From: Subject: Celebrate Labor Day with the 1021 NewsWire - Sept. 2, 2011 Date: To: Reply-To: Vol. IV, Issue 9.1 - September 2, 2011 In This Issue: 11th hour victory on the FRONT PAGE. SEIU 1021 celebrates Labor Day in ACT! HERE! NOW! Good news for unions in THE LIVE WIRE. Fall into place in CALENDAR. Aren't you in the 1021 Network yet? 1021 NewsWire The Live Wire Facebook Twitter YouTube Front Page 11th Hour Victory: SF Courts members get AOC to spare jobs & courtrooms jobs and courtrooms under the axe. With only weeks to go before the budget cuts hit closing courtrooms and laying off 41 percent of the workforce San 's Superior Court workers scored an unexpected major victory this week when the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) backed away from its "cuts only" stance and agreed to tap into reserve funds, sparing most of the The original cuts meant 200 layoffs, the closure of 25 out of 63 courtrooms, a near halt to civil case trials, and even longer lines for basic public services. At the Judicial Council's July 22 meeting, SEIU 1021 court workers turned out in force, targeting those people in line with fliers explaining how the new cuts would make their waits even longer and encouraging them to call their state legislators to ask them to support more funding for the courts. During the Council's August 26 meeting, word leaked that the AOC in a stunningly uncharacteristic move had made an offer to the San Superior Court to use emergency and grant funds to avert some of the layoffs
made an offer to the San Superior Court to use emergency and grant funds to avert some of the layoffs and closures. On Monday, the court's executive officer sent his staff a memo confirming the offer, stating that it didn't go far enough, and that he and Presiding Judge Kathleen Feinstein had made a counter offer. Two days later an agreement was reached, pending the Judicial Council's approval. The emergency and grant funds reduce the layoffs from 41 to 15 percent (75 layoffs instead of 200) and keep 11 more courtrooms open (14 instead of 25 would close). The deal also includes an agreement for the AOC to advocate for revenue solutions, including restoration of judicial branch funding and certain other fees. At both Judicial Council meetings, SEIU 1021 members picketed outside chanting, "Justice delayed is justice denied" and "Budget cuts Out of order." Inside, San Courts shop steward Jose Rios-Merida drove home the union's position again to the Judicial Council: "I would like to suggest to you today that there is an elephant in the room. That elephant is that there appears to be a serious and visceral disconnect between the relative safety and constitutionality of your offices, since most of you here are judges, and that of the broader realities facing our state. This disconnect is giving greater priority to special projects over services and people. We in the San Courts are feeling that more than ever and hearing it from our court users. Take it from me, a court clerk who hears from the public daily." Read the full story on the San home page. The best Hurricane Irene reporting you never saw on TV... from 5-year-old Jane Haubrich (YouTube video) "This is my last report because it's my bedtime.... Everybody please stay inside. Otherwise you might blow away." Act! Here! Now! SEIU 1021 celebrates Labor Day with picnics, rallies, music (lots of it) & more Which US state was the first to legalize Labor Day as a holiday? In what year? Find out the answers, learn some Labor Day history and find a picnic, breakfast, rally or BBQ near you on SEIU 1021's "A Day in Our Honor" page. Hear from renowned progressive historian Howard Zinn, watch Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Dolly Parton, John Lennon, the Rolling Stones and others sing about working people, learn how unions helped end child labor and more. In 1882, when the Central Labor Union of New York planned a march through the streets of New York, they were fighting for an eight-hour workday instead of the 12 hours that were the norm at the time. Since the first labor movement celebration, the strides made by working people have created standards throughout the United States and won maternity leave for parents, compensation for workers injured on the job, paid time off, five-day work weeks and other benefits that have raised the standard of living for unionized and non-unionized workers alike. Now more than ever it is vital to stand together and build an expectation within the United States that we embrace
Now more than ever it is vital to stand together and build an expectation within the United States that we embrace and expect all workers to be treated fairly and be able to provide a decent standard of living for themselves and their families. Perhaps Frederick Douglass said it best: "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." So this Labor Day we celebrate those who came before us and those of us standing strong today to ensure the work that more than 150 million workers provide across this country is properly valued and prioritized. "A Day in Our Honor: Celebrate Labor Day with SEIU 1021" (Hint for opening questions: Watch The History Channel's "Origins of Labor Day") AFL-CIO Guide to Labor Day Events Labor Day Rally with UNITE HERE Local 2 Workers at the Hyatt Regency and Grand Hyatt hotels in San continue to fight for a fair contract. They demand the right to stand in solidarity with their workers at non-union Hyatt hotels. Join our UNITE HERE brothers and sisters on Labor Day in Union Square as they march to defend their right (and ours) for a voice on the job. Mo 9/5-10:30a-1:30p - Union Square, San Visit the event on Facebook. Labour's Love's Lost: Heart a public service worker on Labor Day It's been a tough year for America's workers, and they need some love. So this Labor Day, the AFL-CIO is urging everyone to "HEART a Worker" via Facebook and Twitter and let the public know how important hardworking women and men are in our daily lives. The Labor Day splash page at www.aflcio.org lets visitors share a message that answers the question: Who do you HEART this Labor Day? Options include "I HEART Cooks," "I HEART Firefighters" and so on; visitors are free to customize the type of worker they HEART. After they fill in the type of worker, they can share the message on their Facebook wall and via Twitter with one or two quick clicks. We HEART Public Service Workers Follow your HEART with "Public Service Workers" or "Clerks" or "Maintenance Operators" or whatever it is that you do. The more we share the action with family and friends, the more the "I HEART a Worker" action will spread the word about the public services we provide and why they're so important. As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the action also honors the many first responders and the thousands who worked so hard in the days and months after the tragedy to care for the injured and do the laborious work needed to restore the Pentagon and World Trade Center sites. Who do you HEART? HEART a Public Service Worker and Find Labor Day Events
The Live Wire This Week on 1021 Twitter 1) NY Times: "Federal Austerity Changes Disaster Relief" Holding fast to their push for lower federal spending, top Congressional Republicans have argued that any federal aid in the aftermath of the double whammy of an earthquake followed by a hurricane should be offset, if possible, by spending less on other programs.... Representative Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who is seeking his party's presidential nomination, has gone beyond that view to argue that the federal government's role in disaster preparation and relief should be cut substantially. Mr. Paul said he saw little value in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, saying the federal approach has given birth to an intrusive bureaucracy and supplants what should be an area for private insurance. "The bleeding heart will say, well, we have to take care of them," Mr. Paul said on "Fox News Sunday," calling FEMA "a gross distortion of insurance" and saying that workers for the agency "hinder the local people, and they hinder volunteers from going in." 2) NY Times: "At N.L.R.B., Flurry of Acts for Unions as Chief Exits" "The National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday released a decision that would make it easier to unionize nursing home workers. It is the latest in a flurry of moves favorable to unions that the board completed before the term of its chairwoman, Wilma B. Liebman, expired on Sunday. The board released two other pro-union decisions on Tuesday, both reversing decisions issued under President George W. Bush." 3) Talking Points Memo: "Powerful Union Escalates Campaign Against GOP Push To Weaken Unions On Threat Of FAA Shutdown" This week, the Communications Workers of America "will escalate a fight with Republicans over the party's push to make it harder for rail and airline workers to unionize.... The campaign stems from a months-long fight over legislation to permanently reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration programs. House Republicans want to use that bill to fiddle with mediation rules, so that airline workers who abstain from voting on whether to form a union would be tallied as having voted 'no.'" Follow SEIU 1021 on Twitter
Calendar 1021 Calendar Find an SEIU 1021 Office Moon Phases - 1st Q, Sept. 4 - Full, Sept. 12-3rd Q, Sept. 20 - New, Sept. 27 Download your free September social justice calendar from RLM Arts Pictured: SEIU 1021 gained 14 new shop stewards last month after they took our 3-part Basic Shop Steward Training in San. Visit 1021 Education & Training at www.1021training.info to register for basic and advanced shop steward trainings and more at a location near you. SEIU 1021 Leadership Committees Sa 9/10 - Budget & Finance Committee - 10a-4p - SEIU 1021, 2300 Boynton Ave., Fairfield Sa 9/24-1021 Executive Board - 10a-5p - Oakland (Location TBA) Committee On Political Education (COPE) Tu 9/6 - Alameda County - 5:30-8p - SEIU 1021, 100 Oak St., Oakland Tu 9/6 - Sonoma County - 6-8p - SEIU 1021, 600 B Street, Santa Rosa Tu 9/13-1021 COPE - 6p - 350 Rhode Island, #100 South Building, San - Live via videoconference at SEIU 1021 offices in Fairfield and Oakland; phone conferencing available - RSVP for a location at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/v7x32wl We 9/14 - Solano County - 6p - SEIU 1021, 2300 Boynton Ave., Fairfield San We 9/7 - San Stewards Council - 5:30-8p - SEIU 1021, 350 Rhode Island, #100 South Building, San We 9/14 - San Industry Council - 5:30-8p - SEIU 1021, 350 Rhode Island, #100 South Building, San Social & Economic Justice Th 9/15 - Social & Economic Justice Committee - 6-8p - SEIU 1021, 350 Rhode Island, #100 South Building, San Mo 9/19 - AFRAM Solidarity Committee - 6p - SEIU 1021, 100 Oak St., Oakland Mo 9/19 - Disability Caucus - SEIU 1021, 100 Oak St., Oakland
Tu 9/20 - Peace & Solidarity Committee - 5:30p - SEIU 1021, 350 Rhode Island, #100 South Building, San Tu 9/27 - Lavender Solidarity Committee - 6p - SEIU 1021, 100 Oak St., Oakland Education & Training View the complete catalog and register at www.1021training.info. Th 9/8 - Family Leave Laws: Know Your Rights - 5:30-8p - SEIU 1021, 1006 4th St., 8th floor, Sacramento Tu 9/13 - Making the Labor-Management Committee Work - 5:30-8p - SEIU 1021, 100 Oak St., Oakland Th 9/15, 9/22, 9/29 (3 sessions) - Advanced Shop Steward Training - 5:30-8p - SEIU 1021, 100 Oak St., Oakland Sa 9/24- Basic Shop Steward Training - 10a-4p - SEIU 1021, 600 B Street, Santa Rosa Tu 9/27 - Making the Labor-Management Committee Work - 5:30-8p - SEIU 1021, 2300 Boynton Ave., Fairfield Regions & Industries Sa 9/10 - Counties Industry Council - 10a-2p - SEIU 1021, 2300 Boynton Ave., Fairfield Sa 9/10 - Schools Industry Council - 10a-2p - SEIU 1021, 2300 Boynton Ave., Fairfield Sa 9/17 (NEW DATE & LOCATION) - Cities Industry Council - 10a-2p - SEIU 1021, 100 Oak St., Oakland Tu 9/20 (CORRECTED LOCATION) - East Bay Region - 5:30-8p - 40 Douglas Drive, Martinez Retiree Councils Mo 9/5 - Alameda Co. Retired Employees (ACRE) - 10a-Noon - SEIU 1021, 155 Myrtle St., Oakland Tu 9/6-1021 Retiree Council - 10a-1p - SEIU 1021, 155 Myrtle St., Oakland Th 9/8 - Sacramento Valley Retirees Chapter - 10a-12p - SEIU 1021, 1006 4th Street, 8th floor, Sacramento Mo 9/19 - West Bay Retirees - 12-2p - SEIU 1021, 350 Rhode Island, #100 South Building, San * * * * Send all Calendar announcements, corrections and changes to calendar@seiu1021.org. * * * * DO NOT REPLY to this email. Send all comments and questions to 1021CAN@seiu1021.org.