WHAT IS THE LABOR COUNCIL?
The South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council is currently celebrating over a half-century as a chartered organization. The Labor Council represents over a hundred unions in Santa Clara and San Benito counties and over 110,000 union members.
The Labor Council is involved in many programs that are directly intended to improve the lives of working families in the Bay Area.
LABOR COUNCIL NEWS
Added March 4th, 2010
"Let the Eagle Fly," a musical theater tribute to César Chávez that tells the story of the founding of the United Farm Workers, opens Friday, March 5 at the San Jose City College Theater, 2100 Moorpark Ave., and runs weekends through March 31.
The musical shows how Chávez and the UFW changed conditions for the workers, changed attitudes in the United States toward Hispanics and brought dignity and respect to low-wage workers needing to organize a union.
The Chavez Family Foundation will donate a portion of the ticket sales for the Friday, March 26 performance to support the Labor Studies Program at San Jose City College. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at http://www.lettheeaglefly.com.
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Added March 3rd, 2010
The year 2010 is shaping up as a very important campaign year, and now is the time to make your voice heard.
All union members are invited to participate in the next two rounds of Committee on Political Education (COPE) candidate endorsement interviews for local candidates Wednesday, March 10 and Saturday, March 13. Food and refreshments will be provided at both events. Please RSVP to Derecka at (408) 266-3790 or Derecka@atwork.org.
The March 10 interviews will be for candidates for California Senate District 15, Assembly District 20, San Benito County Supervisor District 4, Santa Clara County District Attorney, Assessor and Sheriff, Milpitas Mayor and San Jose City Council District 9. The pre-meeting for these interviews begins at 5 p.m. and interviews will be conducted from 5:30-8:30 p.m. in Hall A at the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, 2102 Almaden Road, Suite 107 in San Jose.
The March 13 interviews, conducted with the San Mateo Labor Council, are for California Assembly District 21. Pre-meeting is at 9 a.m. followed by interviews from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at East Palo Alto City Hall, 2415 University Ave.
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Added March 3rd, 2010
All COPE-endorsed candidates and union members are invited to a Meet the Candidates Reception to gear up for the coming campaign season.
The reception is at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 25 in Hall A at the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, 2102 Almaden Road, San Jose.
Please RSVP to Anna at (408) 266-3780.
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Added March 3rd, 2010
While health reform is a debating topic in Washington, D.C., it is actually taking place here in Silicon Valley.
The coalition that developed the first-ever universal children's health coverage program -- Working Partnerships USA (WPUSA), the Santa Clara Family Health Plan and the Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System -- unveiled an affordable, comprehensive health coverage plan for small businesses and their employees at a press conference Monday, March 1.
The plan is designed to address the needs of small businesses, to provide employer-based coverage to an underserved segment of the workforce; and to be a model for the rest of the state and nation in health care reform.
"The crippling economic recession and ongoing increases in health care premiums continue to make it next to impossible for working families to afford health insurance," said Cindy Chavez, WPUSA’s executive director. "Healthy Workers is a public-private collaboration that provides an affordable option for working families and small businesses, and it represents a model for what can be achieved nationwide."
Healthy Workers targets Santa Clara County small businesses with two to 50 employees, which do not currently provide health care coverage. Employees must live in the county to be eligible, work at least 20 hours per week and earn less than $18 an hour. Members will receive care from a network of public and private providers including Valley Medical Center, county and community clinics. The Santa Clara Family Health Plan, which administers Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and Healthy Kids and has nearly 120,000 members, will also manage and coordinate enrollment for Healthy Workers.
The cost of the Healthy Workers is roughly half the cost of other comparable health insurance plans that offer this level of benefit. Monthly premiums for employers are $150 per covered worker and employees contribute an additional $75.
Speaking at the press conference were Liz Kniss of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors; Bob Brownstein, policy and research director of Working Partnerships USA; Elizabeth Darrow, CEO of the Santa Clara Family Health Plan; Robin Roche, executive director of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center; Steve Van Dorn, president and general manager of the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce and Convention-Visitors Bureau; and Dennis King, executive director of the Silicon Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
"While Congress debates health care, Santa Clara County is moving forward to provide medical coverage for our workers," said Assemblymember Jim Beall, who spearheaded the state enabling legislation for the program. "I encourage our small business employers to join the Healthy Workers plan. It's a good deal for their employees, and it's a good deal for their bottom line."
WPUSA is a leading public policy and research institute that builds partnerships with community groups, labor unions and faith based organizations to develop policy solutions that improve the lives of working families in Silicon Valley.
For more information, call Ann Gray at the Santa Clara Family Health Plan at (408) 410-0811 or email at agray@scfhp.com.
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Added March 3rd, 2010
Low-income clients can receive free legal services at the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center in San Jose.
Clinics are held at 1030 The Alameda, San Jose on:
Workers' rights -- unpaid wages or overtime, rest breaks, meal breaks, unemployment issues, discrimination, sexual harassment, family leave act, pregnancy leave and representation at the Labor Commission and Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board,
Immigration -- visas, petitions for political asylum, visas under the Violence Against Women Act for battered immigrants,
Consumer issues -- fraud when purchasing a car, debt collection harassment, notary or paralegal fraud, car repossession, identity fraud, credit card fraud and bankruptcy.
Call 288-7030 for a clinic appointment. Spanish-speaking interpreters are available.
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Added February 25th, 2010
Hearings have begun on Capitol Hill over a proposed merger of Comcast and NBC that would give Comcast unprecedented control of not just your television, but also all forms of online media.
What makes things worse? Comcast has a long history of trampling on the rights of workers.
When Comcast merged with AT&T Broadband in 2002, it launched a deliberate campaign to purge itself of the existing unions.
The same can happen to NBC/Universal employees unless we speak out now. Take a moment and click the link below and sign this petition to the U.S. House and Senate Committees hosting the hearings and tell them why this merger is a bad investment for America.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/comcastnbc/une7g3rr7dedk56?
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Need to search endorsement info on the go?