By Doug Cunningham

Despite efforts by employers to stop it, longshore union workers in California are going ahead with their planned work stoppage Thursday to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jack Heyman of ILWU Local 10 expects the ports to be shut down during the day shift May 1st.

[Heyman]: "This action on May Day is a culmination of our internationalist perspective, and we’re really proud that we’re actually going to be doing this."

Maritime workers in San Francisco are seeking a ticket back to Alcatraz. Jesse Russell has more:

A port-wide shutdown is expected in San Francisco on Saturday. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union plan to join a mass march in support of embattled former workers of the Alcatraz Ferry and the Pier 41 docking facility. In the fall of 2005 the ferry contract was taken from the union Blue and Gold Fleet and given to the non-union Hornblower Yachts. After months of legal proceedings Hornblower finally took over in September of 2006. Those workers have now been picketing for two months demanding they be hired by Hornblower and a restoration of union rights. The maritime workers argue that Hornblower hurts the local economy by paying workers less than a reasonable living wage and can also lead to more accidents and spills due to the hiring of lesser experienced workers. Mass picketing is planned at 10 a.m. Saturday in front of Alcatraz Landing.

By Doug Cunningham

Support is growing in big cities to legally require that workers get paid sick days. San Francisco voters passed a ballot initiative that gives up to nine days of paid sick leave a year to fulltime workers. A survey of public opinion in New York City shows seventy percent support for making paid sick leave available for all workers. That survey – conducted by Lake Research Partners for the Community Service Society, shows that 65 percent of New York City’s working poor have no paid sick leave. Debra Ness, President of the National Partnership for Women and Families, says nearly half of private sector workers have no paid sick days. She says low wage workers are hit the hardest by having to lose pay when they’re sick.

By Jesse Russell

After a strike, a lockout and a heated labor dispute running for nearly two years - hotel workers in San Francisco have reached a tentative agreement with their employers. More than 4,000 workers from 14 hotels are represented by UNITE-Here who has been meeting with hotel management daily for two weeks straight. The hotels reportedly dropped an attempt to split employee benefits into two tiers - one of the major sticking point for the workers. Last month the workers had voted in favor of strike action if a contract agreement could not be reached.

By Jesse Russell with Vinny Lombardo and Leilani Albano

California voters are headed to the polls today for a hotly contested special election. Not only is it the most expensive election in that state's history, the outcome could determine the ability of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to hold onto his seat and the viability of the labor movement. At the core of the debate are propositions 74 through 78. Leilani Albano has more from Los Angeles:

Propositions 74 through 78 deal with: toughening tenureship rules for teachers, weakening public-sector unions, school spending limits, changing re-districting methods, and gaining access to low-cost pharmaceuticals.

By Jesse Russell and Grace Turner
Last week opponents of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot initiatives gathered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. WIN correspondent Grace Turner files this report.

[Chanting, "Vote Early, Vote No!"]
Waving signs reading "Vote No!" opponents of California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger stood on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. They were there to vote early for the November 8th Special Election. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom warned against the governors initiatives.
Appearing on the ballot are initiatives regarding: parental notification for teenagers seeking abortions, lengthening teachers probationary period, labor union clout, the quality of government services, redistricting, prescription drug costs and electricity supplies.

For the Workers Independent News, I’m Jesse Russell with the last of three special reports on the November 8th special election in California. Last week opponents of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot initiatives gathered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. WIN correspondent Grace Turner files this report.

[Chanting, "Vote Early, Vote No!"]

Waving signs reading "Vote No!" opponents of California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger stood on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. They were there to vote early for the November 8th Special Election. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom warned against the governors initiatives.

By Jesse Russell

In a lawsuit filed Monday a union representing 800 striking workers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, sought an injunction barring the hospirtal and Sutter Health, its parent company, from employing replacement workers. The Service Employees International Union local 250 began the strike in September after talks collapsed. The union alleges the company backed out of a settlement proposed by a federal mediator, while the hospital said it never made an agreement.

SEIU 's Andy Stern says SEIU will give $250,000 a week to San Francisco strikers. Grace Turner has more on that story.

By Grace Turner

Stern, visited the picket line of striking California Pacific Medical
Care workers to announce major financial support. More than 800 SEIU members at three San Francisco hospitals have been on strike since September 13th.

[Stern1] “This is a pretty fundamental fight about
whether or not we’re going to have a healthcare system
where the first question is, ‘Where does it hurt?’ and

not, ‘Where is your insurance card?’ Whether
healthcare is about patients or profits. Unfortunately

By Jesse Russell

San Francisco hotels could lose close to $50 million next year because of an ongoing labor dispute. Five groups are currently considering moving their conventions if an agreement isn't reached between 14 hotels and workers represented by UNITE-HERE local 2. The two sides have been unable to reach an agreement during contract negotiations. Workers have been without a contract since August of last year in a grueling battle that has included strikes and an employee lockout. The workers are seeking comprehensive healthcare, fair wage increases, fully funded pensions and card check neutrality.

The San Francisco hotel stand-off is once again moving toward it's boiling point. Thirty seven protestors were taken into "protective custody" by police on Tuesday. They were a portion of a 500 strong contingent of UNITE-Here local 2 employees who marched on the San Francisco Hilton. The demonstration came out of frustration over a contract negotiation stalemate between the union and 14 downtown hotels. The two sides had agreed to a "cooling-off" period last November after a two-week strike and six-week lockout. Health, contract length, wages and pensions are all concerns of the workers.

Thousands of workers and their families are expected in the streets of San Francisco today to protest what they say are the anti-worker policies of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tim Paulson is Executive Director of the San Francisco Central Labor Council.

[Tim Paulson 1] : "He's traveling the state right now and he's collecting money from corporate interests to basically attack workers' rights."

Thousands of hotel workers represented by UNITE-HERE in San Francisco continue to struggle with hotel owners over settlement of a fair contract for the workers. UNITE-HERE Local 2 Communications Director Valerie Lapin says health care, pensions and pay raises are issues that remain unresolved in on and off talks with hotel management.

[Valerie Lapin 1]: "We've been at the bargaining table on and off but we're still quite a distance apart on some major issues, particularly in the area of health care."

The AFL-CIO is launching a national grassroots fight to defend social security against the Bush privatization attempt. Actions in San Francisco and Boston Wednesday singled out financial firms like Charles Schwab
urging them not to assist social security privatization. Tim Paulson is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Labor Council.

[Tim Paulson]: "Social security is not broken and the only thing that's attempted to be broken is the promise to working men and women that when they retire that they will have guaranteed benefits. And we believe that corporate America is just drooling right now waiting to get a piece of our retirement and make sure that they can profit off of it and let it get into the speculative realm."

The AFL-CIO believes that private financial companies, rocked by corporate crime and scandal in recent years, should never be trusted to handle social security accounts.

The U.S. Supreme Court has handed a victory to low-wage workers. It refused to hear an appeal of a San Francisco U.S. Court decision upholding Berkeley, California's living wage ordinance. Skates on The Bay, a non-union waterfront restaurant in Berkeley¹s marina had challenged an extension of the law. Berkeley City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque (Albu-kirk) says this is important for other cities around the nation that want to enact similar living wage ordinances.

[Manuela Albuquerque 1]: "The ninth circuit decision which the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear was a very thoughtful, scholarly opinion and it established that social welfare legislation of this sort is to be treated with a great deal of deference in the courts."

[Chanting: fade under next sentence.]

That was the sound outside San Francisco hotels for eight weeks, but no longer.

On Saturday, the San Francisco hotel worker lockout ended and today more than 4,000 employees are returning to work.

Valerie Lapin is a spokesperson with UNITE-HERE Local 2.

[Lapin1] "There's an agreement between the multi-employer group and and UNITE-HERE Local 2 to a cooling-off period during which time we'll continue to negotiate a contract. The employers have agreed not to lock-out the workers during that time and Local 2 will not go on strike."

Negotiations will continue over medical benefits, pension contributions, wages and contract length.

In addition to laying off more than 10,000 workers across the country, SBC workers in California, especially San Francisco, are seeing their jobs move to right-to-work states. States that have Right to Work laws secure the right of a employee to decide whether or not they want to join or financially support a union. Proponents of the laws argue that they create jobs and preserve individual liberty. Critics point out that the laws are a union busting tactic that hurt job creation, promote low wages and poor benefits and diminish the standard of living and legal protections for workers and their families in those states. The Communications Workers of America local's in California have witnessed a steep decline as jobs go to other states. In San Francisco, has been hardest hit. Dan McCrory (Mick - Cro - Ree) is President of local 9503 in the San Fernando Valley:

Democratic congressional leader Nancy Pelosi is pushing for a quick resolution of the San Francisco hotel strike . She says it has national implications. She joins San Francisco Gavin Newsome in urging a fast and just settlement because they say the reputation of San Francisco and its economy are both being hurt by the strike and lockout. Pelosi urged the hotel owners not to let this strike “become the harbinger of a nationwide hotel dispute”. Health care costs, pensions and wages are among the issues in the strike. In Seattle meanwhile, hotel workers' contracts are coming up for renegotiation in December. Several labor leaders were arrested this week at a labor rally in Seattle when they lay down in front of the city’s Westin hotel in protest.

Hotel managers say their lockout of striking San Francisco workers will last indefinitely. Over 1,400 workers at four downtown hotels are on strike. In response, the SaSanrancisco hotel Multi-Employer group locked out 2,600 non-striking workers at ten other hotels. UNITE-HERE Local 2 President Mike Casey...

[Casey1] "They're playing hardball because they're a global corporation so they're used to getting their way and they aren't used to having to sit down as equals across the bargaining table from people.

Casey said workers are trying to protect health and pension benefits, cut workloads and get more pay.

Joining their union brothers and sisters in San Francisco, Chicago and New York, more than 10,000 casino employees in Atlantic City are on strike.

Members of UNITE-HERE Local 54 including baggage handlers, cocktail servers, bell captains, housekeepers, and others walked off the job last week forming round-the-clock picket lines along the Pacific Avenue strip.

Their contract expired two weeks ago, and the union has been unable to reach an agreement with management on keeping health care premiums low, stopping outsourcing and establishing a contract length of three years.

Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts averted a strike at its three Atlantic City casinos by settling a with the union early. This helped Sands Hotel-Casino, which signed a "me too" agreement under which it would accept the first contract language reached.