We’re celebrating four years of struggles, victories and building Jobs with Justice on November 21st at the ILWU Local 34 Hall, 801 2nd St. from 6pm-8pm. It’ll be a special and festive gathering of activists from all our different movements, labor and community. Join us for live music, heavy appetizers, light alcohol, inspiration and friends.
Featuring Steve Pitts of the UC Berkeley Labor Center and National Black Workers Center Project. Performances by Latin singer Diana Gameros, bringing songs of love, longing and hope from the borderlands and MC Rey 17, union organizer by day and hard hitting MC by night. Then get ready to dance to the fresh, funky and revolutionary sound of Bandung 55!
Tickets are $25 – $100 sliding scale.
To volunteer and join for free, contact Kung at solidarity@jwjsf.org or (415) 967-3710.
This Labor Day, low wage workers–security guards, hotel workers, and fast food workers are leading the way in historic actions for fair wages and respect. Workers all over the city are fighting for $15, a fair economy and jobs with justice.
Invisible No More: Workers Take Action at Apple Thursday, August 28th, 12pm One Stockton St, SF
The tech industry is booming in San Francisco but some workers are missing out. Not only is Apple the subject of a wage theft lawsuit by its retail employees, but it also uses an irresponsible security contractor, Security Industry Specialists (SIS), that has a history of policies that cheat workers out of a better way of life. Join us for a protest at the Apple store.
Labor Council Breakfast Friday, August 29th, 8am Holiday Inn, 1500 Van Ness
Join us to celebrate workers at the SF Labor Council’s annual Pre-Labor Day Breakfast. We’ll hear from CA State Controller Candidate Betty Yee as well as CA Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and get updates from important worker campaigns. Tickets are $75 each and tables of 10 are $750. RSVP to Emily Nelson at emily@sflaborcouncil.org or (415) 440-4809.
Hotel Workers Organize Monday, September 1st, 10:30am Beach St and Embarcadero, SF
Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf workers have been engaged in a struggle for dignity, respect, a voice on the job and a fair process to organize a union since 2008. Lets show our power to this non-union hotel! Join our march!
Fast Food Workers Action in Oakland Thursday, September 4th 6:45am under 980 bridge near 45th and Telegraph, Oakland 11am Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
This past July, over 1,300 fast food workers met in Chicago to discuss the next steps for their campaign to demand $15 an hour and the right to form a union. They are ready and willing to do whatever it takes. Join fast food workers from the East Bay Organizing Committee for two actions in Oakland.
Future of the Working Class Forum Thursday, September 4th, 7PM-9PM 518 Valencia St
From the fight to raise the minimum wage, the fight against displacement, and the fight to keep City College open, the future of the working class in San Francisco is at stake. Activists from the frontlines of these struggles, including Maria Poblet from Causa Justa :: Just Cause, Fernando Marti from Council of Community Housing Organizations, Shanell Williams from City College SF and Feng Kung from Jobs with Justice will discuss the current political landscape and map our way forward. RSVP and share on Facebook.
Despite its high minimum wage, San Francisco has the second-highest rate of income inequality among major U.S. cities.
One of the reasons why people aren’t earning enough money to make ends meet in the Bay Area, and across the country, is because they can’t get sufficient hours at their jobs. And then there are workers facing unpredictable schedules that make it impossible for them to properly care for their families, hold down second jobs, or pursue an education.
That’s why it’s so exciting that a coalition of workers, labor, community and advocacy groups in the Bay Area has come together to tackle the escalating crisis of unjust hours and unstable schedules that workers in the low-wage retail sector face.
Today, this coalition, led by Jobs With Justice San Francisco, is teaming up with Supervisors Eric Mar and David Chiu to introduce the Retail Workers Bill of Rights to hold the city’s largest retailers, restaurant chains, hotels and banks accountable for creating better quality jobs. The proposed ordinance aims to strengthen protections for retail workers held hostage by on-call scheduling, diminished hours and discriminatory treatment by employers on the basis of their part-time employment status.
Why is the Retail Workers Bill of Rights a solution? Too many people aren’t just living paycheck to paycheck, they’re living hour to hour. Large companies like Walmart and McDonald’s schedule workers with too few hours on too short notice, putting them in a no-win situation. Not only do these jobs typically pay poorly, but workers are regularly required to be on call or maintain open availability without being guaranteed a shift. Not knowing their hours means not knowing how much money they’ll make in a week or month. For these workers, being at the beck and call of their employers makes it that much harder to take care of everyday life responsibilities.
Full-Time Hours: Retail store, restaurant and bank workers have the right to be offered more hours before an employer may hire additional part-time workers.
On-Call Pay: Retail store, restaurant and bank workers have the right to a minimum of four hours of pay if they are required to be “on-call” for a shift, their shift is canceled with less than 24 hours’ notice, or they work less than four hours.
Equal Treatment for Part-Time Workers: Part-time retail store, restaurant and bank workers have the right to equal treatment by their employer with respect to their rate of pay, access to time off or opportunities for promotion.
Job Security: Retail store, restaurant and bank workers have the right to keep their job for at least 90 days if their company is bought or sold.
This effort reflects the growing recognition that raising wages alone isn’t enough to pull families out of poverty if employers are under no obligation to provide their workforce with enough hours to make ends meet. That’s why workers and their supporters at both the local and national levels are going beyond the call for higher wages to demand just hours and fair schedules as well.
The Retail Workers Bill of Rights is one of many steps we must take to bring balance to our economy. The campaign also hopes to create new organizing opportunities for workers in the greater San Francisco area who are activated through the effort. Arguably, winning in San Francisco, where the job conditions of more than 28,000 workers in chain stores and restaurants are at stake, could set a precedent that creates new standards for the entire region. As the national conversation about low-wage work and income inequality continues to escalate, it’s time we add to that dialogue the challenge and the emerging solutions to unjust and unfair hours.
For more information on the Retail Workers Bill of Rights, visit www.retailworkerrights.com. To read the Top Ten Reasons Why Retail Workers Need a Bill of Rights, click here.
SF Minimum Wage Measure raises the bar nationally by getting ALL workers to $15 per hour in 2018 and CPI indexing starting in 2019
Advocates Vow to Win $15 and Other Measures Fighting Inequality in November
(SAN FRANCISCO) - As cities and states around the country join the fight to raise the minimum wage, San Francisco’s Campaign for a Fair Economy (CFE), made up of a broad grouping of Labor and Community organizations, minimum wage workers most affected will speak and rally Saturday June 14, 10am at 16th Street BART to celebrate achieving a consensus minimum wage ballot measure that will set the highest standard nationally – with ALL workers getting to $15 an hour in 2018.
After more than a year of advocacy and grass roots organizing, the CFE was able to win a compromise measure –reached among the CFE, Mayor Ed Lee, and Supervisor Jane Kim and supported by all members of the Board of Supervisors, non-profit, and business leaders – representing one of the strongest proposals expected to be enacted in any city nationally, and providing momentum to upcoming campaigns to raise wages around the Bay Area and improve minimum wage enforcement standards.
“This vitally important measure will lift up over 100,000 of the lowest paid workers in San Francisco and raise the bar nationally for minimum wage policies,” stated Shaw San Liu of the Chinese Progressive Association. Liu continued, “San Francisco’s economic success should be measured by how it addresses the needs of the workers who keep our city running. This victory will be a springboard to lead future efforts to lift up low wage workers who struggle daily to make ends meet in the City including: housing justice, good jobs, holding corporations accountable, and healthcare as a human right.”
“In the last decade, cities and states across the country have modeled minimum wage, living wage, paid sick days and even healthcare laws after the groundbreaking policies that were won by CFE organizations in San Francisco,” stated Josue Arguelles of Young Workers United. “Yet, today San Francisco workers are still falling behind when it comes to affording housing and basic living expenses. Too many of us can no longer afford to live here while working full time or even multiple jobs.”
“With San Francisco leading the country in wealth inequality – now is the time to take action to help lift workers out of poverty,” stated Vivian Richardson of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. “We made sure workers were central in decision make to develop our minimum wage measure introduced this week which will raise the bar nationally by getting ALL workers to $15 per hour faster than any other measure, and with annual increases based on inflation starting in 2019 – so workers who need it the most, minimum wage workers, will never go without a raise.”
Gordon Mar of Jobs with Justice added, “over the next four years, this measure will put over a billion dollars of extra income into the pockets of low-wage workers and their families, and most this will be spent at local businesses providing a huge boost to our economy. The $15 minimum wage measure is an important part of a larger agenda to close the economic divide and ensure that working families can continue to live and thrive in our diverse city.”
The Campaign for a Fair Economy is a coalition of community and labor organizations including SF Progressive Workers Alliance, San Francisco Labor Council, Jobs with Justice, SF Rising, ACCE, California Nurses Association, Chinese Progressive Association, SEIU Local 1021, Unite Here Local 2, Young Workers United and other supporting organizations.
