Coalition Readies for Historic Vote on
L.A. Port Trucking

The Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports is gearing up for a historic vote by the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbor Commissions on a landmark emissions-reduction program, which would overhaul the region’s port trucking system to meet new clean air requirements.

Activists demand clean trucks to protect the environment as well as the health of drivers.

At a September 8 rally, faith, community, environmental and labor leaders called on Harbor Commissioners to address the environmental and public health crisis created by the dysfunctional port trucking system. The Harbor Commissions, which oversee the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, are scheduled to vote on the plan on September 28.

The current port trucking system saddles the 16,800 truck drivers who service the Ports with low wages, poor health benefits and grueling, dangerous working conditions. Eighty-eight percent of the 16,800 port truck drivers are independent contractors, a system that offers trucking companies little incentive to take responsibility for placing cleaner trucks on the road and that allows them to evade responsibility for Social Security, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.

"We're here to change the system," Long Beach resident Felipe Lopez told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Lopez, who has been a truck driver for 13 years, said he can't afford to maintain the vehicle, exacerbating the pollution issue. Lopez must rely on government health programs because he does not receive health insurance form his employment.

The proposed Clean Trucks Program is part of the Ports’ Clean Air Action Plan, and would require trucking companies to be responsible for the costs of the trucks, as well as the livelihood of the employees. A LAANE study, released in late August, found that the plan would produce $4.2 billion in economic benefits to the L.A. region over the next five years.

At the September rally, Matt Keener, Executive Director of the American Lung Association of California for Los Angeles County, told those gathered that diesel exhaust contains over 400 dangerous chemicals, and that 40 of those chemicals are considered hazardous by the EPA. Drivers breathe in the diesel fumes daily, increasing their cancer risk by tenfold, Keener said. More

LAX Moves to Toughen Standards for Airline Contractors Following Release of LAANE Report

LAX officials announced in September that they are taking steps to increase their oversight of airline contractors in response to a new campaign by LAANE, disability rights activists and senior advocates to improve public safety and job quality at LAX.

Workers join senior and disability advocates for a press conference announcing the release of LAANE’s report on airline services, public safety and job quality.

In July, LAANE released a report that found that the airline industry contracts out critical services, like wheel chair attendant, baggage handling and security, to the lowest bidder. The result is an undertrained, understaffed and poorly compensated workforce, and a system that, with little oversight from public agencies, compromises safety, security and services.

“Passenger service workers are the airport’s ambassadors to the traveling public,” said L.A. City Councilmember Janice Hahn, Chair of the Council’s Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee, which took testimony on September 12 from workers and advocates on conditions at LAX. “We must invest not only in the airport’s terminals and runways, but also in the people who protect and assist passengers.”

LAX officials are crafting a policy that will create minimum performance standards for contractors and a process to ensure that licenses are granted to the most qualified contractors capable of providing high-quality services and security, as well as quality jobs. “By compensating workers better, the airport will be able to retain a trained and experienced workforce, and provide better services to passengers,” said Carolina Briones, Research Director at LAANE, who authored the July report.

Disability rights and senior advocates are concerned about conditions at LAX, noting that proper assistance is essential to making air travel accessible for these populations. “I often come across wheelchair attendants who have no training on how to operate a wheelchair or how to lift a person with a wheelchair,” said Ben Rockwell, a disability rights activist who himself uses a wheelchair. “As a result, I’ve been bumped and mishandled.” More

LAANE, Civil Rights and Environmental Justice Groups Call for Responsible Development in
Northeast San Fernando Valley

Already impacted:  Community advocates call for environmental impact studies of expansion.

LAANE has joined a coalition representing civil rights organizations, residents, neighborhood council members, environmental advocates and labor groups fighting for fair and responsible hospital development in the Northeast San Fernando Valley.

Community Advocates for Responsible Expansion at Providence Holy Cross (CARE) supports a proposed expansion of the Mission Hills facility, but says that the hospital should be required to complete an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as well as an air quality study before proceeding. In early September, CARE appealed a decision by the Los Angeles City Planning and Zoning Commission to approve the expansion without an Environmental Impact Report.

Providence Holy Cross Medical Center is owned by Providence Health & Services (PH&S), a 26-hospital company based in Seattle. The company is planning a $143 million, 136-bed expansion on its current site.

CARE believes that it is essential for the hospital to assess the expansion’s impact on a community already suffering from traffic, parking and air quality problems, and has charged that a double standard is being applied to this project. Developers assume Environmental Impact Reports will be required for projects in higher-income communities such as Santa Monica, Santa Clarita and Beverly Hills. Major hospital expansions have taken place in each of those communities over the past several years, and in each case, the developers of those projects have submitted Environmental Impact Reports and entered into a partnership with the surrounding communities.

In this case, according to CARE, Providence refuses to commission an Environmental Impact Reports because they feel less accountable for how they conduct business in the underserved communities of the Northeast Valley.

“Providence believes it can get away with ignoring this community because it’s in the Northeast Valley and because many of its residents have low incomes and are people of color. CARE is asking the City Council to correct that assumption,” said Maria Loya of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. “Their disregard for the EIR process in the Northeast Valley is inconsistent with the precedent that they and other developers have adhered to in higher-income communities across the region and state.”

Communities typically rely on Environmental Impact Reports as a safeguard against irresponsible development. Therefore, according to its critics and the coalition, the Commission is failing in its duty to protect the community from potentially significant environmental impacts by allowing the project to move forward. They hope the City Council will ultimately overturn the approval and require Providence to submit
a report.

“Providence should be willing to put in place the same protections for the Northeast Valley community as other developers have done in more affluent communities,” said Linda Wiggins, a Northeast Valley resident and member of CARE. More

L.A. Hotels Sign Landmark Diversity Agreement
With Union

Twelve Los Angeles hotels, employing over 3,600 workers, signed contract agreements over the past year that include steps to increase the number of African Americans holding jobs in these companies. The agreements with UNITE HERE, the hotel workers union, were signed after the Beverly Hilton Hotel became the first hotel to make a historic commitment to increase the representation of African Americans in its workforce over a year ago.

The agreements come as workers employed by top-tier hotels in Los Angeles are fighting to upgrade their working conditions. Signers to the agreement include the Bonaventure and Biltmore Hotels in downtown L.A., the Century Plaza in Century City and the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. In addition to important pay increases and the maintenance of employer-paid family health coverage, the three-year contracts call for hotel participation in a Diversity Task Force, along with community and union leaders. The task force will work to increase outreach to potential job candidates in the African American community and review the application and hiring process at the hotels.

The Beverly HIlton became the first of 13 hotels to sign an agreement committing to greater diversity in thier workforce.

The deal was made possible by the participation of local clergy and community leaders in contract negotiations and the strong support of existing hotel workers on the negotiation committees.

“It’s a tremendous victory to have an agreement in place to address the declining number of African Americans in this industry, especially as we work to improve the quality of hotel jobs,” said Vivian Rothstein, Deputy Director of LAANE.

L.A. Housekeepers Work to Address High
Injury Rates

Job strain: Hotel housekeepers face a higher rate of injuries than other workers in the service sector.

Housekeepers from hotels across Los Angeles are participating in a first-ever program to address the high rates of injuries in the industry.

National studies have shown that hotel workers have a 40 percent higher injury rate than other workers in the service sector. And a new report issued in late August finds that among hotel workers, women and minorities are more likely to get injured than other workers.

So far, over 250 housekeepers from hotels in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and in the LAX area have attended trainings to discuss their injuries and how to advocate for greater workplace protections. A third training is scheduled later this month and a mass action will be held Thusday, October 25.

Sprains and strains are the most common housekeeper injuries. These injuries often result from tasks like bed making—lifting oversized mattresses, adding extra sheets, stuffing multiple pillows and duvets—and pushing heavy carts full of linens and amenities.

In Los Angeles many housekeepers are permanently injured and unable to work. One of these disabled workers is Rosa Balam. Balam worked in the Westin LAX for 14 years as a housekeeper. In 2004, while lifting a heavy 80-pound bag, she fell and suffered a miscarriage. She has been unable to work since and is awaiting five surgeries on her knees, arms, and shoulder.

LAANE Joins with Robert Greenwald to Produce “Viral Video” in Support of Grocery Workers

Employing Internet-based video distribution as a campaign strategy for the first time, LAANE joined with Robert Greenwald and his pioneering company Brave New Films this past summer to produce and distribute Supermarket Swindle.

Director Robert Greenwald partnered with LAANE to produce a contemporary look at supermarket workers—as a YouTube Video.

The project, which included a website, blog entries and media outreach, captured the struggle of grocery workers to win respect and restore good jobs in their industry. Supermarket Swindle was distributed to over 200,000 viewers, who were asked to sign a pledge vowing not to shop at the three major chains if the workers went on strike or were locked out.

Less than a month after the release of the video, the supermarkets reached an agreement with the United Food and Commercial Workers union. The contract was overwhelmingly ratified by workers, who won their first pay increases in five years, significantly improved health benefits and elimination of the widely criticized two-tier wage system.

In 2005, Greenwald and Brave New Films took on the world's largest retailer in his scathing documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, which included the story of how Inglewood community activists, with the help of LAANE and other groups, defeated Wal-Mart's ballot initiative. More