CALIFORNIA SERVICE WORKER

Western Service Workers Association

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InsideBig Energy’s Big Grab . . . . . . . Pg. 2SWPAUW Advocates Stop WaterShutoffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 9Eagle Scout Project Enhances Benefit Program . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 12Spring Family Brunch & Egg Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 13What’s Happening . . . . . . . . Pg. 18Electrical Upgrade . . . . . . . . Pg. 18

Gig Economy Workers Sign Up in East Oakland Membership Drive

WSWA Staff Training Coordinator Tylyn Hardamon (front left) leads volunteers (left to right) Yi Zhong, Academy of Art University students Michael Baek, Ana Madrid, Ray Suda, and Yasmine Lambert, Al Kuefner, Zane Van Arsdel, Selene Sarabia, and WBC delegate Jamila Woods on a membership canvass publicizing WSWA’s upcoming Legal Advice Sessions on wage theft.

Western Service Worker’s Association (WSWA) volunteer canvassers in East Oakland this winter found that 25% of workers they met were employed in the “gig” economy and dozens of “gig” and independent contract workers applied for WSWA’s legal benefit seeking compen-sation for hours of unpaid work and other violations of labor law. One new member

As East Bay Municipal Utilities District’s (EBMUD) water shutoffs con-tinue to pummel low-paid workers and their families, Western Service Workers Association (WSWA) members with Ser-vice Worker Project for Affordable Util-ities and Water (SWPAUW) members launched a speaking engagement campaign

Speaking Campaign Organizes Backing for Affordable Water Rate Demand

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Continúa en la página 6

Se registran trabajadores

subcontratistas en la campaña de

membrecía del este de Oakland

Este invierno, los voluntarios de la Asociación de trabajadores del servicio del oeste (WSWA por sus siglas en in-glés) que participaron en la campaña de ir puerta por puerta en el este de Oakland en-contraron que el 25% de los trabajadores que conocieron estaban empleados en la economía informal y como contratistas independientes y decenas de trabajadores solicitaron el beneficio legal de WSWA para conseguir la compensación por horas de trabajo no remunerado y otras viola-ciones del derecho laboral. Un miembro nuevo informó que el robo de salarios es “estándar” para los jornaleros. El abogado voluntario Robert Salinas, Esq. presentó a su colega abogado Sergio H. Benavides, Esq. quien aceptó ofrecer su experiencia profesional para recuperar los salarios robados, detener los desalojos y luchar contra otros problemas legales para los miembros de WSWA.

A un nuevo miembro, a pesar de tra-bajar varios trabajos de medio-tiempo, le ha resultado difícil recuperase. «Me la he pasado en trabajos de medio-tiempo durante años», declaró. «Soy madre de cuatro hijos y hemos estado viviendo sin

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Photo by Crystal H

uang

June 2019VOL. 45 NO. 1 BAY AREA EDITION

¡Atencion a Todos los Miembros de WSWA!

¿No tienes los recursos para aire acodicionado?¿No puedes pagar por la electridad?

¡Ven a WSWA para sobrevivir el Calor!¡Has de WSWA tu estacion de enfriarse!

¡La oficina esta abierto las 7 dias de la semana!

Todos los miembros de WSWA tienen derecho a venir a la oficina central de su asociacion durante periodos de

calor extremo. ¡Temperaturas altas pueden ser pelegrosas para su salud!

Attention All WSWA Members!Can’t afford to buy an air conditioner?Can’t afford the electricity to run one?

COME BEAT THE HEAT AT WSWA!Make WSWA Your Cooling Center!

The office is open 7 days a week!

All WSWA members are entitled to come to your association’s Office Central to benefit from the central air conditioning system during periods of extreme heat.

High temperatures can be dangerous to your health.

to churches, civic groups and university classes in January to join the “Stop the Shutoffs” campaign.

“EBMUD rate increases of over 143% since 2003 cost lives!” exclaimed SWPAUW member and Speaking Engage-ment Coordinator Kevin Holden. “The state should be following its own law – AB 685

– to make sure that water is clean, affordable and accessible, but they haven’t reined in EBMUD rates, causing devastating results. As a result of our presentations, we have gained dozens of new allies among organi-zations to back our demands to the EBMUD Board which include stopping all shutoffs

reported that wage theft is “standard” for day laborers. Volunteer attorney Robert Salinas, Esq. introduced fellow attorney Sergio H. Benavides, Esq. who agreed to volunteer his professional expertise to assist with legal problems faced by WSWA members.

One new member, despite work-ing part-time jobs, has found it difficult

to get back on her feet. “I have been in and out of part-time and temporary jobs for years,” she stated. “I am a mother of four living without water for three months because I do not make enough money to survive. I am forced to bathe my kids with water bottles from a local grocery store. I have worked temporary jobs for years

SWPAUW member Kevin Holden (left) publicizes the “Stop the Shutoffs” Campaign to a UC Berkeley “Democratic Education at Cal” (DeCal) class on “Environmental Justice and Solar Energy” along with a delegation of speakers (left to right) Zane Van Arsdel, WSWA Training Coordinator Tylyn Hardamon, Workers Benefit Council delegates Christina Justo, Lehong Nguyen, Irma and Efren Sosa and their son Gustavo.

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Workers Document Wage Theft

Los trabajadores documentan el robo de salarios

WSWA Speakers Step Up Presentations to Churches, Classrooms

CALIFORNIA SERVICE WORKER

California Service Worker1141 Peralta Street, Oakland, CA 94607 , (510) 832-2111

Published by Western Service Workers Association (WSWA), 1141 Peralta Street, Oakland, CA 94607. California Service Worker is published to tell the story to every WSWA member, volunteer, supporter and friend of what WSWA is doing. As WSWA grows in dimension and reaches out to more of the Bay Area and beyond, so does the California Service Worker. We need your support more than ever. Expanded circulation and distribution are critical. We need community reporters, writers and photographers now for our next issue. There is always a need for experienced and apprentice desktop publishers, layout people and printers. Contact us as soon as you can.

California Service Worker is distributed free of charge to WSWA members. Others are asked to contribute a suggested minimum of $20.00 for an annual subscription to help WSWA cover production costs.

Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Connor RubyEditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tylyn HardamonWriters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathy Boston, Scott CianciosiPhotography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crystal Huang, Bunker SeyfertDesign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scott Cianciosi, Fletcher ColeIllustration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tanner Griepentrog, Li TieCirculation . . . .Suzzane Abeloff, Darian Acero, Glenn Bachelder, Stanley Brown, . . . . . . . . . .Eric Cadey, Julie Ebding, Carla Fuller, David Gassman, Alex Gubert, . .Jewell Hickman, Kevin Holden, Kevin Jordan, Al Kuefner, Gwendolyn Kuhlmann, . . . Dorris Lily, Ann Lyttle, LeHong Nguyen, Dan Paulsson, Lawrence Robinson, Paul . . . . . . . Sanford, Mat-T Scott, Irma Sosa, Efren Sosa, Khalifa Shakur, Jim Stenson, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Clark Stone, Zane Van Arsdel, Jamila Woods Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Juan Calderón

By choice and necessity your financial gifts to WSWA are not and never have been tax deductible. For that reason, your donations are doubly appreciated!

With profits averaging $1 billion per year, the money that currently lines the pockets of PG&E’s CEO and shareholders could be instead used to ensure the safety and welfare of their ratepayers. Just one top executive, PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson, is expected to earn $6 million or more in cash and equity annually, plus a $3 million one-time signing bonus and a series of lon-ger-term stock options in future years.

Government regulators, like the CPUC, are charged with protecting cus-tomers, safeguarding the environment and assuring Californians’ access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services. Yet the commission’s history has been to rubberstamp every request for a rate in-crease.

PG&E, together with all other inves-tor-owned utilities in the U.S., is a mem-ber of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a large lobbying organization active coast-to-coast. EEI is pressing for utility-enrich-ing policies. One of their current priorities is fighting against rooftop solar – a fight they’re waging in 21 states.

Big utilities aren’t against solar, per se. They just want to control it, like big business wants to dominate every market and every commodity it can. If they con-trol solar, then they can sell us power with minimal operating costs following their upfront investment (since the sun keeps on shining), and make even bigger profits.

So EEI is pursuing policy changes to make rooftop solar so uneconomical for most people that they decide not to try going solar – by bludgeoning “net meter-ing” to a pulp. Net metering allows solar customers to get credits for times they’re producing excess power, which they can then use to draw power at night and other times when they’re not producing. EEI has been going state-to-state peddling model legislation crafted by the American Legis-lative Exchange Council, a Koch brothers funded outfit known for providing ready-to-pass bills to Congress on behalf of vari-ous big business interests.

But – surprise! Many people have been letting their elected officials know that they don’t like the idea of being told they can’t produce their own electricity. So EEI turns

EDITORIAL

JUNE 2019

If you have received this publication in error, please call WSWA and let us know that we have the wrong address for the person the publication is addressed to so we may update our records.

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beyond its useful life. In addition to wildfires, PG&E’s neg-

ligence caused a deadly gas explosion in 2010 that killed eight people and destroyed a suburban neighborhood in the city of San Bruno, about ten miles south of San Francisco. State and federal officials in-vestigated PG&E’s safety practices at that time. Regulators ultimately fined the utility $1.6 billion, and a federal jury convicted PG&E of violating a pipeline safety law and obstructing an investigation – six fel-ony counts in all.

The company is still under court- supervised probation and in January, U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco agreed with a probation officer that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. had vio-lated the terms of probation it is serving for the 2010 San Bruno pipeline case criminal conviction. This ruling was based on the company failing to adequately report its role in a 2017 Butte County wildfire.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle (January 30, “Judge finds PG&E violated probation in San Bruno case, opening it up to new penalties” by J.D. Morris), “Alsup made his ruling from the bench during a lengthy hearing at which PG&E tried to fend off the threat of a sweeping and expensive wildfire preven-tion proposal the judge is considering im-posing as part of new terms of probation.”

Battle to control solar powerIn recent months, PG&E has peti-

tioned the CPUC for three major rate in-creases over the next three years totaling $4.449 billion. This is on top of a recent ruling by the CPUC to approve PG&E’s March 2018 request for a $373 million rate increase for costs related to wildfires.

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Labor donated

Californians already pay about 50% more for electricity than other U.S. resi-dents. Although Californians used 2.6% less electricity in 2017 than in 2008, res-idential and business customers together paid $6.8 billion more for power than they did in 2008.

“Big Energy” seeks to ensure they maintain control over the resources they possess that we need for our survival, making the general population into a cap-tive market for their private gain. And they do not need to hedge their bets; they think their grasp on the government gives them very good odds. Let’s examine how it works.

Investor-owned utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) pursue govern-ment approval of exorbitant rate hikes that guarantee mammoth profits to big share-holders and lucrative payouts to top exec-utives, while also playing other cards to make sure they keep raking in the chips.

In March PG&E’s rate increase ap-plication asked for a 16% return on equity starting next year. California Public Util-ities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved this $373 million rate hike on April 25. Kevin O’Donnell, founder of Nova Energy Consultants, said the national average return for utilities is about 9.6%, and “Sixteen percent is clearly very lofty. That is well above what other utilities are getting around the country. Personally, I haven’t seen a utility request anything over 11.25%.” (The New York Times, April 24, “PG&E Seeks Higher Rates to Counter Wildfire Risk” by Ivan Penn)

PG&E is supposed to use the addi-tional funds to pay costs related to nine fire, wind and rain events in 2016 and 2017, including repairs and clearing brush and trees from under power lines to pre-vent future fires. This rate increase com-bined with a second request to raise rates for equipment upgrades and to attract in-vestors is projected to raise a $100 monthly electric bill by $22 to $23.

The state’s two other investor-owned utilities, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric Company, are seeking similar rate increases. They also say they need bigger profits to attract in-vestment given their exposure to liability from fire-related damage claims.

Let’s keep in mind that PG&E gave $4.5 billion in dividends to shareholders in the last five years and zero funds to Camp Fire victims, according to Associated Press reports. PG&E is still on probation as a convicted felon for the deadly 2010 San Bruno gas explosion and fire.

As of January both the utility and its parent company, PG&E Corporation, initi-ated bankruptcy proceedings, attempting to dodge an estimated $30 billion in financial responsibility for damages resulting from 17 wildfires found to have been caused by the utility’s ill-maintained equipment.

Cal Fire rulesOn May 15, California Department

of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) announced their official ruling that PG&E was liable for the catastrophic Camp Fire in November 2018 due to its electrical transmission lines. Cal Fire says it con-ducted “a very meticulous and thorough investigation” of the Camp Fire, the dead-liest and most destructive fire in Califor-nia history, which resulted in 85 civilian fatalities. PG&E could now potentially face criminal charges because of its role in sparking the 2018 blaze.

Regulators pointed to PG&E’s vio-lation of state law and failure to maintain equipment and infrastructure as the cause of five of the ten most destructive wildfires since 2015. Long before the failure sus-pected in Butte County’s 2018 Camp Fire, which decimated the town of Paradise, a company email noted some of PG&E’s structures in the area were at risk of col-lapse. PG&E has since acknowledged that the fires started at a 100-year-old trans-mission tower that was a quarter-century

Illustration by Tanner Griepentrog

Calls Mount for ‘No PG&E Bailout’Big Energy’s Big Grab

CALIFORNIA SERVICE WORKER 3

WSWA Endorses Sustainable Development Goals In every issue of the California Service Worker, we will be publishing the Sustainable Devel-opment Goals (SDGs) by way of endorsing them and making them known to our membership and friends of labor throughout the area. The Economic and Social Council of the UN General Assembly has called upon organizations to make the people of their countries aware of the goals and to press their governments to be accountable to them.

WSWA Respalda los Objectivos de Desarrollo Sostenible En esta publicación del California Service Worker y en todas, publicaremos Los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (SDGs) de la Organización de las Naciones Unidos (ONU), para hacer que nuestra membresía y amigos de los trabajadores de la área los conozcan y que los hagan suyos. El Consejo Económico y Social de la Asamblea General de la ONU pidieron que organizaciones informen a la gente en sus países acerca de los objetivos para que puedan poner presión a sus gobiernos y hacerlos responsable a la misma gente.

Transformar Nuestro Mundo: La Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible

Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Estos 17 objetivos globales fueron adoptaron de forma unánimemente por todos los miembros de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) el 25 de septiembre 2015 como la agenda de prioridad y para realizarlos para todos los países para todos los países por el año 2030, para ase-gurar que todo ser humano pueda cumplir su potencial en dignidad y igualdad y en un medio ambiente sano.

These 17 global goals were adopted unanimously by all member states of the United Nations on September 25, 2015 as the Agenda for all countries to prioritize and achieve cooperatively by 2030, to ensure that all human beings can fulfill their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment.

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhereGoal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sus-tainable agriculture

Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all agesGoal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learn-ing opportunities for all

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girlsGoal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for allGoal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and pro-ductive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countriesGoal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainableGoal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sus-tainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degrada-tion and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive insti-tutions at all levels

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partner-ship for Sustainable Development

* Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change.

Objetivo 1. Poner fin a la pobreza en todas sus formas y en todo el mundo Objetivo 2. Poner fin al hambre, lograr la seguridad alimentaria y la mejora de la nutrición y promover la agricultura sostenible Objetivo 3. Garantizar una vida sana y promover el bienestar de todos a todas las edades Objetivo 4. Garantizar una educación inclusiva y equitativa de calidad y promover opor-tunidades de aprendizaje permanente para todos Objetivo 5. Lograr la igualdad de género y empoderar a todas las mujeres y las niñas Objetivo 6. Garantizar la disponibilidad y la gestión sostenible del agua y el saneamiento para todos Objetivo 7. Garantizar el acceso a una energía asequible, fiable, sostenible y moderna para todos Objetivo 8. Promover el crecimiento económico sostenido, inclusivo y sostenible, el empleo pleno y productivo y el trabajo decente para todos Objetivo 9. Construir infraestructuras resilientes, promover la industrialización inclusiva y sostenible y fomentar la innovación Objetivo 10. Reducir la desigualdad en los países y entre ellos Objetivo 11. Lograr que las ciudades y los asentamientos humanos sean inclusivos, se-guros, resilientes y sostenibles Objetivo 12. Garantizar modalidades de consumo y producción sostenibles Objetivo 13. Adoptar medidas urgentes para combatir el cambio climático y sus efectos* Objetivo 14. Conservar y utilizar sosteniblemente los océanos, los mares y los recursos marinos para el desarrollo sostenible Objetivo 15. Proteger, restablecer y promover el uso sostenible de los ecosistemas ter-restres, gestionar sosteniblemente los bosques, luchar contra la desertificación, detener e invertir la degradación de las tierras y detener la pérdida de biodiversidad Objetivo 16. Promover sociedades pacíficas e inclusivas para el desarrollo sostenible, facilitar el acceso a la justicia para todos y construir a todos los niveles instituciones eficaces e inclusivas que rindan cuentas Objetivo 17. Fortalecer los medios de implementación y revitalizar la Alianza Mundial para el Desarrollo Sostenible

* Reconociendo que la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático es el principal foro intergubernamental internacional para negociar la respuesta mundial al cambio climático.

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including McDonald’s and Sterling Foods. The work that I find through temp agen-cies is hard labor for less pay and you don’t receive benefits. It’s modern day slave work. I was fired from my last job because I called in sick due to pregnancy.”

“We contract workers face tremen-dous exploitation!” explained Bay Area Workers Benefit Council delegate Efren Sosa as he signed up new members in East Oakland. “Unless we unite we have no choice but to accept our conditions. To strengthen our position to have any power over our situation, we have to contact five hundred more workers and their families by the end of the summer through house-to-house canvasses and neighborhood house meetings.”

The backbone of the Bay Area econ-omy is independent contractors, which include day laborers who work in the “gig economy” and struggle to meet day-to-day necessities. Sosa’s experience as an independent contractor for ten years illustrates the exploitive conditions that many workers face. As a day laborer, he arrives at the designated location by Home Depot around 4:30 every morning. He along with 20 to 40 other day laborers leave without getting picked up for work 50% of the time. When he does get hired, it’s hard physical labor with no protection. He explained, “We work hard doing con-struction, demolition, painting, gardening, dry wall, etc. I oftentimes make less than minimum wage and don’t receive any ben-efits on the job. How can you support your family with that pay? We have no health care, aren’t given opportunities to work

overtime for more pay, and we receive no unemployment compensation when the work slows down.”

“Sometimes I don’t even get paid the owed wage after I’ve done the work,” continued Sosa. “Day laborers experience wage theft every day. One day I was doing construction on a swimming pool. I worked over eight hours, and at the end of the day, the contractor didn’t want to pay me. I told him, ‘That is not right. If you do not pay me I will call the police.’ The contractor said if I call the police, he will call immigration. I said, ‘I do not care because I am a U.S. citizen,’ and I showed him my passport, and he said, ‘Okay, okay, I will pay you.’”

Many day laborers live in fear, which makes them vulnerable to this type of wage theft. Day labor is often the first work opportunity workers can get upon arrival to the United States. Many day laborers flee violence, dangerous gangs, poverty and lack of opportunity in their own country. They sell everything they own, spending over $18,000 to get to the United States so they arrive in debt only to be robbed of their wages.

“I prioritize giving my time to canvass door-to-door with WSWA on Saturdays with my wife Irma, and my son, Gustavo,” said Sosa. “I give information to fellow workers who face the same situations I have – experiencing wage theft, on-the-job injuries, exposure to chemicals with-out sufficient protections, no health care, and more. Many workers don’t know what to do to change their conditions, and we visit them at their house because people can’t organize on the job as they might be fired for organizing.”

Sosa is not the only member facing such conditions. Volunteers sign up new members on the canvass every week who

Gig WorkersContinued from page 1

JUNE 2019

WSWA volunteers with Academy of Art University students who joined WSWA to learn firsthand the struggles and victories of low-income workers organizing include (clockwise from bottom left to right) Selene Sarabia, Ana Madrid, Yi Zhong, Aimee Campbell, Al Kuefner, Ray Suda, Michael Baek, Staff Training Coordinator Tylyn Hardamon, WBC delegate Jamila Woods, Zane Van Arsdel, Crystal Huang, Jason Agabao, Operations Manager Connor Ruby and Yasmine Lambert (center left, kneeling.)

SUSTAINABLE ORGANIZATION

i s H e r e t o W i n , H e r e t o S t a y

w i t h W S W A !

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Volunteers Alberta Harris (left) and Mat-T Scott (right) get the word out about the need to organize to fight wage theft during weekly mail-out sessions.

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tell WSWA volunteers about the false promises and exploitive conditions they have endured. The gig economy’s prom-ise of easy money on your own terms through contract work seems too good to be true, and it is, in the experience of many WSWA members. Corporations like Amazon paint a rosy picture of flexible working hours and possibilities of job placement, but the reality is very different.

As independent contractors, “gig” economy workers are excluded from dubious government protections. In ex-change for the promise of being able to work “when you want to” and a regu-lar paycheck, workers sign away rights. Their economic desperation due to low pay pushes “gig” workers to work longer hours, forgo sleep and have no ability to plan for their future. There are no pro-tections like minimum wage, overtime pay, unemployment benefits or workers compensation, no sick days, pension, or maximum or minimum working hours. Workers are forced to take on risks with-out any benefits.

“Those who profit from the low wages and denial of resources experienced by temporary and service workers use a

strategy of divide and conquer,” stated Operations Manager Connor Ruby, brief-ing a Saturday WSWA canvass team. “The mainstream media and politicians play up perceived divisions among the working class, such as ethnicity and origin, to keep workers from organizing together with others in their community to solve their common problems. The canvass is part of a strategy we have to unite the many to defeat the ability of a wealthy few to con-tinue to exploit the majority,” stated Ruby.

Another longtime WSWA member described her work at the Amazon Distri-bution Center in San Leandro. She makes $15 an hour, but the workers are only allowed about 20 hours work per week. “Amazon is non-union,” she stated. “We can’t use forklifts and are forced to move everything around in hand trucks. We need to organize these workers and the only way to do it is by first being invited into their homes to meet and speak with them.” Organized labor now represents less than 8% of the warehouse work-force. Early on, Amazon took a hard line against unions. A high-profile organizing effort by the Communications Workers of America at an Amazon call center in Seat-

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Staff Training Coordinator Tylyn Hardamon (rear right) leads a canvass team with volunteers Irma Sosa (left) and Leah Ingram (center) to sign up temporary and gig economy workers on a WSWA membership canvass in East Oakland.

Workers Benefit Council delegate Clark Stone (right) explains WSWA membership and the need to organize supplemental food distributions to his East Oakland neighbors.

tle ended in 2001, when the center was shut down and some 400 workers were laid off as part of a larger company re-structuring. There are now five official fulfillment centers (where they do the initial packaging) in the Bay Area and then several additional distribution cen-ters where they take and sort the pack-aged items and send them with the driv-ers who are also overworked.

Compared to WSWA members em-pl-oyed at Amazon who make $15 an hour, it takes Jeff Bezos under nine seconds to earn what the Amazon me-dian worker does in a year… the me-dian worker earned $28,446 in 2017 compared to Bezos’ annual compen-sation which was over $1.6 million last year. (calculations by Money.com) However, this does not fully repre-sent his real economic gain. His net worth is skyrocketing due to the fact that he owns about 80 million shares of Amazon stock. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos’ net worth on January 1 was $99 billion. On May 1 it was $132 billion – a $33 billion increase. If you divide that dif-ference by the 120 days in that period,

that amounts to $275 million a day, or about $11.5 million per hour, or $3,182 every second. (calculations by Money.com)

All 193 member-states of the United Nations, including the United States, adopted the 2030 Sustainable Devel-opment Agenda in September 2015, although the U.S. government has done nothing to implement these goals. Goal #8 calls for “sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.” The Sustainable Develop-ment Agenda will only be implemented when those most directly affected have organized to command policies of our government that prioritize the well-be-ing of all of us. Join us as a volunteer organizer so we can organize to gain control over our living and working con-ditions. If you have faced wage theft and want to seek remedy, contact WSWA and arrange to speak with a benefit pro-gram volunteer. Call to find out how you can participate in expanding WSWA’s membership canvass and legal benefit. The time to act is now. Call WSWA at 510-832-2111. n

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RE-USE, RECYCLE, REINVEST WITH WSWA!

Bring in your reusable shopping bags, paper, card stock, & more!

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agua durante tres meses porque no gano el dinero suficiente para sobrevivir. Me veo obligada a bañar a mis hijos con botellas de agua de un supermercado local. He tra-bajado en varios trabajos de medio-tiempo durante años, incluyendo McDonald’s y Sterling Foods. El trabajo que encuentro a través de agencias de trabajo tempo-ral es trabajo duro por menos paga y sin beneficios. Es trabajo de esclavos en la modernidad. Me despidieron de mi último trabajo porque llamé enferma por causa de mi embarazo.»

«¡Nosotros los trabajadores con-tratados enfrentamos una tremenda ex-plotación!» Explicó el delegado del Consejo de Beneficios de los Trabajadores del Área de la Bahía, Efren Sosa (apel-lido retenido por razones de privacidad) al inscribir nuevos miembros en el este de Oakland. «A menos que nos unamos, no tenemos más remedio que aceptar nues-tras condiciones. Para fortalecer nuestra posición y tener poder sobre nuestra situ-ación, debemos contactar a otros quinien-tos trabajadores y sus familias antes del final del verano a través de las campañas de puerta por puerta y las reuniones de casa en los vecindarios.»

La columna vertebral de la economía del Área de la Bahía son contratistas in-dependientes, que incluyen jornaleros que trabajan en la «economía del tra-bajo temporal» y luchan por satisfacer las necesidades diarias. La experiencia de Sosa como contratista independiente durante diez años ilustra las condiciones de explotación que muchos trabajadores enfrentan. Como jornalero, llega a la ubi-cación designada cerca de Home Depot alrededor de las 4:30 de la mañana dia-riamente. Junto con otros 20 a 40 traba-jadores jornaleros se van sin ser recogidos para trabajar el 50% del tiempo. Cuando lo contratan, es un trabajo físico duro sin protección. Explicó: «Trabajamos ardua-mente en la construcción, demolición, pin-tura, jardinería, construcción de paredes de yeso, etc. Con frecuencia gano menos que el salario mínimo y no recibo ningún beneficio en el trabajo. ¿Cómo puedes

miembros de su comunidad para resolver sus problemas comunes. Las campañas de puerta por puerta son parte de una estrate-gia que tenemos para unir a los muchos para vencer la capacidad de unos pocos ri-cos para seguir explotando a la mayoría», declaró Ruby.

Otro miembro de WSWA desde hace mucho tiempo describió su trabajo en el Centro de Distribución de Amazon en San Leandro. Ella gana $15 por hora, pero a los trabajadores solo se les permite traba-jar unas 20 horas por semana. «Amazon no está sindicalizada», afirmó. «No po-demos usar forklifts (máquina elevadora) y nos vemos obligados a mover todo en carretillas. Necesitamos organizar a estos trabajadores y la única forma de hacerlo es invitándolos primero a sus hogares para reunirse y hablar con ellos». La mano de obra organizada ahora representa menos del 8% de la fuerza laboral de almacén. Al principio, Amazon tomó una línea dura contra los sindicatos. Un esfuerzo de orga-nización de alto perfil realizado por Com-munications Workers of America en un centro de llamadas de Amazon en Seattle terminó en 2001, cuando el centro se cerró y unos 400 trabajadores fueron despedi-dos como parte de una reestructuración de la empreza. Ahora hay cinco centros oficiales de cumplimiento (donde hacen el empaque inicial) en el Área de la Bahía y luego varios centros de distribución adicionales donde toman y clasifican los artículos empaquetados y los envían con los conductores quienes también pasan por abusos de trabajo.

En comparación con los miembros de WSWA empleados en Amazon que ga-nan $15 por hora, Jeff Bezos en menos de nueve segundos gana lo que el trabajador promedio de Amazon gana en un año ... el trabajador promedio ganó $28.446 en 2017 en comparación con la compen-sación anual de Bezos, que fue de más de $1.6 millones el año pasado. Sin embargo, esto no representa totalmente su ganan-cia económica real. Su patrimonio neto se está disparando debido al hecho de que posee aproximadamente 80 millones de acciones de Amazon. Según el Índice de Multimillonarios de Bloomberg, el valor neto de Bezos el 1 de enero fue de $99 mil millones. El 1 de mayo fue de $132 mil millones, un aumento de $33 mil millones. Si divide esa diferencia por los 120 días en ese período, eso equivale a $275 mil-lones por día, o aproximadamente $11.5 millones por hora, o $3.182 por segundo. (Los cálculos de Money.com)

Los 193 paises miembros de las Na-ciones Unidas, incluido Estados Unidos, adoptaron la Agenda 2030 para el Desar-rollo Sostenible en septiembre de 2015, aunque el gobierno de los Estados Unidos no ha hecho nada para implementar estos objetivos. La Meta #8 requiere «crec-imiento económico sostenido, inclusivo y sostenible, empleo pleno y productivo y trabajo decente para todos». La Agenda de Desarrollo Sostenible solo se imple-mentará cuando los más directamente afectados se hayan organizado para exigir políticas de nuestro gobierno que priori-cen el bienestar de todos nosotros. Únete a nosotros como organizador voluntario para que podamos organizarnos para ob-tener control sobre nuestras condiciones de vida y de trabajo. Si te has enfrentado al robo de salarios y deseas buscar un remedio, comunícate con WSWA y haz arreglos para hablar con un voluntario del programa de beneficios. Llama para averiguar cómo puedes participar en la campaña de puerta por puerta de WSWA y el beneficio legal. El momento de ac-tuar es ahora. Llama a WSWA al 510-832-2111. n

Continuada de la página 1

mantener a tu familia con esa paga? No tenemos atención médica, no se nos da la oportunidad de trabajar sobre-tiempo para ganar más, y no recibimos compen-sación por desempleo cuando el trabajo disminuye».

«A veces ni siquiera me pagan el sal-ario adeudado después de haber hecho el trabajo», continuó Sosa. «Los jornaleros sufren el robo de salarios todos los días. Un día estaba trabajando en la construc-ción de una piscina. Trabajé más de ocho horas, y al final del día, el contratista no quería pagarme. Le dije: «Eso no está bien. Si no me paga, llamaré a la policía». El contratista dijo que, si yo llamaba a la policía, el llamaría a inmigración. Le dije: «No me importa porque soy ciudadano de los Estados Unidos», le mostré mi pas-aporte y él me dijo: «Está bien, está bien, le pagaré»

Muchos jornaleros viven con miedo, lo que los hace vulnerables a este tipo de robo de salarios. El trabajo de jornalero es a menudo la primera oportunidad lab-oral que los trabajadores pueden obtener al llegar a los Estados Unidos. Muchos jor-naleros huyen de la violencia, las pandillas peligrosas, la pobreza y la falta de opor-tunidades en su propio país. Venden todo lo que tienen, gastando más de $18,000 para llegar a los Estados Unidos, por lo que llegan endeudados solo para que les roben su salario.

«Le doy prioridad y dedico mi tiempo a las campañas de puerta por puerta de WSWA cada sábado junto con mi esposa Irma y mi hijo Gustavo», dijo Sosa. «Les doy información a los compañeros de tra-bajo que enfrentan las mismas situaciones que yo: robo de salarios, lesiones en el tra-bajo, exposición a sustancias químicas sin protección suficiente, sin atención médica, y más. Muchos trabajadores no saben qué hacer para cambiar sus condiciones, y los visitamos en su casa porque las personas no pueden organizarse en el trabajo, ya que podrían ser despedidos por organizar.»

Sosa no es el único miembro que en-frenta tales condiciones. Los voluntarios inscriben a nuevos miembros en la cam-paña cada semana que informan a los voluntarios de WSWA sobre las falsas promesas y las condiciones de explotación que han soportado. La promesa de la

economía del trabajador temporal de ob-tener dinero fácil en sus propios términos a través del trabajo por contrato parece demasiado buena para ser cierta, y lo es, según la experiencia de muchos miem-bros de WSWA. Las corporaciones como Amazon pintan una imagen optimista de horarios de trabajo flexibles y posibili-dades de posiciones permanentes, pero la realidad es muy diferente.

Como contratistas independientes, los trabajadores de la economía de «contrat-istas» están excluidos de las dudosas pro-tecciones del gobierno. A cambio de la promesa de poder trabajar «cuando usted quiere» y un cheque de pago regular, los trabajadores renuncian a varios derechos al firmar esos contratos. Su desesperación económica debido a la baja remuneración empuja a los trabajadores temporales a trabajar más horas, a perder sueño y sin poder planear su futuro. No existen pro-tecciones como salario mínimo, pago por horas de sobre-tiempo, beneficios de de-sempleo o compensación laboral, no hay días de enfermedad, pensión, o horas de trabajo máximas o mínimas. Los traba-jadores se ven obligados a asumir riesgos sin ningún beneficio.

«Aquellos que se benefician de los bajos salarios y la negación de recursos que sufren los trabajadores tempora-les y de servicios usan la estrategia di-vide y vencerás», declaró el Gerente de Operaciones, Connor Ruby, al informar al equipo de campaña de puerta por puerta de WSWA del sábado. «Los medios comerciales y los políticos promueven las divisiones percibidas entre la clase trabajadora, como el origen étnico y de donde radica uno, para evitar que los tra-bajadores se organicen junto con otros

JUNE 2019

WSWA Legal Benefit Coordinator Zane Van Arsdel (left) and WBC delegate Kevin Holden (center left) join a WSWA member proudly holding up a notice stopping his and his elderly care recipient’s eviction, thanks to WSWA volunteer attorney Robert Salinas, Esq.

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Subcontratistas

7CALIFORNIA SERVICE WORKER

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WSWA thanks

Fred Moradelly

for strengthening

WSWA’s Supplemental

Seasonal Distributions.

WSWA Operations Manager Connor Ruby (right) debriefs a Legal Advice Session with (from left to right) benefit advocate Carolina Paulet, volunteers Jerry Ashiem and John Schweizer from Epworth United Methodist Church, volunteer attorney Marc Santamaria, Esq., Ph.D., his wife Tran Nguyen and translator Suzana Martinez.

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WSWA

stewards of the earth, stewards of

volunteer time since 1975!

Volunteers Terry and Christina Margenum deliver boxes for WSWA’s supplemental food distributions in East Oakland.

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8

Affordable WaterContinued from page 1

now. We have also gained more volun-teers and sponsors for utility advocacy sessions through this campaign. We’re working to triple the number of speaking opportunities between now and the fall.”

Speaking engagements to area con-gregations included Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church hosted by Pastor Anthony Jenkins in West Oakland, the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland hosted by Interim Pastor Jeff Kunkel, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in West Oakland hosted by Father David Mashikini, and Epworth United Methodist Church in Berkeley hosted by Pastor Kristin Stoneking. “I am from Zambia and I can-not believe that so many in this area and in this country are living without water,” ex-plained Pastor Mashikini. “Water is a a hu-man right and I am proud that our church is participating in this critical fight. We cannot abandon the lowest income in our community.”

In the business community, Advisory Committee member Art Ratner, long-time president and current treasurer of Automobile Service Council of California (ASCCA) Chapter 12 invited WSWA speakers. “EBMUD raised rates 143% since 2003,” continued Ratner. “These rate increases hurt all of us, including small businesses. I know many mechanics who work six-plus days a week to keep their shops open. A lot of these rate increases are going to EBMUD’s bondholders like Wells Fargo Bank when it should be rein-vested back into our community.”

Student organizations including UC Berkeley Democratic Education at Cal (DeCal) class on “Environmental Justice and Solar Energy” hosted by Andrew Cho and UCB Fraternity Phi Kappa Sigma hosted by Alaf-Kazi Mah joined the cam-paign. WSWA Legal Benefit Coordina-tor Zane Van Arsdel, student volunteer Carolina Paulet and WSWA videographer Bunker Seyfert took the “Stop the Shut-offs” campaign to the University of Cali-fornia, Berkeley campus to offer students an opportunity to learn how to fight for low-income workers. “Don’t sympathize, organize!” said Van Arsdel. “No longer can we observe the problems of low in-come workers, we need action. We have 20-30 cases coming in every week and we need students to learn how to fight for our members while our members learn how to be advocates to help the next member coming in the door.”

“And we never back down!” explained volunteer advocate Paulet. “We’ll take it as high as we need to and do whatever it takes to restore the water. I recently went to the home of a member who is a bedridden, disabled veteran, living with his 75-year-old mother, surviving off of $800 a month. Their water was off for two days. We had to go back and forth with EBMUD for over two hours. Finally, we reached EBMUD Board Member Doug Linney, who called General Manager Alexander Coates to get him to take re-sponsibility for the member’s water. This is the second time in the last six months that EBMUD shut off this member’s water who urgently needs it for severe medical reasons.”

Paulet continued, “I know the plight of low-income workers first hand. Students

can play a role in the community right now. We workers, as a collectivized force, have the ability to organize, demand and win the human right to water for every human being. I’m so excited to volunteer at WSWA and assist low-income workers directly affected by poverty in the East Bay.”

Other organizations in the East Bay who backed SWPAUW demands include The Pacifica Institute, Kairos Music Acad-emy hosted by Laura Kakis Serper, Cub Scout Pack 30 hosted by Sara Kennedy and a Turkish social justice and interfaith organization hosted by Ahmed Erdogan. Delbert Walker, WSWA member and member of the Alameda County Coun-cil on Aging, arranged for speakers to the Council. “‘Stop the Shutoffs!’ is our cam-paign slogan,” said Jamila Woods. “New volunteers and members like myself have been joining the ‘Stop the Shutoffs’ Cam-paign every week, but we need reinforce-ments.”

“WSWA is the only place that not only will fight to get your water back but also they are certainly the only place that is open seven days a week,” stated WSWA Benefit Coordinator Esther Mathews. “What WSWA is doing makes a lot of sense. The community needs it. I’m glad to be a part of the solution!”

The U.S. adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015 along with 192 member states of the United Nations to prioritize and achieve cooperatively by 2030 to ensure that all human beings can fulfill their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy en-vironment. Goal #6 states, “Ensure avail-ability and sustainable management of wa-ter and sanitation for all.” California laws

AB 685 and 401 state that, “Every human being has the right to safe, clean, afford-able, and accessible water.” Through the “Stop the Shutoffs” campaign, volunteers have pointed to the need to take action to address the root causes of poverty.

“I am a recently retired dental hygien-ist and have found that this organization is totally hands-on,” emphasized volunteer Kathy Boston. “I am now a trained advo-cate getting members’ water turned back on weekly, but I know firsthand that we urgently need more volunteers!”

“It’s up to us to get the word out,” exclaimed Woods. “We no longer need hope, we need action. Our Speakers Bureau is looking for ten more active members and volunteers to participate in the Stop the Shutoffs campaign!”

WSWA volunteers are focusing their speaking campaign to colleges, commu-nity organizations, and religious institu-tions in the East Bay and are launching an expanded speaking campaign in the fall. WSWA encourages students to spend their summer break learning to organize the benefit program that will provide low-in-come workers with a fighting chance in an uncertain and unstable downsizing econ-omy. If you are a professor, student, or part of an organization or religious institu-tion and want to introduce WSWA to your peers and colleagues or set up a speaking engagement in your class, call WSWA to-day at 510-832-2111. n

JUNE 2019

Staff Training Coordinator Tylyn Hardamon (center, speaking) invites Alameda County Council on Aging Commissioners to participate in SWPAUW’s “Stop the Shutoffs!” campaign demanding EBMUD implement AB 685, the human right to water.

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Arlene and Sam Miller (fourth and third from right) of World Changers Church in East Oakland host volunteers publicizing WSWA’s fight for affordable and clean water. (Standing, left to right) Joseph Hutchinson, Nathan Aubry, WSWA Staff Training Coordinator Tylyn Hardamon, Tyron Aubry, Mona Aubry; (kneeling) Cheryl Kincard; (second from right) WSWA Operations Manager Connor Ruby and (right) Roger deShon.

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WSWA: The Original Green Machine. Sign up here!

WSWA Operations Manager Connor Ruby and volunteer Roger deShon speak to the World Changers Church in East Oakland inviting volunteers to participate in WSWA’s water utility advocacy.

CALIFORNIA SERVICE WORKER 9

Workers Benefit Council delegate Kevin Holden speaks to Automobile Service Council of California (ASCCA) Chapter 12 in Berkeley about the difficulty of more small businesses struggling to pay their water bills which have gone up 143% since 2003.

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Despite volunteer advocates success-fully blocking $350,000 worth of punitive fees and fines and reducing the number of shutoffs by thousands per year, the num-bers of low-income households in the East Bay requesting assistance with preventing a water shutoff continues to mount. On a weekly basis Western Service Workers Association (WSWA) in conjunction with Service Worker Project for Affordable Utilities and Water (SWPAUW) conduct utility advocacy training sessions to teach volunteers how to advocate to stop water shutoffs. Each member is then incorpo-rated into teaching the next member who is in fear of having their water or electric-ity shutoff due to insufficient income to cover basic survival expenses.

East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) General Manager Alexander Coates, quoted in an article by David Harrison in the Wall Street Journal enti-tled “Why your water bill is rising much faster than inflation,” that appeared on March 15, 2018, stated that EBMUD re-duced water shutoffs from 13,400 in 2014 to only 10,952 in 2017. SWPAUW has organized delegations to 15 public hear-ings to demand the end to water shutoffs since 2016.

“This is a huge victory for SWPAUW,” exclaimed volunteer advocate Bunker Seyfert. “When I called EBMUD in 2016 and asked how many ratepayers they shut off, the customer service representative I spoke with said she checked with her supervisor and she then said ‘they don’t keep those records.’ We are the ones that held EBMUD accountable and got them to reduce the number of shutoffs by 2,500 a year! We brought to their attention the results of their egregious practices. The EBMUD Board members told us at the first hearing we attended that they didn’t know the customer service department was shutting off the water for so many ratepayers.”

Promises of relief have fallen short as members with severe medical conditions whose water service has been shut off con-tinue to seek assistance from SWPAUW several times a week.

“The assistance program EBMUD does offer, the Customer Assistance Pro-gram (CAP), is utterly inadequate and to this day, rarely do EBMUD customer ser-vice representatives even offer it to their low-income customers,” explained volun-teer advocate Kathy Boston.

Blaise Bova, Executive Director of St. Vincent de Paul, witnessed a case first-hand when he participated in a benefit util-ity advocacy session at WSWA’s office central. The case involved a grandmother who has custody of her grandchildren. Their water was shut off. Three different EBMUD customer service representa-tives and supervisors never once men-tioned CAP as a possible resource. Bova said he was shocked to witness this after EBMUD announced their “campaign” to publicize CAP at a recent public hearing he attended. Prior to that, EBMUD had only 3% - 6% enrollment in the CAP pro-gram, even though about 40% of ratepay-ers are eligible in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

One WSWA member works part-time at fast food restaurant McDonald’s. She is a mother of three children. Her water was shut off for three months. “My youngest child is less than a year old,” she stated. “I was forced to buy water in bottles from the local grocery store to bathe my family.” Her water bill was over $2,233, but her

actual water usage averaged $50 - $90 a month. Punitive fees and fines accounted for over $1,000 of her bill. “We did get her water turned back on, but we find that these fees are increasingly strangling low-income families in Alameda County who are already struggling with the fact that the medium rent in Oakland for a two bedroom apartment is over $3,300!” exclaimed volunteer advocate Suzanne Abeloff. “That is why it is so important that we are self-help. We teach members how to get their own water turned back on, and how to advocate for the next person who suffers from the same problem. The need is great, despite our heroic efforts, thousands of Alameda County residents get their water shut off daily.”

EBMUD charges a deposit when a customer gets behind on their bill, often double their average bill. Then the cus-tomer has to pay a $48 penalty to shut the water off, another $48 to turn it back on and another $59 if EBMUD puts a lock on the water meter after they shut off the water service.

At a weekly utility advocacy session Paul Sanford, a utility advocate volunteer said, “When I call EBMUD to negotiate a payment plan to get the water service turned back on, EBMUD representatives almost NEVER offer a payment plan that our members can afford. When I call agen-cies that offer financial assistance like St. Vincent de Paul to see if they will make

a pledge, they tell me that they are so swamped with cases that they will only make a pledge if we get EBMUD to make an affordable payment plan. But EBMUD won’t give us an affordable payment plan until we get a pledge from a charity. It’s a ‘Catch-22’ and our members are stuck with their water off!”

“St. Vincent de Paul in Contra Costa County told us that they are very short on funds because they are so swamped with cases. They tell us they can only assist ONE family per week, period,” explained Utility Advocate Coordinator Stanley Brown. “Yet EBMUD consistently tells us to call the assistance agencies, even though we explain over and over that the agencies are very, very limited in funds and it is EBMUD’s responsibility to get our low-income member’s water back on!”

“I have severe arthritis,” stated another WSWA member whose water had been shut off. “I have to take multiple hot baths a day to alleviate the pain. EBMUD re-fused to turn my water back on. I was forced to fill buckets with water from my neighbor’s faucet and I hurt my wrists in the process. It wasn’t until I met WSWA that I learned how to fight to get my water turned back on. EBMUD is a government body completely neglecting our most vul-nerable communities.”

Recently WSWA received a call at 6 a.m. from a 62-year-old member. She

SWPAUW Advocates Stop EBMUD from Disconnecting Water for Members with Severe

Medical Conditionscalled the office crying because she had been living without water for 24 hours. She has a nebulizer and fibromyalgia (a chronic, painful disorder). “I didn’t know who else to call. I got scared and didn’t know what to do,” the member explained. “I make $700 a month. I told EBMUD, but they refused to listen and cornered me into paying $400. I didn’t believe it at first but SWPAUW advocated for me and got the water turned back on for a $150 payment.”

Another WSWA member is a caregiver for her two disabled children and came to WSWA with a water bill over $1,500. She and her children had been living without water for over 24 hours. She explained, “My children are disabled and have bad asthma and we require water for their neb-ulizers!” WSWA advocates went back and forth with EBMUD Customer Services Manager Latrice King and finally got this member’s water back on for $50. As soon as King agreed to turn the water back on, the member shouted with joy, exclaiming, “I never knew that an organization like WSWA could exist. I know that I will al-ways come back here if I face a problem and to volunteer to teach others how we can fight and win.”

If you are interested in learning how to advocate to keep households in the East Bay from having their water shut off, or if you are in fear of losing your water service, call Stanley Brown at (510) 832-2111. n

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WSWA benefit advocates (left to right) Daniela Dula, Carolina Paulet, and SWPAUW member Cristina Justo advocate for a member with severe arthritis who was living without water for two days.

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JUNE 2019

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12 JUNE 2019

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Western Service Workers Association (WSWA) sincerely thanks Eagle Scout Edward He of Piedmont Council Troup 1, who completed his Eagle Scout Project by constructing a large custom shelving unit for the garage attached to WSWA Office Central. From development of his initial, comprehensive project proposal, to building a 3D model, purchasing supplies, recruiting and organizing his team of volunteers and the actual construction time, Edward and his volunteers devoted 100-plus hours to bringing the project across the finish line.

WSWA originally met Edward through Ken Li, founder and adviser of the Piedmont Community Services Crew. Edward will be entering UC Berkeley as a freshman in the fall. He said he found great satisfaction in working with his hands and seeing the final product slowly coming together at the end of each workday. He said the project taught him lessons in planning, leadership and communication. Edward’s timely efforts better positioned WSWA members to sort,

Eagle Scout Edward He’s Project Enhances WSWA Benefit Programinventory and store the incoming supplies needed for the annual holiday food, toy and gift distributions to eligible members.

The new shelves are sturdy. They allow for improved storage of critically needed non-perishable emergency food supplies. WSWA members run a self-help Eleven-Point Benefit Program free-of-charge. Benefits include emergency food, clothing, non-emergency dental care, pre-ventive medical care, legal advice, utility advocacy, and much more. When a member is between paychecks, or is unable to work due to injury or illness, access to emergency food is vital to survival so members can join together to determine the course of action we will take to change our living and working conditions. Members collect food in their neighborhood, from churches and local businesses so it is available when needed.

Thank you, Edward, for all your hard work! WSWA congratulates you for your outstanding accomplishment! n

Boy Scout Edward He (center) supervises volunteers (left to right) Cooper Ford and Mitch Curtis to measure the new shelves.

Visualize Success at www.yesican.wikispaces.com

or call Al Kueffner at (510) 290-1394

WSW

A Photo

WSW

A Photo

Jo i n W S WA !

O u r c a r b o n f o o t p r i n t , n e a r l y n i l .

O u r o r g a n i z i n g d r ive ’s h u m a n i m p a c t , h u g e ! Volunteer Edward He cuts a shelving unit for WSWA Office Central for his Eagle Scout project.

Boy Scout Edward He (center) with his parents (left to right) Bin and Alana He proudly show the new shelves Edward just completed.

CALIFORNIA SERVICE WORKER 13

Spring Family Brunch & Egg Hunt

1. Volunteer Matt Lyons (second from left) supervises children on breaking open the piñata. 2. Volunteers (left to right) Doris Lilly, Yaroon Kochito, and Stanley Brown serve food to members at the party. 3. Volunteers (left to right) Leou Wong, Lehong Nguyen and Diana Manning prepare food for volunteers and members. 4. Volunteers Suzanne Abeloff (left) and her daughter Shanna enjoy the event at Bay Community Fellowship in Oakland. 5. Members’ children count up Easter eggs and break for a nutritious high-protein meal. 6. Volunteer Carolina Paulet (left) leads the face painting for children of WSWA members.

1

2

6

4

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3

Photo by Bunker Seyfert

Photo by Bunker Seyfert

Photo by Bunker Seyfert

WSWA thanks Margaret Huang

for strengthening WSWA’s

year-round seasonal benefits!

5

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Photo by Bunker Seyfert

14 JUNE 2019

Congratulations to Western Service Workers

Association and your 44 years of

service in the Bay Area!TURN is proud to be a partner and a supporter!

For more than 40 years we have challenged California’s powerful energy and tele-phone companies, saving consumers and small busi-nesses millions, standing up for vulnerable Californians, and demanding reliable ser-vice and livable communities. Our skilled legal team saves consumers millions and ad-vances groundbreaking pol-icies and programs at the California Public Utilities

785 Market Street, Suite 1400, San Francisco CA, 94103

415-929-8876turn@turn.org

Commission (CPUC) and in Sacramento. Our consumer advisor helps consumers to understand their bills, protect their privacy, challenge un-fair practices and learn how to save money and the environment.

CALIFORNIA SERVICE WORKER 15

You can become a part of the official WSWA Fan Club. WSWA is collecting new and like new fans to distribute to members as part of WSWA’s Service Worker Summer Campaign. Tell your friends, your neighbors and your co-workers. Call or stop by today!

JOIN THE WSWA FAN CLUB!

Official Alameda County Green Business Specializing in HybridsToyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Acura, Subaru, Lexus, Infiniti, Scion

A U T O M O T I V E

(510) 540-7093

2871 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA (2 blocks north of Ashby)

Seeking Volunteers

As a food-first effort, our focus is on

maintaining a minimal footprint with an all-volunteer team.

To volunteer or support us, visit www.foodrev.org!

Based in San Francisco - also transports food in Union City

especially in Union City!

WILLIAM R. HUMMER, D.D.S.

1239 Harrison Street, San Leandro, CA 94577

510.351.5751 fax billhummer@msn.com

“I know some wonderful, conscientious, ethical

people at WSWA, and I support them in all their endeavors.”

- William Hummer, D.D.S.

510.351.5711 office

16

Big Energy’s Big GrabContinued from page 2

JUNE 2019

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to regulatory agencies, like the CPUC, expecting a more pliant response from these appointed commissioners who fre-quently come to their roles through re-volving doors with utility company and energy industry ties on their résumés. For example, former CPUC Chairman Michael Peevey, who was on the Commission for 13 years, was the president of Edison In-ternational and Southern California Edison Company prior to his appointment by then California state governor, Gray Davis, to the CPUC, and his re-appointment by for-mer governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Policies harm working peopleLow-income workers in general don’t

make enough to afford the purchase of a solar photovoltaic system outright, even though they could benefit the most from having ownership of technology that could reduce or eliminate their electric bills. Instead, low-income residents unable to afford the cost of heat have to rely on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, known colloquially as “Fuel Assistance.” In California alone, PG&E shuts off the power of 1,500 fam-ilies every day, and millions across the country face economic circumstances so precarious that they qualify for LIHEAP assistance. Despite this, the federal gov-ernment has been prone to slash LIHEAP funding, to the point where some years only one out of five eligible households have received LIHEAP funding.

But LIHEAP, as critical as it is, doesn’t touch the root of the problem, which is government and corporate poli-cies creating stagnant, rock-bottom wages and sky-rocketing energy costs at the same time, paid out to a politically powerful en-ergy industry.

LIHEAP in reality acts as a giant sub-sidy to Big Energy. It allows these corpo-rations to price their product well beyond the ability of millions of low-income cus-tomers to afford, and then recoup the dif-ference, courtesy of taxpayer dollars that finance the program just to end up in big corporate bank accounts.

Illustration by Li Tie

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Illustration by Li Tie

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AWARD WINNING!ALL NEW ARTWORK!BETTER THAN EVER!THE PERFECT GIFT!

BE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE!MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Labor donated

Call WSWA at (510) 832-2111

Workers proportionately pay moreNo wonder, then, that the same EEI

that doesn’t want anybody to have rooftop solar can’t say enough good things about LIHEAP! While campaigning to keep us chained to a utility profitmill that helps keep us poor, the EEI promotes LIHEAP as an “essential program that delivers critical short-term aid to our nation’s most vulner-able citizens.” These corporate lobbyists, ruthless in wringing every dime they can out of the population, start wringing their hands instead when it comes to advertising the plight of low-income Americans. “LI-HEAP funding has been cut by more than one-third (since 2011),” the EEI communi-cations team laments, with eligible house-holds facing “many challenges in addition to paying their energy bills, including un-employment, unhealthy home conditions, and medical issues.” So carried away are the EEI-ers that, in an unguarded moment, they even admit that “Low-income fami-lies dedicate a large and disproportionate amount of their budgets to energy costs,” with the average budget burden for LI-HEAP recipients being “roughly double the average for all U.S. households.”

So give us the rate hikes, they say, don’t even think about generating your own power, and then pony up billions in corporate welfare – to us.

It’s like the fast food industry being subsidized by taxpayers via their workers receiving food stamps, or Walmart being subsidized by taxpayers via their work-ers being on Medi-Cal. Not only do we as workers have to expend every dime we earn to purchase the commodities we need to survive, not only are we commodified ourselves as big corporate interests buy our capacity for labor like they’d buy a fry-o-la-tor – now we get paid below the actual rate that would be required to produce us as a commodity!

Big fast food pays workers less than they need to eat, so workers end up on food stamps. Big retail pays workers less than they need to get medical care, so workers end up on Medi-Cal. Big Energy charges too much for workers to afford, so work-ers end up on fuel assistance. And service workers, temporary, part-time and most gig workers are still living in poverty with no job security whatsoever.

Why doesn’t our government stop figuring out new ways to subsidize these profit machines and start dealing with real solutions to the needs of the vast major-ity of the population – working people, independent contractors and small sole proprietors? What if, instead of giving Big Energy the keys to the safe deposit box, the government said, “Look, the in-

terests of millions upon millions of peo-ple nationwide are more important than shareholder dividends”? What if they told the lobbyists trying to kill rooftop solar to take a hike, and then cut off the corporate welfare and decided to use those resources to get people established with renewable, sustainable energy sources that provide the people with energy instead of providing Big Energy with profits?

Sign up for action!But to ask, “What if,” is to ask the

wrong question. The possibilities are al-ready there; the ideas are already there; the need is already there. What’s not there yet is the force to make it happen. So the right question is, “What can I do to build such a force?”

And the answer is, well, on your own, not much. But through organization, in concert with others of like mind, our indi-vidual passions and principles can combine creating the strength to fight. The members of the Edison Electric Institute understand that there’s strength in numbers. How about you? If so, call WSWA today at 510-832-2111 and volunteer in our organizer training program! n

WSWA has always been green!WSWA can put your used home and office

furniture, working equipment & appliances to re-use!

Give WSWA horsepower!

Donate your used, running

vehicle today! Call (510) 832-2111.

17CALIFORNIA SERVICE WORKER

Robert J. Wheeler

51 Mission Hil ls Street , Oakland, CA 94605

Executive/Technical Recruit ing

AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY TRADING GROUP LTD.

(510) 635-0535 Phone(510) 908-1492 Cell(510) 635-0539 Fax

rwheeler-attg@msn.com

RISE TO THE CHALLENGE!JOIN WITH SERVICE

AND DOMESTIC WORKERS TO BUILD A

FUTURE FOR ALL WORKERS

FULL & PART-TIME ORGANIZERS

NEEDED NOW! CALL WSWA TODAY AT

510-832-2111 AND ASK FOR TYLYN

LEARN basic organizing skills.

BUILD a self-help benefit program. LEAD door-to-door

membership canvasses.

PRODUCE an

independent newspaper. FIGHT for the change

we all want and

need!

WSWA HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREEN!WSWA can put your used laptops and computers to re-use!

Franco Muñoz, APCWORKERS’ COMPENSATION ATTORNEYS

Representing workers since 2009

Settled Millions of dollars

on behalf of injured workers.

No fee unless we win the case.Hablamos español

510 - 257 - 4141

825 Washington StreetOakland, CA 94607

Proud supporter of Western Service Workers Association

WSWA thanks Robert Salinas, Esq. for fortifying WSWA’s Legal Advice Benefit.

Utility & Water Advocacy Tuesdays & Thursdays

1:30 - 5 pm

Every day, 1500 households in California have their electric-ity shut off for lack of ability to pay. This includes those who rely on CPAP machines, oxygen ma-chines, nebulizers, or refrigerated insulin to survive. We’re fighting to keep our members alive! Learn here at WSWA what it takes to keep low-income families’ elec-tricity, gas and water operating, during our Utility and Water Advocacy Sessions. Experienced advocates are ready and able to teach new volunteers.

Year-round Food Drives and Information Tables

Fridays 12 pm - 8 pmSundays 11 - 6 pm

Bay Area businesses, insti-tutions and individuals join the service worker cause, making WSWA’s free-of-charge emergen-cy food distributions possible. Sign up to volunteer or to offer a booth or table space for WSWA outreach. Montclair Safeway, Lincoln Square Safeway and Grand Avenue Safeway in Oakland, Harbor Bay Safeway in Alameda, Shattuck Avenue Safeway in Berkeley, Solano Avenue Safeway in Albany, the Lunardi’s in Danville, participate monthly.

Door-to-Door Membership CanvassesThursdays 1:30 - 5 pm

Saturdays 11 am - 3 pmHouse-to-house canvassing

is the primary way WSWA signs up new members and keeps current members informed about what WSWA is doing, allowing them to stay active in the organization. Canvasses are held every week. If you are interested in volunteering or want our volunteers to canvass your neighborhood, call our office at (510) 832-2111.

Publication SessionsWednesdays 7 - 9 pm &

Saturdays 1 - 4 pm

Join WSWA’s publication sessions, where we produce the California Service Worker, Spon-sors Guide and literature we use to publicize the struggles and victo-ries of low-paid workers who are denied a voice in the media. If you are interested in learning more about our publications or are able to volunteer your time and skills in photography, graphic design, writing, or desktop publishing, call today.

Back-to-School Clothing and Supplies Distribution

August 17, 10 am - 4 pm

WSWA is collecting back-packs, school supplies and new school clothes for the Benefit Plan II Back-to-School Clothing and School Supply Distributions. Benefit Plan II is a free-of-charge, year-round budget-savings pro-gram for enrolled WSWA mem-bers. Volunteers can join Benefit Plan II caseworker training pro-grams, become a WSWA benefit advocate, drive, match and pack donations of school supplies, chil-dren’s clothing and backpacks. Please call today to sign up!

18 JUNE 2019

W H AT ’ S H A P P E N I N G

Daan Rottger (center bottom of left photo) and the employees of Fighting Amish Electric donated a substantial electrical upgrade at Western Service Workers Association’s Office Central. The team installed a new electric water heater to upgrade having hot water in the building. Originally from Holland, Rottger runs Fighting Amish Electric with his brother Inder Rottger. Daan Rottger explained, “There is so much wrong in this world, it is great to be able to give back locally to an organization doing such great hands-on work.” He continued, “We are named Fighting Amish Electric because the Amish stand for high-quality workmanship and we like to think we live up to that standard.” WSWA thanks Fighting Amish Electric for their hard work and dedication, which facilitates much of WSWA’s critical work.1

Electrical upgrade at WSWA

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__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________ YES! I want to read service workers’ news and views! I enclose my donation of $___ for a one-year subscription to California Service Worker.

Name (please print) __________________________________________________Address: __________________________________________________________City: _____________________________ State: ____________ Zip: ___________Phone Number: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ YES! I want others to read California Service Worker news and views! I enclose my donation of $___ for ___ years’ subscription as a gift to:

Name (please print) __________________________________________________Address: __________________________________________________________City: _____________________________ State: ____________ Zip: ___________Phone Number: _____________________________________________________

By choice and necessity, your financial gifts to WSWA are not and never have been tax-deductible. For that reason, your donations are doubly appreciated!

19CALIFORNIA SERVICE WORKER

WSWA thanks

Amy Mo

for fortifying

WSWA’s Supplemental

Distributions!

WSWA thanks

Julie Ebding for

helping to build WSWA’s

utility advocacy benefit.

Bruce Johnston, MD

Psychiatrist since 1961“Intelligent and caring, Dr. Johnston is an old-school

talk therapy psychiatrist who really listens and understands. I feel that I have benefited from his experience.” - Anonymous patient

1700 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA

(510) 849-4983

www.tasteofthehimalayas.com

Taste of the Himalayas

California Service Worker is published as a benefit for members of WESTERN SERVICE WORKERS ASSOCIATION (WSWA). Like all of WSWA’s 11-Point Benefit Program, it is free of charge to members. WSWA asks those who have joined our cause to support the produc-tion of our membership newspaper with a suggested donation of $20, or as much as you can help with.

Subscribe to California Service Worker

VOLUNTEER POWER the most sustainable fuel of all time!

Labor donated

Western Service Workers Association 1141 Peralta Street Oakland, CA 94607

Place Postage Here

Think green!

Give your used but running car a new

lease on life with

WSWA.

Call

(510) 832-2111

MAIL-OUT 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS

ORIENTATION1 - 2 p.m.

MEMBERSHIPPHONING SESSION

2 - 5 p.m.

PHONETRAININGSESSION6 - 10 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS

CLASS

9:30 - 11:30 a.m.

VOLUNTEERS ORIENTATION12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

BENEFIT

ADVOCACYSESSION1:30 - 5 p.m.

SPONSORSHIPPHONING

1 - 5 p.m.

BUSINESS

CANVASS

9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS

CLASS

1 - 3 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS ORIENTATION

6 - 7 p.m.

PUBLICATIONSESSION

7 - 9 p.m.

SUPPLEMENTAL FOOD

DISTRIBUTION4 - 8 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS

CLASS

10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS ORIENTATION12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

BENEFIT

ADVOCACYSESSION1:30 - 5 p.m.

MEMBERSHIP

CANVASS

1:30 - 5 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS ORIENTATION

6 - 7 p.m.BENEFIT

ADVOCACYSESSION6 - 10 p.m.

PHONETRAININGSESSION

9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS ORIENTATION9:30 - 10:30 a.m.

MAIL-OUT1 - 4 p.m.

INFORMATION TABLE

12 - 8 p.m.

VOLUNTEERSORIENTATION

10 - 11 a.m.

MEMBERSHIP

CANVASS

11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

PUBLICATIONSESSION

1 - 4 p.m.

MAIL-OUT11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

STAFF

MEETING4 - 5 p.m.

MAIL-OUT10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

INFORMATIONTABLE

11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS

CLASS

6 - 8 p.m.

PHONETRAININGSESSION6 - 10 p.m.

VOLUNTEERS CALENDARMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

WSWA ENDORSES THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

AND HAS BEEN GREEN SINCE 1975! JOIN TODAY!