Vol. 1, Issue 124
Last Chance to Call Your Representative on
Health Care
It’s crunch time! The
U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote tomorrow
afternoon on HR 3962, the comprehensive health care reform
bill that includes a public health insurance option, guarantees
that employers pay their fare share and doesn’t tax our
benefits.
The vote is shaping up to be extremely close.
Please take a minute today to call your representative and urge
him or her to vote for HR 3962 tomorrow afternoon. Even if
you’ve called before, now is the time to call again, and
join with workers across the country to barrage Congress with
calls in support of real health care
reform.
Call your representative toll-free at
(877) 235-2465.
Supporters of health care reform across the
state have been working around the clock in support of health
care reform this week. In San Diego, nearly 200 union members
made 500 phone calls to Congress on Thursday in support of
HR3962. In Fresno, more than 300 workers marched from Sen.
Feinstein’s office to Rep. Jim Costa’s office to
call on Congress to pass the health care reform bill. And in
Bakersfield, State Senator Dean Florez and labor icon Dolores
Huerta joined workers to kick off a rolling fast that will
continue until the House votes on health care.
Garamendi Wins in Congressional
District 10
Voters of the 10th Congressional District this
week elected a tireless advocate and proven champion for working
people in John Garamendi. This important victory puts us a step
closer to rebuilding our economy, both in California and
nationwide.
As one of his first acts in Congress,
Congressman Garamendi will serve as a critical vote in support
of comprehensive health care reform, providing vital leadership
on what has been a signature issue throughout his career.
Additionally, Garamendi has vowed continue his lifelong advocacy
for workers’ rights by being a leader in the effort to
pass the Employee Free Choice Act in the coming year.
Read the press statement at
http://tinyurl.com/ycy8dyg
Sign the Petition to Save 50,000
California Jobs
Earlier this year, Toyota announced it
would be closing the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc (NUMMI)
auto plant in Fremont. If the plant goes out of business, 4,500
auto workers would lose their jobs, and 45,000 workers at other
companies that rely on the NUMMI plant to stay in business would
be out of work as well.
Californians buy far more Toyota vehicles than
any other state, and California taxpayers have further supported
Toyota by financing training, tax abatements, and the federal
“cash for clunkers” program, which benefited Toyota
more than any other auto company. But by closing the NUMMI
plant, Toyota is reneging on their commitment to
California’s economic well-being.
Sign the petition to save NUMMI at
http://tinyurl.com/ykgphbu
California Nurses Set National Benchmark
for Containing Pandemics
This week, the
California Nurses Association and Catholic Healthcare West came
to an agreement that sets a national benchmark for containing
the spread of pandemics such as H1N1 and protecting patients and
workers. The agreement creates a new system-wide emergency task
force, which will set uniform standards on full implementation
of federal, state and local guidelines, and will monitor
preparedness and availability of the proper safety protective
equipment, communication and training policies for all hospital
personnel.
In addition to the H1N1 standards, the
agreement also addressed several other workplace issues the
nurses had raised. The settlement, which averted a strike that
had been set for Oct. 30, covers 13,000 registered nurses in 32
Catholic Healthcare West facilities in California and
Nevada.
Learn more at
http://tinyurl.com/ykv6srj
Hotel Workers Strike at Grand Hyatt
in San Francisco
Hotel workers walked off the job this morning at
the Grand Hyatt Union Square in San Francisco, announcing a
3-day strike against the property. The Grand Hyatt is owned and
operated by Hyatt Hotels Corporation, which today is conducting
an initial public offering expected to raise close to $1 billion
for its principal owners, the Pritzker family.
“Hyatt’s cashing out almost a
billion dollars for its owners, but at the same time
they’re pushing to make health care unaffordable for me
and my family?” remarked Aurolyn Rush, a 13-year telephone
operator at the Grand Hyatt. “That is unforgivable, and
we’re not going to stand for it.”
Workers at the Grand Hyatt will return to work
on Sunday, November 8, but have called for customers to honor an
ongoing boycott at that property.
Learn more at
http://tinyurl.com/y9r6yhn
Strategic Campaigns Workshop:
December 7-11th
The UC Berkeley Labor Center will be offering a
five-day workshop on strategic campaigns, which is designed to
help organizers, researchers, field reps and business agents,
communications specialists and political coordinators develop
deeper analyses of issues they are working on, create strategic
plans and learn new tools for their campaigns. Participants will
be guided through a series of steps to create a comprehensive
strategic campaign around the issues they are already working
on.
The workshop will take place at the UC Berkeley
Labor Center from December 7-11th, and the deadline to register
is November 13th.
Learn more and register online at
http://tinyurl.com/ybyyeow
