The Fair-Wage Fight Comes to the Steps of City Hall

JUST SAYIN’-An estimated 800 people gathered on the steps of City Hall  recently to rally for a livable wage of $15.00 per hour for nearly every worker in Los Angeles. (Photo)   Dolores Huerta (co-founder with Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers,) was there, inspiring the supporters.  So many other leaders of local and national fame joined her.  They all had the same message:  

Workers in Los Angeles (let alone the entire country) deserve an income that

allows them to experience a comfortable, reasonable standard of living that

offers a future of fulfilling possibilities for themselves and for their families! 

Among the guest speakers was the marvelous young poetess, Mayda del Valle, who enthralled us with her insightful, stirring, forceful, and motivating words.  Her poem captured the essence of this Movement for Fairness, for the Campaign to Raise the Wage.  Following are just a few lines from that unbelievable poem, a mere synecdoche which cannot but stir every heart: 

We stood there at 4:30 a.m. . . . a small gathering of people, with little or no

sleep, already waiting. . .to take two trains, three buses, walk a mile, two miles,

three miles, waiting to catch a connection on a three-hour commute to chase

a paycheck that doesn’t even cover the bare essentials, the barely minimum-wage

reality that equates to marginal.

 

Where is the sense in this, LA?

Where is the beauty in this, LA? 

 

You can’t make ends meet and you’re at the end of your rope. . . 

 

Where is the sense in the . . . narrative that says that if you work hard enough, you can make it?!

 

She goes on to say that, contrary to popular opinion and stereotype, “the working poor are not lazy!”  Her poem reminds me of the gentleman from Detroit who has recently been in the news.  

James Robertson is 56 years old and lives 23 miles from work.  His boss admires him and holds him as a role model for his other employees who often make excuses for being late:  This man takes public transportation which only covers part of the distance, requiring him to walk (in winter, to trudge through the snow) 14 miles round-trip.  How many young, strapping individuals (let alone people of Robertson’s age) have that kind of fortitude and determination, dedication and stamina, pride in their work ethic to do the same? 

Doesn’t his boss find it ironic and perhaps even hypocritical to praise this man who does not earn enough money to repair his old 1988 car that broke down 10 years ago?  Why isn’t this model employee earning enough to fix his vehicle or even buy a newer one? The fact is, that at $10.55 an hour, he can barely make ends meet! 

And so we return to the heady rally (of which I was a part) which was followed by visits first to the City Council Chambers and then by delegations which dropped by the offices of every single Councilmember to plead our cause.  The vote for $15 per hour will come up soon.  We need to urge our representatives on Council to vote to support this exigent motion. 

As recently as last Friday, I attended a UFCW breakfast whose purpose was to promote the ongoing boycott of El Super Mercados, many of which are in or near our own neighborhoods. Only 7 out of 49 that are unionized but with expired contracts. 

Workers have exhausted every means possible to obtain the concessions they want from El Super, which is under the administration of CEO, Chedraui Obero (who is living the opulent life in Mexico and whose personal wealth exceeds one billion dollars) and Carl Smith, the General Manager and current CFO.  

Hundreds of letters (if not thousands by this time) have been written and sent to them which enumerate employees’ reasonable demands:  guaranteeing a 40-hour work week (instead of the 32--if workers are lucky), applying seniority rules, eliminating wage theft and the pillaging of vacation pay, providing 5 paid sick days per year, providing affordable health care.  

There is also the demand that El Super commit not to retaliate against those employees who engage in work actions and to rehire those who were fired for doing so.  Similar letters in similar numbers have been repeatedly presented either to store managers or to corporate but to no avail. 

It should be of great interest that this Mexican company depends largely on its American stores (mostly in California but some in Nevada and Arizona) in order to accrue the massive profits that it has made each and every year.  And yet, the very workers who make this happen are not recipients of any of the benefits! 

It has become clear that El Super’s 9-figure annual profits are in no way being re-invested in its stores where conditions are so frightful!  Blood and slime have been found in meat coolers in more than 80% of the stores.  Processed and fresh meat and dairy continue to be stocked on shelves and in cases long after the expiration date!  It is been found that occasionally stickers with newer expiration dates have been placed over expired ones in order to fool the customer.  

NBC-TV Channel 4 (not that long ago) even did an investigative segment on this situation and exposed to its viewing audience the horrors to which both employees and customers are being exposed.  If we are aghast, we must do something to change this ugly reality! 

Can you imagine unknowingly buying and then feeding your family foods that can make them ill?  Yet, since many of the customers live in food deserts without transportation to go elsewhere, they quite literally are stuck and have little choice as to where they can shop  Thus, it is not just the workers themselves who suffer because of these wretched conditions, but, not so shockingly, the greater community as well. 

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A coalition of concerned organizations is involved in this Movement:  The UFCW, SCOPE, CLUE, ELACC (East Los Angeles Community Corporation), and KIWA-- to name but a few.  Each one is earnestly working to have the community do right by the workers who labor in it.  We need the votes from our City Council, just as we need genuine buy-in by the corporations which thrive off the backs of their laborers upon whom they build their empires, workers without whom their outrageously enormous profits could never be made. 

In the meantime, we must offer kudos to those very supportive lawmakers whom we can always count on to back our just causes, people like Councilmembers Paul Koretz, Curren Price, José Huizar, and local State Senator Holly Mitchell. 

Finally (and I paraphrase), who will look after us if we don’t first look after the worker?  I think the answer is obvious. 

Just sayin’.

 

(Rosemary Jenkins is a Democratic activist and chair of the Northeast Valley Green Alliance. Jenkins has written A Quick-and-Easy Reference to Correct Grammar and Composition, Leticia in Her Wedding Dress and Other Poems, and Vignettes for Understanding Literary and Related Concepts.  She also writes for CityWatch.) 

-cw

 

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 12

Pub: Feb 10, 2015