Most folks have heard the saying/seen the bumper sticker: “Unions — the people who brought you the weekend.” This Labor Day weekend, we ask you to remember why we celebrate and reflect on the positive impact that unions have had and continue to have on our society. Weekends off, overtime pay/the eight-hour day, OSHA protections, child labor laws, paid leave, workers comp, wage laws, Social Security, free public education and so much more would not have happened without the American labor movement. And organized labor continues to lead the critical work to protect and enhance these rights and benefits through our collective efforts.
In San Mateo County, the labor movement has made tremendous progress over the past year. We’ve fought together for fair contracts, lobbied for critical legislation at all levels of government, advocated for racial and economic justice, and helped put labor champions on the path to electoral victory. We’ve worked to support organizing efforts across sectors, expanded our community partnerships and banded together to improve the lives of working people throughout our county and beyond.
Through a $500,000 California government grant earned for our innovative nonprofit organization with the help and leadership of Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, and state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, we will continue to offer our Trades Introduction Program courses and can offer students increased supportive services as well as class time child care reimbursement for the first time since the program’s inception. Since the onset of the pandemic, in partnership with Second Harvest Silicon Valley (a partnership we’ve enjoyed for nearly 40 years), we have worked together to provide groceries to nearly 30,000 families, to the tune of nearly 2 million pounds of food. Through another grant earned by our nonprofit, we can now offer increased hardship assistance and rent relief to our union members in crisis.
Nationally, we elected the first female president in the history of the AFL-CIO in Liz Shuler and its first Black secretary treasurer — Fred Redmond. In California, Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher became the first woman and first person of color to serve as chief officer of the California Labor Federation.
Our unions are stronger and more active than ever and will continue to lead the fight for a balanced economy that gives everyone a fair shot at the American dream. Organizing is on the rise, our approval numbers remain high, and collective action is starting to beat back corporate greed. From victories at Amazon and Starbucks, to the tech industry and beyond, workers are joining together to take a stand for the wages, hours and working conditions they deserve. They know that forming a union means having a real voice on the job. In fact, the number of petitions filed at the National Labor Relations Board by workers to exercise their freedom to join a union is up 69% compared to last year. That’s why California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Gonzalez Fletcher established “Unionize California” (https://unionizecalifornia.org) — to help even more workers interested in joining our labor family find the path to do so.
Much of the work that we do is dependent on government agencies and policies that support a pro-worker agenda. That’s why elections are so important, and why we put so much into our political program. By electing candidates at every level of government who will fight for America’s working class and uplift the labor movement, we can keep making real progress in the fight for a fair economy and a just society.
As American Federation of Labor founder Samuel Gompers said: “Our movement is of the working people, for the working people, by the working people. ... There is not a right too long denied which we do not aspire to achieve; there is not a wrong too long endured we are not determined to abolish.” The future of work is bright, my friends. And it is we who are the light.
Julie Lind is the executive secretary-treasurer of the San Mateo County Labor Council.
(9) comments
The authoritarian instincts of CA Democrat politicians is surfacing as it takes over setting wages for fast food workers in the private sector. This will lead to fewer jobs and higher prices and affect lower income neighbors the most. It will reduce the number of entry level jobs for young people and secondary workers in a family the most. Its real purpose is to “encourage” the unionization of private sector businesses and of course more political donations from those unions to Democrats.
Thank you for this column and your work! My mother was a union organizer (Local 1199 SEIU) and shop steward in the medical center where she was the switchboard operator and receptionist. She was the ONLY woman at the contract negotiating table and some day I'll share some of her antics in one of my columns. The union was terrific, protecting workers while also making sure that everyone pulled their weight. I'll never forget the day Mom got called into the manager's office when one of the employees was being disciplined for frequently being late, not getting her work done when she was there, and being insubordinate. Told that she was on probation the employee looked at my mother and said "Aren't you going to stand up for me?" Mom said "Nope. Get here on time, do your job, and watch your mouth." But, try to fire someone just because the manager didn't like them...... MOM power!
Ms. Lind perhaps the title should have been "Unions made things work", with emphasis on the past. Many current union activities are nothing short of intimidation and are effective, and well funded, to lobby politicians. Many politicians in Sacramento and in DC are in the pockets of the various labor unions and are wrecking this country. As an example, the Teachers Union, the Service Employee Union and the various trades unions are unnecessarily driving up the cost of products and services, just for the benefits of their members, leaving us to pay for it.
Thanks for your letter, Ms. Lind, but perhaps you can comment on some of the other union issues making recent news. For instance what are your thoughts on a Minneapolis teachers union contract stipulating that white teachers be laid off first? Sounds a bit racist. How about a New Jersey teachers union calling parents “extremists”? Doesn’t sound like expanding community partnerships. How about the National Educations Association’s conference where they call for a national policy of mandatory masking, mandatory vaccinations, and rejecting the words “mother” and “father” even though masks and vaccines aren’t effective? You would think a group that teaches science would follow the science that masks and the “vaccines” don’t work. Ditto for the LA teachers union attempting to force students to keep wearing masks. Sorry Ms. Lind, but there are other sides to unions that aren’t warm and fuzzy. BTW, Reason.com published an article the other day that says despite the media hype, unionization is down – and for good reason. An illuminating read.
It would be terribly irresponsible for someone not to respond to your comment about masks and vaccines. If not for the Covid vaccine, millions of more people would have died by now. Getting the vaccine and boosters dramatically reduces the chance of hospitalization and death. On masks, a very recent study found that cloth masks reduce the potential for catching Covid by 56%, surgical masks by 66%, and KN95/N95 masks by 83%.
Craig,
You have been on these pages long enough to know that you are just relieving yourself into the wind when you give facts and truthful info to some of the commenters that believe in conspiracies and a deep state cabal runs the country.
Mr. Wiesner - thanks for your response. However, I’d like to add that both older and now more recent studies continue to show the ineffectiveness of masks. For instance, in April, a study not only showed masks didn’t work, but that wearing masks increased the likelihood of getting sick or contracting an infection. Just last month, a study of schools in Spain shows masks did not reduce of spread of COVID. Just the other day, the NIH released a study that revealed disposable face masks contain four times the acceptable carcinogen levels of titanium dioxide. Hey folks, now you know why you’re experiencing eye, nose, and throat irritation while wearing a mask, and afterwards. Closer to home, an SFGate article from the end of June compared Alameda County, the only Bay Area county to bring back an indoor mask mandate, against other counties with no indoor mask mandate. Results? No evidence there was any difference between mask wearers or non. Of course, this makes sense since COVID virus particles are smaller than mask pore sizes, especially cloth masks. That being said, if you want to wear a mask go for it if it gives you peace of mind. Don’t expect others to require that same peace of mind.
As for whether the jabs reduce hospitalization or death, there haven’t been conclusive studies one way or the other. There are conclusive studies that show single, double, triple, and quadruple jobs don’t work, a la breakthrough cases. As for taking the jab, my approach has always been your body, your choice. I want people to make informed choices and also be aware that they’re guinea pigs for jab manufacturers. For this newly released jab option, people should know this new concoction has never been tested on humans, only mice. As far as I know, these jab manufacturers aren’t paying your hospital bills or funeral costs should you experience anticipated, and unanticipated, side effects.
Terence,
"... there haven’t been conclusive studies one way or the other." Apparently you must have even stranger and more unreliable sources of information than I thought. I won't do your homework for you but I will give you one link that discusses the death rate of unvaccinated vs vaccinated people with Covid.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-compare-covid-deaths-for-vaccinated-and-unvaccinated-people/#
A simple search will find several more studies from all over the world that have similar information.
Taffy, my friend, you’ll need to do more homework to determine what counts as a jabbed or unjabbed COVID death in your article. For instance, if someone is unjabbed and has COVID, gets hit by a car and dies, does it count as an unjabbed COVID death? If they’re jabbed, does it count as a jabbed COVID death? We already know COVID deaths were juiced in the past to scare people into getting an experimental job (well, that and getting more money for reporting a COVID death than a non-COVID death). I’m not sure how an article that explains standardization but not how the data is gathered helps your argument. I do find their last sentence, “No vaccine is 100 percent effective, but immunization reduces the risk of dying from COVID substantially.” amusing since vaccines, by their definition, prevent, not reduce, the risk of dying because a true vaccine would prevent being afflicted in the first place.
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