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Blue Diamond Workers Action Alert - Sign the Petition!

by Dan Bacher
I urge everybody to sign the petition and widely distribute this action alert about the struggle of the Blue Diamond workers in Sacramento.
bluediamondworkers_13b53e.jpg
Dear Blue Diamond Organizing Committee supporter,

Below, you will find the first e-mail action alert for the campaign to organize Blue Diamond almond workers. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your support thus far.

As you know, workers at Blue Diamond have been organizing for over two years to join the ILWU. They want respect on the job, wages that will allow them to support their families, real health and retirement benefits, and improved health and safety on the job. Workers who have openly shown their support for the union have been fired, harassed and disciplined by the company. Therefore, the support that you and other members of the community have demonstrated is crucial.

We will be sending out regular updates and action alerts to keep you abreast of campaign developments. This week, we are visiting See's Candies in 21 cities to ask that See's use its power as a major customer to tell Blue Diamond to support its workers rights. If you are not already participating in these actions, you can show your support by adding your name to our online petition and forwarding it along to your friends. The link is: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/661811086?z00m=9422176<l=1175708936

Thank you again and please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Katy Fox-Hodess

Project Organizer, International Longshore and Warehouse Union

510-388-0407 


Dear friends and supporters of the Blue Diamond workers,  
In the past two months, the Blue Diamond workers' organizing has jumped into the national spotlight--and into cyberspace!

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Blue Diamond Organizing Committee member Ivo Camilo testified before Congress when the House of Representatives took up the Employee Free Choice Act in February. Some call the EFCA the most sweeping change in labor law in the last 60 years. It would level the playing field during organizing campaigns, making the process fairer for workers.   
The AFL-CIO featured another committee member, Cesario Aguirre, in an ad for EFCA that ran in The New York Times and the Washington Post. House Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (D-CA) talked about Blue Diamond the day EFCA passed the House. Blue Diamond Growers is becoming a poster child for the need to change labor law.

NEW SITE
You can see pictures from the hearing and read more about the Blue Diamond workers' contribution to the EFCA effort at our new web site, http://www.bluediamondunion.org. We're very excited to be able to show some of the faces of the campaign and have a new way to communicate with people who want to help these workers exercise their rights and make a better life.   
As you'll see on the Web site, the Blue Diamond workers want their employer to sign a neutrality agreement with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. They want the company to agree to back off its campaign of fear and let them decide for themselves whether or not they want a union.

YOUR TURN
In their push for neutrality, the workers are seeking support from every corner of Blue Diamond's web of relationships. This includes its customers. In the week before Valentine's Day, the workers and their supporters leafleted at 11 See's Candies stores in four states. See's buys almonds from Blue Diamond. The leaflets asked See's to use its influence as a customer and urge Blue Diamond to go neutral.  
During the week before Easter, we want to visit See's again, and more than double the number of stores that get the message. We're also launching an on-line petition to See's CEO Brad Kintsler. Please go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/661811086 and sign on!

This is the first on-line letter we're sending to friends and supporters of the Blue Diamond workers. If you don't want to get any more e-mails from us, please let me know…but I hope you'll choose to stay connected with this campaign.
 
Thanks and solidarity,
Katy Fox-Hodess, ILWU Organizer
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Growing walnuts need not be toxic 2 workers!!
Thu, Apr 5, 2007 4:45PM
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