Minimum Wage Raised in SF & Oakland - Thank You SEIU

http://www.seiu1021.org/2014/11/05/seiu-1021-ballot-campaigns-to-raise-minimum-wage-win-in-both-san-francisco-and-oakland-190000-bay-area-workers-win-a-pay-raise/

Posted by SEIU1021 on November 5, 2014

More than 192,000 workers in San Francisco and Oakland are the real winners as Bay Area voters overwhelmingly approved raises in the Minimum Wage.

The victory of these two initiatives—each originally filed by a coalition of SEIU 1021, community-based organizations, and fellow labor unions—will give momentum to the national, statewide and regional efforts to raise the minimum wage.

The Bay Area initiatives will benefit 190,000 workers, and add nearly $500 million in consumer spending power to the local economy, according to research by the UC Berkeley Center on Labor and Employment Research. Prop J raises San Francisco’s Minimum Wage to $15 in 2018, and Measure FF raises Oakland’s Minimum Wage to $12.25 in 2015, each indexed to inflation. More than half of workers of color will get a raise.

“Raising the Minimum Wage is just one step in fighting economic inequality, but it is an amazing step,” said Gary Jimenez, SEIU 1021 East Bay Vice President. “Times are difficult for so many families, wages are flat or falling, and it feels like many of us haven’t recovered from the Great Recession. Raising the Minimum Wage gives people hope that things can become better and they can live with dignity.”

“We need a broader economic rights movement. That means fast food workers win a union and decent conditions. It means raising the minimum wage, strengthening public services, and making big businesses pay their fair share,” added Roxanne Sanchez, President of SEIU 1021.

A total of nearly one million California workers are in line to win wage increases, including the 190,000 in the Bay Area. Another 70,000 workers in San Diego would benefit if a 2016 referendum wins, and 567,000 workers in Los Angeles would from a proposal by Mayor Garcetti. (A City Council version is not yet analyzed.)

SEIU 1021 will continue working with community groups in Berkeley and Richmond for a 2016 ballot measures to raise the wage to $15, and with dozens of other Bay Area cities considering raising their wage.

The proponent of Measure FF is Lift Up Oakland (www.LiftUpOakland.org) and the proponent of Proposition J is the Campaign for a Fair Economy (www.RaiseUpSF.org).

SEIU Local 1021 represents over 54,000 community service employees throughout Northern California.

The Harry Bridges Project - Lessons

http://theharrybridgesproject.org/lessons.html

These lessons have been designed, in consultation with high school teachers, for use in standard U.S. History, English, and Advanced Placement courses. For the teacher, they are clear and easy to follow. They conform to California Academic Standards, but are open to teachers' ideas and variations. They will encourage lively discussions and thoughtful essays. The Plans are designed to empower students to 1) consider their own and societies’ attitudes and assumptions to issues that affect their lives 2) consider their own moral ethics and the values of America and 3) question their place in society, their rights as they enter the workforce, and their hopes for the future.

The Teacher's Edition includes two or three pages of "Worksheets" and "Homework Sheets" to be printed and handed out to your students. Below the description of each Plan is the Student Resources link which has the live links for your students' research. The plans are designed for either 2 class periods and one homework assignment or 3 class periods and two homework assignments.

1) Collective Bargaining

Teacher's Editions –

Collective Bargaining (CA English Standards)

Collective Bargaining (CA History and Social Science Standards)

Students will learn some basic principles of collective bargaining by taking part in a simulated negotiation. As union and management representatives of a hospital, they will prepare their positions and then meet face to face with the “other side.” They will then consider the importance of these kinds of skills in their daily lives.

Collective Bargaining (Student Resources)

2) Workers' Rights

Teacher's Editions –

Workers' Rights (CA English Standards)

Workers' Rights (CA History and Social Science Standards)

Investigate the passage of laws that gave rise to the American labor movement, consider the role of the government and of unions in protecting your rights, and discover how much or little you know about your rights in preparation for going out into the workforce.

Workers' Rights (Student Resources)

The NLRB Takes Portland Language School to Task for its Anti-Union Activities

excerpts from:

http://nwlaborpress.org/2010/1105/11-5-10AFT.html

November 5, 2010 Volume 111 Number 21

Teacher Patricia Raclot — who was terminated earlier this year after she supported a unionizing campaign — last month turned down an offer of two years salary if she would drop her legal case and give up her right to get her job back.

In the four-day trial that followed, a federal administrative law judge heard evidence that the school terminated Raclot for her pro-union activity, and that school leaders committed numerous other violations of U.S. labor law. On Oct. 26, a federal district court judge ordered the school to stop violating labor law.

The case stems from a campaign by teachers and support staff to join American Federation of Teachers (AFT).  Workers at the private school wanted greater job security, and discipline and grievance procedures to protect them against pervasive maltreatment, unequal treatment, and unfair discipline.

On March 8, after a majority of the school’s employees signed union authorization cards, they asked the school to recognize the union. The very next day — according to evidence presented at the trial — school head Elimane Mbengue told an attorney to stop working on the renewal of Raclot’s work visa.  Raclot is a French citizen.  She has worked at the school for six years.  

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) — the federal agency that’s supposed to protect workers’ right to unionize — investigated Raclot’s termination and found sufficient evidence to pursue charges against the school.

Anti-union members of the school’s board conducted mandatory anti-union meetings, made repeated threats of individual discipline and collective consequences, promised to remedy grievances within six months if workers would vote “no” on the union, and warned that unionizing would scare away parents and cause school closure within a year. They also maintained an illegal “no-complaining” rule, and enforced it selectively against union supporters.

The NLRB wanted to prevent continued lawbreaking while the case is pending, and asked U.S. District Court for a temporary court order, known as a “10(j) injunction.” Judge Michael Mosman granted the injunction for the most part, ordering the school to stop threatening and discriminating against pro-union employees, stop promising to remedy grievances in exchange for non-unionization, and get rid of the “no complaining” rule. The school must also post the court order, and hold a meeting of all employees within 10 days where the order would be read aloud.

If school administrators fail to comply with the court order, they could be held in contempt of court, with jail time and fines as a result.

All ESL Teachers Worldwide: Unionize

https://www.change.org/p/all-esl-teachers-english-as-a-second-language-worldwide-unionize

By Lauren Holt

Novato, CA

ESL teachers have one of the most difficult jobs in the education sector, and yet, they receive the lowest wages, especially in the United States and Canada. The ESL industry is predominantly controlled by private corporations that often pay their employees less than twenty dollars an hour despite the fact that they require degrees, certifications and work experience. ESL teachers often teach six classes per day in order to make ends meet and work long after their paid work day ends in order to fulfill their responsibilities. In order to make a change, we must rise up and unionize. There are hundreds of thousands of teachers in this field worldwide, all of whom would benefit. Let's stop complaining and let's make a change so we can continue working in an industry we love!

EF is Big $, But Smalll $ for Teachers

The corporation proudly states, “EF is the world's largest private education company [in the world.]”

It has schools all over the world and all over the U.S. including ones in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Washington, D.C.

You may wonder how it has been able to grow to such a behemoth.  One explanation is they have paid their most valuable assets (their teachers) very low wages (see previous blog entry).

Ask any student who has had a positive experience at EF and they will tell you that it was primarily due to their teachers.  Teachers spend (far more) time with the students than anyone else on staff.  Teachers’ hard work is not reflected in their salaries (not in the least).  Meanwhile the company is expanding with (huge) profits made off their teachers’ backs.

3 Glassdoor Reviews of EF from 2014 = Teacher Pay Too Low!

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/EF-Education-First-North-America-Reviews-E335551.htm

Jul 30, 2014

Advice to Management

Pay more.

Aug 8, 2014

Cons

extremely low salary

Oct 21, 2014

Cons

The pay is really low.