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.

The Retail Workers Bill of Rights would specifically ensure that people employed at any of the city’s “formula retail” chain stores have the right to:

• 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.

Just last week U.S. Representatives George Miller (D-Calif.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), along with Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced the Schedules That Work Act (H.R. 5159/S.R. 2642) to give all workers the right to request a predictable or flexible schedule. This federal proposal would also help eradicate the abusive scheduling practices in the restaurant, retail and cleaning industries.

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 16^th 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.

This Labor Day, join us for a week of action to fight for a fair economy and fight for jobs with justice. Working-class people are being left behind in the economic “recovery,” and being pushed out by the development and displacement boom that is transforming our city and our region. We need to take action on multiple fronts and act stronger, together.

Please RSVP here!  Download the flyer here!  For more info, email solidarity@jwjsf.org or call (415) 967-3710.

Oakland Low Wage/Fast Food Workers Rally (nat’l day of action)

Thursday, August 29th 4pm, AFL-CIO Labor Temple, 8400 Enterprise Way, Oakland

Come support low-wage workers at a rally demanding a living wage and a right to form to a union without retaliation. Across the country, thousands of workers are coming together to call for better pay and workplace respect.  RSVP and share on Facebook.

San Francisco Labor Council Annual Pre-Labor Day Breakfast

Friday, August 30th, 8am, SF Hilton, 333 O’Farrell Street, SF

Join the SFLC for it’s annual Pre-Labor Day Breakfast! We’ll hear from Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, our keynote speaker, as well as from Executive Secretary Treasurer of the California Labor Federation Art Pulaski and get updates on worker campaigns. Tickets are $75 each and tables of 10 are $750. RSVP to Emily Nelson at emily@sflaborcouncil.org or (415) 440-4809. Download the invite here.

Oakland Airport Workers Strike

Friday, August 31st, Rallies at 7am, 12pm and 5pm at Terminal 2

180 Oakland Airport food and retail workers will walk off the job tomorrow morning to protest unfair labor practices by their employer Host International.Come down and join workers from Starbucks, Chili’s, California Pizza Kitchen, and other shops on the picket lines. We will be on strike all day, with rallies at 7am, noon, and 5pm at Terminal 2!

We will be shuttling people from the parking lot of the ILWU Local 6 office at 99 Hegenberger Road before the 7am and 5pm rallies. If you want a ride to the airport, please meet us there by 6:45am or 4:45pm.

“Call the Governor” Action for CA Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (AB 241)

Tuesday, Sept. 3rd, call the Governor at 916-445-2841

The CA Legislature and Governor Brown have the opportunity to make history by passing and signing the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (AB 241). This Bill would begin to correct a decades-long injustice faced by hundreds of thousands of caregivers, childcare providers and housekeepers in California.

Please call the Governor at 916-445-2841.  CLICK HERE for the suggested scripts for labor union members and community members.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) made history in the U.S. However, it left insur-ance companies like Anthem in charge of our healthcare system. Just as California is rolling out the ACA, Anthem is raising premiums on small business and refer-ring patients to retail clinics to boost its profits. We need to evict these bad players from our healthcare system and finish the job of health reform by making Health-care a Human Right!

For more info, visit Campaign for a Healthy California website.

Immigrant Rights/Due Process for All Legislation March and Rally

Thursday, Sept. 5th, 4pm, SF City Hall

Immigrant rights are worker rights and human rights. Support legislation that prevents our city from detaining undocumented immigrants under the S-Comm immigration enforcement program.  Join immigrant families for a march and rally at San Francisco City Hall.

Bay Area Rally in Support of the Walmart 60 (national day of action)

Thursday, Sept. 5th, 5:30pm, Powell Street BART

Americans believe in speaking up when something’s wrong – and the freedom to act together to make things right.

But when Walmart workers came together to protest Walmart’s attempts to silence workers who spoke out for change, Walmart responded by firing and disciplining more than 60 workers.

For more than a month, we’ve asked the members of Walmart’s Board of Directors to tell Walmart to reinstate the fired workers and remove the disciplinary actions, but they have remained silent.

March with us on Sept 5th and call on Walmart to reinstate and remove disciplinary actions from the Walmart 60!

RSVP and share on Facebook.

JwJ Book Release Party and Labor at the Crossroads Forum featuring CWA’s Larry Cohen and the Fast Food Workers Organizing Campaign

Friday, Sept. 6th, 6pm, 518 Valencia Street

Celebrate the release of the new book “Jobs with Justice: 25 Years, 25 Voices!”  Our Labor at the Crossroads series will continue with a presentation on labor community coalition building and innovative labor organizing strategies with Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America and local organizers with the fast food workers organizing campaign.

RSVP and share on Facebook.

Caring Across Generations Grandparent’s Day Celebration (national day of action)

Sunday, Sept. 8th, 11am-4pm, at Sunday Streets Western Addition, Fillmore and Turk Streets

Join the Bay Area Care Council to celebrate Grandparents Day as part of a Caring Across Generations nationwide day of intergenerational celebration, service and action. On and around this day, thousands of people across the country will celebrate the role grandparents and intergenerational relationships play in our communities and lives.  Join us at the Care Council booth at Sunday Streets Western Addition to “Ask a Grandparent,” send a card to your grandparent and find out how to get involved in this visionary campaign to build a caring economy.

For more info, visit the Caring Across Generations website.

On August 1, our national Jobs with Justice Executive Director Sarita Gupta was arrested in an act of civil disobedience with more than 40 other national leaders in front of the U.S. House of Representatives to send a clear message that Congress must move our nation forward by passing comprehensive immigration reform legislation that includes a pathway to citizenship and strong worker protections.

Sarita chose to get arrested to “directly confront elected leaders for embracing the status quo over the will of the American people who want a comprehensive fix for our current broken, immoral, and unjust immigration system. “

Thursday’s protest was just the beginning of the 40 Days of Action and Prayer as Representatives head home for August recess. As The New York Times explained in a must-read editorial, “it is the people’s turn to push, to be heard and, if at all possible, to move Congress in the right direction.”

Hearing that call, Jobs with Justice local coalitions are working harder than ever to educate policymakers and mobilize local activists to push for meaningful immigration reform. Be prepared for numerous actions, meetings with House representatives and workshops in during the next six weeks as Jobs with Justice and others from around the country demand that Congress deliver real immigration reform that includes citizenship and worker protections for all.