Tag Archives: Service Employees International Union

SEATTLE – Thousands of Puget Sound-area janitors could go on strike next month if negotiations on a new labor contract break down, says a spokesperson for the union that represents them.
The janitors, who are represented by Service Employees International Union Local 6, voted Saturday to authorize a strike if janitorial companies fail to reach a contract with the union. Labor negotiations have been under way since May 8.
Union spokesperson Tania María Rosario said the contract with Seattle-area janitorial companies expires June 30. Under terms of the strike authorization vote, janitors could strike 10 days after that if a new contract is not reached.
About 3,000 janitors are covered by the labor contract. A strike would affect offices, restaurants and retail outlets all over downtown Seattle and beyond. The Puget Sound-area contract negotiations also affect Spokane and Tacoma janitors, whose contracts expire at the same time.
Rosario said the janitors perform backbreaking labor often until the early morning hours, earning an average of about $12 an hour.
“We clean buildings owned by the wealthiest companies in the world,” said Jocelyn Eleccion, a janitor and member of the bargaining team. “People who work hard should make a decent living instead of treading water or falling behind. We need to ensure that all workers benefit from the economic progress they helped create.”
She said janitors fear cuts to their wages and medical benefits.

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Rudy Lopez, Reform Immigration FOR America … Starving for reform

12/03/2013 Nativegrl77

Support the fasters by sending a message to House leaders calling for on them to make reform a reality!

I have seen firsthand how our broken immigration system tears families apart. Now that we are so close to passing immigration reform, I am pushing myself to do all that I can to demand that Speaker John Boehner and other House leaders bring reform to a vote. I am taking part in the Fast for Families on the National Mall.

We fast as an act of faith — faith in the power of our communities, and in our country’s ability to pass reform that will keep our families together. But our fast alone will not bring about change. We need support and action from our movement to make sure that the message of our fast has the impact it needs in the House of Representatives.

Today is a Day to Act, Fast, and Pray — a national day of action.

It is our moral responsibility to do everything we can to show our leaders the urgent need to stop family separation and to make immigration reform a reality. Help ensure that our message is heard in Congress right now.

Some fasters have gone more than three weeks without food. I am now on the 13th day of my fast, and I will take part until my body cannot continue. Although we face physical pain from hunger, we know that it is nothing compared to the pain thousands of families face from deportation.

As my friend and fellow faster Eliseo Medina said, “We’re tired. Feeling weak. But you know, as tired as we are, there is still a hunger within us for justice. A hunger to be heard. A hunger for the end of this suffering.”

I have faith that we can move our leaders to act, but we need your prayers and your voice. Send a message to leaders in Congress now.

With faith,

Rudy Lopez Reform Immigration FOR America

PS: You can learn more about the Fast for Families at Fast4Families.org.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Top 3: This Fast Food Company Profits From Higher Wages

09/03/2013 Nativegrl77

THE BURRITO CHAIN THAT PAYS ENTRY-LEVEL WORKERS $10 AN HOUR AND WANTS TO PAY MORE

HEALTH CARE FOR VETERANS IS ‘UN-AMERICAN’?

WHITE SUPREMACIST FOUND WITH TERRIFYING ARSENAL

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

On Strike

09/02/2013 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Fast Food Workers Strike for a Higher Minimum Wage

Fast food workers in at least 60 cities across the country went on strike today in order to demand a living wage.

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The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) notes that the median wage for fast food workers at chains like KFC, McDonald’s, and Taco Bell is just $8.94 per hour.

Meanwhile, the industry is raking in $200 BILLION a year in profits and CEOs are literally making thousands of dollars per hour:

Yet while top executives at food corporations like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Olive Garden and Red Lobster make an average of $9.4 million per year, or $4,517 per hour, a full-time worker on minimum wage earns $15,080 per year — less than those execs pull down in four hours. And while the industry takes in $200 billion a year, many of its workers rely on taxpayer-subsidized food stamps and Medicaid to get by.

Here are some fast facts about the minimum wage — and why it’s time to raise it.

Raising the Minimum Wage Would Boost the Economy

When the minimum wage is increased for workers, the entire economy benefits. Increasing the minimum wage would put money in the pocket of workers, who are likely to spend the money immediately on things like housing, food, and gas. This boost in demand for goods and services helps stimulate the economy. The money gets funneled back to employers who would need to hire more staff to keep up with the demand.

Millions of Americans Would Benefit From Increasing the Minimum Wage

Millions of workers would benefit from raising the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage would not just help those who earn the minimum wage. Workers earning near the new minimum wage would also see an indirect increase due to what economists call a spillover effect.

Women would benefit tremendously from raising the minimum wage. Most minimum wage workers are women—in 2012, over 64% of minimum-wage workers were women.

Wages Have Not Kept Up With Increased Productivity or Inflation

Over the past few decades, worker productivity in the U.S. has risen dramatically, but the average American worker is not reaping the benefits. Instead, wages have grown at a tepid pace, and workers are getting a smaller and smaller piece of the pie.

Wages are not keeping pace with increased productivity. From 1968 to 2012, worker productivity rose 124%. If the minimum wage kept up with increases in worker productivity, the minimum wage would be close to $22 an hour.

The minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation. Back in 1968, the federal minimum wage was $1.60 an hour. If the minimum wage kept up with inflation, it would be $10.74 today. Today’s minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is 31% lower than the value of the minimum wage in 1968.

Rising Inequality

Although the average workers’ wages have remained stagnant, the pay for those at the top has skyrocketed.

CEOs make 273 times more than average workers do. In 1965, CEOs made 20.1 times the pay of the average worker. By 2012, that ratio was more than 10 times larger: CEOs made 273 times the pay of the average worker in 2012.

The 1% is getting richer and richer. Between 1979 and 2007, the richest top 1% of American households saw their income rise by 281%, or an increase of more than $973,000 per household. Meanwhile, the poorest Americans saw an increase in their income of only 16%, or $2,400.

Raising the Minimum Wage is a Winning Issue

Raising the minimum wage, which nearly three in four Americans supports, is also “a political goldmine” for Democrats:

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an issue that was hugely popular with the public, fit perfectly into the progressive agenda, appealed to the white working class, and split the Republican Party right in half? Sounds to be good to be true, right? Actually, it’s hiding in plain sight: raising the minimum wage.

BOTTOM LINE: One demand of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which happened 50 years ago yesterday, was “a national minimum wage act that will give all Americans a decent standard of living.” As we reflect on the legacy of Dr. King, our increasingly economically unequal society, and the plight of low-wage workers, it’s clear that it’s way past time to raise the minimum wage.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Thurs. Telebriefing for members w/ Wisc. Sen. Chris Larson

03/22/2011 Nativegrl77

This Thursday, March 24 at 3:00pm Eastern Time, please join People For the American Way, Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson and Michelle Ringuette of the Service Employees International Union to discuss the Right’s relentless attacks on workers’ rights and the middle class in Wisconsin and across the country.

In Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana Florida and other states, right-wing governors and legislators have been using budget shortfalls as an excuse to pursue corporate interests’ longtime goals of busting unions, gutting vital programs that serve the poor and middle class and doing away with other protections for working families. Along the way, these lawmakers have led a campaign to demonize public employees and blame them for the economic mess that Wall Street and big corporations caused.

Can you join us on the phone this Thursday for an important PFAW member telebriefing on the national fight to save the middle class and the American Dream? RSVP now.

www.pfaw.org

Space is limited so don’t delay. We’ll email confirmed participants with the call-in information before Thursday.

Senator Chris Larson of Milwaukee was one of the 14 Democratic state senators who heroically crossed state lines in a last ditch effort to prevent Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature from passing Gov. Scott Walker‘s infamous attack on the basic collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin’s public employees. Ultimately, Senate Republicans did an end run around the rules to ram the Governor’s anti-worker plan through, and now an effort to recall some of those senators is underway. Sen. Larson, a true leader in this fight and a member of PFAW Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network, will provide an update on the situation in Wisconsin.

In addition to Sen. Larson’s Wisconsin update, we’ll hear from SEIU’s Michelle Ringuette about the national landscape and how similar fights are playing out in other states. And PFAW’s leadership will provide an update on some of our activities and involvement on the state level.

Please don’t miss this opportunity and join us this Thursday at 3pm Eastern.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

www.pfaw.org

— Diallo Brooks, Director of Field Mobilization