Fed:Intevein hiaLCLAA.Leaders Support Call.1fo)rJusEinM

pooq

vrxIcoA call for U.S. intervention in ne-

gotiations to end the NAFT7A-linkeduprising in the Mexican State ofChiapas was issued this week bythe California Labor Federation,AFL-CIQ.

It is contained in a message toSecretary of State Warren Christo-pher signed by Executive Secretary-Treasurer Jack Henning of- the statefederation* and 21 union leaders andmembers who are activists in theAFL-CIO's Labor Council for LatinAmerican Advancement (LCLAA).

The action comes amid reportsthat Mexican federal authoritiescontinue to kill., torture, and abductpersons suspected of involvement inthe armed revolt even as the Mexi-can government contends that nego-tiations are progressing with leadersof the Chiapas Indians.'*

Here is the text of the message toSecretary Christopher

"The price of NAFI7A is alradybeing paid in._,* Mexican State ofChiapas where Indians have been inarmed revolt to save their farm

lands from the economic' encroach-ments of the United States.

"O(3n the very day- NAFTA wassigned into law by President Clin-ton, the flag of rebellion. was raisedin Chiapas.

"Although protests from acrossthe globe compelled the -Mexicangovernent to abandon the militaryexecutions and the airff bombings ofcivilians, the United States stood si-lent during the worst of the assaults.

"Our nation, which has foundeconomic interests to defend in the

iddle East, Bosnia -and Somalia,among other places, looks awayfrom government tyranny below theborder.

"T1he. Indianfs of Chiapas have aknowing fear that the- sophisticatedfarming processes of United.Statesagriculture will -mean theirobliteration."NAFTA has opened. all of Mexi-

can agriculture and industry to theadvanced technology of the Co-lossus of the North. -All at the ex-pense of Mexican and American

workers."Mr. Secretary, we of Amnericaii

labor ask that you intervene iq thecurrent -negotiations between -the.government of Mexico and the In-dians of Chiapas to the end of assur-ing a fair and democratic solution tothe -crisis."Our country, which enacted

NAFTA at.the demand of AmericanAnd Mexican capital, can do noth-ing less than assure a just and last-

(Contined on.Page 4)

Vol. 37-No. 5

CoalitionClls forOSHAReform

Spokespersons for health, envi-ronmental, civil rights and churchorganizations joined the AFL-CIOthis #eek in calling upon Congressfor early passage of the Comprehen-,sive Occupational Safety and HealthAct - OSHA reform.-The occasion was a Capitol Hill

news conference called Wednesdayby the Coalition for Safe Jobs.

Joining AFL-CIO President LaneKirkland were Jane Perkins, presi-dent of Friends of the Earth; Dr.Alfred Munzer, president, Ameri-can Lung Association; DonnaL-enhoff, general counsel, Women'sLegal Defense Fund; Mark Har-rison, United Methodist Church,and Ralph. Neas, executive director,Leadership Conference on CiVilRights.

In all, more than 45 organiza-tions are participating in the SafeJobs Coalition campaign for pas-sage -of OSHA reform. Theirspokespersons were at the DirksenSenate Office Building to- hear Sec-retary of Labor Robert B. Reich tes-tify in favor of the reform measurebefore the Senate Committee on La-bor and Human Resources.

Reich told the senators that"6some enduring problems, -alongwith a new set of workplace haz-ards,)" demand that the 1970 Occu-'pational Safety and Health Act berevised.

FebruaryIU. 1994

Qluake Akid at WNorkA-new appeal for contributions to /

labor's Los Angeles Disaster ReliefFund went out this week as un-counted additional union membersfaced financial crises because of theL.A. earthquake and itsaftershocks.

Jack Henning, executive secre-tary-treasurer of the California La-bor Federation, sent the new appealto the more than 1,200 AFL-CIOunions and councils in-this state andto trade ujpnists across- the

country....The fund is administered by Jim

Wood, executive secretary-treasurer.of the LoDs Angeles County Federa-tion of Labor. The address is 2130West 9th St., L6s Angeles, CA

90006 .~"4.'mxg,.*."The earthquake tragedy. fell ~4with particular devastation on thou-(Continued on page 4)..

Dennis Gluckman of ATULocal 277, center.,. receivescheck to pay his mortgagefrom Armando Olivas, left,

.N and Pewg Robinson, right,dfrector and senio represen-tative respectively, at AFL-CIO Services in Los Angeles.

!3K'v 9>P Members of union familieswhose homes damaged

and whose paychecks are cutoff because of earthquake.z 4~r;~rx:22damge illgrocery bags at

M food distribution center oper-

.-~ ..ated by AFL-CIO Commu-nity Sevcsat L.A.

Labo.rPushesHeal1thCare

California's local central laborbodies. completed plans this week toaim intensive., grass-roots lobbyingin favor of President Clinton'sHealth Security.Act. at representa-tives who are -due home during theupeoming congressional recess.

Plans.-were'laid as the health careand insurance industries cranked upmulti-million-dollar advertisingcampaigns aimed at turning publicopinion. against the president's plan.

Executive: Secretary-TreasurerJack Henning of the California La-bor Federation, meanwhile, re-mindvd leaders of -the states-14200loyal-*'nions that the national AFL-GO remains firmly in favor.of thepresident's. plan. -Henning distrib-uted to affiliates new data.compar-ing all health care reform proposalscurrently before Congress.

Only two meet the AFL-CIO'scriteria for acceptable health carereform, AFL-CIO President LaneKirkland declared- last week. Theseare Clinton's Health Security'Actand the single-payer health 'careplan patterned after the Canadiansystem. Only the* president's plan*appears to have a chance of winningcongressional approval, the AFL-CIO leader said.

And, he noted., the Health Secu-rity Act provides states with the op-

Endorsing onve-ntionApril1The official call to the convention

that will determine state AFL-CIOendorsements in the June 7 PrimaryElection went out this week to affili-ates of the California LaborFederation.

Delegates from local unions andcouncils will be called to order at 10a.m. Wednesday, April 13 , at theCathedral Hill Hotel in San Fran-cisco, Executive Secretary-Trea-surer Jack Henning announced inthe convention call.They will decide which candi-

dates carry the endorsements of thestate AFL-CIO's Committee on Po-

liticil Education (COPE) in Pri-mary Election contests for:0 Congress.* Governor and other statewide.

offices.* The Legislature.Also to be decided are labor's

recommendations on statewide bal-lot propositions.

Endorsements-and the volun-teer campaign support that goeswith COPE backing-*will be de-cided for all members of. the HouseOf Representatives. U,S. Sen.* Di-anne Feinstein again will be seekingCOPE support.

Statewide offices to be actedupon are governor, lieutenant gover-nor, secretary- of state, controller,treasurer,) attorney general, superin-tendent of public instruction, insur-ance commissioner, and State Boardof Equalization.Endorsements will be considered

for races in half the State Senatedistricts and for all of the Assemblysea

The Executive Council of thestate federation will be in session atthe Cathedral Hill Hotel Sunday,April 10, -through Thesday, April13, to consider recommendations

from local central labor bodies andto shape its own recommendationsfor presentation to the -delegatesstarting Wednesday morning.

Delegate registration will start at2 p.m. Tuesday in the hotel'sGolden Gate Room, Henning said..Registration will resume at 8 a.m.Wednesday outside the El DoradoRoom, where the convention will becalled to -order at- 10. a.m.--.Accommodations. at the Cathe-

dral Hill at. $79, single or double,plus tax. Delegates should make'their own reservations by March 20by phoning the hotel toll-free at(800) 622-0355..

023

.1

18Ii

0

Photo by Jocelyn Shermn,UPOW

Actor Herbert Sigez of Culture Clash addresses rafly*.at Coca-Colas corporate offices in Los Angeles. With him are UFW Secretary-TVeaurer David Martinez, actor Martin Sheen, and an unidentifiedUFW member.

UFW Sy'Cca-ClHiesFacts in 'lIda

Coca-Colasrepnetprosand organizations complainingabout the corporation's abandon-.ment of 600 Florida farm workerswho have: given Cokes MinuteMaid orange juice operation morethan. 20 years of uninterruptedprofits- are full of misinforaton,Pre,sident Arturo Rodriguez of theUnited Farm Workers charged. thisweek.The rich and powerful Coca-

Cola, based..in Atlanta, has sold its16,000 acres of Florida citrusgroves to King Ranch of Txws, an-,other multi-billion-dollar. corpor-

to.King Ranch in* turn has'set-upa -subsidiary called Runining WCitrus to operate -the* same orchardswith the -sameequiment and super-visors producing fruit that will con-tinue to be used in. Coca-Cola'sMinute Maid, the...number 1 fruitjuice drink.*Coke. and the. new orchard..

owners say their corporate shuffle,-mftinated as of Jan. I the. UFW

colle**ctive bargaining agreementcovering the 600 workers on the.16,000* acres formerly owned by,Coca-Cola!s Minute Maid.* The contract, originally negoti-ated in 1972 by Cesar Chavez, hasprovided the Minute Maid worker&with decent wages, health care, jobsecurity.and dignity while- Coca-

Cola profited fromn their labors withtwo decades of uninterrupted&profits*at Minute* Maid.An overwhelming majority of

the 600.workers have signed.cardsdeclaring that they want-the UFWto continue as their collective bar-

giigagent but the two corpora-tions are -stonewalling.-A national protest against this.

corporate shuffle launched withsimultaneous demonstations in 15cities - has*generated thousands ofletters urgingCoca-Colato recon-sider or faceantoa boycott of its'bestrselling Minute Maid.The corporation's responses have,

misersne the facts, Rodriguezdelcared.-

The typical -Coca-Cola response.says the corporation -was "pleasedto len" that the new owner wasusing all. 600*of the affected em-ployees "at the same wages -they re-ceived-previously which are: an esti-mated 30 percent higher. than theaverage for Florida citrus workers."The point is that neither Running

W nor Coca-Cola will make anycommitment not to cut wages. back,Rodriguez pointed -out.

Coca-Cola and Running W alsorefuse to talk about maintaining-health benefits for any length oftime, Rodriguez -said..With the new arrangement only

Teamsters Target.Sam's ClubAnother protest against the Walmart

Corporation's poverty wage-maximumprofit strategy has been launched in theLos Angeles area.

Teamnsters Local 572 at Car-son is target-ing Sam's Club, a'division- of Walmart,-with a* ""Public Awareness" handbilling.,campaign aimed at telling people just whatit means to a community as well- as' di-rectly affected workers when the giant re-tailer moves in and takes advantage'ofhigh,unemnployment to start driving .downwages and working conditions.

"ASamn's Club and Walmart are a directthreat to the security of thousands Of unionmembers in Southern California who cur-rently are employed in the organized foodindustry," Jack Cox,, secretary-treasurer ofTeamsters Local -572,'declared this week.

"Unlike their unio"nized comp.vetitors, be'-better. spent at stores paying unionSam's, Club and WAlmart -impose'. low wages with decent benefits than atwages, MInia to non-existent medical Walmart.'coverage, and other substandard condi- Cox called upon,other. unions to urge.tions on their unrepresent*.d.,WOrArSAaa.4theif _rmmestost an.emnple,for,hminimize labor costs -.while*maximzing? rest. of the community by staying out ofcorporate," Cox.said.. the targeted Sam's Club-and to shop in-

Walmart, was beaten back..in the San stead at union stores where comparableFernando Valley on the oppo'site. side of. products are available at competitiveLos Angeles when! the corporationd'triedstoHPrhces.obtain special zoning and land use consid- .He* listed Rlh,Fo es uhseration-another of its favorite tactics -to fedco, Albertsons, Lucky, Stater Bros.,

obtaina site designated. for other uses. Alpha Beta, Smiths,VnadPrcClbUnions and community activists combined "Only through educating the consumertheir efforts and persuaded local authori- can we hope.to protect our memnbers..em-ties not to grant Walmart any.special. ployed in the Southern California food -in-deals.. dustry" Cox-said. 'And.what better con-

Local 572 -handbillers are working-to sumer to begin.wt than.-the union.persuade shoppers that their dollars would consumer?"

NationwideUfairLsHere is the list of national- boy-

cotts -officially sanctioned by theAFL-CIO Executive Council.

Ace Drill Corp.: Wire, jobberand letter drills, 'routers and steelbars.*-

United Auto Workers

Acme Boot Company: Western-style boots:.Acme, Dan Post, Dingolabels.

United Rubber Workers

Alitalia Airlnes: Passenger andfreight services.

Machinists

Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co.:Measuring,~ cutting and machinetools'and pumps.

tMachinists

Bruce Church, Inc.: IcebergLettuce, including Red Coach,Friendly, Green Valley Farms, andLucky brands.

United Farm Workers

Page 2

California Thble Grapes: Tablegrapes that do not bear the LJFWunion label on the carton or crate,

United Farm Workers.

Deckers Corp.:- Sandals formen, woMen and children: Teva,*Deckers and Sansi labels..

Machinists

Diamond Walnut Co.:* Cannedand bagged walnuts and walnutpieces.

Teamsters

Goody's Fkmmily'Clothing, Inc.:Retail clothing stores.

Amalgamated Clothing and Tex-tile Workers

Holly Fbrins:.Chickens and 'pro-cessed poultry products.

Teamsters

Kawasaki Rolling Stock,U.S.A.: Motorcycles.

Transport Workers Union

Lakewood Engineering &Mig., -Inc.: Electric fans .andheaters for hms

TeamstersLouisiana-PacifIc_Cor-p6.Brand

name wood products including:LUP,Wolmanized, Cedartone, Wafer-.wood, Fibrepine, Oro-Bord, Redex,Sidex.,'Ketchikan, Pabco., Xonolite..

Carpenters &.Joiners and Intl...%odworkers.

Mohawk Liqueur Corp.:.MO-7hawk labeled gin, rUM, IppperMintschnapps, and cordials.

0

Distillery, Wine..and Allied-Workers.

R. JI Reynolds ibbacco Co:Camel., Winston, Salem, Doral,-Vantage, More, Now, Real, Bright,Century, Sterling,. YSL/Ritz.cigarettes..

Prince. Albert.,,.George Wash-ington, Careter Hgal, Aple,gMadeiraMixture, Royal Comfort. Top, OlurAdvertiser soigtobaccos..

Winchester little cigar.Bak?y Confectionary,& Tobacco.

Workers

Rome Cable Corp.: Cables usedin mining,an constructionindustry

Machinists

Sil, Inc.:-National retailers ofelectronic equipment and appli-ances.

Teamsters

Southwire Co.: Commnercial andIndustrial wire and cable; Do-It-Yourself brand Homewire.

International -Brotherhood ofElectrial. Workers

Star Dental Products: Dentalhand tools.

Machinists.

EL. Thorpe & Co.: Black HillsGold Jewelry.

United Steelwwrkers

United States Playing CardCo.::.Cards with brAnd names Bee,Bicycle,Tally Ho, Aviator andCongress.

Retail., Wholesale, DepartmentStore Union

days old, the-workers got a *.Iarpicture of their non-union future.

First,*the Dr. Martin Luthe*rKing,. Jr. holiday was taken' away.Workers were told they would befired if they failed to show up forwork for any-reason that da.

Sick leave-and 'vacation timewere quickly cut. There was a swift.demonstration of what. it means tolose contr-act.grievance -procedureswhen a worker was demoted after apublic dressingdown for reportingon the job. late because of -an automishap, which. he had reported byphoneWages, and benefits under the

UFW contract at Minute- Maidhelped raise.and maintAin wages forfarm workers. throughout Floridaand- acro.ss- the southwest,Rodriguez said.And even at 30 percent above the

average for Florida citrus workers,the UFW employees at* MinuteMaid were earning only about$10,000 -a year for a seven-monthseason of intensive labor.

This. reveals Another likely mo-tive. Minute Maid uses huge quan-tities of oranges from other growersin addition to the fruit produced onthe 16,000 acres that usedtobeun-der UTFW contract.'

First Vice President DoloresHuerta of the UJFW, speaking at At-.lanta where she led a protest, saidshe suspected Coca-Cola saw CesarChavez'"death as an opportunity todump the union and embark on -awage-cutting campaign.

"They-think-that..when- Cesar.Chavez **passedMay,'% th -at is-the,end of the -union,," Huerta told theAtlanta Constitution.

"'They _siet-wrong."

DatebookWomen-in-the-Workforce Conference:

Feb. 24-26, Biltmore Hotel, LosAngeles.

Labor-Archives Annual Progrm: Fridayevening, Feb. 25, S.F State Univer-sity Reception, 6 pm; program, 7.

Executiw Council California Labor Red-eration: March 8-9, SacramentoHiltion Inn.

A. ffip Randolph Institute State Con-ference: March 17-20, QueenMayLong Beach

Joadie Awards Benefit for.We Do The'Work: March 25, Sheraton -PalaceHotel, San Francisco.

Executive Council, California LaborFederation: April 10-12, CathedralHill Hotel, S.F

Pre-Primary. COPE Convention:April 13, Cathedral Hill Hotel, S.F

Joint Lqgislative Conference: May 23-25,Radisson Hotel, Sacramenta,

Binial Convention of the. CaliforniaLabor Federation: July* 25-29,Radisson Howl, Sacramenta

Publishers NoficeThe California AFL-CIO

News (ISSN: 0008-0602) -is- pub-lished weekly except during theweeks- of Thanksgiving,Chita and New Year's holi-days by the California LaborFederation, AFIL-CIQ 417 Mont-gomery St., Suite 300, SanFrancisco, CA 94104. Secondclass postage paid at San Fran--sc CaK- fividual w "- ption, $10 a year;coprt rate,$20. USPS Publication Number083400.' JohnXEA HningCi-tive secretary-treasurer; Floydflicker, editor. POSTMASTER:Send addrss'cangsto: Cani-fornida AFL-CIO News, 417 Met,-.gomery St., Suite 300, SanFrancisco,-CA 94104. Phone,(415) 986-3585. FAX, (415)3924M05

MauFebruary 11. 1994

Kourpias, HightowerJoadyHnr eesJim Hightower,) the Texas popul-

ist and radio commentator, andGeorge Kourpias, president of theInternational Association of Machi-nists and Aerospace Workers, areamong those who will be honored atthe Fifth Annual Joady Awards onFriday, March 25,9 at the SheratonPalace Hotel in San Francisco.

Honorees were announced thisweek by the Film Arts Foundation,4sponsor of We Do The Work, theindependently produced PublicTelevision show about workers andtheir issues.

The Joady AwardsiJs. a majorfund-raiser for We Do The Work.

Joady statuettes are presented forbringing the. voices and. images ofworking people to the Americanpublic in the spirit exemplified byTom Joad in John Steinbeck's "TheGrapes of Wrath."

This year's "Joadies"' will go to:0 Hightower, for bringing work-

ing peoples viewpoints to the air-waves with his nationally syndi-cated radio commentaries. (AHightower radio script appears onPage 4 today.)

When- Airline Jobs Fly Away"Takig Of," an examination of

what will happen to travel safety ifthe airline industry shifts high-techmaintenance jobs to foreign coun-tries, is the focus of the Februaryproduction of "We Do The Work,"the series on worker issues privatelyproduced for Public Television.

Showings scheduled in Californiainclude:

Sacramento Cable 7, Tuesday,Feb. 15,, at 9:30 p.m., and Wednes-

day, Feb. 16, at 2:30 a.m.

San Francisco, Channel 9, Sun-day, Feb. 20, at 3:30 p.m.Los Angeles,) Channel 28, Satur-

day, Feb. 26., at 1:30 p.m. andmidnight.

Eureka, Channel 13 airs '"We DoThe Work" weekly on Thesdays at7:30 p.m. Local PBS stationsshould be contacted for additionalbroadcast times.

* Blackside, Inc., producer ofthe television *series ""The Ghrat De-pression,"* which accurately andfaithfully recounted the pain thatthe Depression years inflicted uponworkers and their families.* The Womends Network of the

United Food and CommercialWorkers for its "No Gain FromChildhood Pain" campaign that ex-posed sales by Walmart Stores ofimported clothing produced withchild labor, often bearing Walmartlabels falsely implying thatfthe gar-ments were American-made.**

* International Association ofTechnical and Stage Employees forthe role of IATSE members behindthe scenes in.,movies carrying la-bor's message.

Also to be honored is the Interna-tional Association. of Machinistsand Aerospace workers, which willreceive the Founders Award that. isbestowed annually to recognize in-dividuals and. organizations whohave helped inspire and support de-velopment of We Do The Workfrom a local show into a nationalservice.

Kourpias is to accept the Foun-ders Award on behalf of his union.

Jim H.1ightow*er

Comedian Will Durst. will beMaster of Ceremonies.The eyening will open with -a re-

ception* at 6 P.m. followed *by theprogram at -7- p.m. in the GrandBallroom. of'- the Sheraton Palat"e, 2New Montgomery. St. at MarketStreet in S.F

Tickets are $100, with tables of10- receiving special recognition -inthe program book. Seventy percentof all contributions are tax deduct-ible. Checks should be made pay-able to Film Arts Foundation, 346Ninth St., San Francisco, CA94103, -attention Rhian Miller.

UnionsatL.A.Pic.ket FormerFavorite.Sp-ot

A&~ Trade unionists andfinsolabor are being askedcosayaafrom Steven's SteakHosinCt

4 V ~~~~OfCommerce, whichlo er abeen a favorite spoi o noevents.The reason is thatmage ntt

Stevens is -trying to btLoa11fthe Hotel Employees adRsarnEmployees, which haI ersneits staff for 30 Years

Charges that the Es o ngeles area eatery's aniuoncm

£ ;';4;j;~4 fl, paign has violated fedrllwirENE. ., pending before the NIoaLbrPooby International Photographers Guild, 1ATW Local 669 Relations Board.

Members of a score of Los Angeles area* unions Join picket line at Steven's in Cit of Commece, t WiehheLB rcssgidf ~~~on,Steven's managemtisrfinrestaurant once a favorite localefo labor events whose management now us attempting to bust its-long-time to continue recognizigteuinagreement with HERE Local U. At front left is Rudy Montalvo of the Los Angeles County Federation of ntematm, rsdn aiLabor.Intematm,I

Elena Durazo of Local1 sakn

Insurance Commissioner John on Political Education (COPE). Proposition 103, said this would be colm LucaGaoramndiaSayem e

xpects theCal-mt It is estimated that 'surety firms the first instance. of a former Call- Panelli, JoifoniSprmeCortwil efsetohave to pay back some $100 million fornia governor representing a law Arabian*

yield to political pressure for rein-statement of a law sponsored by the in premiums if the Court of Appeals client* before the Supreme Court. Lucas is'insurance industry that* was struck dcso tnsad hyutmtl Idon't. see how the court ca Dukejlosetheexeptiofiomropoitin poper aceaide to tdown by the Court of Appeals last loserteeempinfo roiinpoperlykface a guy who's been ei-* Justicemonth. 13rt olak.ther a law parte, neplyr orainted Ib3Political pressures in the ca be-be- have high regi4rd for the Cali- benefactor of five of them,," Rosen- prown,Jcame apparent when former GOV fornia Supreme Cort," Garamendi field declared. BonGeorge Deukmejian was named as declared last week. ("Despite the Deukmejian filled three Supreme wsuretyoithe attorney who will represent one saeesmcitonofhen- Cutetswth his own appointees Wilaof the involved insurance com- sumance industry,. our system de- immediately after Chief Justice Wila

panies before the Supreme Court. pends upon the justices of the. Su- Rose Bird and two.justices who bernatoriaFive of the seven justices who preme Court being professionals were supported by labor fai!ed to0beSntyoa

will decide the case were named t o caanwilgorthhg- win reaffirmation in an election in cmagthe-Supreme Court by Deukmejian. powered political pressure of the in- which Deukmej ian led the DeumejgThe biggest contributor of Deuk- surance companies and will-instead opposition. 1979,eC'

mejian's 1982 gubernatorial election decide the case upon the merits." Dukeia19aponee9n,he mntPaccampaign is the owner and presi- HreDoefedteato f crentuare Chppinefsnticea- menpordcident of Surety Company of the Pa-

Hre oefed,teato f cretcutaeCifJsieMl eotdi

cific, the Northridge-based firmthat the ex-governor will represent. Thre Union Le d r -on Tann o n iThe bill in question was signed

into law by Deukmejian in 1990 be- Three trade unionists are among assistant- director of United Auto The gofore he turned the governorship the 22 persons named to the State Workers Region 6. that 10 ofIover to Pete W*ilson and went back Job Training Coordinating Council * Paul Varacafi, Hayward, exec-. includingto his private law practice. It ex- last week bj Gov. Pete Wiflson. utive director, United public.lEm-' cans. Fiveempts surety companies from the They are: ployees,, Local 790 of the Service the three finsurance rate rollbacks mandated 0 Charles* H. Center, Sacra- Employees, to statepaby passage of. Proposition 103, mento, director of the Legislative Wilson namned. Phillip L. Wil-. nor's offiwhich was -approved by the* voters Department of the California State- liam, retired vice chair ofthe board other fourin- 1988. The initiative was-backed Council. of Laborers. of the Times-Minor Co. of Los An- state Officby the state AFL-CIO's Committee 0 Henry Gonsales, South Gate, geles as council chair council nyFebruary1U, 199

3and Justices Edward A.)yce L. -Kennard, Armaindand Marvin R. Baxter.a former law partner. ofian. Baxter is* a formerie ex-governor.Stanley Mosk was ap-

y Gov. Edmund G. (Pat)astice*Ronald M. George4nted by Pete Wilson.sowner and president,iErwin, contributedto Deukmnejian's first pi1-1 campaign. In addition,icontributed $243,457 tocommittees controlled byian between 1978 and)rding to the Fair Employ-tices Commission recordsn the Los Angeles Times.

overnor's office announcedthe 22 council appointees,rWilliams, ate Republi-are Democrats,9 including

frow labor. Three declinedLty affiliation. The gover-ice was silent about the'appointees,.including twocials serving -as ex-officionrnbers.

people to take their trade elsewhere."Few restaurants in East Los An-

geles have received as much busi-ness from Latino organizations, la-bor unions and political activistsover the.,ypars as. Steven's Steak.House," Q)urazo said.

"6Many Latino. labor leaders andorganizations, in particular, havebooked business meetings,Christmas parties, retirement* cele-brations and other events at Steven'lsprecisely because is was a unionrestaurant," she added.

"For this reason we urge you tosupport this boycott and to write aletter to the management of the res-taurant informing them that youwon't return until it is a union houseagain."01The affected workers are mostly

Latino.",Given the current climate of at-

tacks against Latino workers andunions in this -state, we ask that younot patronize Steven's Steak Houseuntil. the owners agree to recognizethe union once again," Durazostated in letters to unions through-out the L.A. area*.

Organizations that have bookedfunctions at Steven'ls should canceland get their deposits returned, Du-razo said.

if Steven's union-bashers try togive anybody a hard time about de-posit refunds, help is available fromMadeline Janis-Aparicio, Local 1l'scommunity. relations director, at(213) 481-8530, extension 323.

Letters of protest should be sent*to James Filipa n, Steven's SteakHouse, 5332 Stevens Place, City ofCommerce, CA 90040. Durazoasks that copies of the letters be sentto her at Local 11, 321 South BixelSte, L.A. 90017.

"During these difficult times ofimmrigrant-bashing and racism,, weneed to support those- who take a

Hlealth...(Confinuedfrom Page 1) 13

cited TV commercials sponsored by ject,the anti-reform Health Insurance cal.Association of America that attempt agaito depict Americans as being. op- i theposed to any change in the current Chealth care system. and

.... .you just have to ask yourself Hif we can afford to continue to contspend 40 percent more than other by tlcountries and not cover every- ufacbody," Clinton told the audience at tabl(a General Motors truck assembly Conrplant in Shreveport. last,He was highly critical of the plan fornr

proposed by Rep. Jim Cooper, TD-Tenn.,, that is galning big business unicsupport. impy

The Cooper plan does not pro- provvide universal coverage., one of the movessentials that the AFL-CIO says Pmust be contained in any health exPecare reform plan. cove

Instead, Cooper's plan talks Prehabout "4universal access" to health of bcare. men,

"We've got universal access right empnow, if you've got $10,000 or L;$15,000," he said perc

Clinton pointed to a gleaming payinew GM pickup truck ready to roll thisoff the factory assembly line. thes

"There's universal access to this ingitruck, but only if you've got the presImoney to pay for it," he said. ActsThe president pointed out that savii

the rate of inflation of medical care intocosts slows down every time there His a serious attempt to reform the mmn

health care system. ning

Chiap)asA

"I am signing this letter in my calofficial capacity as Executive Sec-retary-Treasurer of our Federation. Iam also signing for the below listedleaders of the Labor Council forLatin American Advancement.

"All are in agreement on the ne-cessity and morality of the ClintonAdministration supporting the pur- S

poses of the policy herein stated." rSigned:aJack Henning, executive secre- a

tary-treasurer, California LaborFederation, AFL-CIO;

Henry JI Lacayo, Western Statesfield director, Labor Council forLatin American Advancement; Ar-mando Vergara, president of Cali-fornia LCLAA., international vice-president of the United Brotherhoodof Carpenters and Joiners and vice- tpresident of the California LaborFederation: Rick Icaza, nationalvice-president of LCLAA, president Iof Los Angeles Local 770 of the-

3ut, he warned, if his bill is re-ed, the rate of inflation of medi-costs "will go right back upin, just like it has every time inpast 50 years."9linton praised General Motors viethe United Auto Workers for tri,porting his plan. hisle called GM "enlightened" in Itrast to corporations represented 66ehie National Association of Man- r;turers, the Business Round- So

e, and the U.S. Chamber of OV(nimerce, all of which declined Iweek to endorse the Clinton re- lobn plan. hathe AFL-CIO is warning trade Camists to watch for attempts to 4ose amendments weakening key 16

visions as the Health Care Act chves through Congress. ofloints that the opposition can be inected to attack include universalerage, employer mandate, com- ne4iensive benefits.,tax treatment St)enefits, genuine cost-contain-it, and the threshold at which)loyers, could opt out. rep

.abor must attempt to secure 100 Oth:ent payment of premiums, co-Somnents and deductibles, docu- f~oits distributed to local unions fo

week by Henning point out. bwre's also the challenge of secur-benefits beyond the minimums3cribed in the Health Securityand finding a way to assure that figuresings under the plan would go the miSwages, not profits. contrac[ealth care continues to under- than tviecollective bargaining, Hen- placed

pointed out. The most recent over hi

Appeal.. .ited Food and Commercial vice-prrkers, and president, Los An- Clifforl

ts County Federation of Labor; rector,

Here's how commentator Jim Hightowerwed the insurance and health care induis-esy campaign to block health care reform onradio show last month:

I'm telling you, somedays I think instead of..ading" the paper, it'd be less punishment ifneone would just (whack, whack) beat meDr the head with it 'til I passed out.)id you see this news item on how various)byists for the health industry have beenuling wheelbarrows-full of money up toPitol Hill?Sure enough, the biggest share of their cash,ecks and money orders is crossing the palmsal handful of lawmakers who'l play key rolesoverhauling America's health-care system.[im Hightower pointing out that you don'ted 20/20 vision to know when you'veimbled over a skunk. Get a whiff of this!Citizen Action, a consumer watchdog group,))orts, that last year - a NON-election yearthe doctors, hospitals, insurance giants andiers jacked up their usual level of congres-nal campaign donations by more than anrth - a total of more than "eight million

Senator Pat Moynihan, chair of the key Sen-

indicate that health care isajor issue in 83 percent of-tnegotiations, and that morevo in three permanently re-Istrikers originally strucktealth care.

resident, California LCLAA;-d F Valenciana, executive di-California LCLAA and re-nternational vice-president,

-Espudo, president, Team-Aispanic Caucus and secre-Dasurer, Teamsters Local 166,,mardino; Mike Garcia, pres-Santa Clara LCLAA andnt, Service Employees, Lo-77; Frank Martin Del Campo,

ate committee on health reform, accepted140,000 smackers in 1993 from the very lob-byists looking for favorable treatment fromhim. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a known political hackand member of two pivotal committes, pock-eted $130,000. Representative Jim Cooper,sponsor of an industry-backed bill in theHouse, raked in $113,000.And that's just foreplay for 1994 - How

many pieces of silver will change hands '(this7'year, when the bill will actually be written andvoted on?

Now,) the lobbyists claim theyre not trying tobuy votes, just "access" to our legislators. Ex-cuse me....when did we amend the Constitu-tion to put access up for sale? This buys thespecial interests a front-row seat in the legisla-tive process - and shuts people out-.

This- is Jim Hightower saying... It's time tostop this hijacking of democracy. Join CitizenAction in asking our ethically-challenged law-makers not to take "any" contributions fromthe industry they're supposed to be reforming.Call Citizen Action to find out how much yourown members have pocketed - and what youcan do stop it: 202-775-1580.

-If the proportion of the, wage-benefit package going for healthcare had* remained constant since1975, the average American workerwould be earning $1,000 a yearmore, the figures indicate.

president, San Francisco LCLAAand field representative, ServiceEmployees, Local 790, San Fran-cisco and Oakland;Rudy Meraz, parliamentarian of

California LCLAA and vice-presi-dent, Graphic Communications Lo-cal 583, San Francisco; Vince Ruiz,president, Ventura County LCLAA,and retired business manager, La-borers Local 585, Ventura; Fer-nando Flores, Jr., president of Los

Chiffapas Bishop to Speak in LEANBishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia of the Mexican

State of Chiapas, Mexico, will address a sym-)osium on Mexico and NARITA after the Chi-?pas Rebellion on Monday afternoon, Feb. 14,ttLoyola Law School in Los Angeles.Bishop Ruiz is one of the Catholic leaders

upon whom the Mexican government at-tempted to focus blame for the uprising byChiapas Indians.He'll keynote the conference along with

Giustavo de la Rosa Hickerson, attorney andvice president of the San Diego-based Coali-tion for Justice in the Maquiladoras.The event is scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. at the

law school, 1440 West Ninth St., under spon-

sorship of Region VI of the national AFL-CIO,Loyola-Marymount University, and a numberof additional organizations.Dave Sickler, Region VI director, said the

symposium offered an excellent opportunityfor labor activists to obtain first-hand reportson the status of Mexico's indigenous peoples,workers, and human rights movement asNARIFA takes hold.

Admission is free, and there will be openseating, Sicler said.More information can be obtained from Vic-

tor Munoz at AFL-CIO Region VI, (213)387-1974. or Professor Robert Benson atLoyola, (213) 736-1094.

The indictments pile up. For ex-ample, administrative costs amountto 25 percent of health care spend-ing in the United States, far morethan anywhere else in the world,and are continuing to rise rapidly.

Angeles County LCLAA and fieldrepresentative, Plumbers Local 78,Los Angeles; Ruben Gomez, presi-dent, Orange County LCLAA andsecretary-treasurer,- Laborers Local652, Santa Ana;Eddie Peralta, Sacramento

County LCLAA, and retired busi-ness agent, Teamsters Local 986,Los Angeles; Pete Peralez, execu-tive secretary-treasurer, Napa-So-lano Central Labor Council;Agustin Ramirez, Sonoma, Lake,Mendocino LCLAA and Organizer,International Ladies' GarmentWorkers Union; Richard Gonzalez,president, Alameda CountyLCLAA, and board member, AutoWorkers Local 2244, Fremont;Leo Valenzuela, Ventura

LCLAA, business manager, La-borers Local 585, Ventura; AntonioAbArca, Greater East Bay LCLAA,field representative, Service Em-ployees Local 1877; Tom Luna, sec-retary-treasurer, California LCLAAand secretary-treasurer, LaundryWorkers Local 52, Los Angeles;

Arturo Rodriguez, president,United Farm Workers of America;Dolores Huerta, first vice-president,United Farm Workers of America;Maria Elena Durazo, president, Ho-tel Employees and Restaurant Em-ployees Local 11, of Los Angeles.

Quake Aid...(Continued from page 1)

sands of our AFL-CIO sisters andbrothers in the loss of housing, per-sonal property and employment.,"Henning said.

"In quick response, the Los An-geles County Federation establisheda program of relief in cooperationwith United Way, Red Cross and theFederal Emergency ManagementAgency.

"The program involves case-by-case review of every union memberwho presents a claim to the Los An-geles County Federation of Labor,"Henning continued. "Trained com-munity service professionals pro-Page 4

cess the claims for review by thefederation.

'A most effective operation hasdeveloped. But since- this is ba-sically a financial assistance pro-gram, it dies without money," thestate AFL-CIO leader pointed out.

"Please act now to answer thisdesperate requirement for funding,"Henning said. "Our sisters andbrothers in need are depending onyour assistance."

An example of the sort of crisesthat are afflicting tens of thousandsof union members in the quake areawas cited by Armando Olivas, di-

rector of community services for his lender for the amount of histhe L.A. county federation. house payment.Dennis Gluckman, a member of

Amalgamated Transit Union Local277 employed by MetropolitanTransit Authority, tapped out his fi-nancial reserves to pay for emer-gency repairs needed to keep hisfamily's home from collapsing andto make it secure during the torren-tial rains that followed the bigtemblor.Then his mortgage payment

came due.Community Services was able to

hand Gluckman a check payable to

"Multiply this case hundreds oftimes and you begin to see the di-mensions' of the catastrophe con-fronting us," Olivas said.

Meanwhile, the needs keep ris-ing, according to Jan Borunda,quake aid coordinator at the L.A.County fed.

"Every day we are getting morecalls than we processed the day be-fore," Borunda said. "We have pas-sed 200 calls for help per day,-andthere is no indicated of any slacken-ing off."

One reason for the increasingvolume of pleas for help is the factthat many union members desperatefor assistance are just learning thatit is available through the countyfederation, she pointed out.

In addition to checks to keepworkers and their families afloat,.the labor effort includes distribu-tions of food and other essentialsupplies.

Such assistance is particularlyimportant for workers' whose pay-checks are cut off because their.places of employment are shutdown.

Feubruary HI, 1994

Heafth Industry DollarsBlock Meaningful Reform