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Spotlight: Labor and Economic News Across the Country
California Holiday Honors Chavez
California has become the first state to honor the late United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez with a paid state holiday.
Both the state Senate and Assembly passed the bill by wide margins and Gov. Gray Davis signed it without hesitation. “When children learn about the great life of Martin Luther King, they will also learn about the great life of Cesar Chavez,” Davis said at the signing ceremony.
Chavez, one of the country’s foremost Latino civil rights leaders, is best known for leading a nationwide grape boycott in the 1960s to improve conditions for farm workers. He died in 1993 at age 66.
Under the bill, state workers will get a paid holiday on the Friday or Monday closest to Chavez’s birthday, March 31. Schools are being encouraged to use the day to teach about Chavez’s life and commitment to respect and fairness for workers.
A few lawmakers balked at the bill — and not just because of the day off. Some said it was inappropriate to teach children about Chavez. “I don’t believe he is someone I would wish my child to emulate,” Assemblyman Rico Oller said, quoted in the Sacramento Bee.
But most lawmakers spoke of Chavez with pride, and some remembered their own childhoods in the field. “In honoring Cesar Chavez, it conveys the message that there is hope and there is a means for people to achieve their goals by working hard,” Assemblyman Robert Pacheco said.
Actors Rebound After 6-Month Strike
After nearly six months on the picket lines, the folks who pitch microwave dinners and window cleaner on TV are about to return to their original roles.
Members of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists reached a tentative settlement with advertisers in late October. The commercial actors — most of whom make just a few thousand dollars a year — were striking over residual payments for ads running on cable.
“Our members knew what was at stake in this negotiation and have unflinchingly stood their ground,” SAG President William Daniels said. “From our high-profile performers to rank and file, SAG and AFTRA members stood shoulder-to-shoulder and their activities have produced success.”
Many celebrities honored the picket lines and donated large sums of money to the strikers’ relief fund. The list includes Nicolas Cage, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Helen Hunt, Jay Leno, Eddie Murphy, Rosie O’Donnell, N’Sync, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta and Bruce Willis.
County Stands Up For Workers
It’s not legally binding, but county commissioners in Lane County, Ore., are taking a stand for workers.
By a 4-1 vote, the commission recently passed a resolution supporting workers’ right to unionize and urging employers to stay neutral in organizing drives. A full house of union supporters turned out for the vote and burst into applause when the resolution passed.
Paul Holve, vice president of the county’s labor council and a member of the Carpenters union, said it was time for public officials to call for an end to intimidation of workers seeking to organize, The Register-Guard newspaper reported. “This is a family issue; it is a community issue,” Holve said. “It is not just a union issue.”
Allied community and labor groups proposed the resolution because of local labor conflicts, including an ongoing struggle for a new contract among TNG-CWA members at The Register-Guard.
Commissioner Bill Dwyer said he couldn’t understand why anyone would oppose the resolution. “This all boils down to fairness,” he said.
California has become the first state to honor the late United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez with a paid state holiday.
Both the state Senate and Assembly passed the bill by wide margins and Gov. Gray Davis signed it without hesitation. “When children learn about the great life of Martin Luther King, they will also learn about the great life of Cesar Chavez,” Davis said at the signing ceremony.
Chavez, one of the country’s foremost Latino civil rights leaders, is best known for leading a nationwide grape boycott in the 1960s to improve conditions for farm workers. He died in 1993 at age 66.
Under the bill, state workers will get a paid holiday on the Friday or Monday closest to Chavez’s birthday, March 31. Schools are being encouraged to use the day to teach about Chavez’s life and commitment to respect and fairness for workers.
A few lawmakers balked at the bill — and not just because of the day off. Some said it was inappropriate to teach children about Chavez. “I don’t believe he is someone I would wish my child to emulate,” Assemblyman Rico Oller said, quoted in the Sacramento Bee.
But most lawmakers spoke of Chavez with pride, and some remembered their own childhoods in the field. “In honoring Cesar Chavez, it conveys the message that there is hope and there is a means for people to achieve their goals by working hard,” Assemblyman Robert Pacheco said.
Actors Rebound After 6-Month Strike
After nearly six months on the picket lines, the folks who pitch microwave dinners and window cleaner on TV are about to return to their original roles.
Members of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists reached a tentative settlement with advertisers in late October. The commercial actors — most of whom make just a few thousand dollars a year — were striking over residual payments for ads running on cable.
“Our members knew what was at stake in this negotiation and have unflinchingly stood their ground,” SAG President William Daniels said. “From our high-profile performers to rank and file, SAG and AFTRA members stood shoulder-to-shoulder and their activities have produced success.”
Many celebrities honored the picket lines and donated large sums of money to the strikers’ relief fund. The list includes Nicolas Cage, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Helen Hunt, Jay Leno, Eddie Murphy, Rosie O’Donnell, N’Sync, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta and Bruce Willis.
County Stands Up For Workers
It’s not legally binding, but county commissioners in Lane County, Ore., are taking a stand for workers.
By a 4-1 vote, the commission recently passed a resolution supporting workers’ right to unionize and urging employers to stay neutral in organizing drives. A full house of union supporters turned out for the vote and burst into applause when the resolution passed.
Paul Holve, vice president of the county’s labor council and a member of the Carpenters union, said it was time for public officials to call for an end to intimidation of workers seeking to organize, The Register-Guard newspaper reported. “This is a family issue; it is a community issue,” Holve said. “It is not just a union issue.”
Allied community and labor groups proposed the resolution because of local labor conflicts, including an ongoing struggle for a new contract among TNG-CWA members at The Register-Guard.
Commissioner Bill Dwyer said he couldn’t understand why anyone would oppose the resolution. “This all boils down to fairness,” he said.