La Raza Centro Legal, Inc.
474 Valencia St. Suite 295
San Francisco, CA
94103
January 24, 2006

Group of Department of Public Works (DPW) laborers who were unfairly terminated by the City and County of San Francisco file Ethics Complaint because Mayor paid union dues of their lower-paid replacements; San Francisco Board of Supervisors holds special hearing on the matter.

Contact Renee Saucedo (415)425-6575

On Wednesday, January 25, 2006, at 11:30 am, at the SF Ethics Commission office, 30 Van Ness Ave. #3900, a group of former DPW employees will file a complaint with the San Francisco Ethics Commission alleging that Mayor Gavin Newsom illegally paid the union dues of their replacements, who were hired for half the wage as part of Mayor Newsom's job program.

At 12:00 noon, the laborers will hold a press conference on the front steps of San Francisco City Hall. At 1:00 PM, the laborers, their attorneys, and community and labor allies will enter City Hall (2nd Floor Hearing Room) to attend a special hearing before the Board of Supervisors Finance Committee. The Committee will hear testimony and investigate DPW's failure to re-instate these workers back to their jobs after the Board of Supervisors allocated $1.8 million in the City budget to do so.

"Corruption is rampant in the Mayor's Office and in our City Departments," state Larry Montoya, one of the displaced laborers. "The Board of Supervisors specifically allocated these funds to put us back to work because we were treated unfairly. The Mayor knows it and the Board Of Supervisors knows it."