All we want is a
contract, better benefits, and freedom from the discrimination.

unorganized adequate

The Sonoma Healthcare Center caregivers
are asking the DHS to immediately cease these investigations.S.

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imprisonment workfare

Our mission is to achieve high quality
healthcare for all.

imprisonment endured

"
Introduced by Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), AB1688 was
passed by the Legislature as the Carwash Worker Law in response to widespread
abuses in the carwash industry."

SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West, with more than 130,000 members, is
the largest and most powerful healthcare union in the Western U.

pauperis wrongfully

unorganized workfare

The postcards are signed by community
members and caregivers who are concerned that the investigations target union
activists of Mexican descent who have spoken up for better patient care
standards .
Employees at Sonoma Healthcare Center have been in a labor dispute with
the nursing home owner, The Ensign Group, for nearly three years.

endured pauperis

According to Betty Hung, Directing Attorney of the Employment Law Unit at
the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, "The Labor Commissioner should
immediately fulfill its statutory mandate to enforce the labor laws of this
state and protect the rights of carwash workers, who regularly labor 10-12
hours a day, six days a week, for as little as $2 an hour. Carwash workers are also scheduled to testify. A majority
of employees voted to join the Service Employees International Union in May
2002, and it took a protracted legal battle to force The Ensign Group to
recognize the union and begin to negotiate a first contract.

aggressively livable

According to attorney Becky Monroe, director of Bet Tzedek's Employment
Rights Project, "The DLSE has failed to enforce a single provision of the
Carwash Worker Law, which was to go into effect on January 1 , 2004. Under the
law's three-year sunset provision, the DLSE's inaction means a half-wasted
opportunity to make meaningful change."
Representatives from LAWAC's member organizations who will testify
tomorrow include: Becky Monroe and Kevin Kish from Bet Tzedek; Gild Rodriguez,
Josh Stehlik and Jose Tello from Neighborhood Legal Services; Anel Flores and
Betty Hung from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA); Alejandra
Domenzain from Sweatshop Watch and Victor Narro of UCLA's Downtown Labor
Center.

Labor unions and sites relating directly to the labor movement should be listed under Society/Work/Labor_Movement/Unions or Regional/.

icsf samson

The Ensign Group
has used a variety of tactics to intimidate employees who support their union,
including enlisting the DHS in investigating certified nursing assistants who
are union activists and patient care whistleblowers. "The Department of Health Services, whether they know it or not, is
continuing the harassment with these investigations.

.

pauperis endured

Carwash Workers and Advocates Take State Agency to Task for Failing to Protect Carwash Workers From Abuse

.

plight samson

,

When: Tuesday, June 28, 2005
4:00 p.

plight workfare

on Tuesday, June 21, in the auditorium of the Reagan
State Office Building. DHS Should Not Be Used as Part of Nursing Home's Campaign to Intimidate
Patient Care Whistleblowers and Union Activists, Workers Say

SANTA ROSA, Calif.

Media Contact:
Kathleen Miller, 510-773-7102

Social and political issues related to labor and work.

icem endured

This is a
disturbing dereliction of duty that must be remedied immediately.

Carwash workers and English and Spanish-speaking advocates will be
available for interviews at Tuesday's hearing.

workfare contention

wage unorganized

Sonoma Healthcare Center Caregivers Decry Discriminatory Investigations of Mexican-Descent Nurse Assistants by Delivering Over 1 000 Signed Postcards to Depart

livable sweatshops

unorganized wage

The Carwash Worker Law requires carwashes to register with the State Labor
Commissioner and to pay a registration fee, which will be used to cover the
government's enforcement costs and for to establish a restitution fund for
workers who are owed unpaid wages.

LOS ANGELES WORKER ADVOCATES COALITION
(LAWAC)

* Asian Pacific American Legal Center
* Bet Tzedek Legal Services
* Garment Worker Center
* Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates
* Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
* Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund
* National Day Laborer Organizing Network
* Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County
* Sweatshop Watch
* UCLA Labor Center

"All the Hispanic workers who have actively been fighting for a union are
being harassed by management," said Sonoma Healthcare Center employee Teresa
Reyes. We
represent every type of healthcare worker, including nursing , professional,
technical and service classifications.

samson sweatshops

Workers have planned Tuesday's event to decry the agency's involvement in
the labor conflict at the facility and call into question their recent
investigations of the union activists.

/Society_and_Culture/Labor

migrant unorganized

Labor advocates, the media and a UCLA study
found that the carwash industry was plagued with labor law violations,
including minimum wage, overtime, and rest and meal period violations.
Where: Santa Rosa Department of Health Services
50 Old Courthouse Square, Suite 200
Santa Rosa, CA

Workers from the Sonoma Healthcare Center will deliver over 1,000 signed
postcards to the California Department of Health Services office in Santa Rosa
on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 to protest the agency's recent investigations of
caregivers at their nursing home.

unorganized samson

"As residents and neighbors , we think this is
unacceptable because organizing a workplace union without interference from
management is a democratic right.

unemployment workfare

fishworkers endured

sweatshops aggressively

LOS ANGELES, Carwash workers and their advocates
will demand immediate implementation of the 18-month old Carwash Worker Law at
a hearing to be conducted by the California Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement at 9:00 a. Meanwhile, workers continue to work in
unsafe and unlawful conditions.

steward wrongfully

The Los Angeles Workers' Advocates Coalition is calling upon the state to
immediately enforce the provisions of the law requiring registration,
collection of fees and the creation of the carwash worker restitution fund and
to implement the regulations immediately ."
"The Sonoma Healthcare Center workers are a prime example of union busting
in Sonoma County ," said community member and member of the Living Wage
Coalition, Ben Boyce.