Unions to Trump: Pay your hotel workers fair wages and recognize our union! with Bethany Khan, Director of Communications, Culinary Workers Union Local 226
As far as Nevadas unions are concerned, hotel mogul-turned-Republican president elect Donald Trump should put his money where his mouth is, and pay his hotels workers in Las Vegas fair and living wages and recognize their union too. The 500-plus workers, who seek to join Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 226, are battling Trump management over union recognition, wages and working conditions. They say that hotel management is not only breaking labor law " including by verbal threats and physical assaults, but that theyre sure not following Trumps campaign slogan Make America Great Again! So the hotel workers Geoconda Arguello-Kline, secretary-treasurer for the 55,000 member union local, Nevadas largest, said Trump should start right here in Las Vegas with workers at his hotel. Many of them are immigrants who work hard to provide for their families. They deserve equal treatment and should be respected for their contributions to this city, she added, I came from Mexico many years ago and became an American citizen to have a better opportunity for me and my family. Maria Jaramillo, a housekeeper at the Trump Las Vegas, told the union This country is a nation of immigrants, and we all work hard and deserve to be treated fairly. ++++++++++++++ Driscolls Harvest of Shame: the stories of the Farmworkers in San Quintin (Mexico) and Skagit County (Washington State) and Why They Say Boycott Driscoll Foods with . Al Rojas, a Founding Member of the United Farm Workers; current Pres. , Sacramento Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (AFL-CIO) . Eduardo Rosario, President, NYC Chapter, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
70,000 farmworkers in the Valley of San Quintin, Baja California (Mexico) have been waging intermittent strikes, organizing road blockades and mass mobilizations since March 2015 to demand an increase in their daily wage from $7.50 per day, an eight-hour workday, health care, overtime pay and vacation days, an end to the widespread sexual abuse, and, the legal recognition of their independent union" as the bargaining agent for these 70,000 workers. These farmworkers pick strawberries, tomatoes, and other fruit primarily for export to the United States under the label of Driscolls, through its Mexican subsidiary, BerryMex.
The workers describe conditions in San Quintin as rat-infested camps, some without functioning toilets, where they routinely having their wages illegally withheld, and face debt after being gouged by the overpricing of necessities sold at company stores, and with pay so low that it amounts to less than one-tenth of what U.S. based farmworkers earn. And, how has the Baja California government responded to the farmworkers, they sent in police to quash the farmworkers protest, severely wounding 70 workers, many with rubber bullets shot at close range, leaving some of the workers in critical condition. There is blood on Driscolls fruit and vegetables and the question is how we can support the farmworkers, who through their blood, sweat and tears put food on our tables.
produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
please notify us if you plan to broadcast this program - knash@igc.org
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