On Saturday, Sept. 15, Walmart warehouse workers in Elwood, IL, organizing with FCWA member Warehouse Workers for Justice, went on strike! They join Walmart warehouse workers in Southern California who are also on strike!

It’s been a long road fighting for safer working conditions, fair wages and respect.  The warehouse workers had had enough of the retaliation against them for speaking out.  They went on strike to make a change for their families and their communities.  The warehouse workers need your support now more than ever.  Please sign their petition to Walmart CEO Michael Duke.

FILED UNDER: Immigrant Workers | Labor | Organizing | Unions

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Warehouse workers have gone on strike to protest unfair labor practices they have faced on the job Wednesday morning, following months of working in hot temperatures under extreme pressure in a major Walmart-contracted warehouse in Southern California.

Workers—who do not have a recognized union—walked off the job during the first shift at an NFI warehouse in Mira Loma, California to call for an end to retaliation and unfair labor practices. Workers have been fighting for more than a year for safe working conditions and for Walmart to take responsibility for conditions in the warehouse.

FILED UNDER: Immigrant Workers | Labor | Low-Wage Workers

Congratulations to the “Hot and Crusty” Restaurant Workers!

New York, NY, September 10, 2012—Following an escalating week-long campaign against the August 31st closure of Upper East Side restaurant Hot and Crusty, resulting in the loss of 23 jobs, workers announced both sides had reached an agreement to reopen the store, rehire terminated workers and resume bargaining with the union, the Hot and Crusty Workers Association.

Public protests against the closure, which workers and supporters claim was a direct attack on the newly formed independent union, led to an occupation of the store by members of Occupy Wall Street, resulting in 6 arrests, and daily picketing and leafleting in the surrounding Upper East Side community. Lawyers representing new ownership of the company contacted the union over the weekend seeking to immediately put an end to the ongoing labor dispute.

FILED UNDER: Immigrant Workers | Labor

How Obama’s New Immigration Policy Will (May) Help Young Workers [Bloomberg] 

Small Employers Welcome Work Permits for Young Immigrants [Wall Street Journal]

Obama Boxes In Republicans on Immigration [The Nation]

Why Obama’s New Immigration Policy is Good for the Economy [Care2]

Walmart Supplier Accused of Forced Labor Among Guestworkers [Fox]

Florida Governor Shifts Stance on Crack Down on Undocumented Immigrant Workers; Says Feds Should Develop Work Visa Program [The Republic]

Texas Republican’s Immigration Platform Change Getting Attention [Lubbock Online]

Minnesota Immigration Shift Mirrors National Debate [Star Tribune]

Midwest Farm Town, Transformed by Immigrant Workers, Thrives [Reuters]

Claudia Garate-House, Former Domestic Worker Who Challenged Abuse, Now a U.S. Citizen [SF Gate]

FILED UNDER: Guestworkers | Immigration Reform | Labor

This weekend, farmworkers, United Farm Workers' supporters and community activists will celebrate Cesar Chavez' birthday by affirming the the lives and work of farmworkers "are worth more," with marches and celebrations across the country.  Chavez' birthday on March 31 is celebrated as an official holiday in eight states.

In California, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said, "We honor Cesar Chavez' legacy on this 50th Anniversary of the founding of his union by declaring that farm workers are worth more -- and deserve more -- in pay and protections."  The UFW's legislative priorities as it marks its 50th Anniversary are bills protecting farm workers from dying of the heat and providing field laborers with overtime pay after eight hours a day, like nearly all other Californian workers currently receive.

FILED UNDER: Agricultural Workers | Human Rights | Immigrant Workers | Labor | Unions