Labor Matters

The bond between the Democratic Party and labor unions is growing stronger, and this is a very positive development, as the two camps share the same goals. There are a couple very important labor issues that deserve full support.

In Los Angeles, LAX-area hotel workers fought for and received a living wage, a difficult and historic action that Mayor Villaraigosa signed into law last month. Now Century Boulevard business interests are trying to put a referendum on the ballot to repeal the law. The hotel workers are fighting back.

This evening 500 hotel workers, community members and faith leaders will participate in a candlelight procession along Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport, beginning at the home of Margarita Uriostegui, a Radisson hotel worker who tragically died two days after the historic September 28th civil disobedience and in whose memory the fast is dedicated.

Eighteen hotel workers will be engaging in a seven-day water-only fast from December 6th to December 12th. These brave workers have chosen to go without food for a week to continue their struggle for a living wage and to honor the memory of Margarita Uriostegui, their late co-worker who symbolizes their struggle to earn the right to receive fair pay for their hard work.

Show them you support them by signing OUR PETITION today.

These are hardworking men and women who simply want to be able to get an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. Right now they have to work two and three jobs to survive, and still 25% of all residents in these communities live below the federal poverty line. They fought for their living wage and got it, and this attempt at a repeal is sickening.

In addition to hotel workers in LAX, nurses in Las Vegas are being locked out of their hospitals in a labor dispute. They have every intention to return to work without a contract in good faith and in the interest of saving human lives, but to repeat, management is LOCKING THEM OUT. They've already been working without a contract since June. They simply want increased staff at Nevada hospitals, where there are over 200 less nurses per 100,000 residents than the national average. Taylor Marsh has been following this story and writes about the real-world consequences.

The good news is that the public outcry of support and the progressive blogosphere's wholehearted backing of the SEIU nurses in the Valley Health System finally forced David Bussone and Universal Health Services back to the bargaining table. But considering Bussone has people like Brent Yessin involved in this fight, it's impossible not to get the real point of Bussone's lock-out of the nurses. He wants to keep unions out of his hospitals. We need to make certain Bussone not only loses the battle in Las Vegas, but the war he's waging against unions in hospitals. Because there is more and more evidence that SEIU nurses are not only important, but critical to saving lives.

This one is going to break your heart. It happened at another of Bussone's Universal Health Services hospitals in Las Vegas, which happens to be non-union. It's also going to make you ask if this tragic story could have been prevented.

Parents plead for answers

Richard and Kathlene Shinn were eager to visit their first-born baby the morning after physicians removed breathing tubes from her delicate 21-day-old body.

But they weren't prepared for what they witnessed when they entered the intensive care unit at Summerlin Hospital at 9 a.m. that November day.

"Alyssa's hands and feet were white. She was critically ill," Richard Shinn said Wednesday.

Within hours, their daughter was pronounced dead.

(snip)

Now, the Shinns said they are desperate to learn what happened to their baby between the night of Nov. 8, when they left the hospital, and the morning of Nov. 9, when they returned. Alleging hospital officials have not answered their questions, the couple hired attorney Richard Harris.

The trio spoke to the media Wednesday to notify the community of their ordeal and warn others to beware of what could happen to their infants.

"People need to know what happened to Alyssa. They need to hear her story," a sobbing Kathlene Shinn said.

Harris acknowledged that he and the couple know little about the tragedy but speculated that the nursing shortage and overcrowding in the neo-natal intensive care unit might have contributed to Alyssa's death.

People on the right like to rag on unions, but the issues they face are about life and death, they're about giving working people the chance to experience the American dream. It's crucially important that we raise awareness and support this.

I'm cheered that the Democratic Party is getting the message on economic issues by this report from Daivd Sirota.

Today, Citigroup executive Bob Rubin gave a presentation to the new House Democratic Caucus about his prescriptions for economic growth. This is the same Bob Rubin who has, for years, attacked Democrats for trying to reform America's trade policy. As I wrote earlier today, a powerful faction of Democrats for years have worshipped at Rubin's feet, seeking his approval for everything. But a source from inside today's meeting tells me that Rubin was met today with an entirely different Democratic Caucus than he has been used to - most likely because so many Democrats were elected on populist themes this year [...]

Indiana freshman Rep. Joe Donnelly (D) told Rubin he has former Delphi employees in his district who feel that our government sold them out to foreign governments, that they were making $21/hour and are now making $9/hour, meanwhile they're outsourcing, dumped their pension obligations on the government. He demanded of Rubin: "What do you say to that?"

Wisconsin Rep. Steve Kagen (D) noted that Rubin talked about the savings, fiscal and trade deficits -- but what about the "leadership deficit?" Kagen we need not rhetoric but real leadership to address these outsourcing issues and the fact that we are losing our tax base.

Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D) said the Democratic Party has lost its way. She noted when Clinton started there was a $70 billion trade deficit and they left with a $370 billion trade deficit, and reminded people she opposed NAFTA and has been a fierce opponent of Rubin on these issues over the years.

Fresman New York Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) said it's a serious problem that we're losing our manufacturing base, she noted that we lose our innovation capacity when the manufacturing base declines, that one goes with the other.

Freshman Kansas Rep. Nancy Boyda (D) complained about the pending NAFTA superhighway going through her district and that the link between immigration and trade is real and a problem (a point I expanded on in my New York Times review of Lou Dobbs' new book).

New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell (D) - my source says he "unloaded on Rubin," telling him that the loss of our manufacturing base is a national security issue. The Chinese are manufacturing our tanks, there is a clear link between economic security and national security.

New Hampshire freshman Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D) "took a shot at the Big Box stores," indicting them for their business and labor practices.

Michigan Rep. Sander Levin (D) said that during his six years as Ranking Member of the Trade Subcommittee on Ways & Means, there has not been a discussion with Republicans on trade. He disputed the fake divide people like Rubin push between "free trade" and "protectionism." He said that there is a "hands-off" trade policy and an "activist" trade policy. He assured that during his tenure as Chairman, there will be a discussion about trade policy.

Finally, California Rep. George Miller (D) echoed Bill Greider's recent column pointing out that when Wall Street executives like Rubin talk about intellectual property and financial services in trade agreements, everything is clear. But when they start to talk about labor provisions and the environment, it's supposedly "too controversial" and "too complicated."

This is what we fought for in November: for a Democratic Party that is committed to helping the lives of working people instead of lining the pockets of corporations and neoliberal champions. Labor has a major role to play in that. It's crucially important that the leadership of the Party is not timid in their approach and undergoes a fundamental rethinking of how to level the playing field and restore opportunity for everybody in this country.