[Educationforall] spam con huevos labor news, views and concerns, 1.21.12-II

Sat Jan 21 22:26:14 UTC 2012

DESPLAZADOS, DESIGUALES Y CRIMINALIZADOS/ DISPLACED, unequal and Criminalizing    Joining the "Virtual March" for Women's Health Rights!‏Research cited in amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court defending ACA‏ A Break from Economic MiseryHighly Unstable Poverty Wages and Schedules for NYC Retail Employees CELAC ACN: Work and Persistence  Are We About to Roll Back the Clock on Child Labor Laws? Want 1 Million Wis. Gov. Recalled Walker Stand Up for Cooper Tire Workers!‏
 America Has Woken Up to the Reality: Inequality Matters  
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DISPLACED, unequal and Criminalizing Fighting for the Rights of Migrants in the United States By David Bacon, Rosa Luxembourg Foundation For Part 2 - Growing Dependence on guest worker programs in the last 25 years, guest worker programs have increasingly become a vehicle for channeling this migration. A large number of guest workers are recruited each year to work in the United States from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, under H1-B program, H2-A and H2B. Recruiters promise high wages and charge thousands of dollars for the visas, fees and transportation. At the time of leaving their houses, guest workers debts are overwhelming.In 2007, the Southern Law Center on Poverty issued a report entitled "Close to Slavery," documenting the treatment of guest workers. Nobody gets paid for the extra work they perform, regardless of whether the law provides otherwise. The companies charge the workers for the use of tools, food and housing. Every day, workers are subject to cheating and deceit. Recent protests have exposed the exploitation of guest workers recruited from India to work in the shipyard of the company Signal International in Mississippi. The migrants paid between $ 15 and $ 20 000 for each visa, lived in barracks in the camp and had to get up at 3:30 in the morning to use the bathroom because there were not enough for everyone. The company slashed wages, six workers remained imprisoned before being deported and sacked its leader Joseph Jacobs. In 2006, Santiago Rafael Cruz, a leader of the Organizing Committee for Agricultural Workers was killed when the union tried to establish an office in Mexico to end corruption and abuse of guest worker contractors.Graton, California - Rafael Cisneros, an H-2A worker, looks at a picture of his son, who he left in Mexico when he came to work in the U.S..If workers are protesting against this treatment, are newsletters for next year and not being hired. The fact accomplish nothing good to complain anyway. During the last administration, the Department of Labor United States almost never decertified a guest worker contractor, no matter how many complaints have been filed against him. The paper industry depends on this system. 20 years ago, stopped hiring unemployed workers domestically and began recruiting guest workers. As a result, the costs of labor in the forests have remained low while the production of paper profits have increased. The guest worker programs in the U.S. are only part of a larger global system which labor produces and then use it. In Latin America the economic reforms promoted by the U.S. government through trade agreements and international financial institutions displaces workers from miners to coffee pickers. Then they add to the huge flood of labor that moves northward. When entering the United States, become an indispensable part of the workforce whether they are undocumented or are working under work visas. The translocation creates a mobile work force, an army of workers available that has become an indispensable part in the economy of the United States and other rich countries. This is the same system that produces migration needs and then takes advantage of that labor. The creation of a vulnerable workforce through the displacement of communities is not new. Africa became "a warren for the hunting of black skins" during the bloody displacement of communities by slave traders. African farmers exiles were transported in chains to the Americas, where they became enslaved labor force on plantations from Colombia and Brazil to the southern United States. His work created the wealth that made possible the economic growth in the U.S. and most of Latin America and the Caribbean. But slavery movement and produced more than wealth. While slave owners sought to distinguish slaves from free persons, created the first racial categories. The society was divided into those with more and fewer rights, using the skin color and origin. When anti-immigrant ideologues call today's immigrants "illegal" use and developed a class inherited from slavery. Currently, the displacement and inequality are so deeply rooted in free market economy as they were during the slave trade. Mexican President Felipe Calderon said during his visit to California in 2008: "You have two economies. An economy is capital intensive, which is the American economy. An economy is labor intensive, which is the Mexican economy. We two complementary economies, and that phenomenon is impossible to stop. " When Calderon referred to intensive means that millions of Mexican citizens are being displaced and the country's economy can not produce jobs for them. To Calderón and employers on both sides of the US-Mexico border migration is therefore a system of labor supply.The U.S. immigration policy determines the rules under which labor is used. Employers see migrants as a labor and seek to organize the flow of migration to direct it to where it is needed. "The economic interests of the overwhelming majority of employers [U.S.] borders so porous to promote labor as possible", according to Faux. But employers want a workforce with a vulnerable status of second class, the price they are willing to pay. The President George Bush said the purpose of U.S. immigration policy should be "willing to connect employers with employees are willing. " Bush was simply reaffirming what has been true throughout American history. To bring its work force, Chinese immigrants were brought from the Pearl River Delta to build the transcontinental railroad in the 1850s. Providing a labor force was the motive for the slave trade. In the 20's and 30 Filipinos were kept moving from field to field, while the laws against miscegenation prevented them settle and raise families. They also provided labor as did Mexican farm workers brought to the U.S. during the Bracero Program from 1942 to 1964. The U.S. industrial agriculture has always depended on migrant labor one formed by waves of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Mexican and more recently, Central America. An increasing percentage of farm workers are indigenous people who speak languages other than Spanish, an indication that the economic dislocation has reached more remote areas of the Mexican province. Within this system of displacement and migration, U.S. immigration policy States determines the status of migrant labor. Does not stop people entering the country nor intends to do so. Its main function is to determine the status of people once they are inside. An immigration policy based on the supply of labor has two effects: Displacement becomes a tool to produce undeclared workers, while inequality becomes official policy. The notion is undeniable that migrants have the same rights as people living in the communities that coexist. All the bills debated by the U.S. Congress in recent years are based on this assumption. At present, calling someone "illegal" does not refer to an illegal act. Illegality is a social category. The illegality creates an inexpensive system. The so-called illegal workers produce wealth but instead received a much smaller-a source of profit for those who employ them. Inequality is profitable. In 1994, the labor of undocumented workers injected $ 45 000 per person to the California economy, according to the Center for North American Integration and Development at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Assuming that almost all were working for a salary close to minimum wage, each received only a small part of the value produced, about 8 000 $ 840 each. The average manufacturing wages at that time yielded an annual income of more than twice that amount.The additional value was expropriated by employers. The companies depend not only of the workers in factories and fields but also the communities from which they came. If those communities stop sending workers, the labor supply runs out. Work stops. Yet no company pays for a single school or clinic or pay taxes in those communities. Workers pay for all that through the money they send home. About 11 percent of Mexico's population lives in the U.S., according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Their remittances, which were less than 4 billion dollars in 1994 when NAFTA went into effect, rose to 10 billion in 2002 and then to 20 billion three years later, according to Banco de Mexico. In 2006, that figure reached 25 billion dollars. At the same time, the public funds used to pay for schools and public works leave Mexico debt payments to foreign banks. Remittances are as big as this output can not compensate. According to a report made to the Mexican Chamber of Deputies, remittances represented an average of 1.19 per cent of GDP between 1996 and 2000, and a 2.14 per cent between 2001 and 2006. Debt payments represented a 3% annually. To cover part of unfunded social needs, remittances are indirectly subsidizing the banks.At the same time, companies dependent on this migration achieve greater flexibility by adjusting the high and low market demand. The global production system has become very flexible in rearranging the booms and busts. Its employment system is based on the use of contractors, which is replacing the system in which workers were directly employed by businesses that use their labor. For decades, this has been the pattern of employment in the industries of sewing and cleaning, as well as in agriculture. Displaced workers are the pillars of this system. The principle of this system is that immigration policy and the strengthening of laws should be directed to migrants into industries when their labor is needed and remove them when not. The guest worker programs and employment-based visas work were created to meet the needs of labor. When demand is high, employers recruit workers.When demand falls, those workers not only have to leave their jobs, but the entire country. Currently, employers are demanding greater flexibility in the requirements for guest worker visas, especially since those protections have been strengthened by the current Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. Simply putting more labor protections in programs does not change its basic structure that makes these workers more vulnerable. "They have no labor rights or benefits," charges Rufino Domínguez. "It's like slavery. If workers do not pay them or deceive them, can not do anything," he laments. Occupational Programs and a further strengthening of the Immigration Law, Corporate Agenda on Migration meatpacking industry began to lobby favor a guest worker program to the late '90s, when companies Immigration Coalition organized the Essential Worker-corporations like Wal-Mart, Marriott, Tyson Foods, and the Associated Builders and Contractors. While Republicans are strong supporters of the guest worker program, proposals are bipartisan in Congress, backed by liberals such as Senator Edward Kennedy and Congressman Luis Gutierrez.
The new guest worker programs represent the focus of corporate program for immigration reform. These programs are combined with proposals to allow an increase in law enforcement, and a program to legalize undocumented workers for employers. The guest worker proposals, advanced now, even in the negotiations of the World Trade Organization have two characteristics. Allow employers to recruit labor in one country but used in another and connect the ability of workers to remain in their new country with his job status. If you are not working, have no right to stay. This inevitably leads to a different social status, political and economic, in which workers do not have the same rights as the people around you and can not receive the same benefits.Oakland, California - Protesting raids in hotels.Some bills in Congress in recent years have enabled some of the largest corporations recruit and bring into the country, through contractors, some 800 thousand people a year. In the final debate of 2006 that the proposal failed, President George Bush tried to eliminate all family-based immigration and allow people to come to America only when they were recruited by employers. Under his proposal, almost all immigrants would become guest workers. However, the general approach of three parts of the immigration reform agenda of the Obama administration is not significantly different from its predecessor. A second element in the corporate program is legislation that supports a program designed primarily to protect employers against legal charges for hiring undocumented workers, rather than to help families to adjust their immigration status. All bills Congress had imposed comprehensive waiting periods between 11 and 18 years for immigrants applying for legalization, time that would remain as vulnerable as ever. But employers would be protected from charges if they had violated employer sanctions while organizing the recruitment of new workers through guest worker programs. Due to the history of abuse of guest worker programs and for work outside of these programs offers an attractive alternative The third element necessary for this type of corporate reform is an increase in strengthening the law against undocumented workers in the workplace, and the unauthorized crossing of the border. These proposals seek to end the spontaneous migration, which is that people decide for themselves when and where to go, come, by making it impossible to work without a work visa and contract. On the contrary, these proposals replace a system where people can only migrate as indentured labor. After the great marches for the rights of migrants, 2006, the U.S. federal government increased raids on workplaces and communities. Spokesmen for the Bureau of the immigration agency ICE, a division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), explained that the raids were intended to show the necessity of the immigration program undertaken by the administration in turn. The ICE office also began to implement many of the measures to strengthen the law contained in the initiatives of immigration reform bill that Congress rejected. In 2007, the then Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff proposed a regulation that required employers to fire any worker who is unable to correct the discrepancy between the Social Security number provided your employer and the database of the Social Security Administration (SSA). The regulation assumes those workers have no valid immigration visa. This regulation was challenged in federal court by unions and advocates for the rights of immigrants, but the Obama administration simply implemented the same scheme using different tactics. Recently, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR for its acronym in English) set two goals for the U.S. immigration policy. In a report of the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy, sponsored by the CFR, Dean Edward Alden said: "We must reform the legal immigration system," and spoke in his defense "to make it operate more efficiently, respond more precisely to the needs of the labor market and highlight the competitiveness of United States. " This essentially calls for the continued use of migration for the supply of labor to low ("competitive") wages. "We must restore the integrity of the immigration laws," said Alden, adding: "through a regimen of strengthening the laws that discourage employers and employees to operate outside the legal system." This complements a system of law enforcement, like the present, with raids and layoffs, with the pattern of labor supply. In two years, hundreds of employers have laid off workers in response to the demand of ICE, strengthening arm the law of the Department of Homeland Security. The head of the immigration agency, John Morton made a series of announcements about the number of companies that were being audited to detect undocumented workers, citing figures from 1000 to 1654. Several thousand workers have lost their jobs. In Minneapolis, Seattle and San Francisco, over 800 thousand janitors, SEIU members lost their jobs. In 2009, some 2 000 young women who worked as seamstresses in the company were laid off American Apparel in Los Angeles. At one point, Morton said ICE had audited more than 2 000 900 companies.President Obama has argued that the law enforcement in the workplace is addressed to employers "who are using illegal workers to lower wages (and often mistreat these workers)."A Notice of Strengthening the Law in the Workplace ICE warns that "unscrupulous employers are likely to pay illegal workers wages below the standards or forced to endure intolerable working conditions." However, to alleviate the intolerable conditions of employment to dismiss workers who support them no benefit to workers and does not change these conditions.By contrast, the administration's rhetoric has fueled efforts to blame the immigrants "steal jobs" and undermining wages. The policy of enforcement in the workplace of the Department of Homeland Security is not focusing on employers who hire low-wage workers but those who hold high-paying jobs and often the workers are unionized. There is a long history of anti-union spirit among immigration authorities. The immigration agents have been roadblocks for union elections in the fields of California, led raids during organizing campaigns in meatpacking in North Carolina and Iowa, audited employers of cleanliness and food plants for airlines (before union contract negotiations), and have helped companies to lay off nearly a thousand packers of apples when they tried to join the Teamsters in the state of Washington. The unscrupulous employers take advantage of the vulnerability of workers to deny undocumented workers the minimum wage or overtime pay. Also do it to fire workers when they protest or organize. This applies to workers in general. After deporting over a thousand employees of the Swift meatpacking plants, the former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, called Connect "an effective law enforcement inside with a temporary worker program." The government is once again giving a subsidy of cheap labor to large employers. Deportations, firings and guest worker programs cheaper labor and make more difficult the union. Meanwhile, some states and local communities, seeing a green light by the Department of Homeland Security have passed bills that even go beyond . The Arizona legislature has passed a law that requires employers to verify the immigration status of every worker through a federal database E-Verify quiet (electronic check), and fire workers whose names are marked. Then passed a bill, SB 1070, requiring police officers to verify the immigration status of all persons arrested in the street. The state of Mississippi passed a bill making it a crime for an undocumented worker to have a job, with a period of imprisonment of one to ten years and fines of up to ten thousand dollars without bail for anyone arrested . States like Georgia and Alabama have passed bills even more repressive than those of Arizona. The Congress itself has passed bills that require a similar use of database E-Verify, which was approved by both political parties.Watsonville, California - A father takes his daughter Mixteco a preschool education program for migrants, before going to work in the fields.The raids on workplaces and layoffs are part of a comprehensive program to increase enforcement of immigration laws. One of his most combative is the growing connection between the departments of police and immigration authorities. During the administration of President George Bush, the federal government began implementing agreements "287g", under which local police departments share information and handed over to the immigration agents arrested persons even for minor traffic violations. These agreements were then codified in a federal program called "Secure Communities". At first, ICE tried to sign agreements with state police and local required to give fingerprints from each person with whom contact. The Obama administration said was only looking for criminals for deportation.In practice, however, this cooperation led to the arrest of hundreds of thousands of immigrants with no criminal record who were arrested simply because they were undocumented.The deportations were fired. Since Obama took office, more than a million people have been deported from the United States as a result of this law enforcement, coordinated law enforcement agencies and ICE. When even some states tried to exit the program, the Department of Homeland Security announced that he needed his consent, warning that the program continue to expand their cooperation or without it. This statement has found a growing wave of protest while the wave of deportations has grown. In response to criticism, the Obama administration has requested approval of a "comprehensive immigration reform" as an alternative to criminalization and mass expulsions, essentially using the extortion and repression to advance the corporate program of immigration reform.
For more articles and images, see http://dbacon.igc.orgSee also Illegal People - How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalize Immigrants (Beacon Press, 2008)Recipient: CLR James Award, best book of 2007-2008http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=2002See also the photodocumentary on indigenous migration to the U.S.Communities Without Borders (Cornell University / ILR Press, 2006)http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4575See also The Children of NAFTA, Labor Wars on the US / Mexico Border (University of California, 2004)http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9989.html- 
__________________________________ David Bacon, Photographs and Stories http://dbacon.igc.org __________________________________

DESPLAZADOS, DESIGUALES Y CRIMINALIZADOSLuchando por los Derechos de los Migrantes en Estados UnidosPor David Bacon,Para la Fundación Rosa LuxemburgoParte 3 - El Movimiento Moderno por los Derechos de los InmigrantesEl Desarollo dell Movimiento hacia 1986Antes de la Guerra Fría, la defensa de los derechos de los inmigrantes en Estados Unidos, especialmente de los procedentes de México, Centro América y Asia, fue puesta en marcha mayormente por las comunidades trabajadoras de migrantes, y las alianzas que construyeron con el ala izquierda del movimiento laboral en Estados Unidos. En el momento en el que la izquierda comenzó a ser atacada y fue parcialmente destruida durante la Guerra Fría, las líderes por los derechos de los migrantes también fueron blanco de ataque para la deportación. Como en ningún otro momento de su historia, la política migratoria de Estados Unidos se convirtió más claramente en un esquema de suministro de mano de obra barata.En los años de 1950, en la cúspide de la Guerra Fría, la combinación de reforzamiento de la ley y la mano de obra contractual alcanzó un punto culminante. En 1954, un millón 75 mil 168 mexicanos fueron deportados de Estados Unidos. De 1956 a 1959, entre 432 mil 491 y 445 mil 197 mexicanos fueron traídos a Estados Unidos cada año bajo visas temporales de trabajo, en lo que fue conocido como el "programa bracero". El programa comenzó durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en 1942, y fue finalmente abolido en 1964.Los Angeles, California -- Bert Corona, un heroe del movimiento por los derechos de los inmigrantes en los EEUU.El movimiento por los derechos civiles terminó con el programa bracero y creó una alternativa al régimen de deportaciones. Los activistas chicanos de la década de 1960 -Ernesto Galarza, Cesar Chávez, Bert Corona, Dolores Huerta y otros- convencieron al Congreso de rechazar (en 1964) la Ley Pública78, una ley que autorizaba al programa bracero. Los trabajadores del campo se fueron a huelga, al año siguiente en Delano, California y así nació el Sindicato de Trabajadores del Campo (UFW). También ayudaron a convencer al Congreso en 1965 para aprobar una legislación migratoria que estableció nuevas vías para la inmigración legal, como por ejemplo, el sistema de preferencia a la familia, de esa manera, las personas podían reunir a sus familiares en Estados Unidos. Los migrantes recibieron visas de residencia permanente, permitiéndoles llevar vidas normales y gozar derechos humanos y laborales básicos. Esencialmente,  un sistema orientado hacia la familia y la comunidad sustituyó al viejo programa de suministro de mano de obra-deportación.Luego, bajo la presión de los empleadores a finales de 1970, el Congreso comenzó a debatir las iniciativas de ley que eventualmente resultaron en el Acta de Reforma y Control Migratorio de 1986. El debate estableció la línea divisoria en el movimiento moderno por los derechos de los migrantes. El IRCA estaba compuesto por tres elementos. Reinstituyó un programa de trabajadores huésped tipo bracero al crear la categoría de visa H2-A. Penalizó a los patrones que contrataran trabajadores indocumentados ("sanciones a los empleadores"), y les exigió revisar el estado  migratorio de cada trabajador. También estableció un proceso de amnistía para los trabajadores indocumentados  que hubieran permanecido en el país antes de 1982.La principal federación de sindicatos de comercio a la que pertenecen la mayoría de sindicatos de Estados Unidos, la Federación Americana del Trabajo-Congreso de Organizaciones Industriales (AFL-CIO), apoyó las sanciones diciendo que ellas detendrían la migración indocumentada (y por lo tanto, presumiblemente la competencia laboral con ciudadanos o trabajadores residentes legales). La Iglesia Católica y otros simpatizantes liberales en Washington D.C., apoyaron la amnistía y estaban dispuestos a aceptar a los trabajadores huésped a cambio de una aplicación de la ley. Los patrones querían programas de trabajadores huésped. La iniciativa de ley enfrentó la oposición de las comunidades migrantes y defensores de los derechos de los migrantes de izquierda, desde grupos como el Centro de Acción Social Autónomo (CASA), fundado en Los Angeles por el dirigente sindical y por los derechos de los migrantes, Bert Corona, hasta el Comité del Area de la Bahía Contra Simpson Mazzoli en el norte de California y grupos similares en todo el país. Activistas y líderes sindicales también se opusieron a la iniciativa de ley pero no eran suficientemente fuertes como para cambiar la posición laboral a nivel nacional. La coalición con sede en Washington DC, logró los votos en el Congreso y Ronald Reagan, uno de los presidentes más conservadores del país, firmó la iniciativa convirtiéndola en ley.
Una vez que la iniciativa fue aprobada, muchas organizaciones locales que se oponían a ella, formaron coaliciones de base en la comunidad para lidiar con los impactos de ésta. En Los Angeles, donde existe la concentración más grande de trabajadores indocumentados mexicanos y centroamericanos, activistas sindicales a favor de los migrantes abrieron centros para ayudar a las personas a procesar solicitudes para la amnistía. Ese esfuerzo, junto con el previo, en su mayoría campañas encabezadas por la izquierda para organizar trabajadores indocumentados, construyeron la base para el posterior incremento de inmigrantes que cambió la política y el movimiento laboral de la ciudad.En otras áreas de Estados Unidos, defensores locales de los derechos de los inmigrantes formaron coaliciones para encontrar maneras de defender a los trabajadores indocumentados en contra del impacto generado por las sanciones a los empleadores. Las coaliciones de base entonces comenzaron ayudando a los trabajadores a establecer centros para jornaleros, trabajadores de la costura, empleadas domésticas, y otros grupos de migrantes generalmente ignorados por los sindicatos establecidos.El Movimiento desde IRCAEn 27 años desde que se aprobó el IRCA, una división general ha marcado al movimiento por los derechos de los inmigrantes en Estados Unidos. Por un lado, están las organizaciones de defensa migratoria bien financiadas con sede en Washington DC, que tienen lazos con al Partido Demócrata y las grandes corporaciones. Son las que formulan y participan en las negociaciones que tienen que ver con las propuestas de reforma migratoria que combinan los programas de suministro de mano de obra y una creciente aplicación de la ley en contra de los indocumentados. Por otro lado, están las organizaciones de base de las comunidades migrantes, activistas laborales y políticos, que defienden a los migrantes indocumentados y que resisten contra las propuestas de un mayor reforzamiento de la ley y los programas laborales con derechos disminuidos.A finales de la década de 1990, cuando la administración Clinton accedió en los esfuerzos para aprobar la represiva legislación (lo que eventualmente se convirtió en el Acta de Reforma Migratoria y Responsabilidad Inmigrante), grupos de cabildeo en Washington pugnaron para que fuera aprobada una estrategia que permitía medidas dirigidas a mayores deportaciones de indocumentados (llamándolas "inexorables") mientras orquestaban una defensa únicamente de inmigrantes que fueran residentes legales. Varias coaliciones de base en las comunidades se retiraron de los esfuerzos de cabildeo en Washington negándose a lanzar a los lobos a los indocumentados. La estrategia fracasó de todas maneras, y esta virtual ley incluye provisiones dirigidas a los inmigrantes legales así como a los indocumentados.Emeryville, California -- Trabajadoras hoteleras fueron despedidas despues de exigir sueldos mejores, cuando la empresa las acuso de no tener papeles.En el movimiento laboral, el creciente fortalecimiento de los trabajadores migrantes, en combinación con un compromiso para organizar las industrias en las que estaban concentrados, crearon la base para cambiar la posición sindical. Durante la convención de la AFL-CIO de 1999, en Los Angeles, la federación pidió rechazar las sanciones a los empleadores; se pronunció por una nueva amnistía y por defender los derechos laborales de todos los trabajadores. La federación ya se oponía a los programas de trabajadores huésped. Esa posición fue sostenida por la AFL-CIO, incluso después de que varios sindicatos se salieron para formar la federación rival Change to Win (Cambio para Ganar), hasta el 2009. En ese tiempo, las dos federaciones pactaron un compromiso en el cual ambas retiraron su previa oposición a las sanciones contra los patrones, siempre y cuando fueran implementadas "de manera justa".Entre los años 2003 y 2009, una sucesión de iniciativas de ley de reforma migratoria "integral" fueron presentadas al Congreso. En el centro están los programas de trabajadores huésped propuestos por los empleadores. Los cabilderos de los patrones firmaron las primeras propuestas de ley y han sido apoyados por una coalición política que incluye a algunos sindicatos, grupos de cabildeo, así como algunas iglesias. A excepción de la vacilante y dividida posición de los sindicatos, esta es la misma coalición política que logró la aprobación del IRCA en 1986.Algunas coaliciones locales por los derechos de los inmigrantes también han apoyado las iniciativas de ley, a pesar de que la mayoría no han estado dispuestos a aceptar los programas de trabajadores huésped y un mayor reforzamiento de la ley. Los promotores de las iniciativas de ley integral han organizado una sucesión de esfuerzos de cabildeo de alto perfil, los cuales han recibido amplio apoyo de fundaciones.  La estructura de las iniciativas de ley ha sido básicamente la misma desde el comienzo - la misma estructura de tres partes del IRCA: trabajadores huésped, reforzamiento de la ley y algún grado de legalización.En la última década, sin embargo, ha crecido una laxa y desorganizada red de grupos que generalmente se ha opuesto a la mayoría de las iniciativas de ley de Reforma Migratoria Integral y sus provisiones, y que también han organizado los movimientos en los lugares de impacto que se han opuesto al incremento de aplicación de la ley y represión dirigidas en contra de las comunidades inmigrantes. Fuera de los corredores de Washington, las coaliciones comunitarias, los grupos sindicales y por los derechos de los inmigrantes están luchando por otras alternativas. Algunas de ellas son grandes contrapropuestas a la estructura de Reforma Migratoria Integral. Otras buscan lograr un estatus legal para una parte de la población indocumentada, como un paso hacia un cambio mayor.La Acta de EnsueñoUna de esas propuestas es el Dream Act (Acta de Ensueño). Presentada ante el Congreso por primera vez en el 2003, la iniciativa de ley permitiría a los estudiantes indocumentados que se gradúan de las preparatorias de Estados Unidos  tramitar la residencia permanente si concluyen dos años de colegio o prestan dos años servicio en el ejército. Existen cálculos de que esto permitiría a más de 800 mil jóvenes obtener el estatus legal y con el tiempo, la ciudadanía. Durante 7 años, miles de jóvenes "sin papeles" han marchado, protestado sentándose en calles y oficinas de gobierno, escrito cartas y utilizado todas las tácticas de las luchas por los derechos civiles para lograr que su propuesta de ley sea incluida en la agenda de Washington DC.Muchos de ellos han "salido de las sombras", declarando abiertamente su falta de estatus migratorio legal en entrevistas a los medios y desafiando a las autoridades a detenerlos. Tres de ellos fueron arrestados cuando acudieron a la oficina del Senador por Arizona John McCain, exigiéndole apoyar la iniciativa, al mismo tiempo que retaban a las autoridades de migración a arrestarlos. Los impulsores del Dream Act obtuvieron un voto en Washington. Aprendieron a detener las deportaciones en un momento histórico en el que un mayor número de personas han sido deportadas desde la época de la Guerra Fría.  Cuando fue originalmente escrita, la iniciativa de ley habría permitido a los jóvenes lograr la legalización con 900 horas de servicio comunitario, como una alternativa a asistir al colegio o la universidad, lo cual muchos de ellos no pueden pagar. Sin embargo, cuando la propuesta fue sometida al Congreso, el Pentágono presionó para sustituir el servicio militar por el comunitario. Varios jóvenes activistas se desgarraron por esta provisión, y ultimadamente, la iniciativa no fue aprobada en el Congreso, ni siquiera con la ventaja propuesta. No obstante, muchos activistas por los derechos de los inmigrantes ven el Dream Act como un importante paso hacia una reforma de las leyes de inmigración del país. Apoyar el Dream Act y otras protecciones parciales para los indocumentados representan un eje central para los trabajadores en todo el país. Este movimiento se basa en centros organizativos para los trabajadores eventuales, que en su mayoría son indocumentados. Algunos de los centros han hecho suyas las protestas contra la represión en Arizona y luchado para lograr la aprobación de leyes en California, Nueva York y otras partes, prohibiendo a la policía entregar a las personas a los agentes de inmigración.  Especialmente han desarrollado modelos de trabajo de base para organizar a los migrantes que buscan empleo en las esquinas, y estos proyectos se han unido a la Red Organizativa del Día Nacional del Trabajo. La Alianza Nacional de Trabajadores Domésticos, fue organizada el año pasado, en parte usando la experiencia de la organización de los jornaleros, para lograr derechos para los trabajadores domésticos, de los cuales casi la mayoría son mujeres.  Logró la aprobación de una ley sobre derechos en Nueva York, y está trabajando para lograr su aprobación en California.En una escala más amplia, ¿Cuál sería una ley que liberara a las personas y que no las convirtiera en modernos esclavos? Varias organizaciones progresistas por los derechos de los migrantes han buscado formular una respuesta a esta pregunta, especialmente en respuesta a las propuestas de Reforma Migratoria Integral que existen en Washington y a las que ellos se oponen.Promoviendo Nuevas Politicas -- Propuestas ProgresistasEl Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales (FIOB), llevó a cabo una serie de discusiones organizadas entre sus comités en California para formular una posición muy progresista sobre reforma migratoria, con la perspectiva única de una organización de migrantes y comunidades emisoras. Debido a su membresía indígena, el FIOB lucha por los derechos de los migrantes en Estados Unidos, por una amnistía de inmigración y una legalización para los inmigrantes indocumentados pero también condena las propuestas de programas de trabajadores huésped. Al mismo tiempo, "necesitamos un desarrollo que haga de la migración una opción en lugar de una necesidad, el derecho a no migrar", explica Gaspar Rivera Salgado, ex coordinador binacional del FIOB.  "Ambos derechos son parte de la misma solución. Tenemos que cambiar el debate en el que la inmigración es presentada como un problema, a un debate sobre derechos. El problema real es la explotación", agrega Rivera Salgado. Esta perspectiva es especialmente importante en Estados Unidos, donde quienes debaten la política migratoria necesitan escuchar las voces de los mexicanos, especialmente de la izquierda, mientras discuten el movimiento de personas yendo y viniendo por la frontera.La propuesta sobre reforma migratoria del FIOB es similar a la que promueve la Campaña por la Dignidad (Dignity Campaign), una imprecisa coalición de organizaciones en todo el país que han propuesto una alternativa a las iniciativas de reforma integral (suministro de mano de obra, más reforzamiento de la ley). Las organizaciones que la forman han participado en otras coaliciones previas que se oponen a las sanciones de los patrones y programas de trabajadores huésped. La Campaña por la Dignidad une a organizaciones por los derechos de los migrantes y de comercio justo para alentarlos a ver las conexiones globales entre la política de comercio, el desplazamiento y la migración. También une a los sindicatos y a las organizaciones por los derechos de los migrantes para incentivar el crecimiento de  la lucha contra el reforzamiento de la ley en contra de los trabajadores, subrayando la necesidad de oponerse a la criminalización del trabajo.Santiago Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, Mexico -- Campesinos y campesinas indigenas en una asemblea del FIOB protestan sobre el impacto del TLCAN.La propuesta de la Campaña por la Dignidad utiliza esfuerzos previos, particularmente uno promovido por el Comité de Servicios de los Amigos Americanos llamado "un nuevo camino," un conjunto de principios morales para cambiar la política migratoria de Estados Unidos. Hubo otros esfuerzos anteriores, sobre todo por parte de la Red Nacional por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes y Refugiados (NNIRR por sus siglas en inglés), por definir un programa alternativo y crear el apoyo entre otras organizaciones a nivel nacional para avanzar sobre estas líneas de trabajo.  Es importante mencionar las contribuciones hechas por otras organizaciones.  La lista de estas organizaciones se ve en el sitio de internet, www.dignitycampaign.org.La crítica compartida por todas estas organizaciones sostiene que el marco de la Reforma Migratoria Integral ignora los tratados comerciales como el TLCAN y el CAFTA (Acuerdo de Libre Comercio con Centroamérica), los cuales producen ganancias para las corporaciones estadunidenses pero aumenta la pobreza en México y Centroamérica. Mientras continúen la política de comercio de Estados Unidos, los programas de ajuste estructural y las reformas económicas neoliberales, millones de personas desplazadas seguirán viniendo sin importar cuántos muros sean construidos en la frontera.En las propuestas de "reforma migratoria integral" promovidas por los grupos defensores de Washington DC durante varios años, algunas de las cuales fueron sometidas como iniciativas de ley  al Congreso, las personas que trabajan sin papeles continuarían siendo despedidas y hasta encarceladas, y las redadas incrementarían. La vulnerabilidad hace más difícil a las personas defender sus derechos, organizar sindicatos e incrementar los salarios. Eso mantiene bajo el precio de la mano de obra migrante. Esto no va a detener a las personas para que vengan a Estados Unidos, pero producirá un sistema de detenciones mucho más grande. El año pasado, más de 350 mil personas pasaron por prisiones privadas para inmigrantes indocumentados. Al mismo tiempo, todas las propuestas de Reforma Migratoria Integral surgidas en Washington DC, amplían  los programas de trabajadores huésped, en los cuales los trabajadores tendrían pocos derechos y ningún mecanismo para organizarse por mejores condiciones. Finalmente, las medidas de legalización de la Reforma Migratoria Integral impondrían barreras haciendo ilegibles a muchas de los 12 millones de personas que necesitan estatus legal. Estas propuestas  condicionan la legalización a "asegurar la frontera", lo cual se ha convertido en un eufemismo de Washington DC, que significa una fuerte presencia militar aumentando 20 mil agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza, y creando un clima de una total negación de los derechos civiles y humanos de las comunidades fronterizas."Los gobiernos de México y Estados Unidos dependen de la mano de obra barata de los mexicanos. No lo dicen abiertamente pero lo hacen," concluye Rufino Domínguez. "Lo que mejoraría nuestra situación es un estatus legal para las personas que ya se encuentran aquí y una mayor disponibilidad de visas en base a la reunificación familiar. La legalización y más visas resolvería muchos problemas, no todos pero sería un gran paso", agrega. "Los muros no van a detener la migración, lo que disminuiría la presión que nos obliga a dejar nuestra tierra sería la creación de salarios decentes e inversión para la creación de fuentes de empleo en nuestros países de origen. Penalizándonos haciendo ilegal el tener un trabajo no va a parar la migración ya que eso no soluciona el por qué la gente viene", advierte.El hecho de cambiar la política de comercio corporativa y detener las reformas neoliberales es tan central para una reforma migratoria como lograr un estatus legal para los inmigrantes indocumentados. No tiene sentido promover más acuerdos de libre comercio y luego condenar la migración de las personas que ellos desplazan. En su lugar, el Congreso de Estados Unidos debe acabar con el uso del sistema de libre comercio como un mecanismo para producir trabajadores desplazados. Eso también significa desligar el estatus migratorio y el empleo. Si a los patrones se les permite reclutar mano de obra contractual en otros países, y esos trabajadores solo pueden quedarse si son  empleados de manera permanente, nunca van a tener derechos que puedan ser reforzados por la ley.La raíz del problema con la migración en la economía global es que es una migración forzada. Una coalición por una reforma debe luchar por el derecho de las personas a elegir cuándo y cómo migrar. La libertad de movilidad es un derecho humano. Incluso en un mundo más justo, la migración va a continuar porque las familias y comunidades están ahora conectadas a miles de millas y muchas fronteras. Una política migratoria debería por lo tanto, hacer más fácil este movimiento.Al mismo tiempo, los trabajadores necesitan derechos básicos sin importar su estado migratorio. Sería mejor destinar más recursos a reforzar los estándares de trabajo para todos los trabajadores en lugar de penalizar a los trabajadores indocumentados por trabajar y a los patrones por contratarlos. "De lo contrario", afirma Rufino Domínguez "los salarios se van a deprimir en una carrera hacia abajo ya que si un empleador tiene una ventaja, otros van a buscar lo mismo".Para aumentar el bajo precio de la mano de obra migrante, los trabajadores migrantes necesitan poder organizarse. Un estatus legal permanente facilita la organización. Los programas de trabajadores huésped, las sanciones a los empleadores, el reforzamiento de la ley y las redadas hacen mucho más difícil la organización. Actualmente, la sección de trabajadores sin beneficios y los salarios más bajos es la que se está expandiendo más rápidamente. Una coalición popular debe empujar en sentido contrario, hacia un estatus más igualitario, el cuál ayudará a unir a diversas comunidades.Para construir una coalición política por una reforma a favor de los trabajadores y los inmigrantes se tiene que comenzar buscando intereses mutuos entre los trabajadores. Ese terreno común es una lucha por empleos y derechos para todos. El desempleo en la comunidad afroamericana, por ejemplo, está en niveles catastróficos. Este desempleo no es causado por los inmigrantes sino que mayormente es causado por el declive de la manufactura y los recortes en los empleos públicos. En la recesión del 2001, 300 mil de 2 millones de trabajadores de fábrica afroamericanos perdieron su empleo. En la creciente industria de los servicios y alta tecnología, los trabajadores afroamericanos y chicanos desplazados son una anatema. Los empleadores piensan que ellos son muy tendientes al sindicato. Exigen altos salarios que las compañías no quieren pagar.Es imposible lograr grandes cambios en política migratoria sin hacerlos parte de la lucha para lograr las metas de afroamericanos, sindicatos y comunidades trabajadoras. Para acabar con la competencia laboral, por ejemplo, los trabajadores necesitan que el Congreso adopte una política de empleo completa. Para lograr derechos organizativos para los inmigrantes, todos los trabajadores necesitan el Acta de Libre Elección del Empleado y una reforma en la ley laboral. El ganar esas demandas requiere una alianza entre los trabajadores (inmigrantes y nativos, latinos, afroamericanos, asiático-americanos y anglosajones). Una alianza con los patrones  dándoles nuevos programas de trabajadores huésped incrementará la competencia laboral, bajará los salarios y hará imposible la Acción Afirmativa (la cual garantiza igualdad de oportunidades para las minorías étnicas).Kennett Square, Pennsylvania - El el Primero de Mayo, 2007, migrantes y sus apoyadores marcharon el las calles de un pueblo pequeño, donde muchos laboran en las empacadoras de hongos.  Ellos y ellas protestaban en contra a las leyes propuestas anti-inmigrantes en el Congreso nacional y las legislaturas estatales.  Muchos exigieron una amnestia migratoria -- visas de residencia permanente, estatus legal inmediata, y derechos humanos y laborales.La propuesta de la Campaña por la Dignidad, por lo tanto, no sólo es un programa alternativo para cambiar las leyes y políticas, sino una estrategia implícita de alianzas entre esas comunidades y sus integrantes, bajo la base de un interés mutuo. Los elementos básicos de una alternativa como tal incluyen:Proporcionar visas de residencia permanente o tarjetas verdes, a las personas indocumentadas que ya se encuentran aquí y aumentar el número de tarjetas verdes disponibles para los nuevos migrantes.Eliminar la acumulación de años en procesar las visas de reunificación familiar, fortaleciendo a las familias y comunidades.Permitir a las personas solicitar la residencia permanente en el futuro, después de haber estado viviendo en Estados Unidos por unos años.Acabar con el reforzamiento de la ley que ha llevado a miles de deportaciones y despidos.Rechazar las sanciones a empleadores, reforzando los derechos laborales y  las leyes de protección a los empleados para todos los trabajadores.Acabar con todos los programas de trabajadores huésped.Desmantelar el muro fronterizo y desmilitarizar la frontera para que las personas ya no mueran cruzándola y restaurar los derechos civiles y humanos en las comunidades fronterizas.Responder a la recesión y las ejecuciones hipotecarias, con programas de trabajo para garantizar un ingreso y acabar con el temor de competencia laboral.Redirigir el dinero gastado en las guerras en Irak y Afganistán para reconstruir las comunidades,  refinanciar los préstamos hipotecarios y restaurar los servicios sociales requeridos por las familias trabajadoras.Renegociar los tratados comerciales existentes para eliminar las causas de desplazamiento y prohibir nuevos tratados comerciales que desplacen a las personas o reduzcan los estándares de vida, incluyendo la intervención militar para aplicar las reformas neoliberales.Prohibir a las agencias del orden locales reforzar las leyes de inmigración, acabar con los retenes en las calles, las redadas y cerrar los centros de detención.En Estados Unidos existe una demanda de mano de obra y las prioridades del presupuesto deben ser cambiadas a redirigir los recursos a las áreas que producirán empleos e incrementarán el bienestar. Para resolver los dilemas de la migración y la globalización, Estados Unidos necesita un sistema que produzca seguridad, no inseguridad. Las corporaciones y aquellos que se benefician de las actuales prioridades podrían rechazar esta alternativa pero millones de personas si la apoyarán.Una nueva era de derechos y equidad para los migrantes no va a comenzar desde Washington DC, más de lo que ha hecho el movimiento por los derechos civiles. Una reforma de derechos humanos será un producto de los movimientos sociales de este país, especialmente de las personas de abajo y fuera de los corredores del poder. En 1965, un movimiento social logró avances que eran tomados como poco realistas y políticamente imposibles una década antes. La propuesta de la Campaña por la Dignidad podría ser inviable en un Congreso dominado por nativistas del Tea Party y corporaciones en busca de programas de trabajadores huésped, pero al igual que fue necesario un movimiento de derechos civiles para aprobar el Acta del Derecho al Voto, cualquier cambio básico para establecer los derechos de los  inmigrantes también requerirá un cambio social y un fundamental realineamiento de poder.Fuentes para Más Investigación

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From January 20 to 27, the National Nurses United is joining the first-ever "Trust Women Week,"an online mass mobilization for women’s lives and rights. This unique collaborative campaign is working with MoveOn.org and more than 50 organizations nationwide, including coordinating partner, theTrust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign, to let legislators know that reproductive health, reproductive justice and reproductive rights are at the top of our agenda, and should be at the top of theirs.In this collaborative national action, messages from “virtual marchers,” as the online participants are known, will be packaged and delivered directly to members of Congress, governors and state legislators to underscore that Americans trust women to make their own decisions about their bodies and their lives.As a partner in this impressive collaborative venture, NNU will have our own link (coming soon) to the Trust Women Week/Silver Ribbon Campaign site. Online participants may select up to six tailored messages:1. “I trust women and I vote;”
2. “Reproductive rights are human rights;”
3. “Keep abortion safe and legal, and make it affordable and accessible;”
4. “Stand up and be counted for reproductive justice;”
5. “We are the 99%. Fix the economy, and stop the attacks on women's health;”
6. "Contraception Is Prevention."One million participants are expected to join in this virtual freedom march, and a real-time online map will show the location of the virtual marchers here. Our participation as nurses is essential to this effort, so thanks in advance for your support. 

Trust Women Week overlaps the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and reasserts our firm commitment to reclaiming the future of reproductive decision-making in 2012.Additional information and participation links will follow soon!Thanks again for your support,Jean Ross, Karen Higgins, and Deborah Burger
Registered Nurses and NNU Co-PresidentsNational Nurses United
8630 Fenton Street, Suite 1100
Silver Spring, MD 20910
www.NationalNursesUnited.orgUNSUBSCRIBE | www.NationalNursesUnited.org | www.MainStreetContract.org
National Nurses United | 8630 Fenton Street, Suite 1100 Silver Spring, MD 20910

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 Leadership Schools · Workshops · Research Reports · Publications  A new study by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research was included in The California Endowment’s amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court on January 13, 2012. Newly Insured Californians Would Fall by More than 1 Million under the Affordable Care Act without the Requirement to Purchase InsuranceJanuary 2012, by: Gerald F. Kominski, Dylan H. Roby, Ken Jacobs, Greg Watson,Dave Graham-Squire, Christina M. Kinane, Daphna Gans, and Jack Needleman » Policy Note The Affordable Care Act requirement that almost all Americans purchase some type of health insurance coverage has been controversial. This policy note examines the potential implications of eliminating the minimum coverage requirement (MCR), or "individual mandate." The authors find that the ACA will reduce California’s eligible uninsured population from 4.63 to 2.72 million by 2019; a reduction of 1.91 million or 41% of the eligible uninsured. In contrast, without the MCR, the ACA will reduce the state’s eligible uninsured population from 4.63 to 3.76 million; a reduction of only 870,000 or 19% of the eligible uninsured. Without the MCR, the number of newly insured will be 1.04 million lower in 2019. In addition, eliminating the MCR is likely to accelerate premium growth due to adverse selection. Eliminating the MCR from the ACA would therefore substantially lower the number of newly insured Californians by 2019 and undermine the goal of the law to substantially increase health insurance coverage for the uninsured.  This policy note was funded by a grant from The California Endowment and was included in their amicus brief recently submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. Read The California Endowment’s full press release.     Stay connected to the Labor Center DonateJoin our mailing listFollow usBecome a fan Center for Labor Research and Education, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California, Berkeley2521 Channing Way # 5555 · Berkeley, CA 94720-5555 · TEL (510) 642-0323 · FAX (510) 642-6432 
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  Can you help make this Saturday brighter for people who have lost their jobs, plus youths and members of the military?

Click here to donate one or more tickets. Thanks!

People who are struggling are stressed out in this economy. Can you help make things a little bit brighter for jobless workers, members of the military and kids?

On Saturday, Jan. 21, the NFL Players Association will host the AstroTurf NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in Carson, Calif. 

What’s special about this game is that the AFL-CIO is working with the players to fill the stadium with people who have lost their jobs, plus local youths and members of the military. It costs $12.50 to donate a ticket. Click here to donate one or more tickets.

With your help, people will get a break from the stress of this bad economy and will have a chance to see future NFL stars in action. This game, sponsored by our union brothers in the National Football League Players Association, will feature some of the best college all-stars in the country.

It costs only $12.50 to donate a ticket. Click here to chip in.

Thanks for all the work you do.

In solidarity,

Manny Herrmann
Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO
To find out more about the AFL-CIO, please visit our website at www.aflcio.org.Click here to unsubscribe
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Study Finds of Retail Workers $ 9.50 Median Pay 
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE 
Published: January 16, Workers in New York City earn a median of $ 9.50 an hour, Most are part-time or temporary, and just 3 in 10 Receive Health Insurance Through Their Jobs, According To a new study of the city's larger retailers. The study, based on Interviews Workers with nonunion and released on Monday, Wages and Poverty found largely Highly unstable schedules for the city's retailEmployees, With Less Than a fifth Having a schedule in September Each work week. The study said Many Workers Had a hard time planning for, say, child care or classes Because Learned More Than Half Their schedules a week or less Would Before a work week begin. The study, "Discounted Jobs: How Retailers Workers Sell Short, " WAS led by a City University professor and WAS based on face-to-face Interviews with 436 nonunion employees of Retail Business, ranging from high-end Fifth Avenue on Establishments to discount stores on Fordham Road in the Bronx. The Researchers Went to department stores, electronics stores, home centers, clothing stores, bookstores and Others. The report WAS Financed by the Retail Action Project, an organization in Manhattan That Is Financed by unions and foundations, by City University's Murphy Institute, and by the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union. Two in five said the Workers Interviewed number of hours Worked Each Week They Often or always varie. One in five said They Often or always be available for Had to call-in shifts, With Some Workers Saying They Were Assigned one or two days of work Each week, But Had toleave two or three open Another call in Those days and mornings in Employers needed Them Their case. The report said, "Guaranteed No longer work hours are the normal and just 'getting on the schedule' has Become the reward for job performance. " Workers Who rack upmore sales per shift Were Often Assigned more days. The study said two in five of New York's retail Workers full-time Were Slightly More Than Half Were part-time, and the rest Were temporary or holiday Workers. The study found one in 10 About That Part-time Workers Had a week to week schedule in September, With Many working 15 or 20 hours a week. "An Extremely Low Wages earn high numberThat can not bring them to the Even Federal Poverty Line, " said Stephanie Luce, the study's main author and a professor of labor relations at the Murphy Institute. "The problem of low is exacerbated by low Wages work hours. If large chains, With stores in the retail mecca of Manhattan, can not create living -wage careers In This industry, We Should be pretty pessimistic About theOpportunities for millions of retail Workers around the country. " The study's other author WAS Naoki Fujita, a researcher for the Retail Action Project. The authors HAD Interviewers question Workers in all five boroughs in a total of 230 Individual Business, all Employees with 100 or more. A worker Told an interviewer That her eleven manager around 7 pm Called her to tell her to go in at 6 the next morning. "For students and parents or People with two jobs, unstable schedules are particularly stressful, "the study said.About one in six Workers Held They said a second job. Of the roughly two-Thirds of Workers who do not Receive from Their Employers health insurance, the study found, one in four Have no health insurance, About one in three Receive it through to relative and one in three through to Government program, MOST Often Medicaid. The study found Fewer Than Half That of Those Were Interviewed Entitled to paid sick days, and of Those More Than They Never Took half said any. There Was Evidence of wage and substantial businesses HourViolations, the study Concluded. About one in six said Workers They HAD done work off the clock at least Occasionally. More than one in three Reported That They Worked Sometimes More Than 10 hours a day, and a Sizable number of paid overtime Were Not Them When They did, as mandated by state law. Of all the part-time Workers, the study found, About one in 10 Received Health Benefits Through Their employer, and About one in four said They Received paid sick days. According To the study, mean hourly pay WAS $ 10 in Manhattan, $ 9 in Queens, $ 8.50 in Brooklyn and $ 8 in the Bronx, With No figure available for Staten Island. Some Workers That They Were complainer Sometimes Called in to work a shift, But Would be Sent home Then After two hours slow Because WAS business. The study found just one in six That of Those Workers said They Were always paid - as state law required - for a full four hours Whenever They Worked Fewer Than a shift of four hours. ____________________________________________ PortsideLabor AIMS to Provide material of interest to people That on the left to interpret Them Will help the world and to change it. Submit via email: labor at portside.orgSubmit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3 Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org / faq Sub / Unsub:http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe PS Labor Archives: http://portside.org/archive Contribute to Portside:https://portside.org/donate
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acnnews 4 CELAC ACN: Work and Persistence January 18, 2012 By Nestor Nuñez The Foreign Ministers of Venezuela, Cuba and Chile recently Gave way in Santiago de Chile to the work program That Will Be ADOPTED by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC ). The three nations did it on Behalf of the region Which Will assume an important and independent role in the international arena, After Centuries of colonialism and Confrontations with Europe later imperial domination by the United States Who Were Excluded to Canada Alongside the new regional entity Tune with substantial businesses in cultural Differences andAspirations of the peoples of the South. Venezuela WAS present in the Chilean capital for Being the host nation to the recently establishing CELAC During The summit last month of December. chairs the integration entity Chile During The current year and Cuba Who Will assume the leadership of the group in 2013. It is worth to mention That in Addition to not HAVING the Presence of thepowerful north Who has always Considered our region as Their back yard -Aspirations of Sovereignty demanded by our forefathers so much- , CELAC in Tune with our times and the intelligent strategy of the future have left behind the Differences and make special emphasis to what units the region. The Principles in relation With The Essence of what Mexican Benito Juarez said, Respect Others is key to a united front leading to peace, dialog, exchange and reason. It's a united effort Which Cuba due to encourager and Supports Its Own That experience led to the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1959. Most of the nations of the continent broke ties with Cuba under U.S. pressure and joined Washington's Policies of aggressions. But despite This, the permanent Solidarity of the People of Latin America Caribbean brother Towards establishing STI breaking the ropes tied to the powerful neighbor to the North.That is why Cuba Understands and sustains STI Respect to CELAC's diversity, the Exercise of constructive exchange, end to Violence,Dogmatic rejection criteria and to an interest in Prioritizing goals STI Beyond Any individual or Philosophical Political Perceptions. There are Those Without a Doubt That would love to see the new institution fail-through Confrontations and divisions.howeve, it is clear That Some regional governments reject non progressive Any dependence to the U.S. as an alternative and worth Assuming reasonable and Objective Attitudes on Their Own. These are taken by CELAC elements for the future, although charged withDifficulties and Challenges But Only with honesty and Commitment by all dog STI guarantee strength, experience That you walk through Cuba for the last 53 years. Otherarticles/igp/13: 00PM Cuban News Agency www . cubanews.ain.cu ainnews at ain.cu

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Are We About to Roll Back the Clock on Child Labor Laws?By Steve Benen | Washington Monthly
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Jan. 18, 2012
Graduate assistants at the University of Minnesota, like Scott Thaller, Delivered a petition yesterday to the university president Requesting Recognition With The UAW Union .Submitted yesterday Wisconsin Working Families Supporting 1 million signatures to recall election of Gov..Scott Walker (R), the total number of Exceeding signatures required by 460.000. Walker last year push toAbolish the rights of Public Employees to Collectively bargain for a middle-class life.
Got comments? Post Them atblog.aflcio.org . New AFL-CIO Campaign Highlights How 'Work Connects Us All ' U-Minn. Advance Graduate Assistants Union Drive Ugly in Indiana 50 Years Ago, JFK Opened Door for Federal Employees to Join Unions Indiana: Postcards Signed 20.000 Say No Way to RTWRead more important news of the day on the issues Working Families care about.Follow the AFL-CIO:
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Fight back against Cooper Tire's flat-out greed!Tell Cooper to end the lockout!
Another classic tale of corporate greed is unfolding in Ohio, and we need your help to put a stop to it.In 2008, when Cooper Tire & Rubber Company was losing money, workers at its Findlay, Ohio, plant gave up $31 million in pay and benefits to help the company stay afloat.Thanks to the workers' sacrifices and productivity, Cooper has made more than $300 million in profits since 2009. Cooper paid its executives millions of dollars in bonuses and bought a new corporate jet. What did its employees get? Locked out on Thanksgiving weekend.Despite soaring profits, Cooper pushed a new contract on its employees with higher healthcare premiums and undisclosed wage terms. Do you think CEOs would accept a contract if they didn't know if they were getting a raise or a pay cut? Not a chance.Still, Cooper's employees were more than willing to keep working through negotiations to reach a fair deal after their contract expired last fall. But Cooper refused to budge – leaving 1,050 workers out in the cold since November 28.The workers in Findlay, Ohio, are counting on you! Email Cooper Tire NOW!Cooper can easily afford to set things straight and still turn a profit. Cooper CEO Roy Armes received $4.7 million in compensation in 2010.1 And the company has purchased a plant in Serbia for $17.3 million!2Cooper wants to cry broke, but greed – not need – is driving this lockout. As Chico Ramirez, who's logged 25 years with the company, explains, "The thing that bothers us is that we gave them concessions to help them get back on their feet, and they are paying out bonuses instead of paying back the backbone of the company."Around the country, people are fighting back against corporate greed and standing up for the 99%. Will you stand up and fight for Cooper's workers too?Tell Cooper Tire that its bullying and greed must end now.Thanks for all that you do for workers everywhere.Hilary, Liz, Susan, Zoe, Michael, Bryan, and the American Rights at Work Team
www.AmericanRightsatWork.org1. http://people.forbes.com/profile/roy-v-armes/22977 2. http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2012/01/02/U-S-senator-drops-in-to-cheer-up-locked-out-Findlay-tire-workers.html This message was sent to cgpelayo at hotmail.com. To unsubscribe from American Rights at Wo
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-America Has Woken Up to the Reality: Inequality MattersWhile police have cleared many Occupy encampments, a collective cry, loud and clear, has gone up from countless voices across the country: Enough's enough. READ MOREBy Bill Moyers, Michael Winship / BillMoyers.com
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