Rebecca Greenberg Band
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Labor's Edge Articles by Rebecca Band
5/7/12
Corporate Tax Loopholes: The REAL Waste, Fraud and Abuse in California’s Budget
by Rebecca Band
One BILLION Dollars. That’s how much California gives away every year to big corporations, thanks to a wasteful tax loophole that actually incentivizes companies to close up shop in California and move those jobs elsewhere.
According to LA Times columnist George Skelton, "You might think a tax law that rewards companies for killing California jobs and resurrecting them in another state would be dumped. Very quickly. Especially if it also rewards them for selling off property here and rebuilding elsewhere. Or, put another way, if the law provides a tax incentive not to hire or invest in California in the first place. You'd repeal it. A no-brainer."
4/13/12
Hundreds Converge to Vote on California Labor’s June Primary Endorsements
by Rebecca Band
This week, the California Labor Federation announced its June 2012 primary election endorsements for State Senate and Assembly, US Congress and statewide ballot measures at its annual Pre-Primary convention. Find out who Labor’s endorsing in your district.
Not a lot of people know how union endorsements happen, but it’s perhaps one of the most democratic processes left in the United States. Before every primary and general election, rank-and-file workers engage in the endorsement process in multiple ways, including town hall meetings and other gatherings. Workers, through their unions and central labor councils, engage in months of leg work to discern which candidates and ballot measures would protect the middle class. Unions carefully consider each candidate’s proposals for the future, and they invite every candidate to meet with workers directly, through round table discussions, candidate interviews and public forums.
3/20/12
Labor’s 2012 Legislative Conference Focuses on Investing in California
by Rebecca Band
It’s not often that union leaders, representatives and activists from all over the state come together to plan and execute a shared agenda for the good of all working families. That’s what makes Labor’s annual Joint Legislative Conference, sponsored by the California Labor Federation and State Building and Construction Trades Council, so special. And this year’s conference has been no exception.
More than 500 union advocates from hundreds of different unions joined together at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento yesterday to learn about and advocate for labor’s legislative priorities for 2012. In true conference tradition, the morning plenary session kicked off with four brave workers sharing their personal stories about the exploitation and hostility they (and hundreds of thousands of other warehouse workers) face every day working at Walmart-subcontracted warehouses in the Inland Empire.
3/19/12
Hundreds Converge in Sacramento for Labor’s 2012 Joint Legislative Conference
by Rebecca Band
Today, more than 500 leaders and activists from hundreds of California unions are coming together in Sacramento for Labor’s 2012 Joint Legislative Conference, hosted by the California Labor Federation and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. The annual conference gives union activists from all across the state the chance to get involved in Labor’s policy-making endeavors by learning about and weighing in on our 2012 legislative agenda, hearing from key elected officials and engaging directly with legislators at the Capitol.
2/27/12
‘1000 Ways to Die’ Crew Hits the Street to Fight for Their Rights at Work
by Rebecca Band
The hit TV series ‘1000 Ways to Die’ depicts vivid re-enactments of fatal catastrophes. But there’s a real catastrophe going on behind the scenes, as the hard-working crew of ‘1000 Ways to Die’ fights for fairness and a voice at work.
After four years of working in difficult conditions without union protections, the television crew at Spike TV's hit show decided to take a stand. Last Thursday, the crew voted unanimously to support the IATSE so they can finally secure affordable health care, safe working conditions and a fair union contract. But the employer, Original Productions, which also produces other hit reality shows such as 'Ice Road Truckers' and 'Deadliest Catch', refused to recognize the IATSE as the bargaining unit, and promptly fired more than 25 crew members.
1/16/12
Dr. Martin Luther King, ‘Bold Struggles’ and the Labor Movement
by Rebecca Band
“The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployme¬nt insurance, old-age pensions, government relief for the destitute and, above all, new wage levels that meant not mere survival but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transforma-tion; they resisted it until they were overcome.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr spoke these awe-inspiring words at the Illinois AFL-CIO Convention almost 50 years ago, yet his message about hope, progress and ‘bold struggles’ still rings true today -- perhaps truer than ever, as we face increasingly aggressive attacks on our rights from the ‘captains of industry’ and their undue influence on our government.
11/8/11
Separating Fact from Fiction: The Truth About the Right-Wing Attacks on the Postal Service
by Rebecca Band
The US Postal Service is the second largest employer in the United States, after the Department of Defense, employing more than half a million workers in good union jobs. It’s also the second largest employer of military veterans; more than 22% of all postal employees have served in the U.S. armed forces. But if Republicans in Congress get their way and succeed in ending Saturday mail delivery, as many as 200,000 Post Office jobs would be lost. With Veterans Day coming up, it couldn’t be a more fitting time to draw attention to this deceptive effort by the right wing to strip thousands of our brave service men and women of their jobs, and leave our troops returning home from war with even fewer employment options.
11/3/11
Labor Joins Occupy Oakland’s Historic Day of Action
by Rebecca Band
The Occupy Oakland Day of Action wasn’t your typical Occupy event. As many as 10,000 people or more participated in what is reported to have been the biggest protest in the East Bay since the Vietnam War. It was peaceful, it was inspiring, it was inclusive, it was dynamic, it was diverse, and it was historic. And we’re proud to have been a part of it.
8/18/11
Women of Labor Unite in Sacramento
by Rebecca Greenberg Band
The face of the labor movement is changing. Gone are the mostly male unions that were so prevalent just a generation ago. Nowadays, fully 45% of all union members are women, and by 2020 women will make up the majority of the unionized workforce. Union women are powerful activists, and have begun stepping into leadership positions like never before.
This year’s “Women of Labor” conference, sponsored by the California Labor Federation and UFCW Women’s Network, brought union women from around the state together to foster solidarity and leadership for a new kind of workforce – and a new kind of labor movement. The second annual conference, which took place this week in Sacramento, drew more than 200 union women (and some men too) from right here in California and as far away as Egypt, Tunisia and Hungary.
8/2/11
Oakland Airport Construction Workers Join Mayor and Port Commissioners to Call for End to FAA Shutdown
by Rebecca Greenberg Band
Two weeks ago, the construction site of the new air traffic control tower at Oakland Airport was bustling with activity. Now, it lays completely dormant. Construction equipment sits unused. Workers wait around, hoping that today will be the day that they can go back to work. But they can’t – all because Congressional Republicans are playing politics with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization. And now, it looks like Congress won’t be acting on the FAA until they return from recess in late September.
Reauthorizing the FAA is generally a standard procedure. In fact, Congress has extended FAA funding 20 separate times without controversy. But the new wave of House Republicans have decided to hold it hostage – despite the fact that the partial shutdown of the FAA would result in $1.2 billion in lost revenue, not to mention the 90,000 workers (mostly private-sector construction workers) who will be left jobless, including as many as 5,000 here in California.