Field Observations – USSF 2007,
Peter Luu
UC-Riverside
Saturday June 30, 2007
First Session: S1.66
Workshop: Verizon Worker Organizing
Organization:
Summary: The overall workshop was an introduction of their organization, what their aims are, and what they’ve been doing. Their main aim is for worker’s justice for Verizon employees, mainly those in managerial positions because their benefits and very jobs have been threatened due to an increase in outsourcing and a “chipping away” of benefits. In their experience they discovered they were not the only ones who had grievances with Verizon. Verizon’s customers who were not deemed economically sufficient were left out of the picture when it came to technological upgrading. Copper wires have been left untended, and due to this people who still depend on the old copper lines are adversely affected. Towards the end, the main panelist Laura asked those who attended the session how they might better achieve their goals in their fight against Verizon. I suggested an acephalous form of leadership that way they can strategize at different levels and angles to “tip the scale.” My overall impression of this group, they did not seem as organized as most of the other sessions I’ve attended, then again this movement seems like it’s in its nascent stages.
About 17 people
6 white males
Predominantly white, 1 Asian male 3 black women…
1 black male
This will be a planning session for coordination work being done to support workers at Verizon Wireless and Verizon Business in addition to other coporate accountability campaigns at verizon such as fighting phone service sell offs in rural communities and redlining high speed tech services
Laura from national jobs with justice
Talk a little about overview of campaign
Community access issues
ACORN
Other issues with CWA
Targeting the company in a few different ways
What they’ve been trying to do with JWJ
Specific work to reach out with Verizon business and customers
In
To the president of the CWA local asking them to do a few things
To send letters themselves to honor worker’s rights
To have a good working relationship with their member’s companies
If they have Verizon wireless, ask them to switch
What’s wrong with Verizon…?
Verizon is the big business machine that’s chipping away at worker’s rights
The only union people are in
Wireless, and core companies made 88 Million dollars
Last year at end of 2005
There was a move towards getting rid of managers benefits
Offensive resources formed this engagement, other companies… bargaining in 2008 mold to form their workers rights, this is an overview
What’s happening to the workers
They’re outsourcing
Former MCop
Taking work from union workers and moving it elsewhere
Verizon’s bill print center….
800 numbers go to contractors
that aren’t even going to Verizon workers but instead to
Grievance process overlooked
Contracts were violated, Contracts with the union
they’re not maintaining service, not helping consumers from rural areas, not focused on consumers, completely going downhill, not just campaigns against the workers but against workers with unions
They’re trying to shift work over wireless so they’re abandoning their old copper lines they’re selective with building new fiber-optics in richer areas not in poorer parts of cities because they believe they won’t be making more profit there
they’re abandoning services in other areas and cutting numbers
wait time for tech to come is longer and longer
losing jobs in DC for verizon and being cut out of good high speed internet service
Comcast is super expensive
Similar to story of other places
Or they’ll just cut off their copper lines
People who don’t have internet access…
Just worst and worst service
They tried to sell in buffalo but failed
Looking for some company that was smaller than what they were selling
Name in little piece of a law… if a company that sells to a smaller company, they get huge million dollar tax break (so if a huge company sells to a smaller company, the larger company gets tax breaks)
They were selling to a smaller company
Unions in the community in
Union workers have been trying to tell the company how it’s going to affect the workers
One of the issues they’ve been finding in the hearings:
Verizon hasn’t been doing anything to help
This new company hasn’t even been able to maintain itself
The financial situation can turn over any moment..
Public utility commissions…
During meetings they were silencing…
They’re starting to let their views be known
It’s still ongoing
Intervener testimony by institutions
Two unions are listed as
interveners in
That’s where that stands right now
Company is mainly gaining profits
Workers are being harassed and getting fired
Consumers are not getting access to the tech they need to have access to this economy
CWA and IBW have a great job at throwing this stuff at this company to have them change in order to
A year away from 97000 workers
Folks that struck before and have struck successfully could strike again
—
In a lot of areas
They own a lot of lines themselves
They have to sell the products, voicemail at a discounted wholesale rate
Number of them all over the
And they don’t like that
Technicians do work with the problems
Chris is a technician (one of the speakers)
Chris – need to have a competition status… listed all the CLex, things of competition
stringent rules and regulations about how we receive our customers
poor companies can go
cable cut in their area
rural area… but it’s not like you can’t access it
people just have their cables cut
they’re doing it everywhere
not only abandoning the workers but also the customers
penalty to customer’s commitment, by putting them out for a good 2 weeks so they won’t miss the commitment again
shifted everything to fiber-optics
If you don’t maintain the copper, it’s a major impact on jobs
4 centers are union
there’s
one center in
in that particular center in union, bill print center… there’s no union
they jumped through hoops to keep people out of the union
there’s usually 4 or 5 different names on the bill print
they delegate work, that’s how they keep them separate
9 call centers in the
trying to create a two tier workforce, make the same that managers do… but only different thing is they start off with lower pay
2 more things to problem
we just learned that Verizon wireless now owns vote-a-phone
brought in a union busting lawyer to get rid of unions forming in other countries
we
wouldn’t have phone service around the
we’ve got a lot of different angles
what are we doing and what cane we do?
Trained over 6000 current union members…
What can those who aren’t in the Union do?
Connect DC
Verizon has no intention to build it’s fiber ops in DC out in the suburbs
But at the same time they’ve been cutting their older land lines
They want to push the company to commit to build their new high tech in these areas so city has to have to be a target
Must lower prices
T o let the city know there’s not going to be a digital divide
To continue old copper lines
Allow people to have cell phone
This is more of a fairness issue because not everyone has these benefits
Try to make sure there are good jobs available through verizon
Access to technology…
Some of the other things that the verizon business tech… MCI was bought by verizon but kept them separate
More than ½ want to be in the union
College have been doing…
Also trying to get verizon businesses with accounts with 2.5 thousand dollars…
6000 verizon business company
a lot of responses from politicians
now next
step is how we’re going to make these companies… one of the top 100 is
techs
who work at
regional vice president of verizon…
Trying to keep the momentum un in
Even in
In addition to those 100 businesses..
We ask them who they go to everyday… customers
they also send letters to the customers
trying to figure out the fiber optics issues
people were really use
“I doesn’t surprise me that they don’t treat the workers very well because they don’t treat the customers very well”
“ Sandra Lougs” a worker… socialite..
librarians… protesting…
Russ Davis from
They want young people hooked on that cell-phone and so they continue to use it
Looking for letters to the company
Maybe work with USSAS
What’s the difference between union and non-union
Killer coke campaign….
Policies around the industry
Should be able to get equal service anywhere…
Changing of standards
So if you live 5 feet away
Cable industry has been anti union
Wireless put in is maintained by union members
Basically is to hit verizon at all kinds of levels
Talked about strategies that backfired
People who are servicing verizon are also customers
Think about how close that service is to the customers
What about consumer groups that just fix cell phone plans…
A lot of cell phone policy but not a lot of opportunity
But other organizations
Legislation where they have Verizon… removing the SCC
There was a consumer group that testified on the unions’ side to speak against the legislation
Second Session: S2.54
Workshop: The Worker’s Center Movement
Organization: Interfaith Worker Justice
Panelists: Kristin Kumpf (National Organizer) and Will Tansman
National program of faith
Interfaith Worker Justice
Phone: (773) 7288400
Summary: Interfaith Worker Justice is an organization that creates
a safe place in order for workers to come together and discuss their grievances
about the workplace situation that started in
Was not originally a worker based program, just eventually expanded into worker area
Economic Justice Coalition
Subculture of train hopping…
10 females
2 Asian women
and an even mix of Mexican and white men and women
26 people
people
talking about where they’re from, 2 people talking about their affiliations
with
another two talking about union stuff including history..
worker’s
center from
justice
of the world union from
(matterats?) info shop
focuses
also with
Viet unity
from
(brenets?)
justice from
the no
request
economic justice
work
with worker’s centers in
program de passion
students united… work in education
worker’s united”
Central derechos
interested in learning about worker’s who are organized
Paralegal on immigration
Interested in workers in
A model for longer term change outside of conjuction with litigation
Florida Immigrant coalition
Volunteer with worker intendents united
In support of the workers at the corner of 7/11
Student labor action project in Philly
Security guards getting paid low wages
Worker’s center,
Antiwar stuff
Onyx foundation
“New beginnings” online journal
American
Worker’s coalition in
Immigrant coalition in
National employment law project
Fact, founder of community organizer group
Confederation
Interfaith worker’s justice
--
worker center, what it is..
a lot of different things and different places
worker center and this network
are safe places where workers can come together to share ideas in order how to create a safer place in their worker
one is union organizing
2 is lawyers
and filing administrative complaints with federal law
4, direct action by workers
history…
originally
got involved in organizing worker’s centers because the
workers with congregations would have problems
when they had problems they went to congregations and congregations went to interfaith
not sure what to say to these folks
individual problems they didn’t know how to deal with the situation
first they came up with a worker’s rights manuals
details like you get time and a half
even if you are undocumented you still get pay and a half
distributed pamphlets with this information
within 24 hours there were calls
they called department of labor
then they called back the next day
there was a clear lack of enforcement by government agency
just to get in the door you need a driver’s license
lack of support for low wage workers especially for places without unions
First campaigns was to fight those government agency to change so they don’t ignore
Wasn’t clear which one worker would fit into
Ti’s so slow to go through the government bureaucracy that sometimes it made more sense to do more direct action on the employer
If one employee wasn’t getting paid overtime they found other workers to form a delegation to talk to a boss
Collectively the power of direct action in these types of situation
Employer’s worker’s, didn’t have to stand for this kind of stuff
Third development… is they realize a sig number of workers weren’t actually illegal
Especially workers who would solve the legal problems
Started connecting workers with labor unions some of which needed to be brought into the process
Some didn’t speak Spanish
Didn’t just leave behind administrative complaints
“So we give the workers a set of options”
Worker evaluations is key
Couple things about the growth of the national movement
Made in 2000
Realizing that other folks had amazing knowledge and experience around the country
Had this whole networks of 40 religious coalition
So national network was formed in 2002
In
In 1990 there was 11 worker’s center in all the country
Today it’s about 120
Era of united steel and united auto workers is practically over
Instead of the base being in the work place….
Future growth in the network
One of the things… realization
The amazing diversity of workers around the country is a real strength but there’s the issue of coordination
Workers will show up for work for a short time gig…
Job only lasts a week
Employer will say come and get a paycheck, but the actual employer won’t be there the next day
Laws that punish employers for this is extremely weak
So now working on federal level
No enforcement on any level makes it harder…
--
Kreisten worked in the
automatically
connected with the Filipino workers of
stereotype of low wage workers different from actual reality
stereotype is home healthcare
assumption is that there were documented
but there are actually 2 million that are not documented
stories of workers that would show up to do work and were not getting paid wages
so it became clear to us that workers did not know where to go…
if only 12% of the workers in the country unionized………
where does the rest go?
Some place in the community that workers know eh=where to go for help
Workers Have to be involved in forming these workers center
So there were a few key pieces; classic definition of worker center, it’s a safe comfortable space to talk about the abuses…. What would a space look like?
Workers wanted not only file wage claims but could have conversations about other issues
The issue of using the computer, technical skills
Then setting up a cultural center that was a piece of the worker center
We need to have a diverse array of community support
What can law students do? Started off with just law students
Job center is to offer information and offer support
Sometimes meant filing wage theft cases
Other part of the worker’s center, is how do they become the bridge between the federal government and the worker’s themselves
The Rugrats Movie
Most animation was done by Asian animators
Brought them over with visas
These workers are excited to be here
But they weren’t getting sick days, overtime,
Right before preproduction, they fired them all and took off their visas
Brought in legal team, discussed different options
Put them on V1 Visas
What was interesting was that because workers were at the group and workers from other
They wanted to do more…. Wanted to let the city know that immigrant workers were getting screwed
Workers decided to create an art project about the immigrant workers
Did all this art, every piece of the art is the trial and struggles of working in LA
Took this art on
We all benefit from the work from these immigrant workers
They won the case
Got their visas
Ended up taking the exhibit where one of the staff worked in the animation industry
Got some of the industry folk to come out and perform
Knew the actors who did the voices of the rugrats movies
Told the story to the voices, they came to the benefit night
Publicly thanked these workers, said “we’re sorry got screwed for this movie”
Those workers are still very active workers from this center
Liberation theology from Economic Justice mentioning
It’s an issue in worker centers that a lot of the workers don’t read or write
Some actually offer ESL classes and some even offer GED classes
Liberation theology, embedded in Latin
America as well as
Part of it too is that workers in our movements
Committee and
Jobs for justice:
Earlier about developing a worker center that’s comfortable
Concern in
The worry is there will be raids, especially in strip malls… and other places
Interfaith:
One place that undocumented workers don’t get raided in are located in churches
No publicized raids of worker centers
Part of it too is they felt safe coming here because the community knows but those in power don’t know at all or even cared
Ask the undocumented workers where they would feel safe, even ask if it can take place around someone’s home
In terms of people feeling safe, a few places where people feel safe
The most successful are just word of mouth
Safety planning
Direct action that seems to be most effective…
Organizing with bringing lawyers into the things
Getting complaints for the workers…
IWJ
Important, especially lawyers who have an organizing framework
One of the questions that always comes up is time
Lawyers are busy people
Often I wouldn’t necessarily open a center, when they opened
Book by Jennifer Gordon
Suburban Sweatshops
Sometimes the presence of lawyers
If your centers are known for lawsuits and regulatory complaints, folks don’t want to mess with that
[Last year the IGBA center won back money, many worker centers have lots of cases being files]
what can you work up to?
After you tried some direct action, put pressure on employers to get actions for filing the case
Figure out who your team is
Successful worker centers are workers who stay
It’s important for them to be active in the board, organizing table, how do we reach out to other workers?
Using them to think that if it works for their case, then it will work for others
A lot of times however, you need to have propaganda to get people’s attention
Just be there
Need to know who’s helping us
In
They are going directly to the bosses with a lawyer, giving them warnings… “if you don’t pay, be ready”
IWJ
Most places that have a team of people, they educate themselves first… know the labor rights
First stem is get the activists to sit down with the lawyers to know what the labor law is
The whole concept of small claims
Worker groups are effective because they can file group complaints from the same industry to file a joint claim
More effective in time and issues too
What sort of anecdotes that’s worth time
Examples of workshop models… what types of workshops… intercommunity… to hear about the educational work that people have done
Unions have obligation to come to the workers or the union will die
Another union threatened to sue the county
Unions are recognizing more and more that they need to help support the worker centers
Seen situations of unions funding
It’s an important space especially for those who have not been able to unionize
United electrical workers, grassroots union… small manufacturing shops
Collected workers to a successful organizing drives
Showed the boss the workers were serious
Recognition
Very important for the workers to find some sort of confidentiality
Are they really doing a good union or just ripping you off?
Shop down the street, about 98% afro American, 2% Mexican American
At some point, you have to come to realize you have to trust somebody, sometimes it can’t get worst so you have to open up
Difficult to organize a right to work state
Some of these networks have developed really good modules
Jose’s e-mail address joliva@iwg.org
The national director of this network. Ask him about any information
You can bombard him with information
What’s the actual structure that’s set up?
How are things normally run?
Are you planning on setting up new worker’s center?
They vary quite a bit….
There are standalone centers while others are part of interfaith for worker’s justice
There is a worker board that has authority over the workers center
Usually the project is started by interfaith
First they hire a staff to do workshops
Worker’s advocates are sometimes paid, sometimes volunteered
They ask workers what they want to do… and as the process is going the worker’s advocates will ask the workers to join to maybe take over as leadership so workers will have some sort of leadership
The goal is always to bring workers onboard into the decision making
Sometimes undocumented workers don’t want to be a part of it
Funding…. In terms..
If you’re interested in working on a new workers center and want to be in the network… just contact…
What they do as organizers is they work with groups on the ground
There are great grant givers
Working a lot out of phoenix
Some of them are from the churches in the local areas that donate
United Food and Workers centers
Immigrant outreach programs coordinating with worker centers
USCW
One of the better ones
Central
However there’s a lot of Spanish language organizers, there ends up being some nudging… pretty much good…
Workers centers… what can be a good type of relationship with the union relationship
It can be a balance that is difficult to make
What are the links between, or do
you have links between works with justice movements and workers centers? Questions from woman from
Spanish speaker from
How do these centers maintain themselves financially?
Do you lose from each worker?
Are they startup funds, to a certain point, how does it become self sufficient, how does this work?
There’s always good work to do
From interfaith perspective
In competition with those who are already out there that’s already doing good work
We tend to focus on industry workers
They help connect workers with the right people
We are an active with an religious voice,
But it’s also a worker’s center
So it’s joint chapter that sets
up a worker center in
Sometimes it’s tenuous
There’s some clarity in lines
Filling a niche
They’re not a pocket in which they can just grab people out of
Sometimes you can get funding from unions
But in that relationship, it’s known that they are not just signing workers up for that union
There to support rights of workers, but not of the unions
Fine line there
Usually have a really good relationship with those iin the union
Yes there are startup funds, usually there’s continuous funds
First hurdle is the start up money
But once it’s realized that they’re making good money, then it’s not hard to find money
Foundation funding money priorities usually change
Membership dues are usually a very good way to sustain an organization
Canadian, mix of white, black Mexican, Asian….,
Center for equal rights in
Works on domestic violence issues
Women who are victims of domestic violence
Often find work in houses and gardeners
Want a form or way because a lot of these women are leaders... so we need to find ways to allow them to work as leaders
Interested in interfaith workers because of sister Consuela
Stopped working with her as much… see that people need a lot of help
Interfaith:
Have a small group in
Many groups, about 60 groups across the center
Within this year we expect it to grow rapidly
What’s the next step?
::
there’s competition, or some will say worker unions are stupid….
If you go through interfaith to do that…
One of the things that is intentional is maintaining a good relationship
AFL an CIO
Allow them to work with people at the local level
Focusing on areas of the low wage workforce that are not organized by unions
The capacity of the labor unions
It’s just staggering with the number of workers
Try not to use 2 different strategies to organize workers because that’s where you’ll run into conflicts
Sometimes they’ll connect them with the union and give them the perspective of the union
But in order to serve as many workers as possible, they’ll stay out of the issue of unions
Conflicts takes energy away from organizing against the employers
Encouraging people to create their models
The issues of invisibility
But what we as day laborers do, it seems like we are ghosts… who are working for families
Specifically in
A lot of bosses take advantages of this situations because society treats us as criminals
Bosses take advantage of this, because they take us to work and commit a lot of injustices
The only crime is not having a paper
Here to ask for social justice
Union is not union bureaucracy
Everyday folks organize themselves
Workers coming together, not just lower class workers but lawyers too… in terms of demanding fair increase for the transit…
2 suggestions, talking about important things…
help them to help themselves
as often as possible, teach them about service… everyday we have all the planet using up energy…
for change for this earth. We need to change the situation
we can’t hate the bad employers because it’s bad energy
you
Third Session: S3.01
Workshop: “Organizing Immigrant Workers”
Organization: AFL-CIO
Erika Costa and moderator Eddie
Summary: There were 5 panalists, 2 of which mainly spoke Spanish so
there was an interpreter. The main
speaker, Margot went over the organization and what they have been doing so far
in terms of immigrant house builders who work for this company called Pulte in
the
CIO in
Immigrant worker’s organizing workshop
Campaign that’s going on in the southwest
Wanted to mention one thing
FLOC
(Famr?) labor organizing committess
One of their laborers were
assassinated in
One of the staff researchers helped organize
This workshop is nestled between 2 forums taking place
Last night’s plennaries
And today’s plennaries
Issues intersecting here in the
The campaign just in big terms
Essentially talked about this immigration policy that’s corporate griven
Serving the interests of the corporations
Meeting at the workplace turning out to be a disasters
Workers need to work under these conditions
What’s interesting about this where it’s happening,
Unions tha tare organizing in these industries are not known to be the most open unions and are trying to deal with the new realities in residential construction in the new work force
Margot
Painters and allied trade, painters who put up drywall… etc..
Rajelio
Striker and organizer
Angel R
Work installing airconditioning in houses
Building a campaign,
Painters union, sheet metal, roofers, fellow CIO is involved
Exciting collaboration
Sharing a little bit about what the campaign is
What the strategy is
National campaign
Organize workers specficially in
the states of
More of a national campaign
Building of thousands of homes
Contractors, underground
The real power in the mixture is the homebuilder which contracts with these contracters
Understanding their power
Either though they don’t directly control, they have the power
More of a moral responsibility for them to provide the right contracting conditions
Not only the cuts construction industry
But th really frightening anti-immigration atmosphere
Systems of oppression meeting
Detriot,
About 60,000 new homes in
In construction
Construction dollars in
Over 90% of that are going into families
Situation with immigration in
Over 50% coming into the country
illegally through
Proposition 200, essentially intended to marginalize immigrants from services
Political leaders feel there is a mandates from the community to be anti immigrant
Debate has swung to rhe right
Republicans and democrats alike
Minutement, vigilantes wear suits in the legislature
Miliatarization of the border
More like apolice state…. Better in phoenix and tuscon
What does it mean to be organizing as an immigrant worker?
Literally living in a militarized
state in
This is where it’s all coming together, ugly, hard fight
Lucky enough where immigrants have enriched the labor movment
This particular campaign…
The contractor that we are targeting, looking for to set industry standards
Called Polty homes
Operates in 50 different markets
Dellweb, they are a part of
People who are over the age of 55
Active adult communities
Over 40% of their sales go to these
Housing market has tanked over the past year
More and more baby boomers are buying homes less affected by interest rates
Strategies
Comprehensive corporate campaign
What’s important to Holty homes?
Right now the reality is lots of these contracters are disposable to holty homes
Pulte Homes
As well as Del Webb
Workers
Clients – how can we get the message out to people who are buying
Most people are going to their homes before they buy it so they’re out there before the homebuyhers are out there
Before they even get to the stage of offering homes to home buyers, is where are they going to buy the land?
Long process that lasts years
Often there are local community groups that are involved in that process
Outside of
Offered support for the community
But Pulte eventually won over…
Trying to assert themselves from community group
Pulte homes is building condos in
There is a real struggle that this neighborhood is not gentrified
Pulte homes is building those condos
How do we really ally ourselves with the community, churches, or the students?
Another thing is there are actually workers taking the legal approach
One of the things that contracters do is working for a piece rate so not elligable for overtime
However federal law states that it’s not time and a half but rather rate and a half once you have worked over 40 hours
Contracters are limited by what pulte homes lets down
--
Accionistas
Legal
Trabajadores
Communidad, iglesias, estudienates
Compradores
Contratistas
Hulguistas
Angel from pheonix arizona
Used to work for charores
Worked for 6 years and a half
Used to install air conditioning
Between 2 people, they had to install all the tanks and life the machines to the roof
Many of the machines ranged from 1 to 5 tons in residential areas
This company all the work has a lot of injustices
It’s a huge company
It has more than 12,000 employees
Controls about 8% of the market
in
Besides that we have a lot of injuries and not provided wit hwater
One of the main concerns I
believe is the water and
Many times we’re working inside of the attic so it goes as high as 150 degrees
It is too much for us, after 40 hours we work overtime
He worked for a whole year, 7 days a week for 40 regulars and 45 overtime
So about 90 hours a week
He chose to work there, the pay was so low that he needed to work overtime to pay rent
Work injuries happens everyday
So many times they work with metals and cut their hands
Many of his friends fell from the attic
One of the coworkers who’s on the strike fell and borke his hand and never did any compensation and didn’t care
Pulte Homes we know is the one that provides help with Chares Roberts
Pulte has a responsibility to provide help
They are the ones who gives jobs to this company because they have to be responsible they we are the ones who build these homes
They have gone to the main offices
The exhibition sales… and they don’t care..
They rather support the company and rather know the people who build the houses[??]
Organizing is about 15 of us, is on strike, we do picket lines and the trucks that provide materials, we picket in front of
Also in the middle week, we put notices to the owners of the houses to let them know that the houses were not well buildt
Also going to the point of sales and put banners to let people know to question the people who are selling what happened to the workers
When these people come to the point of sales the company lied
The sales people come out and tell them that they’re going to call the INS and immigration on the workers because of thei skin color
We know under the law that they’re protected even though they are protesting
Even the police said that they have the right to protest
Just wanted to be treated with dignity
To give them the worth that they have
Going to ask to go th toe company
Because there are other branches in other states in this company
Painters unions, etc… all joining together
Rohelio
Worked fro this company
Working for 12 years in this industry
Been in this company for about a year
Working on drywall
Very heavy, about 100 pounds
Been hurt before many times
Don’t want to tlak about that because it’s a sad experience
Being the one that contract company making homes
This company that he works for builds most of Pulte’s homes
Going to talk about the injustices of the work site
Started working when he was about 15, pay was better before
Stealing a lone from them
Used to pay better, but now barely paying
Job is being paid by piece
The feet is about 7 cents per foot
If he doesn’t work 8 hours he doesn’ make ends meet
Going about 12 hours per day
About 50-60 hours per week
To meet our expenses and to have a livable life we have to work all these hours… many hours
Because of rushing work a lot of people have been hurt
They have fallen from 18 feet heights
Getting hurt with metal
Used a blade to cut a metal, really fast, and If you go slow you can’t make the hours you have to make
If you go and complain, the supervisor will say there’s more workers that’ll work for less than you do
Besides that they have schedules of how many homes you build per month so it’s a little pressure to where there are no free days
No rights to get sick
During july, aug, and sept, the temperature is greater
So it’s worst to work inside
Since everything it’s enclosed everyone who’s working inside is dehydrated and have nosebleeds
Pulte has a responsibility in phoenix…[??]
Now with the paint industry metrovalley
Not only his company but other companies that are involved
Been 6 months on strike
Organizer because wants to organize coworkers
About 95% of the workers are immigrants
This is the kind of actions that we do… workers on strike
Talking about
In this may, he went to
The problem wasn’t with them but with the contractors
But since they are the contractor, they also have a lot of responsibilities
They were like they didn’t know anything, but they still haven’t done anything
A lot of pressure on home owners
Giving fliers
The conditions of workers
An dalso the effect on the homes
The homes were not built the way they were suppose to
You know when you buy a house… one of the things inside the papers is if there were accidents on the
Metrovalley paints
They’re doing vigils in front of their houses with candles, asking for answers
When all this injustice is going to stop
Because they don’t want to talk to the workers
They don’t’ want to talk to the workers… right now they have been sued
Because of many of the workers are not being paid overtime
Because if you work more they’re going to make more money
Right now they’re at the center of all of this and asked why they didn’t do this before right after the incident
It’s guilty and because that company is paying even less
Giving to home buyers
Their decision to buy houses
Basic things that people need
Growing part of the economy done on the backs of these workers
Unions are applying pressure at different levels
--
3 points
Elena Heredia
Thousands of UAW retiring moving
to
Point of focus would be retirees
leaving
A lot of auto workers retiring to
places like
Pulte
Works with immigrant workers getting ripped off of their wages
Pulte is a hot spot but mostly in landscaping
They contract with commercial landscapers
What residential building is going on is undocumented
Getting UAW into the loop in massive mailings
Working with coalition of retirees
UAW working presidents
Something that could be more on the localized level
Connection between current immigrant workers
Contracter that worked for Pulte said “Deport them”
Next point,
More complex
Part suppliers in Auto, claiming that they’re broke
Paying deflated wages
Sweat shops are right in
They’re not paying wage, benefits or overtime
Yet paying the company as if buying from other workers
If you’re a home owner, buying a house for 200,000
Your mortgage is based on that rate
Those rates are derived ffrom wages
So what is the real amount of the money
The insurance companies are complicit about this
Let’s follow the money
Expericnes of campaigns…
Good to expericne
Idea of supplying pulte homes with large companies
Choices are the same
Sherwin William paints
ACORN is having a campaign against lead based paint
What is the overarching goal of the campaing
Is to raise standards of residential construction
Ultimately it’s to get the contractors to up their standards
Past year has been a lot of progress
This strategy has worked with roofers and iron workers
Same demographics,
[Director of the AFCIO]
if we’re going to organize these workers it’s gotta be Pulte
it’s an incredibly daunting task
--
workers out on the job site
message of how the community support is important
tey’re picket lined
in the worksite of metrovalley painter
they arrived their, talked to the worker
about what a picket line meant
explained to him a little bit an dhe became a little angry
and did the picket line in front of the public space
because it was in front of the company there
and about 10 minutes later the truck was moved from their
and the worker pulled out oa painter machine
and a water truck, tank came
so they started to spraying water on with a lot of pressure
this water is used to sprayed on the soil but we didn’t know wha tit contained
believe it was contaminated water
sprayed like 16 times
water going back and forth in front of the picket line
2 trucks spraying water
they were provoking to stop doing the line
because people like supervisors were their but the truck was from PULTE
so they were laughing at how they were being sprayed with the water
provking them to fight
so there was a lot of anti immigration laws
so there would be a misconception
looking for a way to provoke them
told themselves to do nothing
some of the coworkers moved
so they would go on private property to call the sheriff
they sprayed for about 45 minutes to about 1 hour
they filmed the whole incident
conference last Friday on the capital
it was a public nationwide
of how they were treated that day
we don’t know what the public will do
and they’re denying that the trucks belonged to them
very angery because he feels offended as a man
fortunately he didn’t do anything, he didn’t want to ruin the campaign
Francisco
Just Cause from Calfornia
Like to make an observation
The lack of ethic, the workers should do a good job
The buyers of the homes don’t
T have the faults of how the homes are being built
In
What should we do to be reach those people who build houses
There are people who sleep on the
streets in
In terms of the qualitites of the homes the workers try to do the best that they can, it’s just that the companies are pressuring them to finish quickly
Another seriousl problems is the contracters cut the amount of materials required
It’s not a question of worker’s commitment but rather what can you do with the resources you have with the pressure
Pulte homes in many states have affordable housing laws
Pulte homes take advantage of laws to bypass certain regulations
Thinking about the
There wasn’t the materials to complete the job, when I said to the supervisor these materials weren’t here and I need them
He would say, I don’t care just find something of a different size the inspection is tonight you have to finish
So when we informed Pulte about these problems, they didn’t care
They only carea bout their profits
When the owners of the house find and complain about the defects Pulte will say, “Oh your warranty is up” or “Oh you never had a warranty in the first place”
So what I found out is the airconditioning unit comes with a 10-15 year warranty, a lot of the homeowners are not informed about these warranties
So the person who’s affected is the homeowner
The company charges when they find the defect
But we always do the best job that we can because their jobs are based on the best that they can
They’re buyers that come that already buy the house
And see the house as it’s being built
They get mad at the materials being used
And the worker’s say, “It’s not our fault”
They get mad because they pay so much money
It’s rare for someone to go as a buyer to go quickly because the houses go up within one month
Some of them actually buy the materials so that they could build it themselves and say take their time..
Politicos
Puplidores de materials
Huelguistas
--
El razo
2 years, 7 – 4:30
paint 5 houses inside and out everyday
same thing when you tried to talk to the boss
they’ll say you can go, there are thousands of people who’ll work with less
no break, 15 minutes in the morning
8 dollars an hours… 5 days a week…
they did not provide water
would check details
watch through binoculars
had to schedule how many houses to finish a day
so he’ll just do drywall
so they had to be close together, nailed in correctly, in case of a fire
every 4 inches
very tiring
lots of pressure
next step is to pass it on to coworkers who have to do the taping
corners then tapers
then the refiner
all has to be quick
and done in 2 or 3 days
there’s also issues of sexual harassment of women worker’s who do paint jobs
Rajelio hurt his back and waist so he needed surgery because of the strain that he has at work.
Mainly through the weight and difficulty of the job
He’s not able to do it calmly now
--
UAW members
Undocumented workers should have equal rights in the unions
Unions are on the side of those who work
There are many undocumented workers in unions, may be uneven
You have to speak the language in order to connect to the workers as well.
Charlie Flemmings
dc15margot@msn.com