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“We’re sorry we weren’t able to clean your offices last night…”
Read more: “We’re sorry we weren’t able to clean your offices last night…”The glittering skyscrapers that came to dominate the downtown Los Angeles skyline often cost multiple millions of dollars to build, their owners more likely to be banks, hedge funds and multinational corporations, rather than individuals. These corporate owners outsourced their building services to property management companies who, in turn, contracted…
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Strategic research for union campaigns
Read more: Strategic research for union campaignsThis 1989 study of building service work written by Paul Schimek and published by SEIU Local 399 is an example of the union’s use of research to influence the public debate on equitable development in Los Angeles. Declaring that “Los Angeles should work for everyone,” the report highlighted the contrast…
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Unions review impact of immigration reform
Read more: Unions review impact of immigration reformThe AFL-CIO published this information for unions and workers in the wake of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. The law created a process for many undocumented residents to regularize their status, and the pamphlet highlights organized labor’s role in helping “undocumented workers attain legal status and…
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Jobs with Peace
Read more: Jobs with PeaceHow can progressive political movements win power in geographically expansive and multiracial cities like Los Angeles? The answer, according to the Los Angeles Jobs with Peace campaign was “coalition architecture,” an intentional strategy to link the interests of organized labor with the peace movement, the women’s movement, and the African…
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Somma waterbed workers win back pay
Read more: Somma waterbed workers win back payIn 1984, workers at the Somma waterbed factory in East Los Angeles began organizing fellow workers at neighborhood soccer games and decide to join the ILGWU. Most of the workers were immigrants from Mexico and Central America, many without documentation. Their employer was Angel Echevarria, a prominent figure in the…
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“Springsteen Strikes a Chord With Laid-off Steelworkers”
Read more: “Springsteen Strikes a Chord With Laid-off Steelworkers”In November 1984, Bruce Springsteen made an unusual stop on his “Born in the U.S.A.” tour: a Food Bank near a shuttered steel mill in Maywood, CA. The Food Bank had been established after the Bethlehem Steel Corporation shuttered its mill there in 1982, resulting in job losses for thousands…
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CODIL General Assembly
Read more: CODIL General AssemblyAfter years of fighting deportation sweeps in Los Angeles, activists associated with the Centro de Acción Social Autónomo (CASA) formed special committee to address workplace raids by the INS and to advocate for the rights of undocumented workers generally. The Comité Obrero en Defensa de los Indocumentados en Lucha (CODIL,…
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Claiming the right to full union membership
Read more: Claiming the right to full union membershipIn 1978 members of HERE Local 11 launched a campaign to unseat long-time union leader Andrew “Scotty” Allan. United Workers of Local 11 ran a multiracial slate of men and women committed to greater member participation in the 20,000 member union. Their candidate for the office of secretary-treasurer was Daniel…
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United Workers of Local 11
Read more: United Workers of Local 11During the 1970s, the Hotel and Restaurant Employees union (HERE) Local 11 in Los Angeles was losing power as restaurant owners dropped their union contracts and hotels cut wages and benefits. In 1978 a multiracial group of members calling themselves United Workers of Local 11 challenged the union’s long-serving leader…
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Bert Corona explains the mission of CASA
Read more: Bert Corona explains the mission of CASAActivities of the Brotherhood of Immigrant Workers, C.A.S.A The purpose of the General Brotherhood of Immigrant Workers is to represent the real life interests of immigrant workers and their families. In so doing it has to fight for the real life interests of all of the workers since workers are…