Stop the senseless deaths on the California farms, 5 more deaths in the fields since the underage pregnant girl

On June 3rd. I wrote Underage and pregnant Mexican teen dies on California vinyard, seems not much has changed.

You can help the California farm workers get to Sacramento by donating for their bus trip to California. This comes from fellow labor communicator TomP over at DailyKos.

Six California farm workers have died since May from what appears to be heat related causes. The latest one was Maria De Jesus Alvarez, 63, mother of nine, who died early this month. The first one to die was 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who died in May. Marie was about a month pregnant when she died, and likely did not ever know she was pregnant. The state fined the labor contractor $262,700 for failing to follow heat illness prevention regulations at the time Jimenez was stricken, but that won't bring her back. And the deaths have continued at an accelerated pace since then.

You can help to end this tragedy. This Monday, August 18, more than 800 farm workers from throughout California want to go to Sacramento to lobby the Legislature on a key bill that will help them help themeselves. They want the chance to tell the Governor and their elected officials to support AB 2386, "Secret Ballot Elections for Farmworkers," which has moved out of the assembly and which will be voted on that afternoon in the state senate.

I have been writing for months on the deaths of farm workers in California from the heat. Six farm workers deaths are being or have been investigated because of heat-related causes since May.

This brings to 15 the number of farm workers whose death have been investigated as heat-related since Governor Schwarzenegger took office.

You can learn more details of this continuing tragedy in these diaries:

Sixth Farm Worker Dies from the Heat this Summer in California. A Call for Action.

Another Farm Worker dies. Does anyone give a damn? The Netroots Do.

United Farm Workers Calls for Manslaughter Charges Against Company in Death of 17 Year Old

How many Farmworkers must die before someone cares??

Please Tell Fallen Farm Worker's Family We Care

"How much is the life of a farm worker worth? Is it less than the life of any other human being?"

As UFW President Arturo S. Rodriguez said at the funeral of 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez:

How much is the life of a farm worker worth? Is it less than the life of any other human being?

The state has fined the labor contractor for whom Maria Isabel worked:

Atwater-based Merced Farm Labor, the contractor investigated in the death of Lodi teen Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez last spring, was fined $262,700 by the state [in July] for failure to follow heat illness prevention regulations at the time Jimenez was stricken.

Jimenez, a 17-year-old pregnant farm laborer, collapsed May 14 in a Farmington vineyard operated by West Coast Grape Farming and died two days later. Her death from heatstroke was ruled an occupational death by the San Joaquin County coroner.

State fines labor firm over death

In honor of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, the march from Lodi, CA to Sacramento State Capitol, June 4, 2008:

Since then, five more farm workers have died from what appears to be heat-related causes.

August 2, 2008: Maria de Jesus Alvarez.

July 31, 2008: Jorge Herrera.

July 9, 2008: Ramiro Carrillo Rodriguez.

July 9, 2008: Abdon Felix Garcia.

June 20, 2008: Jose Macrena Hernandez.

Farm worker dies in Santa Maria, California. Television news report on the death of Jose Macrena Hernandez:

These deaths make it clear the state does not have the capacity to protect farm workers. With all the budget cuts and other issues in California now, the state, even if well intentioned, simply has not been able to protect these workers. So they must protect themselves.

We can make a difference and it will not take much.

The vital legislation that Speaker Emeritus Nunez has introduced--and the workers want to go to Sacramento and lobby for--protects farm workers' right to a secret ballot election and will make it easier for farm workers to organize and enforce the laws that the state cannot enforce.

Please TAKE ACTION TODAY and ask California legislatures to support this vital bill..

If you can't attend please make a donation to help the United Farm Workers rent 14 buses, additional vans, plus pay for food and other supplies which will cost in excess of $31,770 for the day.

There is nothing more powerful than hearing a farm worker story face-to-face, especially to lawmakers.

Doroteo Jimenez, grape worker and uncle of 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez who died in May explains why she must go to Sacremento.

I want to go to Sacramento and speak to the legislators.

My niece Maria Isabel died because growers treat us like tools instead of like people. I spoke up and I was unjustly fired. This needs to change now. I don't want to see other families suffer like our family has. This bill can change farm workers' lives for the better.

Please help us.

Margarita Hernandez, grape worker knows that that there must be changes in the workplace:

The reason for me to go to Sacramento is because I want changes in the working conditions at my job and the other companies. In the place where I work, Sun Pacific, we don't have shade and the drinking water is without ice until 9 am—though they know that by that hour it is already hot.

There have been people have felt sick from the heat and the company people always ask if they feel bad because of something they ate...

I feel there is no respect for the farm worker, even though many farm workers have died. The companies don't change their treatment towards the farm workers. That is why I am going to Sacramento. I have the hope that one day, we will be treated better.

Just to rent the buses and vans needed, will cost $26,570 and that does not cover the food and other supplies needed.

The UNF hopes that internet supporters would contribute $5,510 towards this expense. This will cover the transportation costs of 140 workers at $39.36 per worker. Let's show them that Daily Kos can do it and more!

Can you make sure Doroteo, Margarita and others get seats on the bus?

When the union is strong, growers and labor contractors follow the California heat regulations, and lives can be saved. This bill is key to growing the union and, literally, saving lives.

Where farm workers are protected by union contracts, the laws are honored.

And when growers know it is easier for farm workers to organize and bring in the union, employers are much more careful about obeying the law because they don’t want to give the union an advantage.

So the answer, sisters and brothers, is self-help—making it easier for farm workers to organize so the laws on the books are the laws in the fields. Then more important human beings like Maria Isabel won’t have to die.

Remarks by Arturo S. Rodriguez, President, United Farm Workers of America, Honoring Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, June 4, 2008

Please help.

Please TAKE ACTION TODAY and ask California legislatures to support this vital bill.

If you can't attend please make a donation to help the United Farm Workers rent 14 buses, additional vans, plus pay for food and other supplies which will cost in excess of $31,770 for the day.

Yesterday we mourned,
Today we act,
Tomorrow we will gain justice.

Si, Se Puede!

Dennis Kucinich stands with Indian slave pipefitters

Continuation from Tuesday's: Join the Indian slave pipefitters march on the Dept. of Justice (6/11/08)

From the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO (6/12/08) :

INDIAN WORKERS SUSPEND HUNGER STRIKE

Indian trafficking survivors suspended their 29-day hunger strike at a rally outside the Department of Justice Wednesday following a wave of support over the past month from US Congress-members, labor and religious leaders, and thousands of labor and civil rights activists across the country.

"We have confidence to suspend our hunger strike today because we have faith in these allies to fight alongside us until the traffickers are brought to justice," said Indian Workers' Congress Organizer Sabulal Vijayan. "With our hunger strike, we have won concrete actions that will help protect future workers from the nightmare of forced labor we suffered."

At the rally, US Congressmember Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) called the treatment the workers faced at the hands of Indian recruiters and their employer, Signal International, (DC Jobs with Justice Corner: Indian Workers to Stage Hunger Strike in DC 5/8/08 UC) "wrong, inhumane, and immoral." Kucinich and 17 other US Congress-members sent a letter to US Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week demanding he "take the steps necessary to ensure the workers' continued presence so that DOJ can continue this important investigation of modern-day slavery, human trafficking, and forced labor and bring these traffickers to justice."

Kucinich has also promised to hold a Congressional hearing on abuses of guest workers by Signal and other companies. "I think we as Americans and working people around the world owe you an enormous debt for standing up," said Nickeled and Dimed author Barbara Ehrenreich. "You helped bring to light a scandal of slavery in the US."

Quoting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent statement that a “robust law enforcement response is essential” in stopping “petty tyrants who exploit their laborers,” AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt called on the Bush Administration to “apply those principles right here at home” and prosecute Signal. The rally - attended by over one hundred supporters - was part of a National Day of Action for the workers that included congressional visits and rallies outside DOJ offices in 10 other cities.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress


The AFL-CIO WebBlog has been covering this also (most recent below)

• Indian Workers End Hunger Strike, Rally at Justice Dept. … for Justice

More stories of abuse of Indian workers here at Joe's

• The NY Times actually mentions Indian Slave pipe-fitters...
• Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!
• Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers
• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC
• More H1B Visa abuse news
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released
• Offshoring and H1B Visa abuse, the 1-2 punch to knockout US tech workers

Join the Union City E-Mail list

Join the Indian slave pipefitters march on the Dept. of Justice, 6/11/08

If this is the first you have heard of this story, you don't visit enough, from Union City e-mail:

Indian Guestworkers to Rally Outside DOJ:

Indian guestworkers and supporters will march on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday at noon to demand the DOJ allow workers to stay in the US during the ongoing investigation against their employer Signal International. “The workers, who walked off jobs in Gulf Coast shipyards in early March, say they were victims of human trafficking when they were brought to the United States under a temporary guest worker program,” reported Julia Preston in the New York Times on Saturday.

“The Indian workers say they were deceived by Signal International and labor recruiters when they paid as much as $20,000 for visas they believed would allow them to work and live permanently with their families in the United States.” The New York Times article followed the hospitalization of Paul Konar – the only remaining hunger striker from the group that began the strike on May 14 – Thursday that forced him to end his 23-day hunger strike. “Somebody needed to do something for others, so we, the Indian Worker Congress started this fight for justice,” said Konar Thursday. “I took this risk of holding a hunger strike to achieve justice in this country for all people.” 11 workers remain on hunger strike. Click here to sign a petition to support the workers.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress


More stories of abuse of Indian workers here at Joe's

• The NY Times actually mentions Indian Slave pipe-fitters...
• Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!
• Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers
• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC
• More H1B Visa abuse news
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released
• Offshoring and H1B Visa abuse, the 1-2 punch to knockout US tech workers

Join the Indian slave pipefitters march on the Dept. of Justice, 6/11/08

If this is the first you have heard of this story, you don't visit enough, from Union City e-mail:

Indian Guestworkers to Rally Outside DOJ:

Indian guestworkers and supporters will march on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday at noon to demand the DOJ allow workers to stay in the US during the ongoing investigation against their employer Signal International. “The workers, who walked off jobs in Gulf Coast shipyards in early March, say they were victims of human trafficking when they were brought to the United States under a temporary guest worker program,” reported Julia Preston in the New York Times on Saturday.

“The Indian workers say they were deceived by Signal International and labor recruiters when they paid as much as $20,000 for visas they believed would allow them to work and live permanently with their families in the United States.” The New York Times article followed the hospitalization of Paul Konar – the only remaining hunger striker from the group that began the strike on May 14 – Thursday that forced him to end his 23-day hunger strike. “Somebody needed to do something for others, so we, the Indian Worker Congress started this fight for justice,” said Konar Thursday. “I took this risk of holding a hunger strike to achieve justice in this country for all people.” 11 workers remain on hunger strike. Click here to sign a petition to support the workers.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress


More stories of abuse of Indian workers here at Joe's

• The NY Times actually mentions Indian Slave pipe-fitters...
• Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!
• Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers
• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC
• More H1B Visa abuse news
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released
• Offshoring and H1B Visa abuse, the 1-2 punch to knockout US tech workers

Glenn Beck commentary: Slavery alive and well in the U.S.

Illegal aliens mean no workers' comp claims, no age, race or sex discrimination lawsuits, no healthcare premiums, no unions, and no demands for raises, vacations or bigger offices. In fact, illegal immigrants are the perfect employees because they're not employees at all; they're corporate slaves.

I have written 2 articles with the same title, Mr. Beck does justice to getting the message out there

In it's entirety, From CNN (4/28/08):

Editor's note: "Glenn Beck" is on CNN Headline News nightly at 7 and 9 ET and hosts a conservative national radio talk show.

Glenn Beck says he doesn't believe there are jobs Americans "just won't do."

NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Jobs Americans just won't do."

I can't stand that line, but more importantly, I don't even understand it.

Americans spend months at a time at sea fishing for crab or drilling for oil; two of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Americans clean bathrooms, subway stations and crime scenes. Americans man toll booths, pave roads, embalm bodies and inspect sewers. Yet people really expect us to believe that they won't pick strawberries or oranges?

It just doesn't add up.

Earlier this week The Wall Street Journal published a story about a shortage of H-2B visas, which are issued twice a year to nonagricultural seasonal employees. Because our government can't get out of its own way, they recently let an important "returning workers" provision expire resulting in thousands of foreign workers being shut out of the country this summer.

That's inexcusable. I know this will come as a huge shock to those who only like to hurl insults, but I think we should be issuing more work visas, more student visas, and more green cards. And I think we should cut the red tape and bureaucracy that's constantly blocking the front door.

But until that happens people are left looking for loopholes and excuses, and "jobs Americans won't do" is the gold standard.

The Journal article offered an example of a couple that sells food at fairs around California each summer. They say that because of the H-2B visa shortage most of their seasonal employees aren't able to enter the country.

So why don't they just hire Americans instead? Good question. Her answer? "This is a hard job."

I find it pretty hard to believe that there aren't a few college students who wouldn't want to drive around California and work outdoors all summer, but let's assume that's true. Let's even assume that none of the other 1.1 million Californians who were unemployed as of April are interested in the job either. Isn't anyone wondering why?

Well I'm not a labor consultant, but I am a thinker. Maybe the problem isn't that the job they're offering is "too hard," maybe it's that the wages they're offering are "too low."

No one paints the undersides of bridges for fun, they do it for the money. That's how capitalism works.

How capitalism does NOT work is when we collectively look the other way as companies exploit illegal labor for their own benefit.

The unspoken truth is that these businesses don't hire illegal aliens because they can't find American workers, they hire illegal aliens because they don't want American workers. And it has nothing to do with wages.

Illegal aliens mean no workers' comp claims, no age, race or sex discrimination lawsuits, no healthcare premiums, no unions, and no demands for raises, vacations or bigger offices. In fact, illegal immigrants are the perfect employees because they're not employees at all; they're corporate slaves.

Economist Dr. Thomas Sowell once said, "Blacks were not enslaved because they were black, but because they were available." Can't the exact same thing be said for illegal aliens? They're available and we're allowing them to be exploited in the name of cheap groceries.

Is the price of fruit really the standard we want to live up to as a country? Is that really who we've become?

Many Americans believe that cracking down on the businesses that hire illegal aliens (the current maximum federal fine was recently raised to a laughable $16,000) would hurt these hardworking people too much. A bad job is better than no job, we tell ourselves. But that's catalogue compassion. If you want to understand the real impact of these decisions you've got to get off the couch and go see it for yourself.

Back in 2005, Newsday did an investigation of the living conditions of immigrants in the New York area. In the city of Westbury (median income: $83,000/year) officials found twelve immigrants living in a basement flooded with sewage.

In Southampton (median income: $64,000/year) officials found immigrants living in sheds with no plumbing or heat.

In New Cassel (median income: $62,000/year) officials estimated there were dozens of "shift-bed houses" where immigrants literally rent mattresses for a few hours a day to catch some sleep.

Is compassion looking the other way while immigrants who come here for the dream end up living a nightmare smack dab in the middle of some of our wealthiest communities?

Is compassion ignoring stories that reveal the truth, like the recent raid of a squalid "drop house" in Los Angeles where 57 illegal aliens were being held against their will?

Is compassion not wanting to hear that a woman was raped in that drop house, or that many more would have been if not for the screams of their children disrupting the attackers?

If that's compassion, then I guess I'm happy to be accused of having none.

The problem with the debate over illegal immigration right now is that special interests have been successful in making us think with our hearts instead of our brains. We've been persuaded to believe that real compassion can only be achieved by following their agenda. But look where that's gotten us. And more importantly, look where that's gotten the people they're supposedly trying to help.

If you really want to be compassionate, then help immigrants get jobs here the right way. Help put crippling fines on the employers who knowingly hire illegal workers, help expand and simplify the visa process, and, most importantly, help get people to start thinking with their brains again.

After all, compassion without common sense may feel good but it doesn't achieve anything. If you need proof then go out and give $1,000 to every homeless person who asks you for change. I bet your heart would be full, but your wallet would soon be empty. And all those people would probably still be homeless.

Great article, this is the very point of a lot of my writings here and around the net, jobs Americans wont do, see my article on "Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!" on how my trade has been violated by Signal International, and thats only one very small story that made the news. What about the Verizon subcontractor, the H1B Visa abuses and disqualification of US workers, as i state in the article about the pregnant 17 year old Mexican girl who died of thirst on a farm in California, there is a war on the American worker, spread the word, this affects all of us, liberal, black, Chinese, conservative, Latino,union, Republican, white, Catholic, Democrat, Jewish, Muslim, immigrant, our parents, our kids, etc...

Glenn Beck commentary: Slavery alive and well in the U.S.

Illegal aliens mean no workers' comp claims, no age, race or sex discrimination lawsuits, no healthcare premiums, no unions, and no demands for raises, vacations or bigger offices. In fact, illegal immigrants are the perfect employees because they're not employees at all; they're corporate slaves.

I have written 2 articles with the same title, Mr. Beck does justice to getting the message out there

In it's entirety, From CNN (4/28/08):

Editor's note: "Glenn Beck" is on CNN Headline News nightly at 7 and 9 ET and hosts a conservative national radio talk show.

Glenn Beck says he doesn't believe there are jobs Americans "just won't do."

NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Jobs Americans just won't do."

I can't stand that line, but more importantly, I don't even understand it.

Americans spend months at a time at sea fishing for crab or drilling for oil; two of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Americans clean bathrooms, subway stations and crime scenes. Americans man toll booths, pave roads, embalm bodies and inspect sewers. Yet people really expect us to believe that they won't pick strawberries or oranges?

It just doesn't add up.

Earlier this week The Wall Street Journal published a story about a shortage of H-2B visas, which are issued twice a year to nonagricultural seasonal employees. Because our government can't get out of its own way, they recently let an important "returning workers" provision expire resulting in thousands of foreign workers being shut out of the country this summer.

That's inexcusable. I know this will come as a huge shock to those who only like to hurl insults, but I think we should be issuing more work visas, more student visas, and more green cards. And I think we should cut the red tape and bureaucracy that's constantly blocking the front door.

But until that happens people are left looking for loopholes and excuses, and "jobs Americans won't do" is the gold standard.

The Journal article offered an example of a couple that sells food at fairs around California each summer. They say that because of the H-2B visa shortage most of their seasonal employees aren't able to enter the country.

So why don't they just hire Americans instead? Good question. Her answer? "This is a hard job."

I find it pretty hard to believe that there aren't a few college students who wouldn't want to drive around California and work outdoors all summer, but let's assume that's true. Let's even assume that none of the other 1.1 million Californians who were unemployed as of April are interested in the job either. Isn't anyone wondering why?

Well I'm not a labor consultant, but I am a thinker. Maybe the problem isn't that the job they're offering is "too hard," maybe it's that the wages they're offering are "too low."

No one paints the undersides of bridges for fun, they do it for the money. That's how capitalism works.

How capitalism does NOT work is when we collectively look the other way as companies exploit illegal labor for their own benefit.

The unspoken truth is that these businesses don't hire illegal aliens because they can't find American workers, they hire illegal aliens because they don't want American workers. And it has nothing to do with wages.

Illegal aliens mean no workers' comp claims, no age, race or sex discrimination lawsuits, no healthcare premiums, no unions, and no demands for raises, vacations or bigger offices. In fact, illegal immigrants are the perfect employees because they're not employees at all; they're corporate slaves.

Economist Dr. Thomas Sowell once said, "Blacks were not enslaved because they were black, but because they were available." Can't the exact same thing be said for illegal aliens? They're available and we're allowing them to be exploited in the name of cheap groceries.

Is the price of fruit really the standard we want to live up to as a country? Is that really who we've become?

Many Americans believe that cracking down on the businesses that hire illegal aliens (the current maximum federal fine was recently raised to a laughable $16,000) would hurt these hardworking people too much. A bad job is better than no job, we tell ourselves. But that's catalogue compassion. If you want to understand the real impact of these decisions you've got to get off the couch and go see it for yourself.

Back in 2005, Newsday did an investigation of the living conditions of immigrants in the New York area. In the city of Westbury (median income: $83,000/year) officials found twelve immigrants living in a basement flooded with sewage.

In Southampton (median income: $64,000/year) officials found immigrants living in sheds with no plumbing or heat.

In New Cassel (median income: $62,000/year) officials estimated there were dozens of "shift-bed houses" where immigrants literally rent mattresses for a few hours a day to catch some sleep.

Is compassion looking the other way while immigrants who come here for the dream end up living a nightmare smack dab in the middle of some of our wealthiest communities?

Is compassion ignoring stories that reveal the truth, like the recent raid of a squalid "drop house" in Los Angeles where 57 illegal aliens were being held against their will?

Is compassion not wanting to hear that a woman was raped in that drop house, or that many more would have been if not for the screams of their children disrupting the attackers?

If that's compassion, then I guess I'm happy to be accused of having none.

The problem with the debate over illegal immigration right now is that special interests have been successful in making us think with our hearts instead of our brains. We've been persuaded to believe that real compassion can only be achieved by following their agenda. But look where that's gotten us. And more importantly, look where that's gotten the people they're supposedly trying to help.

If you really want to be compassionate, then help immigrants get jobs here the right way. Help put crippling fines on the employers who knowingly hire illegal workers, help expand and simplify the visa process, and, most importantly, help get people to start thinking with their brains again.

After all, compassion without common sense may feel good but it doesn't achieve anything. If you need proof then go out and give $1,000 to every homeless person who asks you for change. I bet your heart would be full, but your wallet would soon be empty. And all those people would probably still be homeless.

Great article, this is the very point of a lot of my writings here and around the net, jobs Americans wont do, see my article on "Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!" on how my trade has been violated by Signal International, and thats only one very small story that made the news. What about the Verizon subcontractor, the H1B Visa abuses and disqualification of US workers, as i state in the article about the pregnant 17 year old Mexican girl who died of thirst on a farm in California, there is a war on the American worker, spread the word, this affects all of us, liberal, black, Chinese, conservative, Latino,union, Republican, white, Catholic, Democrat, Jewish, Muslim, immigrant, our parents, our kids, etc...

Underage and pregnant Mexican teen dies on California vinyard

“If you take her to a clinic,” the foreman said, “don’t say she was working [for the contractor]. Say she became sick because she was jogging to get exercise. Since she’s underage, it will create big problems for us.”


I got wind of this story from TrueBlueMajority at DailyKos from (5/29/08):

Pregnant farmworker dies due to safety violations
Funeral services were held yesterday in California for Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. Vasquez Jimenez was a 17 year old woman working for a contracting company called Merced Farm Labor, and she died of overheating because rules about access to water, water breaks, and shade were ignored. Newspaper reports indicate her body temperature exceeded 108 degrees. She may not have known she was two months pregnant; her pregnancy was discovered as part of the investigation into her death.

Republicans and conservatives who claim to be "pro-life" while acting as though undocumented farmworkers are disposable people pushes all my righteous anger buttons. I predict we won't see any outrage from the "pro-life" community about the unnecessary death of this young woman and her unborn child.

From the Sacramento Bee:

When Vasquez Jimenez collapsed, she had been on the job three days, pruning vines for $8 an hour in a vineyard owned by West Coast Grape Farming.

During eight hours of work beginning at 6 a.m. in heat that topped 95 degrees, Bautista said that workers were given only one water break, at 10:30 a.m. And the water was a 10-minute walk away – too far, he said, to keep up with the crew and avoid being scolded.

Vasquez Jimenez collapsed at 3:30 p.m., Bautista said, and for at least five minutes, the foreman did nothing but stare at the couple while Bautista cradled her.

Bautista said the foreman told him to place the teenager in the back seat of a van, which was hot inside, and put a wet cloth on her.

Later, Bautista said, the foreman told a driver to take the pair to a store to buy rubbing alcohol and apply it to see if it would revive Vasquez Jimenez. When that failed, the driver took the couple to a clinic in Lodi, Bautista said, where her body temperature had reached more than 108 degrees.

"The foreman told me to say that she wasn't working for a contractor, that she got sick while exercising," Bautista said in Spanish. "He said she was underage, and it would cause a lot of problems."

Bautista and family members said that clinic staff rushed the girl to a hospital, where she was revived several times before finally succumbing two days later without ever regaining consciousness. Doctors later discovered she was two months pregnant.

the United Farm Workers website in memorializing her quotes from a speech by Cesar Chavez from 34 years ago when he reflected on whether these deaths are deliberate:

"They are deliberate," Cesar said, "in the sense that they are the direct result of a farm labor system that treats workers like agricultural implements and not as human beings. These accidents happen because employers and labor contractors treat us as if we were not important human beings."

But farm workers "are important human beings," Cesar continued...

They are important because they are from us. We cherish them. We love them. We will miss them.

They are important because of the love they gave to their husbands, their children, their wives, their parents—all those who were close to them and who needed them.

They are important because of the work they do. They are not implements to be used and discarded. They are human beings who sweat and sacrifice to bring food to the tables of millions...of people throughout the world.

They are important because God made them, gave them life, and cares for them in life and death.

Which brings me to what UnionGal brought up in her version of the story:

How many more will it take for OSHA to do the right thing, for the states to enforce the law, for everyone to understand that the grapes on the table or in your juice or wine may be at the price of a human life or two? Isn't that price too high to pay? It is, it's too high, way too high.

I figure if you have been reading my stories in succession, you may notice a recent theme, there are less and less jobs for American citizens, and the trade off is slavery. Corporate American and the politicians are allowing everything that American workers, our original immigrants fought so valiantly for. It seems the only ones fighting for justice are unions and social activist. Which brings me to the next article about Glen Beck from CNN, who wrote a fantastic piece entitled "Commentary: Slavery alive and well in U.S." (5/28/08) which brings up a lot of items discussed on this blog, including "Illegal immigrants aren't employees, they're corporate slaves" and that "fines should be much higher on employers that hire illegal workers"

Another tidbit of farmworker abuse that should be viewed is UnionGals "Sesame Street: Injustice Brought to Us By The Letter "U"" (5/20/08), heres a very small snip

Farm labor organizers say they have discovered more than 100 migrant fruit pickers living in a Central Valley cherry orchard where they have been sleeping outdoors and bathing in drainage ditches.

The American worker and all jobs here are being attacked, the writing is on the wall people, it is the fight that must be taken seriously by everyone. It's not just industrial jobs, its the jobs that are still here, the meat cutting, construction, programming, nursing, everything.

Underage and pregnant Mexican teen dies on California vinyard

“If you take her to a clinic,” the foreman said, “don’t say she was working [for the contractor]. Say she became sick because she was jogging to get exercise. Since she’s underage, it will create big problems for us.”


I got wind of this story from TrueBlueMajority at DailyKos from (5/29/08):

Pregnant farmworker dies due to safety violations
Funeral services were held yesterday in California for Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. Vasquez Jimenez was a 17 year old woman working for a contracting company called Merced Farm Labor, and she died of overheating because rules about access to water, water breaks, and shade were ignored. Newspaper reports indicate her body temperature exceeded 108 degrees. She may not have known she was two months pregnant; her pregnancy was discovered as part of the investigation into her death.

Republicans and conservatives who claim to be "pro-life" while acting as though undocumented farmworkers are disposable people pushes all my righteous anger buttons. I predict we won't see any outrage from the "pro-life" community about the unnecessary death of this young woman and her unborn child.

From the Sacramento Bee:

When Vasquez Jimenez collapsed, she had been on the job three days, pruning vines for $8 an hour in a vineyard owned by West Coast Grape Farming.

During eight hours of work beginning at 6 a.m. in heat that topped 95 degrees, Bautista said that workers were given only one water break, at 10:30 a.m. And the water was a 10-minute walk away – too far, he said, to keep up with the crew and avoid being scolded.

Vasquez Jimenez collapsed at 3:30 p.m., Bautista said, and for at least five minutes, the foreman did nothing but stare at the couple while Bautista cradled her.

Bautista said the foreman told him to place the teenager in the back seat of a van, which was hot inside, and put a wet cloth on her.

Later, Bautista said, the foreman told a driver to take the pair to a store to buy rubbing alcohol and apply it to see if it would revive Vasquez Jimenez. When that failed, the driver took the couple to a clinic in Lodi, Bautista said, where her body temperature had reached more than 108 degrees.

"The foreman told me to say that she wasn't working for a contractor, that she got sick while exercising," Bautista said in Spanish. "He said she was underage, and it would cause a lot of problems."

Bautista and family members said that clinic staff rushed the girl to a hospital, where she was revived several times before finally succumbing two days later without ever regaining consciousness. Doctors later discovered she was two months pregnant.

the United Farm Workers website in memorializing her quotes from a speech by Cesar Chavez from 34 years ago when he reflected on whether these deaths are deliberate:

"They are deliberate," Cesar said, "in the sense that they are the direct result of a farm labor system that treats workers like agricultural implements and not as human beings. These accidents happen because employers and labor contractors treat us as if we were not important human beings."

But farm workers "are important human beings," Cesar continued...

They are important because they are from us. We cherish them. We love them. We will miss them.

They are important because of the love they gave to their husbands, their children, their wives, their parents—all those who were close to them and who needed them.

They are important because of the work they do. They are not implements to be used and discarded. They are human beings who sweat and sacrifice to bring food to the tables of millions...of people throughout the world.

They are important because God made them, gave them life, and cares for them in life and death.

Which brings me to what UnionGal brought up in her version of the story:

How many more will it take for OSHA to do the right thing, for the states to enforce the law, for everyone to understand that the grapes on the table or in your juice or wine may be at the price of a human life or two? Isn't that price too high to pay? It is, it's too high, way too high.

I figure if you have been reading my stories in succession, you may notice a recent theme, there are less and less jobs for American citizens, and the trade off is slavery. Corporate American and the politicians are allowing everything that American workers, our original immigrants fought so valiantly for. It seems the only ones fighting for justice are unions and social activist. Which brings me to the next article about Glen Beck from CNN, who wrote a fantastic piece entitled "Commentary: Slavery alive and well in U.S." (5/28/08) which brings up a lot of items discussed on this blog, including "Illegal immigrants aren't employees, they're corporate slaves" and that "fines should be much higher on employers that hire illegal workers"

Another tidbit of farmworker abuse that should be viewed is UnionGals "Sesame Street: Injustice Brought to Us By The Letter "U"" (5/20/08), heres a very small snip

Farm labor organizers say they have discovered more than 100 migrant fruit pickers living in a Central Valley cherry orchard where they have been sleeping outdoors and bathing in drainage ditches.

The American worker and all jobs here are being attacked, the writing is on the wall people, it is the fight that must be taken seriously by everyone. It's not just industrial jobs, its the jobs that are still here, the meat cutting, construction, programming, nursing, everything.

Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!

"Very little has changed in the last hundred years. Welcome to the new world order." - Ron Ault, President Metal Trades Dept., AFL-CIO in support of hunger strikers

Signal Corp Fucked American workers from the beginning
Getting to the bottom of why this is a plight for all American workers

I have been following this story for a while, not only for the fact that it's a crime against humanity and every labor law of the United states, not just for the fact that I detest slavery and Visa abuses, not only for the constantly worsening conditions that working people in my United States must endure, the HUGEST GRIPE I have is that this is the work that myself and my fellow union brothers and sisters do for a living, and while we get a decent paycheck, we only get one when we work and we are by no means independently wealthy. Construction is quickly becoming the most dangerous profession in the country, it requires high skills and training. Signal International decided that it wouldn't even use any US workers at all, and was granted H2B, temporary, non-seasonal Visa's to bypass all American workers and get them from elsewhere. I know quite a few pipefitters and steamfitters who would have worked to get Signal back online.

So Signal Corp fucked the American worker from the beginning. Thats just the start to our story. I'll let the E-Active campaign, by Jobs With Justice, which has already had 9,000 E-mails sent to Congress asking for an investigation of Signal International, explain the rest of this travesty.

When Signal International needed workers to rebuild the shipping industry, they did not hire and train the local population. Instead, Signal used the exploitive “guest worker” visas and corrupt recruiters to hire workers.

Welders and pipe-fitters from India paid recruiters up to $20,000 for the promise of permanent visas for themselves and their families. Upon arrival to the U.S. these workers were placed in cramped, unsanitary housing, charged exorbitant rent, and forced to work for Signal International. Their working and living conditions in the Gulf Coast amounted to modern day human slavery.

On March 6, more than 100 workers broke the human trafficking chain and quit their jobs at Signal in protest. These workers, together with the New Orleans Workers Center, are carrying forward the struggle for justice not only for themselves, but also for all immigrant workers in the U.S. by exposing the fundamental injustices of the guest worker program. These workers have toured the U.S. telling their stories and have appealed to Federal Government to investigate Signal International and their recruiters, only to be surveilled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On May 14th, these brave workers started a hunger strike to demand action from our elected officials.

You can help! Please urge your Representatives in Congress to hold hearings on Signal International and to grant continued presence to the workers.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress

Tomorrow is day 20

I just got my E-Mail from Metro Labor and found that there was only 1 striker remaining, a man named Paul, today is the 19th day, last week Paul had his 54th birthday on the line. According to Scott Reynolds, the is State & Local Labor Council Coordinator for the AFL-CIO, writing for DC Metro:

Paul is of course much thinner than when I saw him last and his voice is weak. He slept most of the time I was there. When we talked he spoke with an almost spiritual sense of conviction about doing this so others wouldn't have to endure the same exploitation he and his fellow workers had suffered. He said 'prayer is my food.' There wasn't a trace of bitterness or anger. He seemed almost serene. I forget sometimes that struggle isn't just about tactics and strategy, though those things are undeniably important. It's also about sacrifice and courage. Paul may not know that his campaign is an uphill battle that hasn't yet found much of a spotlight or a patron, but if he does know I'm pretty sure he doesn't care much. The successful hunger strike at Georgetown University lasted nine days. Gandhi fasted for 21. Tomorrow will be day 20 for Paul. Amazing.

I'm with you in spirit Paul, speaking of the plight and the injustices these workers endured, I happened across a site called "The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice", which as of now is dedicated to spreading awareness of the injustices against both foreign and American workers in post-Katrina New Orleans. They are following the story, with as much information as they can get.


AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt states

The AFL-CIO and its 10 million members are proud to support the hunger strike by these Signal workers, and their campaign to shed light on the abuses of the U.S. Government’s H2B guest worker program.

For decades, the AFL-CIO has been fighting against so-called guest worker programs, programs that are in reality indentured worker programs.

The substantial exploitation of workers in these programs has been well documented, most recently by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and now through the struggles of these courageous workers.

These courageous workers have clearly shown us that the H2B program is a template for exploitation, and that we need to work together to expose the abuses of the program. By denying workers their labor rights, this program lowers wages and working conditions, to the detriment of all workers.

The AFL-CIO supports this strike and will stand in solidarity with the workers through this struggle.

I have a lot more stories of slavery and labor abuses that are affecting all Americans, I've needed a little time, but I'll try to get them out tonight. Don't forget to click below and send the E-Mail

Modern day Slavery hunger strikers going on day 20, Get E-Active!

"Very little has changed in the last hundred years. Welcome to the new world order." - Ron Ault, President Metal Trades Dept., AFL-CIO in support of hunger strikers

Signal Corp Fucked American workers from the beginning
Getting to the bottom of why this is a plight for all American workers

I have been following this story for a while, not only for the fact that it's a crime against humanity and every labor law of the United states, not just for the fact that I detest slavery and Visa abuses, not only for the constantly worsening conditions that working people in my United States must endure, the HUGEST GRIPE I have is that this is the work that myself and my fellow union brothers and sisters do for a living, and while we get a decent paycheck, we only get one when we work and we are by no means independently wealthy. Construction is quickly becoming the most dangerous profession in the country, it requires high skills and training. Signal International decided that it wouldn't even use any US workers at all, and was granted H2B, temporary, non-seasonal Visa's to bypass all American workers and get them from elsewhere. I know quite a few pipefitters and steamfitters who would have worked to get Signal back online.

So Signal Corp fucked the American worker from the beginning. Thats just the start to our story. I'll let the E-Active campaign, by Jobs With Justice, which has already had 9,000 E-mails sent to Congress asking for an investigation of Signal International, explain the rest of this travesty.

When Signal International needed workers to rebuild the shipping industry, they did not hire and train the local population. Instead, Signal used the exploitive “guest worker” visas and corrupt recruiters to hire workers.

Welders and pipe-fitters from India paid recruiters up to $20,000 for the promise of permanent visas for themselves and their families. Upon arrival to the U.S. these workers were placed in cramped, unsanitary housing, charged exorbitant rent, and forced to work for Signal International. Their working and living conditions in the Gulf Coast amounted to modern day human slavery.

On March 6, more than 100 workers broke the human trafficking chain and quit their jobs at Signal in protest. These workers, together with the New Orleans Workers Center, are carrying forward the struggle for justice not only for themselves, but also for all immigrant workers in the U.S. by exposing the fundamental injustices of the guest worker program. These workers have toured the U.S. telling their stories and have appealed to Federal Government to investigate Signal International and their recruiters, only to be surveilled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On May 14th, these brave workers started a hunger strike to demand action from our elected officials.

You can help! Please urge your Representatives in Congress to hold hearings on Signal International and to grant continued presence to the workers.

Click Below to Send An E-Mail to Congress

Tomorrow is day 20

I just got my E-Mail from Metro Labor and found that there was only 1 striker remaining, a man named Paul, today is the 19th day, last week Paul had his 54th birthday on the line. According to Scott Reynolds, the is State & Local Labor Council Coordinator for the AFL-CIO, writing for DC Metro:

Paul is of course much thinner than when I saw him last and his voice is weak. He slept most of the time I was there. When we talked he spoke with an almost spiritual sense of conviction about doing this so others wouldn't have to endure the same exploitation he and his fellow workers had suffered. He said 'prayer is my food.' There wasn't a trace of bitterness or anger. He seemed almost serene. I forget sometimes that struggle isn't just about tactics and strategy, though those things are undeniably important. It's also about sacrifice and courage. Paul may not know that his campaign is an uphill battle that hasn't yet found much of a spotlight or a patron, but if he does know I'm pretty sure he doesn't care much. The successful hunger strike at Georgetown University lasted nine days. Gandhi fasted for 21. Tomorrow will be day 20 for Paul. Amazing.

I'm with you in spirit Paul, speaking of the plight and the injustices these workers endured, I happened across a site called "The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice", which as of now is dedicated to spreading awareness of the injustices against both foreign and American workers in post-Katrina New Orleans. They are following the story, with as much information as they can get.


AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt states

The AFL-CIO and its 10 million members are proud to support the hunger strike by these Signal workers, and their campaign to shed light on the abuses of the U.S. Government’s H2B guest worker program.

For decades, the AFL-CIO has been fighting against so-called guest worker programs, programs that are in reality indentured worker programs.

The substantial exploitation of workers in these programs has been well documented, most recently by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and now through the struggles of these courageous workers.

These courageous workers have clearly shown us that the H2B program is a template for exploitation, and that we need to work together to expose the abuses of the program. By denying workers their labor rights, this program lowers wages and working conditions, to the detriment of all workers.

The AFL-CIO supports this strike and will stand in solidarity with the workers through this struggle.

I have a lot more stories of slavery and labor abuses that are affecting all Americans, I've needed a little time, but I'll try to get them out tonight. Don't forget to click below and send the E-Mail

Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers

Follow up on the post-Katrina abuses of H2B Visa guest workers in Mississippi and Texas.

• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC (3/12/08)
  
• Indian slave pipefitters long march to Washington, and a book about modern U.S. slavery (3/19/08)
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released (3/13/08)

From DC Labor Council Newsletter (5/29/08):

Indian Ambassador Refuses to Visit with Hunger Strikers
Hunger strikers – too weak to make the trip to the Indian Embassy – were refused a visit by Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, on Tuesday. Sen – who has met with workers in the past and promised his support (Indian Workers March on Embassy 3/28/08 UC) – stunned the strikers on Tuesday when he told them that he had not received their list of demands and he would not visit hunger strikers because he “couldn’t get involved with politics.” "Since when is showing sympathy for brutally exploited Indians in America called 'politics’”asked Sabulal Vijayan, an organizer with the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity. Indian workers have been pressuring Indian government officials to demand the US government allow the workers to stay in the US to participate in the human trafficking investigation against their employer, Signal International.

Click below to subscribe

Indian Ambassador refuses to visit with "slave" hunger strikers

Follow up on the post-Katrina abuses of H2B Visa guest workers in Mississippi and Texas.

• Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC (3/12/08)
  
• Indian slave pipefitters long march to Washington, and a book about modern U.S. slavery (3/19/08)
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released (3/13/08)

From DC Labor Council Newsletter (5/29/08):

Indian Ambassador Refuses to Visit with Hunger Strikers
Hunger strikers – too weak to make the trip to the Indian Embassy – were refused a visit by Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, on Tuesday. Sen – who has met with workers in the past and promised his support (Indian Workers March on Embassy 3/28/08 UC) – stunned the strikers on Tuesday when he told them that he had not received their list of demands and he would not visit hunger strikers because he “couldn’t get involved with politics.” "Since when is showing sympathy for brutally exploited Indians in America called 'politics’”asked Sabulal Vijayan, an organizer with the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity. Indian workers have been pressuring Indian government officials to demand the US government allow the workers to stay in the US to participate in the human trafficking investigation against their employer, Signal International.

Click below to subscribe

I'm sick

So I'm gonna take a few days off, thanks for the rest people. Heres a few quick updates.

New GI Bill passes Senate

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Consumers Union Collects $8,500 in first 24 hours

We raised $8,500 in just the first 24 hours. Help us reach our goal of $15,000 by tomorrow! Donate right now! Dear Joseph, This is the last chance to help keep dangerous toys and other hazardous goods out of our homes by passing strong product safety reform. The CU Action Fund needs just $15,000 to pump up our efforts and make sure the new law really protects our loved ones. It’s crunch time. President Bush wants a watered down compromise; we are fighting for the strongest reforms possible. Now is our best chance to stop the endless stream of dangerous imports that put all of us at risk.

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INDIAN GUEST WORKERS RALLY AT CAPITOL:

Six more workers joined the week-old hunger strike by Indian guest workers Wednesday at a rally outside the Capitol to pressure Congress to support their struggle against exploitation. At the action, workers reported that hunger striker Christopher Glory was admitted to George Washington University Hospital Wednesday for dangerously low blood pressure. The workers' families and dozens of DC area activists also participated in a day-long solidarity fast Wednesday to support the campaign. Following the rally, workers and their supporters met with Congressional representatives and pressured them to hold hearings on abuses of workers under the guest worker program and ask the Department of Justice to protect the workers during an ongoing criminal anti-trafficking investigation against their former employer Signal International. A community meeting with representatives of the campaign will be held today at 7P. If the workers demands are not met, they will continue their strike outside the Capitol through Sunday, May 25 then move to Dupont Circle. Click here for ways you can support the campaign.
- report/photo by Andy Richards

More at the AFL-CIO Web Blog
Hunger Striker Hospitalized, Others Rally on Capitol Hill

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Take The CWA Speed Test

Dear Joseph, Millions of Americans—especially in rural and low-income urban areas—don’t have high-speed Internet access. Millions more who have, what we in America call, “high-speed” Internet pay much more for slower speeds than people in Europe or Japan. How fast is your Internet access? How does your speed compare nationwide and around the globe? Are you getting what your Internet provider says you’re paying for? Take the Communications Workers of America Speed Matters test to find out: www.speedmatters.org/wfn2008

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I'm sick

So I'm gonna take a few days off, thanks for the rest people. Heres a few quick updates.

New GI Bill passes Senate

---

Consumers Union Collects $8,500 in first 24 hours

We raised $8,500 in just the first 24 hours. Help us reach our goal of $15,000 by tomorrow! Donate right now! Dear Joseph, This is the last chance to help keep dangerous toys and other hazardous goods out of our homes by passing strong product safety reform. The CU Action Fund needs just $15,000 to pump up our efforts and make sure the new law really protects our loved ones. It’s crunch time. President Bush wants a watered down compromise; we are fighting for the strongest reforms possible. Now is our best chance to stop the endless stream of dangerous imports that put all of us at risk.

---

INDIAN GUEST WORKERS RALLY AT CAPITOL:

Six more workers joined the week-old hunger strike by Indian guest workers Wednesday at a rally outside the Capitol to pressure Congress to support their struggle against exploitation. At the action, workers reported that hunger striker Christopher Glory was admitted to George Washington University Hospital Wednesday for dangerously low blood pressure. The workers' families and dozens of DC area activists also participated in a day-long solidarity fast Wednesday to support the campaign. Following the rally, workers and their supporters met with Congressional representatives and pressured them to hold hearings on abuses of workers under the guest worker program and ask the Department of Justice to protect the workers during an ongoing criminal anti-trafficking investigation against their former employer Signal International. A community meeting with representatives of the campaign will be held today at 7P. If the workers demands are not met, they will continue their strike outside the Capitol through Sunday, May 25 then move to Dupont Circle. Click here for ways you can support the campaign.
- report/photo by Andy Richards

More at the AFL-CIO Web Blog
Hunger Striker Hospitalized, Others Rally on Capitol Hill

---

Take The CWA Speed Test

Dear Joseph, Millions of Americans—especially in rural and low-income urban areas—don’t have high-speed Internet access. Millions more who have, what we in America call, “high-speed” Internet pay much more for slower speeds than people in Europe or Japan. How fast is your Internet access? How does your speed compare nationwide and around the globe? Are you getting what your Internet provider says you’re paying for? Take the Communications Workers of America Speed Matters test to find out: www.speedmatters.org/wfn2008

---

Slavery in the news: Indian 'guest workers' to hold hunger strike in DC

Follow up on the post-Katrina abuses of H2B Visa guest workers in Mississippi and Texas.

• Indian slave pipefitters long march to Washington, and a book about modern U.S. slavery (3/19/08)
• Slavery: Alive and well in USA Pt.2, Indian pipefitters abused in H2B Visa scam, main stream media picks up story full year after facts are released (3/13/08)

From DC Labor Council Newsletter (5/12/08):

INDIAN WORKERS TO LAUNCH HUNGER STRIKE IN DC

Hundreds of Indian workers will launch a hunger strike this Wednesday to demand that the federal government investigate the guest worker program and abuse of post-Katrina Gulf Coast workers. The hunger strike follows a march from New Orleans to Washington by the workers, who escaped labor camps in Texas and Mississippi in March. "Guest workers from across the world are systematically exploited under the federal H2B visa program," says the New Orleans Worker Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ), which is supporting the workers. "They suffer abuses that routinely rise to the level of labor trafficking, forced labor, and involuntary servitude. If they organize, they face violence and deportation."

Click below to subscribe

Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Hut, 3500 workers say Union Yes, Mickey D's next, BK and Wendy's negotiations later this year

Holy Crap! 3,500 workers in Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Hut nationwide said "Union Yes!"

Restaurant Brands (Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Hut) Get A Collective Voice


I didn't even know they were being organized, but the fact remains, all these workers across the nation decided their lives would be better if they joined as a collective body, according to NZ Herald (4/12/08) :

...Union membership has more than doubled to nearly two thousand in Restaurant Brands stores after a union employment agreement was reached last week covering 3500 workers in Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Hut nationwide.

How did this all come about? How has life changed for the new union members at the collective "Restaurant Brands", parent of the 3 chain stores above?

"We have now reached between 50 per cent and 100 per cent membership density in most fast food stores, which is an extraordinary result considering four years ago membership in the sector was less than a paltry one per cent and the union is still growing."

Wage rates moved for Restaurant Brands workers by 75 cents and $2.25 per hour (6.75 per cent - 21.37 per cent), meaning 90 per cent of members wages increased by more than a $1 an hour.

Restaurant Brands says it now pays between 50 cents and $3.00 more an hour for their long-serving and experienced employees than their competitors.

McDonald's is next, Burger King and Wendy's negotiations take place later this year.



From: Unite - Union Of Workers (4/7/08)

However, Unite and McDonalds are currently in negotiations and Burger King and Wendys negotiations take place later in the year.

“Unite is pleased that Restaurant Brands is leading the way in moving wage rates and by recognising the importance of these kinds of union agreements to workers.

“The entire fast food industry is made up of casual workers. Restaurant Brands has recognised this and has agreed to provisions that work towards more secure hours for their employees, including the formation of a joint union-employer working party to oversee this.

“Youth rates have also been completely removed, which will have a huge effect as over half of the workforce is under the age of 20 years.

“Three years ago Unite launched the Supersizemypay.com (*now defunct URL-Joe) campaign to achieve $12 an hour, end youth wages and win more secure hours. We are proud to announce that this has been achieved.” McCarten concluded.

Achieving $12 an hour, ending youth wages and winning more secure hours!

How did this news miss the Main Stream? Because it's not in the United States, it's in New Zealand.

Four years ago, there were less than 1% of workers in the fast food industry, in NZ., who were in a union, today there are 50% with more on the way, workers immediately got a 6.75-21.3% raise.

Burger King Still The Worst Of The Lot



As with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers campaign here in the states, which is trying to end the slave like conditions of tomato workers here in Florida, Burger King is remaining the leader of anti-worker practices, even in New Zealand, where according to the Socialist Party Of Australia (12/06/07) :

“Burger King, whose employees are largely young workers, has agreed to shift the youth rate next year from $8.35 to $9.00 - an increase of 7.8 per cent. Adult crew workers will receive a 7.3 per cent increase.

“Burger King’s wage proposal is well below Restaurant Brands ($9.23) and McDonald’s ($9.50 after six months) and is not an offer Unite is willing to accept. We will continue to negotiate with Burger King to improve this offer and settle the last remaining issues so we can sign a collective agreement. Hopefully this will occur before Christmas.

“In the meantime we will be conducting a public campaign to put pressure on Burger King to join the other fast food companies in settling a collective agreement.

As Omaha Steve, who posted this story at Democratic Underground, expressed:

If New Zealand can do this, so can the US!

I couldn't agree more, unfortunately here in the States you can't even get Burger King to pay 1 cents a lb. more for tomatoes, to give the slave farmers in Florida a better living. Which would bring up an entire new story, something along the lines of: "40 Years After Death Of MLK, Multi-National Corporations like their slave class", but slavery has been abolished, there's no slaves in the United States!