La Prensa San Diego

By David Bacon Jackson, Mississippi — In early April, an anti-immigrant bill like those that swept through legislatures in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina was stopped cold in Mississippi. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Tea Party Republicans were confident they’d roll over any opposition. They’d brought Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State who co-authored [...]

Commentary: By Starita Smith  Home care workers should get standard labor protections. President Obama is proposing an adjustment to laws governing working conditions for approximately 2 million workers whose job is helping elderly and disabled people with such basic tasks as eating, caring for their wounds and doing physical therapy. Under the Obama proposal, these [...]

By David Bacon Los Angeles — When a private employer, like the Los Angeles Film School (LAFS), decides to fight the efforts of its workers to form a union, there is very little holding it back, despite the rights written into US labor law almost three quarters of a century ago.     The National Labor [...]

Editorial: This past Tuesday there were several special elections held across the country that demonstrated a shift in attitudes with the voting majority.    The most significant shift in attitude about immigration was demonstrated with the recall election of Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, the architect of Arizona’s anti-immigrant SB 1070 Law.  At the time [...]

Commentary: By Roger Smith “The middle class would not exist without organized labor.”    So proclaimed Vice President Joe Biden at a recent speech in Ohio. He’s right. And with unemployment stuck above 9 percent, the need for strong unions has never been greater.    I am the CEO of an international life insurance company. [...]

Commentary: By Mike Garcia    In the cut-throat property services industry, building contracts turn over quickly.  A janitor like Maria Trujillo might find out at the end of her shift in the hospital where she works that the contractor that employs her has been replaced—something that’s happened to her three times in six years.    [...]

Petitioners Experience Harassment &Threats    (Editor’s Note: For the past month signature gathers/petitioners you see on the street, in front of stores, and even knocking on your door, have come under heavy negative attacks. Lost in the attacks is the fact that the petitioner on the street is just a working person trying to earn [...]

Commentary: By Willie Pelote    In America, anybody who works for a living should be able to afford to retire.    That’s why shunting newly hired and/or existing civil servants into defined contribution or 401(k)-style plans to save taxpayers money, as a new report by the Kellogg School of Management and the Simon School of [...]

By Viji Sundaram New America Media SAN FRANCISCO — Maria Tupas worked for an elderly woman in Hercules, Calif. who told her she would have to be on duty 24/7.     Maria Fernandez, provided in-home care for a disabled woman in the Bay Area, but said she was never given any breaks and never allowed [...]

Commentary: By Lorena Gonzalez    In California, local governments are required to study how new development impacts the surrounding environment, and rightly so. Before buildings are put up, the public deserves to know if there will be more traffic impacts, if it will harm wildlife or if there’s a possibility that nearby creeks or beaches [...]

By David Bacon     The growth of cross-border solidarity today is taking place at a time when U.S. penetration of Mexico is growing – economically, politically, and even militarily. While the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico has its own special characteristics, it is also part of a global system of production, distribution and consumption. [...]

By Matt Amaral New America Media Editor’s note: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s proposal to cut the benefits and collective-bargaining rights of public workers in the state has touched off heated debate and protests at the state capitol. Teacher Matt Amaral writes that the governor’s actions are pitting working Americans against each other.     Let’s forget [...]

By R. Thomas Buffenbarger More than 31 million Americans have been idled to some degree by this Grave Recession. That number is shockingly high. But when you’re out of work, it’s easy to feel alone. And it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that millions of Americans share the strains of unemployment: the sleepless [...]