invited my schoolyard gang to go to a civil rights movement in Washington D.C. I was the only one to go. But I was blessed to have my feet in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool when I stood up to hear one of the most famous speeches of the twentieth century.
When I was twenty one, I heard about a music and art festival taking place upstate New York and I invited all on campus to go. A few of us heard the calling and so we went - and yes, we heard and saw many of our generations greatest artists in one of those epic moments of time that can never be repeated.
What I am asking you to consider is not like recruiting you to go off to Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan.
However, I am asking you to take this moment to consider the opportunity at hand to witness and participate in a public showing of support for those who do not have a voice in the halls of policy making or board rooms - but have in fact the support of working brothers and sisters.
You may not have been able to "OCCUPY WALL STEET!"
But you can "OCCUPY WALMART!"
Show your progeny the challenges we face today.
Seize the time!
God Bless
Rafe
Why Wal-Mart workers are striking on Black Friday
By Emily Jane Fox @CNNMoney November 21, 2012: 8:40 AM ET
Jeff Landry, a Wal-Mart employee in Sapulpa, Okla., said he is joining the Black Friday protest to fight back against retaliation. He said his hours were cut after he complained to managers about his schedule.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The stage has been set for a battle between a group of Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) workers and the retailer on Black Friday.
The union-backed group OUR Walmart expects thousands of workers to participate in the protest planned this week. The employees will ask the country's largest employer to end what they call retaliation against speaking out for better pay, fair schedules and affordable health care.
Such retaliation can include shuffling around their shifts, cutting hours and moving them around departments.
Wal-Mart says that the protesters make up just a handful of its 1.3 million workforce.
In an effort to stop them, Wal-Martfiled a complaint last week with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and its subsidiary known as OURWalmart unlawfully organized picket lines and other demonstrations in the past six months. The retailer said the actions have disrupted business, and that workers' ongoing actions violate the National Labor Relations Act, which prohibits picketing for any period over 30 days without filing a petition to form a union.
Related: Why it sucks to work Black Friday
Representatives of the federal agency are currently holding talks at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, about the complaint. Nancy Cleeland, a spokeswoman for the agency, said in an email that a decision from the agency is not expected before Thursday.
Courts won't be open that day to grant an injunction because of the Thanksgiving holiday, meaning that no action will be taken in time to block the planned Black Friday walkout.
Cleeland said there are currently about 20 charges filed against Wal-Mart stores by individual employees and OUR Walmart alleging a number of illegal acts. She wouldn't say what the specific charges are.
OUR Walmart, which gets financial backing and other support from the UFCW, says that it is specifically protesting against the company's retaliation against its employees and doesn't have specific demands tied to the Black Friday walkout.
However, in 2011, the group asked the retailer to pay workers a minimum wage of $13 per hour and to make more full-time jobs available for its part-time employees who want them. It also asked the retailer to provide affordable health care, predictable hours and to recognize freedom of speech and association.
Wal-Mart would not say what percentage of its workers are part-time, or how much they are paid on average. Tovar said that a majority of its employees are full-time workers, who get an average hourly wage of $12.40, about $5 above the federal minimum wage.
Jeff Landry, an employee in Sapulpa, Okla., plans to join the protest. He works from 4 to 9 p.m. after attending school all day. When he was scheduled for a shift during class, Landry complained. He says his managers responded by cutting his hours from 40 to below 30 a week.
This meant that Landry was no longer eligible for health care, since Wal-Mart requires workers to work an average of 30 hours per week to get benefits.
"They tried all these tactics to get rid of me," he said.
Landry has his job despite joining a walkout last month, when a protest that started at a Wal-Mart in Los Angeles spread to stores in 12 other cities. Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said Wal-Mart has a policy that prohibits retaliation of any kind, and investigates every allegation. Labor law experts say that if true, the employees' claims would violate terms of the National Labor Rights Act, which protects workers against that kind of retaliation. Angela Cornell, director of the labor law clinic at Cornell Law School, said that Wal-Mart's complaint might not work because labor laws that prohibit picketing over 30 days applies only to protesters trying to form a union or gain collective bargaining rights, not employees who are protesting against retaliation. According to William Gould IV, who was chairman of the NLRB under President Clinton and is now a law professor at Stanford University, the law protects employees protesting employment conditions. He also said that it would be unusual for the federal agency to conclude an investigation of this size within a matter of days, or in time for Black Friday.
Both Gould and Cornell agree it is likely that the retailer is using the complaint as a way to deter workers from taking part in the walk offs.
"It appears to me that the main motivation is...to make some employees decide not to participate, even though their activities are protected," Cornell said. 
First Published: November 20, 2012: 10:21 AM ET
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LCLAA STANDS UNITED WITH WAL-MART WORKERS
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"Trabajadoras" serves as a call to action to defend the rights of Latina workers in the United States.
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LCLAA proposes a new approach to immigration in "Disposable Workers: Immigration after NAFTA and the Nation's Addiction to Cheap Labor."
Download the Report Here
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Donate $5, $10 or more to LCLAA and help us fund community education and advocacy programs that promote the advancement of Latino working families.
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STAND WITH WAL-MART WORKERS ON BLACK FRIDAY!
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Dear LCLAA Activists,
Stand with Walmart retail workers who are committing to reclaim Black Friday-the busiest shopping day of the year-for workers and customers in our communities. Following on the heels of the first-ever strikes by Walmart workers across the country, workers are recommitting and going on strike to stop the company's retaliation and attempts to silence workers from speaking out for change. Join these brave striking workers in a wide range of non-violent activities on and leading up to Black Friday, including rallies, flash mobs, direct action and other efforts to inform customers about the illegal actions that Walmart has been taking against its workers.
Find an Action Near You!
Take the Pledge!
Please show support for Walmart Strikers and Workers across the country, as Walmart associates stand up to Walmart's retaliation, stand with them and show them that they have the support of their communities and people across the U.S.
THIS IS HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION:
Download Flyer!
* Leaflet at your local store or pass out flyers to both Walmart associates and customers as they're going to and from their cars.
* Lead a delegation on store manager or ask for a public meeting with the store manager in which you can lay out your specific reasons for why Walmart needs to change, citing actions taken against OUR Walmart and Warehouse Workers United members and asking them to end the retaliation.
* Scripted action or Lead your own #Occupy -style mic-check, chant, sound-off, or flashmob.
Mic-Check
Flash Mob
* Prayer vigil or Hold a vigil using the prayer outlined in the toolkit.
Toolkit
* Create your own! Or use these overall talking points and message to create your own fun action.
Instructions and Talking Points
Additional Information
While workers are doing their own strike preparation, we should all do our parts to ensure that workers do not go hungry as they take the campaign to the next level. Donate to the Strike Fund or make checks payable to OUR Walmart and mail to 1775 K St. NW, Washington DC, 20006 to the attention of Silvia Fabela.
Donate to the Strike Fund!
It is not an easy decision, but without an end to the retaliation, Walmart workers across the country will be walking off the job in protest, and we hope you will join them. We ask that supporters take action that spreads the word about the strikes and demonstrate to Walmart a wave of support for workers who are speaking out.
Walmart workers will not be silenced until they see real change! | | |
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That's all folks!
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SEIU Local 721 Reformers is an email address attempting to share information with SEIU Local Members, Stewards, Officers, Staff and Officials.
Rafe Garcia, Steward, is the custodian of this email address.
Those of us sharing, exchanging and participating in this forum are attempting to engage the membership to further the concept of a member driven Union.
We, you and all the rest of us have the best interests of the rank and file members, over 70,000 strong.
FOUNDED AUGUST 31, 2008
