Group calls for support of CA domestic workers bill

 News
May 302013
 

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4:41 am | Friday, May 31st, 2013

LOS ANGELES–Fil-Am organizations are urging the public to call their local state assembly member and ask them to support AB 241, the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.

Filipino Migrant Center officials sent out a mass email to their supporters, asking them to support the bill, which would provide labor protections to household workers, caregivers and childcare providers working in private homes.

These include the right to overtime pay, meal and rest breaks, uninterrupted sleep for live-in workers and use of kitchen facilities, FMC officials said. The bill will be voted on the assembly floor this week before it moves to the senate labor committee.

“The Filipino Migrant Center works with Filipino caregivers to fight for fair wages, a safe and healthy work environment and dignity and respect and the right to organize,” officials wrote on the email.

There are around 200,000 domestic workers in the state, tens of thousands of whom are Filipinos. This is the third time the issue has been brought up to the state legislature, each time the bill reached the governor, only for the governor to veto it.

Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill, AB 889, because he believed a possible “drafting error” and that it could cost the state nearly $200 million in uncertainties.

Brown asked for the State Department of Industrial Relations to look into the matter further, before he would consider signing a similar bill again.

In 2006, a similar bill passed the state legislature before then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill.

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Bill to teach Filipinos’ role in labor movement advances in California

 News
Apr 022013
 
Bill to teach Filipinos’ role in labor movement advances in California

By Rene Ciria-Cruz INQUIRER.net US Bureau 12:18 pm | Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013 SACRAMENTO, California—A bill requiring California public schools to instruct students on the contributions of Filipino Americans to the farm labor movement unanimously passed the Assembly Education Committee on March 20. AB 123 will now move to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and, if successful, it will go to the floor for a full Assembly vote. Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), the bill’s sponsor, noted that Filipino Americans are the largest Asian population in California and continues to grow, yet the story of Filipinos’ “contributions to the farm labor movement is an untold part of California history.” The goal of AB 123 is to supplement California’s public school instruction on its “rich farm worker history,” explained Bonta, who is the first Filipino American to be elected to the State Legislature. Latino farm worker icon Dolores Huerta, who was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, stated that although she rarely had time to testify in support of legislation, she did not want to miss this historic opportunity to support AB 123. “The students of California need to learn that the sacrifices made by both the Filipino and Latino workers benefited all Californians,” she said. “AB 123 will ensure that the history is taught accurately.” Influential leaders such as Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, are synonymous with California’s farm labor movement. Not well known is the historical fact that the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee–composed of first-generation Filipinos—led the 1965 Delano Grape Read More …

Bonta to chair Assembly Committee On Gun Violence in East Bay

 Entertainment
Feb 132013
 
Bonta to chair Assembly Committee On Gun Violence in East Bay

California Assemblymember Rob Bonta during oath-taking ceremonies last month. Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) is proud to announce his appointment to the new Assembly Select Committee on Gun Violence in the East Bay.  Bonta will have the opportunity to convene hearings involving key stakeholders from the East Bay to examine the root causes of, and identify effective strategies to reduce, gun violence in cities such as Oakland. Bonta made the following statement after learning of the appointment: “Allow me to first thank Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez for appointing me as Chair of the Select Committee on Gun Violence in the East Bay.  As Chair of this critical committee, my primary goal is to help make the entire East Bay, especially Oakland, a safer place to live and raise our families.  Last year’s 131 homicides in Oakland set a new high since 2006, and in light of the nine deaths that have already occurred this year, Oakland is on track for a similarly violent 2013.  This level of violence in our community must end.” Bonta further explained that his immediate next step will be to collaborate with Speaker Pérez to appoint the full membership of the Select Committee.  Simultaneously, Chair Bonta is formulating the Select Committee’s agenda for its first hearing, to be scheduled soon. “Stemming gun violence in the East Bay will take the entire community’s time and resources.  I welcome input from every individual that cares about improving the quality of life for all of us. Read More …