Las Vegas Construction Workers Win Safety Demands

I picked this up from the AFL-CIO Blog. Even though this is a private project, it is so big ($9.2 billion) that it is larger than most public works projects.

The workers in Las Vegas working on a project at the MGM Grand's City Walk walked off the unsafe job site and won safety concessions. I think this is one of the best uses of strikes to get your point across that I have seen. The project six workers have died on the site in the last 18 months. The demands that they won include the following items:

• An immediate work site safety assessment by the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department’s (BCTD’s) Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR).

• Conducting and paying for on-site safety training for all workers administered by the center.

• Full job site access to union and safety officials.

I hope that these changes make the site safer. The blog post about the strike result is here.

An earlier post gives more background information on this story.

Solar Power and Local Jobs Get a Boost from San Fran Board of Supervisors

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors gave initial approval a great "green collar" program. Essentially the residents can get up to $6,000 and businesses can get up to $10,000 for producing energy. In order to qualify for the maximum amount the residents and businesses have to use workers trained by the city's workforce development program. Looks like the elusive "win-win" situation.

The article can be found in here.

Election Day, June 3, 2008

For those of you that do not know, today is election day in California. Please go and vote. This year there are three elections. There was one in February, is one today and the General Election is November fourth. Unfortunately, it is predicted that few voters are going to turnout and vote in this election.

There are only two statewide initiatives on the ballot this election, Propositions 98 and 99. Both deal with eminent domain. 98 is backed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the 99 is backed by everyone else.

In addition to those measures there are also many state legislative seats, local elections and initiatives throughout the state. Though most people have opinions about the national politics, individuals have the most control and are most impacted by the local city council and mayoral races.

Here is a snapshot of some of the biggest campaigns on today's ballot.

• Mayors of San Diego, Sacramento and Fresno
• Contested Congressional primary in the 4th Congressional Seat (North eastern California)
  
• Contested legislative primaries in the 9th Senate Seat (West Contra Costa/Alameda Counties), 37th Senate Seat (Riverside County), 78th Assembly Seat (San Diego County)
  

I vote absentee, but some people I know like to go the polls on election day. You can find your polling place here.