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STRIKE Support!!! Tue. 3/14 Join SEIU 415 picket lines

by via list (laborcouncil [at] mbclc.org)
The strike is on!

Your action is requested to support 1,800 Santa Cruz County workers who are striking on Tuesday, 14 March.

Please forward this message to co-workers and progressive email lists so we can spread the word about this ONE DAY action.
graniterock.jpg
Background: 1,800 Santa Cruz county workers have launched a one-day strike against a Board of Supervisors that so far refuses to provide wages comparable to that of comparable workers in comparable counties. Their struggle is the same struggle facing all working families in our communities -- farm and food processing workers fighting for decent pay and basic human rights, UC workers fighting for pay parity, Ralph's employees fighting the company's scheme to de-unionize their workplace, Natividad workers fighting the privatization of that county hospital, hotel workers rising up to fight for a living wage -- and this strike will be an opportunity for us to express and build our solidarity across the Central Coast. How can the labor activists support this strike?

Join the picket lines beginning at 7:30am.

Main picket sites:

Santa Cruz at the County Building: 701 Ocean Street

Watsonville downtown: 12 W. Beach Street

Join the rallies at 3:30pm.


Rally sites:

Santa Cruz at the County Building: 701 Ocean Street.

Watsonville downtown: City Park Plaza, Main St. @ E. Beach

For a picket site near you, call Local 415 Strike Headquarters at 831-459-0415.

We will mobilize on Tuesday 3/14 to provide logistical support and turn out to picket sites in Watsonville and Santa Cruz. Volunteers will be needed for field action starting at 7:30am, for picket duty during the day (even short periods of picketing will be helpful) and to turn out to a 3:30 rally and collective action on the day of the strike. Volunteers should contact MBCLC president Robert Chacanaca (hongqi [at] hotmail.com) or Santa Cruz County Vice President Julian Posadas (posadas3299 [at] yahoo.com).

The MBCLC Solidarity Committee will offer encouragement, support, legal and financial assistance to non-critical workers who choose to engage in civil disobedience to protect their right to strike. Volunteers interested in support for civil disobedience may contact us at laborcouncil [at] mbclc.org.

Why We Are On Strike:

We are the 1,800 Santa Cruz county workers who provide for the health, safety and quality of life for county residents. We are public health nurses, road maintenance workers, social workers, computer operators, secretaries, child support workers, lifeguards and much more. The last thing we want is to be out here today instead of serving you. But we believe we have been forced to make this choice.

We have been without a contract for six months. In September of 2002, we were forced by the county leadership to strike for three days. Our wages and benefits had fallen so far behind the 8 bay area counties that we couldn't recruit and retain the best workforce to provide the services you deserve. We achieved parity- for a brief moment.

Last summer, we took a 4% pay cut. Next, we were forced to pay higher healthcare costs. Now, the county insists we delay our annual cost of living raises this year and next year for six months- losing half the value of the raise. The cost of living in Santa Cruz is rising for all of us. Could you afford to live on less pay than you made last year? How can the County ask us to do so?

Here are some important facts you should know about this struggle:

- In the areas of healthcare and retirement, Santa Cruz County workers rate dead last compared to Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, Solano, Napa and Monterey Counties. In wages, we are struggling to stay in the middle and losing ground every day.

- The Board of Supervisors is much more generous with themselves, ranking third in compensation. Nor do they expect their highest paid managers to pay for their retirement or healthcare at the level they expect of the lowest paid workers.

- Working families in Santa Cruz County are struggling to survive in this high cost area. Our campaign is to maintain the standards for all working people that will allow them to live with dignity in the community.

Please support us by calling the Board of Supervisors at 831-454-2200 and telling them to support working families. It is only fair for Santa Cruz County to pay its employees the same as the other comparable counties (especially since board policy states that these 8 comparison counties should be their standard for employee compensation). And it is just plain WRONG to deprive non-critical public workers of their right to strike.

--------------------------------------------------

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.

http://www.unionvoice.org/join-forward.html?domain=montereyaflcio&r=p111WmF19P6V

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Monterey Bay CLC AFL-CIO at:

http://www.unionvoice.org/montereyaflcio/join.html?r=p111WmF19P6VE
Add Your Comments
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from MBCLC
Tue, Mar 14, 2006 2:45PM
chicano831
Mon, Mar 13, 2006 10:24PM
From SEIU415.org
Mon, Mar 13, 2006 9:30PM
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