Rally for Union Rights in Santa Cruz

RALLY FOR UNION RIGHTS IN SANTA CRUZ!

After nearly two years of negotiations and discussions,

Barry Swenson Builder still refuses to offer reasonable opportunities for union construction and union operation of the proposed La Bahia hotel.

Please join us when we Protest the developers of

La Bahia Hotel and
Send a message to City leaders:

Santa Cruz demands quality union jobs.


6 PM on Tuesday, October 23

Beach & Westbrook (across from the La Bahia) for a
Labor, Neighbor, Community Rally


Then!!!

7 PM on Tuesday, October 23
Santa Cruz City Council
809 Center St in Santa Cruz for

Public Comment Presentations


For more information, contact nedv [at] pacbell.net or 831-760-2429 or 633-1869.

The Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, , and UNITE HERE Local 483 thank you for your support!!

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From this past Labor Day, September 2, 2007, Santa Cruz Sentinel
Cesar Lara: Santa Cruz downsizes labor movement

Tomorrow, millions of workers throughout the country will celebrate Labor Day — a holiday that began 125 years ago to honor America's workers and their achievements.

The city of Santa Cruz has been known as a labor town in the past by taking some bold and courageous positions in support of its local work force. In October 2000, the Santa Cruz City Council unanimously passed the highest local living-wage ordinance in the country. It was a big victory for the local labor movement, and demonstrated a commitment to improve the standard of living for working families throughout the city.

But in recent years, we have seen quite the opposite, and an increasing number of workers are questioning whether Santa Cruz is truly a community that supports its local workers and labor unions.

Who would have predicted that by Labor Day 2007, Santa Cruz would have seen some of its City Council members cross transit strikers' picket lines, vote against a 100 percent union hotel conference center [Coast Santa Cruz Hotel] in 2005, and work to defeat a higher minimum-wage initiative for workers at the bottom of the wage scale this past year. Now, with both the city and county workers on the verge of strike votes, the city is considering whether to approve a new conference center proposal, the La Bahia Hotel Conference Center Project, from a developer that opposes common labor agreements in Santa Cruz County.

Last July, the delegates of the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council [MBCLC] voted unanimously to oppose the La Bahia project until the developers, Barry Swenson Builder and the Seaside Co., come to agreements with the Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties Building Trades and UNITEHERE Local 483 unions, demonstrating a commitment to quality jobs.

The problem is that the developers are hampering the process for their workers to form a union by simply signing authorization cards. Having a union work force will improve both workers' lives and the quality of the project.

This "card check" process has historically been done this way in our nation. Recently, the majority of Congress voted in favor of a similar card-check process for union elections. UNITEHERE sought the same during 10 months of unsuccessful discussions with the La Bahia developers.

Barry Swenson Builder has previously entered into commitments to build construction projects with 100 percent union labor in Santa Clara County and for hotel/conference centers such as one proposed in Pacifica. The commitments included union construction with good wages, benefits and training opportunities for young people in those communities. One has to wonder why such projects are workable in other communities, yet vehemently resisted in our community.

In the past, we have been united in our support for projects that have demonstrated commitment to taking the "high-road" approach toward development, such as the Santa Cruz Coast Hotel and the Seaside Golf Resort projects.

But for the past 10 months, the La Bahia developers have not shown a commitment to quality, union jobs and have denied workers the basic right to join a union. They have, thus far, taken a low-road approach by refusing agreements with workers and misrepresenting the project as "labor friendly" to Santa Cruz city officials and the community.

We believe there is still ample time and good reason to move beyond this divisiveness toward united agreement on the La Bahia project in the next few months.

We remain optimistic that, with support from the community and local leaders, the developers can be persuaded toward the true community goals of Santa Cruz: a fair economy and quality jobs.

However, our long experience is that we cannot simply hope for change to achieve justice. As long as the developers stand in the way of better lives for working families, we cannot support them. Until Barry Swenson Builder and the Seaside Co. come to agreements with UNITEHERE and the Building Trades unions and the community, we will actively oppose, and encourage all our members, families and friends to oppose the La Bahia project.

Local leaders and local developers should do the right thing by supporting a project that will be built and operated by union workers with quality jobs. Santa Cruz was a labor town, and it could be and should be once more.

Cesar Lara is the executive director of the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, which consists of nearly 60 labor unions with approximately 30,000 members throughout the Monterey Bay.