Local 192 Amalgamated Transit Union AFL-CIO-CLC

California Votes to Protect Rent Control
In Tuesday’s election, California voters shot down.

98, the deceptive initiative by wealthy landlords to abolish rent control under the guise of ‘eminent domain’ reform. Instead, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 99, a common-sense measure that would reform eminent domain without undoing renters’ rights.

Tuesday’s statewide primary resulted in big victories for labor-friendly candidates across the state. It also coincided with the historic news that Senator Barack Obama has won the Democratic presidential nomination, and will be competing against anti-worker Republication Senator John McCain.
To find election results in your area, visit http://vote.sos.ca.gov/ .

Speak Out Against Unfair Management at KQED
Workers at KQED Channel 9 in the Bay Area are taking a stand against management, after a recent health care cost increase has employees contributing twice as much toward health care as management does. NABET-CWA workers at KQED are now paying 22 percent more for healthcare, when management is only paying 11 percent more.

Show your support for these workers by phoning into “Ask KQED Night”, tonight from 8:30pm to 9:00pm. Take advantage of this opportunity to ask the station why the CEO, who is making $500,000 a year, is paying less for his healthcare than the union workers in the mailroom.  
Call 1-800-225-7489 tonight between 8:30pm and 9:00pm to make your voice heard.

Union Training Programs Receive $1M In Government Grants
Last week, two northern California apprenticeship programs received a combined $1M in grants for “bridge” training programs to help displaced workers. These training programs focus on moving workers laid off from residential construction into jobs requiring similar skills in commercial construction and public works projects.

District Council 16 of the Northern California Journeymen and Apprentice Training Trust Fund and the Northern California Teamster Apprentice Training Program each received $500,000 from the state of California’s Employment Development Department for workforce training.

To learn about training funding opportunities, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 
Teen Farm Worker Dies From Heat Illness at Work
17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez died from heat stroke last week while laboring in a Stockton area vineyard. Maria Isabel, who was two months pregnant, was working for Merced Farm Labor in a vineyard owned by West Coast Grape Farming. Her body temperature was 108.4 degrees when she was finally taken to a hospital nearly two hours after she collapsed.

To date no one from the companies involved has had the decency to express condolences to Maria's family--not the farm labor contractor, not the company who owns the field where Maria labored, nor the wine distributor.

To learn more and send a condolence note to Maria’s family, visit http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/maria
 
Senator Leland Yee Boycotts UC
Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) today announced he will not step foot on a University of California campus, other than to join worker picket lines, until the 20,000 patient care and service workers represented by AFSCME Local 3299 are guaranteed a fair contract.

“It is unconscionable what the UC administration is doing to these workers and their families,” said Yee.  “UC hospitals – where most of these employees work – made over $371 million in profits last year, yet they refused to provide the workers a fair wage.  While UC executives live high on the hog, workers, students, and patients are left in the cold.”

For more information, visit www.afscme3299.org