These are
vulnerable, non-union workers working indirectly for Walmart, a corporation as giant and ruthless as they come—but they're not letting that stop them from fighting for better conditions.
Warehouse workers went on strike to protest unfair labor practices they have faced on the job Wednesday morning, following months of working in hot temperatures under extreme pressure in a major Walmart-contracted warehouse in Southern California.
Workers—who do not have a recognized union—walked off the job during the first shift at an NFI warehouse in Mira Loma, California to call for an end to retaliation and unfair labor practices. Workers have been fighting for more than a year for safe working conditions and for Walmart to take responsibility for conditions in the warehouse.
A fair day's wage
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This is clearly in the category of legislation that will never be passed without a big Democratic majority:
The United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 3596/S. 3402) would protect US consumers and helps level the playing field against companies that off-shore their call center operations overseas.
The Bill supports US workers and consumers in three ways, by:
- Denying taxpayer cash to off-shorers: by creating a bad actor list that would stop companies that ship jobs abroad from getting Federal loans and grants and send them to the back of the line for government contracts.
- Giving consumers the right to know: requires call center agents to tell you where they are talking to you from.
- Giving consumers the right to transfer to a US operator: so that when you don't want a foreign call center, you have the right to be transferred to a US-based operator.
But that's exactly the point: We want a Democratic majority to have a shot at having policies that are good for workers and consumers, not giant corporations. We talk about policies that are impossible under our current Congress to lay the groundwork both to elect that better Congress and to have its members arrive ready to do the right thing.
The War on Education
- If you read an article headlined "Fab 5 Star's Charter a Beacon of Hope," would you expect the following to be true of that "beacon of hope" charter school?
Problems the Academy wrestled with in its first year were a classic mix of start-up mistakes and a focus on glitz over substance. They ran out of money because they set a 10-student class size limit. There were costly monthly field trips (including one to Olympic basketball camp in Las Vegas). No science labs (students left fetal pig detritus in restroom sinks), no locker rooms, showers or air-conditioning in summer heat. Fights, expulsions and a security guard who had to be fired. A teacher using his own media equipment for instruction took his technological tools and skills with him when he left mid-year. A heavily promoted on-line curriculum couldn't be accessed, due to broken laptops. Test scores started and remained in the basement.
Here's the most telling fact, however: there was 100% turnover in teaching staff--not a single teacher returned--and as the school's second year opens, they're on their third principal.
- A former New York schoolteacher writes that teachers aren't islands unto themselves:
I taught in three different public schools in New York City. Where I was able to be my best depended as much on the class sizes, the conditions, the financing, the materials available to me, the support staff for teachers, the support for students and the climate created by administration, as it did on my own efforts and abilities.
State and local lawmaking
- Remember the Georgia Senate bill that would have criminalized picketing? Republican Sen. Don Balfour was the driving force behind that, so, while it's unrelated to the picketing bill, it's nice to hear that he's currently under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for filing false expense reports. He was already fined $5,000 by the Georgia Senate Ethics Committee.