 |
 |
|
"Stay strong, and together we will save the State of California!" State Senator Mark Leno (D-S.F.), thanked a crowd gathered on the steps of the California State Capitol for standing up to Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts."We could fire 100,000 state employees and still only close a third of the budget hole - We need new revenue!" Leno stated, referring to the governor's attempt to balance the budget with cuts to state workers, eliminate Cal Grants to students, withdraw healthcare from one million kids, and cut IHSS and other social programs. |
 |
|
"I had polio and lived in an iron lung, but I was able to go to public schools and state colleges... {With degrees earned via California's education system}, I went to work as an AFDC social worker and paid taxes.... {When I was going to college} my dad could pay for my education. Now kids have mortgage-sized debt when they leave school....I'm here so that other girls & boys in wheelchairs can go to school, get jobs and pay taxes!" - Frances Gracechild, Resource for Independent Living. "...as we search for ways to assist our clients in creating the independent lives they long for, we are constantly discovering that true independence is really a matter of learning to live interdependently." - Resource for Independent Living mission statement. |
 |
|
| "The Governor should leave his hot tub and stop putting California's future in hot water! He needs to take the initiative - We need shared responsibility and shared hurt!" Sacramento's blazing heat kept the rallying crowd in the shade as Art Pulaski (Secretary-Treasurer, California Labor Federation) introduced twelve speakers. These included legislators (Sen. Mark Leno, above), and various people whose life stories illustrated the value of the State programs Schwarzenegger intends to cut. |
 |
|
J.J. Jelincic, State worker and former CSEA president, now running for PERS board. A long-time union activist, Jelincic is used to defending workers' rights. |
 |
|
Labor represented here by NUHW home-careworkers from Fresno. An election in June gave these workers the option of joining the new healthcare workers union (the same union that originally organized them), or of remaining with SEIU-UHW. Ten million dollars & nearly 1,000 SEIU out of state paid staff were used to narrowly defeat their effort to join NUHW, but objections filed with the NLRB may overturn the result. (Question: Why did the IHSS workers get the chance to decertify SEIU and join NUHW this year while other union healthcare workers with other employers did not? Answer: IHHS contracts are with the county and are renewable every year.) |
 |
|
"But we were told by SEIU that they would stop wage cuts from happening if we voted for them!" A letter from In-Home Supportive Services, Fresno, to IHSS providers announces a wage cut from $10.25 to $9.50 per hour. Providers are advised to call UHW with any questions. |