California labor gets a new leader + Lawmaker calls for monkeypox state of emergency
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NEW LABOR LEADER BRINGS FARMWORKERS BACK INTO THE FOLD
Former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, officially began her tenure Wednesday as executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation — and she brought the United Farm Workers with her.
Gonzalez, a longtime champion for labor interests in the Legislature, announced in January she was resigning to take on the new role.
During her time in the Assembly, Gonzalez authored Assembly Bill 5, which curtails when businesses can designate workers as independent contractors, rather than employees entitled to benefits. The 2019 law was controversial, and rideshare apps Uber and Lyft pushed back against it.
The companies in 2020 were able to convince voters to approve Proposition 22, exempting rideshare drivers from AB 5 rules. However, the ballot measure later became tangled up in lawsuits that have yet to be resolved.
Gonzalez is the first woman and person of color to lead the Labor Federation, which represents more than 1,200 unions and millions of members to organize and lobby on their behalf.
On her first official day as head of the organization, Gonzalez announced the UFW will rejoin the Labor Federation after decades of separation.
The UFW, founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, has struggled in recent years to retain members and exert influence.
In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed state farmworkers to cast unionization ballots by mail. The bill was meant to offset a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned a California law allowing union organizers to talk to farmworkers at their worksites during non-work hours.
“The move is a commitment by Gonzalez and the UFW to highlight the pressing need to broaden the focus of the Labor Movement to include workers – particularly immigrant workers – who toil in uniquely exploitative industries or working arrangements that fall outside the protective confines of longstanding labor protections,” the Labor Federation said in a news release.
STATE SENATOR CALLS FOR MONKEYPOX STATE OF EMERGENCY
State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, called Wednesday for San Francisco and California to declare a state of emergency and make more resources available to fight the continuing monkeypox outbreak.
California has seen 646 monkeypox cases statewide, with 215 in San Francisco as of Tuesday, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Monkeypox can infect anyone, although it has primarily affected gay and bisexual men and transgender people in the United States. The disease spreads through close contact and causes a rash of blisters and flu-like symptoms, although it is not typically fatal.
“Unfortunately, because our federal government failed to act quickly to acquire the vaccine supplies needed to prevent an outbreak, we are now in a public health emergency that is only going to escalate,” Wiener said in a statement. “Given that gay and bi men and trans people are the most impacted, it’s sadly becoming clear that we are being left behind once again.”
The World Health Organization on July 23 declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern.”
Health authorities have encouraged gay and bisexual men and transgender people to get vaccinated against monkeypox, but limited supplies have made that challenging.
Wiener has been especially outspoken about securing vaccines and resources for San Francisco. Earlier in July, Wiener and other legislators called for an emergency state budget appropriation to help battle monkeypox.
On Monday, he tweeted that city health officials had run out of vaccine doses.
On Wednesday, Wiener said the disease “is a public health crisis, and we need to treat it as such.”
“State of Emergency declarations will create significant flexibility around testing, contracting for services, and administration of vaccinations. It will allow us to use all the resources in our power to contain the outbreak,” Wiener said. “Right now, we don’t have enough vaccines or testing, and we need flexibility to expand access to both. We have no time to waste: this is happening now, it’s serious, and we need to do everything we can to contain it.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Today @LorenaSGonzalez takes the helm at @CaliforniaLabor, and today we are proud to announce our affiliation. Today is a brave new day for California workers. Sí, se puede. #UnionizeCA
- United Farm Workers, via Twitter.
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