Tag Archives: Middle class

Host: Gillian L.

Where: Rep. DelBene’s office, Bothell

When: Friday at 12:00 p.m.

What: Join us at Rep. Delbene’s office to ask her to vote no on fast track Trade Promotion Authority. Currently before Congress, this bill would pave the way for quick passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a secretive trade deal referred to as “NAFTA on steroids.” Rep. DelBene has not yet said that we can count on her vote against fast track, so we’ll deliver shoes with the message “Don’t walk away from workers.” Bring an old pair of shoes if you have them!

Can you join us in Bothell on Friday?

Click below for more details and to RSVP:

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Chick-fil-A

05/07/2015 Nativegrl77

Help The Simpsons Co-Creator Sam Simon Take a Bite out of Chick-fil-A’s Animal Cruelty

Sam Simon and Mercy For Animals

Sign Sam’s petition

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Don’t miss the final story in our Product of Mexico series: Children work the fields

12/19/2014 Nativegrl77

Dear Readers:Meet Alejandrina. She was 11 when Los Angeles Times journalists first began reporting her story. Alejandrina, a little girl who likes lip gloss and longs to go to back to school, works 14 hours a day picking chile peppers for a farm that supplies a U.S. distributor.

Mexican law requires workers to be at least 15, but Alejandrina is among an estimated 100,000 children younger than that who work the fields. As she told The Times: “I work because we don’t have any money and we need money to eat things.”

Times reporter Richard Marosi and photographer Don Bartletti tracked Alejandrina’s nomadic existence for a year. Read her story, which is also the story of so many others: Children harvest crops and sacrifice dreams in Mexico’s fields

This marks the fourth and final piece in our Product of Mexico series, an investigation into conditions on Mexican farms that supply Americans with much of our tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other produce.

We’ve told readers about unbearable conditions at labor camps and taken them into Bioparques, a supplier to Wal-Mart and one of Mexico’s biggest tomato exporters, where Mexican officials found workers held captive. We’ve examined company stores, where a lack of price tags and big mark-ups leave many farmworkers trapped in a cycle of debt.

I want to thank all of you for reading this important series and sharing it with others. Here’s a sneak peek at a video coming Monday that features Marosi and Bartletti talking about the reporting behind this eye-opening series.

Davan Maharaj, Editor

P.S. We’ve created some extra content available only to our subscribers. Bartletti, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist whose interest in photography dates back to his service in Vietnam, has covered Mexico for decades. He shares some of his best photos and memories of what it took to capture the images.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

6,000 transportation and hospitality workers to earn a living wage ~~ The other Washington

02/27/2014 Nativegrl77

Did you know that the fight for a living wage is taking place right here in Washington state?

While fast food workers across the nation are demanding higher wages, Proposition 1, the Good Jobs Initiative, will be on the November ballot in SeaTac.

It will enable more than 6,000 transportation and hospitality workers to earn a living wage and enjoy common sense benefits, like paid sick leave.

Two weeks ago, 20 elected Democrats, including Rep. Adam Smith and King County Executive Dow Constantine, endorsed a Yes vote on SeaTac Proposition 1.

The Yes for SeaTac campaign needs our help. Can you knock on doors and help spread the word about SeaTac Proposition 1?

What: Yes for SeaTac’s Democrats Weekend!
When: October 12th or 13th, 9am-5pm
Where: Riverton United Methodist Church
3118 S 140th St. Tukwila

Yes, I can help

SeaTac Proposition 1 is endorsed by community organizations, faith groups, and labor unions.

Prop 1:

…provides up to 5 days of paid sick leave for full-time airport employees, preventing the spread of dangerous disease and keeping our families and community safe.

…incentivizes airport-related businesses to employ full time workers, creating jobs our neighbors can count on to make ends meet.

…requires SeaTac hotels and hotel restaurants to do the right thing and give tips and service charges to the employees who perform the actual services.

…ensures that SeaTac residents employed at and around the airport can receive a living wage of $15, helping them make ends meet.

…exempts small businesses in SeaTac. Prop 1 specifically exempts SeaTac restaurants, grocery stores, and all other small businesses.

Stand with SeaTac workers and sign up to help the Yes for SeaTac campaign today.

Sincerely,

Jaxon Ravens
Executive Director
Washington State Democrats