February 2013

By Denise Diaz, Executive Director, Central Florida Jobs with Justice

Democracy speaks loud and clear!

Last Friday, a three-judge panel ruled that Orange County commissioners broke the law by refusing to put an earned sick time referendum on the ballot in November, effectively suppressing the voices of 50,000 voters in the county.

Many months following the revelation that county commissioners were texting corporate lobbyists during supposedly open public meetings, the courts came back with a major ruling.

The Earned Sick Time ballot initiative  was unlawfully kept from being voted on and now must be put on the ballot for the 2014 primary election. This is major progress in winning a policy that would improve the lives of thousands of workers that currently do not have this safety net policy.

During the last two weeks of February, the United Workers Congress (UWC) is sending a small delegation to India, including three representatives from Jobs with Justice.

The purpose of the trip is to introduce the United Workers Congress as a growing platform projecting the voices of workers not protected under current US labor law, share strategies with leaders of the Indian trade union and social movements and to move conversations that will build the United Workers Congress long-term.

In addition sharing organizing models used to build our base and our power with similar sectors in India, UWC delegates will discuss strategies impacting employment structure/practices, including day laborers (daily wagers), contract workers, self-employed, cooperatives, and labor-community alliances.

Why is this happening now?

The President’s State of the Union address Tuesday reminded us all of one of the key principles we continue to fight for: everyone deserves a fair shot, and everyone should pay their fair share.

Working families should not have to pay more just so the wealthy can pay less. Congress should follow President Obama’s call to support working families by raising the federal minimum wage, closing the wage gap, and protecting the social safety net programs on which hardworking Americans rely. Something clearly doesn’t add up when the average working family can’t afford quality preschool, while the wealthiest Americans saw their incomes quadruple in recent years.

Photo: Lisa Lopez with Jobs with Justice and American Rights at Work Executive Director Sarita Gupta in Washington, DC

Lisa Lopez is a deli associate for Walmart in Central Florida. Last November, as Walmart associates across the country walked off the job on Black Friday to protest Walmart’s unfair labor practices, Lopez was the only worker to walk out at her store. But she was joined by community allies - many mobilized by Central Florida Jobs with Justice - including Congressman Alan Grayson.

Walmart was quick to retaliate. Two weeks later on December 5th, her floor manager called her in for a “coaching”—Walmart’s term for a disciplinary meeting with a supervisor.

“Once I realized it was a coaching, I asked to have another associate come in to sit with me,” said Lopez. Company policy permits for one associate to have another join them during a coaching. “He said no. Then he asked me to sign a document saying I’d been coached.”