Latino Book Festival : Sacramento

 

Choosing Democracy: Labor Wins The Big One - UAW

Choosing Democracy: Labor Wins The Big One - UAW: At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when real inflation accounted for wages for the average worker are lower today than they ...

Papi, Me and Cesar Chavez

 

Sanders on the Continuing Violence in Israel and Gaza

Choosing Democracy: Sanders on the Continuing Violence in Israel and Gaza:   Sanders Statement on Continuing Violence in Israel and Gaza   WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday issued the fo...

Immigrants' Rights to Join a Union

 

IMMIGRANT EMPLOYEE RIGHTS UNDER THE
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT

Although employers must obey immigration laws, if you choose to talk to or take action with your co-workers to improve your working conditions, it is illegal for your employer to use your immigration status against you.

For example:

• Employers cannot threaten to call ICE because you and your co-workers tried to join a union.

• Employers cannot demand that you produce new immigration papers because you talked with your co-workers or a union about your working conditions.

Regardless of immigration status, you have the same rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) as all covered employees including the right to:

• Organize with a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, benefits, and other working conditions.

• Talk about working conditions with your co-workers, the public, or a union.

• Take action with your co-workers to try to improve your working conditions.

• Choose not to do any of these actions.

If you believe that your employer has retaliated against you, your coworkers or your union, you can contact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to file a charge. The NLRB will investigate the charge, which includes:

• Taking your affidavit and asking for your evidence. Because you are protected under the NLRA just the same as any other worker and because an individual’s immigration status is not relevant to whether the NLRA has been violated, the NLRB will not ask about your immigration status or the immigration status of others during our investigation or litigation to prove violations of the NLRA.

• The NLRB may take legal action against your employer if the evidence shows that your employer is unlawfully using your immigration status to threaten or retaliate against you because you exercised your rights under the NLRA. The NLRB may also work with other agencies to ensure that immigration laws are not being used to threaten or retaliate against workers for exercising their rights under the NLRA.

• If your employer has fired you because you exercised your rights under the NLRA, the NLRB will work to get your job back and to get you paid for your lost wages. But if the employer proves that you were not authorized to work, the NLRB cannot order the employer to pay you lost wages and may not be able to get you your job back. In those situations, the NLRB will seek other remedies and may work with immigration agencies to assist with employees who have been victims of labor rights violations. For example, the NLRB may consider whether you could be eligible for a U or T visa or deferred action and may work with immigration agencies to try and obtain this kind of relief.

Contact the NLRB: www.nlrb.gov, 1-866-667-NLRB, or download our mobile app!

 

Elections and Democracy in Guatemala

 

In Guatemala,  Indigenous and campesino groups have declared an indefinite national strike in response to judicial harassment of president-elect Bernardo Arévalo and his party Movimiento Semilla. Thousands of demonstrators have blocked traffic on major thoroughfares across the country. Indigenous and community leaders say the protests will continue until Attorney General Consuelo Porras and prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche resign and the Constitutional Court puts an end to what Arévalo has termed  “a slow-motion coup”  to prevent him from taking office in January.     The strike entered its  fifth consecutive day today, with at least 28 active blockade points nationally. At the road blocks, Indigenous authorities, including the 48 Cantones de Totonicapán and Indigenous mayors' offices, are joined by university students and faculty, health workers, teachers, and a  wide range of civil society groups .  The strike comes after Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) was raided for a fourth time last week by officials from the Attorney General’s office. A  live stream video of the raid shows  distressing scenes of police wrestling vote tally boxes from the arms of justices who plead with officers to respect the will of voters. The 20-hour raid was part of ongoing investigations into spurious claims of election fraud targeting Arévalo and his Semilla party. International observers have said there is no evidence of vote tampering.      For the people who voted for Arévalo, an anti-establishment candidate who promises to challenge entrenched corruption and impunity, the raids are an attempt on the part of political elites to weaken or disqualify their president-elect.     Attorney General Porras and special prosecutor Curruchiche, seen as the key operatives in the campaign to sabotage Arévalo and Semilla, have both been  sanctioned by the U.S. government for anti-democratic actions and obstructing investigations into corruption in Guatemala. Since Arévalo’s surprise showing in the first-round presidential election in June, Porras and Curruchiche, together with judge Fredy Orellana, have repeatedly pursued fraud allegations and other supposed irregularities. The criminalization of Semilla follows a worsening trend of lawfare, institutional intimidation, and judicialization of dissent in Guatemala, as NACLA contributor  Vaclav Masek observed i n the lead-up to the August 20 runoff that handed Arévalo a landmark victory.      Arévalo met with senior officials in Washington this week, after the U.S. State Department released a statement saying it was “ gravely concerned ” about ongoing efforts to undermine a peaceful transition of power. The U.S. government has imposed visa restrictions on current and former members of congress, justice officials, and “anyone else who undermines democracy.” In a statement, the White House expressed support for Arévalo “following last week's undemocratic efforts to undermine the will of the Guatemalan people, intimidate election authorities, and prevent the peaceful transition of power."     In the face of the ongoing judicial harassment against Arévalo and Semilla, the TSE is considering  extending the formal election period until the January presidential inauguration, a move that would protect the party from suspension.      The Organization of American States (OAS) described the situation in Guatemala as "a political persecution similar to those carried out in authoritarian regimes." The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has raised concerns about the risk of violence as political tension runs high. In solidarity, NACLA staff  DONATE to support our work SUBCRIBE to the NACLA Report

Dolores Huerta Foundation

  

In 2005, the Dolores Huerta Foundation launched its first house meeting campaign – a foundational piece of DHF's community organizing model – and organized its first grassroots volunteer groups to work on infrastructure improvements in Kern County, California. From this effort, Vecinos Unidos was born!

In its very first year, DHF's Vecinos Unidos network successfully advocated for the Bakersfield Board of Supervisors to improve public safety by building sidewalks around three area schools that lacked them.

Within the following year, the Vecinos led a successful campaign to remove the Texas company that had been hurting the community with its mismanagement of the local water board and bring in local management. Under its new leadership – which included three Vecinos who independently ran for and got elected to the water board – the board stabilized water rates, installed water meters in residents' homes for correct water usage monitoring, exposed gross mismanagement of funds by the previous board, and called a grand jury to investigate.

Even in its earliest years, DHF's community-based model of training and organizing local volunteer leaders showed the tremendous impact that improved the daily lives of community members. It's a model – invented by legendary community organizer Fred Ross, Sr. and pioneered by our founder and namesake Dolores Huerta – that has been expanded, refined, and replicated over the past two decades, leading to the growing list of successes, the empowerment of communities, and life-changing benefits for tens of thousands of families and individuals.

Vecinos Unidos, specifically, continues to empower community leaders through hands-on training to lead civic engagement campaigns, hold elected officials accountable, and secure positive outcomes to address the needs of their community. Vecinos chapters have successfully advocated for community improvements such as more parks, paved roads, pools, sewer connections, education equity, and more.

Thanks to the ongoing dedication of our volunteers, network members, and supporters like you, we'll keep making a difference in people's lives, protecting fundamental rights, and helping marginalized and vulnerable communities find their voice in our democracy for decades to come!

Stay tuned for more stories of impact as we celebrate 20 years of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and if you're on social media and not already doing so, follow DHF's social media channels for even more updates on our work and ways to engage:

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Thank you for everything you do!

– Your friends at the Dolores Huerta Foundation

 

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