Construction Careers Policy Adopted

The City of Los Angeles has passed a landmark project labor agreement covering construction through the Community Redevelopment Agency. The City Council voted unanimously to adopt the language. Members of the Building Trades, many of whom were wearing their hard hats packed the Council Chambers. Every Council person took the opportunity to congratulate the great work of all the union as well as community groups that worked together to get it passed. After the successful vote a victory luncheon was held in the Tom Bradley Penthouse atop City Hall. Maria Elena Durazo of the LA County Federation of Labor introduced the various stakeholders and participants who worked so tirelessly to bring this measure to fruition. After lunch Mayor Villaraigosa held a press conference on the West Lawn with members of the Building Trades holding signs and banners as a backdrop. Then it was off to the LA County Fed for a Victory BBQ. This has been a great week for Labor!

Union Made Movie a Hit!!!

I had the pleasure of attending the premier of the new movie Union Made Six Lives Transformed. It's a fantastic movie that shows just how important unions are in the lives of many Angelenos. The event took place at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and several prominent Labor leaders were there as well as rank and file members and clergy. The six union members that were profiled in the movie attended with their families as well.

5th Annual Alt Build Expo

The 5th Annual Alternative Building and Materials Design Expo hosted by the City of Santa Monica is scheduled for Friday, April 25th, Saturday April 26th and Sunday April 26th at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. This is a new location for the event that will hold more people. Admission is free and parking is just $8. It’s presented as the most extensive presentation of green building and water conservation in the Southland. Representatives of the electrical union will host a booth to provide information on solar and alternative energy solutions. Space is available on a first come-first serve basis. For more information please call (310) 390-2930.

Union Made Six Lives Transformed

On Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 6PM, Union Made Six Lives Transformed will be shown at Paramount Studios, Sherry Lansing Theater. Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to attend this special screening. The documentary film follows the lives of six members of the Ironworkers Union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and Pipe Trades Unions. The film was based on a front-page article in the Los Angeles Times that looked at community organizing by Los Angeles Building Trades Unions. These unions continue to reach out to individuals from difficult backgrounds and are helping to improve the community by doing so. The documentary looks at the power of unions to transform people’s lives through quality jobs and training. A reception will precede the event. Food will be served. The film is approximately 60 minutes in length.

Huge Turn Out for LA Workers

Thousands of unionists showed their support for LA’s workers by attending the Hollywood to the Docks March and Rally. Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary–Treasurer of the LA County Federation of Labor addressed the crowd at the kickoff rally on the lawn of the La Brea Tar Pits. After all the politicians and Labor leaders gave their presentations the march began. The ILWU Drill Team who traveled from San Francisco led the march. The East side of Wilshire Blvd. was blocked off by police to accommodate the large crowds of marchers. The first stop was the intersection of Wilshire and Western in front of the historic Wiltern Theatre. Over a thousand SEIU volunteers all wearing their purple t-shirts joined up with the crowd. A flat bed truck with sound equipment was used as a make shift stage. Politicians like Mark Ridley Thomas and others pledged their support for the workers. Spanish radio talk show host El Cucuy broadcast interviews with the workers by cell phone and later gave a rousing speech (in Spanish of course). The next leg of the journey ended at a church basement where a delicious lunch was served. Daniel Villao, Council Representative of the LA/OC Building Trades Council thanked the group for their dedication to workers throughout Los Angeles. The march will continue through Thursday and will conclude with a rally in San Pedro.

LA Mayor Addresses Green Economy Forum

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was the surprise guest at the Green Economy Forum at Dorsey High School sponsored by the Apollo Alliance. He joined other speakers in support of green jobs and greatly expanding opportunities for low income and people of color. The theme of this year’s event was “Working in Unity, Greening our Community”. Outside of the main hall representatives of various union apprenticeship programs, utility sponsors, environmental and community groups provided information and refreshments.

Hollywood to the Docks Rally

The Hollywood to the Docks March sponsored by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor is an opportunity to show your support for working families in Los Angeles. The kick-off rally will take place on Tuesday April 15th at 9am at the La Brea Tar Pits, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard. Workers and supporters will march for three days through the city ending up at a rally at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, Berth 87, West 1st Street and South Harbor Boulevard. I know my readers will want to take part in this exciting event.

Press Release
3/31/2008
Mary Gutierrez 213.276.3384 Cherry Hepburn 818.505.1104
Workers to Hold Three Day March from Hollywood to the Docks of San Pedro
As economic insecurity continues to rise across the country and the middle class continues to be squeezed, workers in L.A. take a stand by fighting for good jobs
In a press conference held at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on Monday, workers representing various industries including actors, port drivers, teachers, janitors and longshore workers announced their plans for a three day, 28 mile march from Hollywood to the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on April 15th-17th. The march is being held in what L.A.’s workers are calling 2008 – the Fight for Good Jobs.
“As inflation and foreclosures continue to skyrocket and the staples we need to get by such as gas, milk and bread continue to increase, workers in Los Angeles are taking a stand. We are going to fight for good jobs so that we can survive these difficult times. We are going to fight to raise our families, keep our homes, our pensions and healthcare,” said Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “We are going to help thousands lift themselves out of poverty.”
The March from Hollywood to the Docks will kick – off on Tuesday, April 15th in Hollywood (La Brea Tar Pits) where actors represented by Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) face a joint contract negotiation. The march will conclude on Thursday, April 17th at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, where Longshore workers represented by the International Longshore Warehouse Union (ILWU) face contract negotiations in July. The march will end with a massive rally at 6:00 p.m. on the docks of San Pedro. Thousands of workers and community supporters are expected to attend.
“I’m marching because this year, 20,000 of my fellow janitors statewide face contract negotiations. Like me I know that they too struggle sometimes to pay the rent or have to think twice before driving somewhere because gas is so expensive,” said Myra Tovias, a janitor represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 1877 and a janitor for over 21 years. “That’s why it’s crucial that we win a fair union contract that is going to help keep up with the rising costs of living in Los Angeles.”
This year more than 350,000 workers, belonging to 30 local unions, will re-negotiate their union contracts; this is the largest number of workers in the history of the L.A. Labor Movement. These workers hail from key sectors reflecting the core of L.A.’s economy: actors, longshoremen, homecare workers, teachers and janitors. At the same time over 30,000 port drivers, security officers, car wash workers, hotel workers, construction workers and LAX passenger service workers will continue their fight to move out of poverty by joining a union.
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO is the chartered Central Labor Council (CLC) of the AFL-CIO in Los Angeles County and is the second largest in the country, representing over 350 unions and over 800,000 workers. Its mission is to promote a voice for workers so they can remain in the middle class, move themselves out of poverty by joining a union, encourage active participation in the political process, by electing pro-union and pro-worker officials and to advance public policies that support workers and their families. As the coordinating center for labor’s political activity, the Federation believes that in educating and mobilizing workers to be politically active they can create and sustain healthy communities, and FIGHT FOR GOOD JOBS that REBUILD THE LOS ANGELES MIDDLE CLASS. Visit the Federation at http://www.launionaflcio.org/.To learn more about the March from Hollywood to the Docks and why L.A.’s workers are calling 2008 - The Fight For Good Jobs, please visit http://www.hollywoodtothedocks.com/.

Green Economy Forum in LA

The Los Angeles Apollo Alliance. S.C.O.P.E. L.A., and the AD47 Environmental Commission will be presenting a Green Economy Forum at Dorsey High School on April 12th from 10am to 12pm. Guest speakers will include Assembly Speaker-Elect Karen Bass, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, DWP CEO and General Manager, David Nahai, Los Angeles City Councilmember Herb Wesson and others. The new Green Economy is emerging in California and will create thousands of jobs through new technologies to clean our communities and the environment. State Lawmakers and Gressroots, Labor and Environmental Leaders will come together to discuss how to ensure inner city communities benefit from these jobs and new technologies, and what best practices can be implemented. You are invited to attend and participate in the planning. For more information please call (323) 789-7920.