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 September 7th, 2010
In a year when religious intolerance has increased and a Florida church plans to mark the anniversary of 9/11 and Eid, the close of Ramadan, by burning copies of the Koran, the Interfaith Council on Economics and Justice and the Council of Churches of Santa Clara County are taking a different approach.
These organizations are sponsoring a mass rally and interfaith service at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10 at James McEntee Plaza in front of the Santa Clara County Administration Building, 70 W. Hedding St., in San Jose.
You are invited to participate and share the many positive and peaceful relationships among people of different faiths -- including Muslims -- in San Jose and the South Bay.
Download a flyer and share it with your friends.
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The South Bay Labor Council Rapid Response program is your opportunity to get involved with every aspect of labor activism - rallies, advocacy, working on campaigns and more!
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Added September 7th, 2010
In a year when religious intolerance has increased and a Florida church plans to mark the anniversary of 9/11 and Eid, the close of Ramadan, by burning copies of the Koran, the Interfaith Council on Economics and Justice and the Council of Churches of Santa Clara County are taking a different approach.
These organizations are sponsoring a mass rally and interfaith service at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10 at James McEntee Plaza in front of the Santa Clara County Administration Building, 70 W. Hedding St., in San Jose.
You are invited to participate and share the many positive and peaceful relationships among people of different faiths -- including Muslims -- in San Jose and the South Bay.
Download a flyer and share it with your friends.
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Added September 1st, 2010
More than 70 candidates in the November elections turned out recently for the Labor Council's Committee on Political Education (COPE) briefing, which was labor's opportunity to educate candidates on issues important to us.
The briefings are the start of the COPE endorsement process. They consisted of three panels of workers and union leaders including Organizing and Contract Campaigns, Public Workers as Employees and Policy Tools for Building Stronger Communities.
I participated on the first panel, and talked about the struggle that workers at the Hyatt Santa Clara are engaged in to have a voice at work. I also spoke more generally about the options workers have for a fair process to choose a union. I found the event was a great opportunity to get labor's concerns heard by people who will wield political power in the future.
-- Calvin Miaw
UNITE HERE
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Added September 1st, 2010
The preliminaries are out of the way. Campaign 2010 -- the Nov. 2 General Election -- is ready to swing into high gear.
This is a critical election for labor and our progressive friends with races at every level of local, state and federal government except president -- an electoral opportunity that we can't afford to lose.
Now is the time to get involved:
Make your voice heard: Union members are invited to participate in the South Bay AFL-CIO's Committee on Political Education (COPE) local candidate endorsement interviews. It's a face-to-face chance with the candidates to ask questions and get answers. RSVP to derecka@atwork.org or call (408) 266-3790.
COPE interview schedule
5-8:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, Sept. 7 and 9.
South Bay Labor Council, 2102 Almaden Road. Map)
Meet the candidates reception: COPE-endorsed candidates will attend a 9-10:30 a.m. reception at the Labor Council (map here) on Saturday, Sept. 25. RSVP to derecka@atwork.org or call (408) 266-3790.
Volunteer for our candidates: Phone banking and precinct walking are when we put our support to work for the candidates who share our values and vision. RSVP to derecka@atwork.org or call (408) 266-3790.
Phone banking schedule
5-8:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays beginning Sept. 7.
South Bay Labor Council, 2102 Almaden Road, Suite 107. Map.
Precinct walking schedule
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays beginning Sept. 11 (Campaign Kick-Off).
South Bay Labor Council, 2102 Almaden Road, Hall A. Map.
Get out the vote schedule
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30.
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 31.
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1.
8 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2 (Election Day).
8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2 (Victory Party).
South Bay Labor Council, 2102 Almaden Road, Hall A. Map.
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Added September 1st, 2010
In a year when religious intolerance has increased and the economy remains in deep recession, the Interfaith Council on Economics and Justice of Working Partnerships USA will mount a massive outreach effort to Silicon Valley faith congregations over the Labor Day weekend to promote a moral economy. The Council seeks to replace the priority of the corporate "bottom line" with a different priority -- reducing unemployment and guaranteeing a living wage for all working people.
The nation's largest "Labor in the Pulpits" program underscores a remarkable collaboration and harmony in the Silicon Valley interfaith community around issues of economics and justice. Rabbis speak will speak to Catholics, Muslims will preach to Protestants, priests will speak in synagogues and labor leaders will speak in their own houses of worship.
Together, they will reach out to more than 60,000 worshipers in English, Spanish and Vietnamese during 150 Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Unitarian services Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 3-5.
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Added September 1st, 2010
Jeremy Ray, a member of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council's executive board and secretary of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1171, and Ben Field, SBLC chief of staff, joined other U.S. delegates in August to investigate labor rights in the palm oil industry of Colombia, the most dangerous country in the world to organize a union.
The delegates represented the Solidarity Center, a non-profit organization formed by the AFL-CIO to promote democratic, independent trade unions. They visited small communities in the Magdalena Medio region where they met with workers, local and national labor leaders and industry representatives. Forty-eight of their fellow union leaders were murdered in the last year.
Everywhere they went the delegates heard accounts from workers and organizers of murder and intimidation. In one town alone five union presidents had been assassinated by paramilitary groups. During the trip, paramilitary operatives followed a local labor leader who was accompanying the delegation in an attempt to intimidate him. For security reasons, the trip was coordinated with the national police, who accompanied the delegates.
When Congress begins considering a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, it is important for the U.S. labor movement to draw attention to the abysmal record of human rights there. In addition, when organizers in the Magdalena Medio are threatened, the U.S. labor movement must pressure the Colombian government through our political allies to protect basic human and labor rights. Read more about the trip here. See more pictures taken by Jeremy Ray here.
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Need to search endorsement info on the go?