L.A. Transportation PLA Offers Lifeline for Long-Term Jobless, Homeless
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This is a cross-post from Chaz Bolte of the We Party Blog.
The city of Los Angeles and its mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, have been leading the national push for Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) to help create jobs for local workers. This trend continued last Thursday as the city and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that PLAs have been entered into to ensure that 40 percent of the work hours performed on most MTA projects moving forward will be done by people who live in economically disadvantaged communities.
[Project labor agreements are pre-hire agreements between labor and management that require all construction jobs be filled by local workers; include diversity requirements; establish wages and work rules covering overtime, working hours and dispute resolution; and ensure that safety guidelines on the job site are enforced.]
In addition, at least 10 percent of the work hours are to be reserved for people suffering from homelessness, chronic unemployment and other challenges. This kind of pro-active approach to tackling multiple societal ills through infrastructure development is commendable and needs to be mimicked nationwide.
From the LA Times blog L.A. Now:
“I am proud that the MTA board voted unanimously to become the first transit agency in the nation to use federal and local dollars to create jobs targeted at economically disadvantaged communities and individuals,” Villaraigosa said. “This landmark program is part of a strategy to deliver public transit projects while creating jobs that will lift people out of poverty and into the middle class.”
L.A. Union Members Raise Funds for Homeless Vets, Donate Food to Jobless
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Kudos to Los Angeles union members who helped out those in need over the recent holiday. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and Labor Community Services, AFL-CIO sponsored the Homeless Heroes Team, with more than 200 union members, their families and veterans taking part in a 5K run/walk and raising $10,000 for homeless vets.
The Los Angeles County Federation and Labor Community Services also provided Thanksgiving dinners for 2,000 unemployed union families, with more than 50 volunteers filling up 2,000 grocery bags with food and turkey certificates.
Says Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation:
The continuing hardship our members face in the current uncertain economy has had huge impact here in Los Angeles County. The continuing support of our members to assist others less fortunate than themselves highlights the strength and might of the labor movement.
L.A. Transit Agency Program Will Create 260,000 Construction Jobs
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Working people are applauding the Los Angeles County Metro Board of Directors vote last week in favor of a sweeping, agency-wide program that will create 260,000 construction jobs. Officials said the program will dramatically increase the number of workers hired from communities near upcoming transit projects and special attention will be given to applicants who live in areas of high unemployment.
The Construction Careers Policy covers Metro transit construction projects for the next 30 years, including projects funded under Measure R, the half-cent sales tax recently approved in 2008 by voters to fund transportation upgrades.
Tens of Thousands March for Workers’ Rights, Immigration Reform
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Across the country, tens of thousands marched and rallied May 1, May Day, to call for national immigration reform and to support all workers’ rights. Just as we did on April 4, working people declared: “Somos Unos—Respeten Nuestros Derechos” or “We Are One—Respect Our Rights.”
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told a crowd of about 100,000 in Milwaukee that “May Day is our day to stand together shoulder to shoulder for immigrant and worker rights.”
Gov. Scott Walker…has declared war on Wisconsin workers and, like you did before, you joined in a peaceful protest to say “No! No!” We reject the idea that America can no longer be a great nation and that we’re too broke to treat people fairly. We reject the notion that America can’t be the land of shared prosperity.
The crowd marched 2.5 miles across Milwaukee chanting, “this is what democracy looks like,” “sí, se peude,” “Walker eschuca estamos en la lucha” and “Wisconsin no es Arizona.”
Read Trumka’s entire speech here and click here to read more about the Milwaukee march.
20,000 March for the Middle Class in L.A.
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Nearly 20,000 working people marched through downtown Los Angeles Saturday, making it clear they will fight any attempt to launch a Wisconsin-like attack on workers in cash-strapped California. The march stretched for several blocks and included nurses, telephone technicians, electricians, truckers, screenwriters, actors, longshoremen, teachers and others. This is the largest action by Los Angeles workers in recent history.
The Wisconsin bill eliminates the freedom of state employees to bargain for a better life. Speaking at the Los Angeles rally, Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, said even though the bill exempts firefighters, his union still opposes the law. He said the law is a direct attack on all unions and the entire middle class.
Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, told the crowd:
In Los Angeles, we’re not going to sit back and watch Republican governors and their right-wing corporate backers roll back the freedoms of working people in this country. We support Wisconsin and any other state where those freedoms are under attack.
At the rally, Mitchell gave a rousing speech connecting Wisconsin to LA.
This is about an attack on me. This is about an attack on you. This is an emergency we have in Wisconsin and across the U.S. This is about an attack on the middle class. We need to reclaim our moral outrage … because we are in the battle of a lifetime.
Los Angeles Workers Set to Rally for Communities, Jobs
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On Saturday, March 26, tens of thousands of working people, students, community activists and religious and political leaders will join in a massive march and rally in Los Angeles to protect workers’ rights and protect the middle class.
The “Our Communities, Our Good Jobs” rally will focus on a series of attacks against LA-area workers, from school teachers to grocery store employees. Teachers are facing massive layoffs, attacks on seniority, evaluations based on student test scores and schools that are being dissolved. At the same time, across southern California, 60,000 grocery workers at Ralph’s supermarket are working under an expired contract. The marchers will send a message to Ralph’s management that workers will not let the giant corporations force another strike and lockout like they did in 2003 and 2004.
L.A. Carwash Owners Get Jail Time
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After two and a half years of fighting for justice, southern California carwasheros celebrated a big win today. Two of the most unrepentant abusers of carwash workers’ rights—the Pirian brothers, Benny and Nissan, have each been sentenced to one year in jail for labor law violations.
“Today marks an important step on the path out of poverty for tens of thousands of carwash workers in Los Angeles in the fight for respect on the job for tens of thousands of carwash workers,” said Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor.
These carwash owners are on notice that this is a new day in Los Angeles. Abuse of workers will no longer go unchecked.
Durazo joined a rally with members of the Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) at the Vermont Hand Wash, one of the Pirians’ four carwashes in the Los Angeles area.
Trumka: ‘We’re Going to Rebuild America With Jobs’
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In the political showdown between Wall Street and Main Street, California is a key battleground. With the third highest jobless rate in the country and a towering budget deficit, California needs leaders who can create and save jobs, not just spout ”more of the same corporate bull,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told a crowd of thousands at a mass jobs rally in Los Angeles today.
“How are we going to rebuild America? With jobs! Who’s going to rebuild America? Working people with jobs!”
The choice for voters is clear in California, said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation. The Republican candidates for governor and U.S. senator, respectively, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, are mirror images of each other.
Both are failed CEOs. Both slashed thousands of jobs to make themselves richer. And both have a dangerous agenda that will douse any hope for economic recovery. They want to slash jobs. Eliminate pensions. Scale back overtime pay and meal breaks for workers. They’re part of the greed is good crowd. I think it’s pretty clear that’s the wrong direction.
Thousands to Rally in Los Angeles Friday for Jobs
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With a critical election less than three months away and jobs foremost among voters’ concerns, thousands of working people will join community and labor leaders from across the country Friday in Los Angeles to let our elected leaders and political candidates know we need real action, not campaign rhetoric, on creating good jobs that can’t be outsourced.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D), Letter Carriers (NALC) President Fredric Rolando, Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and community and labor leaders will speak at a massive rally in front of city hall, starting at noon PT.
L.A. Schools Approve Resolution to Use CLEAN Carwashes
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Chloe Osmer of the Clean Carwash Campaign in Los Angeles reports on a resolution that is the first in the country by the Los Angeles Unified School District to only use carwashes that agree to respect workers’ rights and the environment.
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board passed a resolution yesterday calling for the district to wash its huge fleet of vehicles only at carwashes that have signed the CLEAN Agreement, which commits the companies to abide by minimum employment, health and safety and environmental standards and to respect workers’ right to join a union.
Dozens of carwash workers, including those with children in the Los Angeles public schools, students and their community allies were on hand to support the resolution, which is the first of its kind in the nation. The Los Angeles City Council also is currently considering a similar resolution.
