California NOW

Monday's Action Checklist

Today, a female soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan is more likely to be raped than killed or injured by enemy fire.  Every day American service women and men, who have pledged their lives to protect our country, are being raped and sexually assaulted. Not by the enemy, but by their fellow soldiers, commanders, and officers – by the people whose job it is to protect them.  Take Action NOW:  Click here to learn more about the movie that we need to be talking about.

Farm workers are dying from heat. In fact, since California issued its landmark 2005 regulations to keep farm workers from dying of extreme heat, preventable farm worker deaths are still occurring at a similar pace as before.  That's why the United Farm Workers has taken matters into their own hands and sponsored AB 2346, the Farm Worker Safety Act (Butler). This bill will allow farm workers to be able to enforce mandatory shade and drinking water requirements by taking delinquent employers to court.  It will also make growers jointly liable along with farm labor contractors they hire   Take Action NOW:  Click here to show your support for AB 2346!

Right now 7 million U.S. kids have asthma and that number is rising every day. Limiting carbon pollution could cut down on smog, and on asthma attacks.  The proposed new carbon rule will reduce pollution by 123 billion pounds of carbon annually (Yes!  That's billion with a "B"). If the EPA is overwhelmed by the support the public shows for clean air, then they will likely recommend a much-needed, strong carbon rule for President Obama to sign. Take Action NOW:  Click here to sign the petition.

We need your help to beat back a new industry bill that would actually make things worse for consumers.  The Cosmetic Safety Amendments Act of 2012” was written by the Personal Care Products Council, a trade association that represents the big multinational cosmetic companies.  Even though it may sound like a step forward on the surface, the “fine print” inside the bill would allow industry to continue placing profits over public health.  Take Action NOW:  Contact Congress to demand meaningful reform that protects our health.

We Can't Let the Foxes Rule the Hen House

By Linda Long, Action VP
California NOW

We have heard a lot about the war on women all over the country but my goal in this blog is to scare the crap out of you and get you to pay attention to how the war on women is being waged right here in California.

Over the last two years, Governor Brown has been making it abundantly clear that he wants to use the Shock and Awe of a massive budget shortfall to distract women by making unbelievably devastating cuts to social welfare programs, schools and universities. Those distractions have been necessary so that he can use his office to fundamentally restructure state government which is exactly what he’s been doing.    He is doing it without input from those most affected, especially women.  And he is doing it right under the nose of our legislators.

He is not alone.  He is being helped by Catholic hospitals and Kaiser, and their company union SEIU Health Workers, Anthem Blue Cross and the California Endowment.

 Governor Brown has been using budget trailer bills to ram his agenda through quickly and without consulting women.  In case you don’t know – trailer bills typically have little oversight.  That’s exactly why he’s using them.

Some of you may ask why.  Why would he do this?  He gave us the reason when he proposed the elimination of the Commission on the Status of Women last year.  In that proposal, Governor Brown said that he didn’t believe gender equity was one of the core functions of government. 

He’s now set his sights on healthcare, proposing to remove the Office of Women’s Health and have it become part of an Office of Health Equity.

Every task force, every department is tasked with ensuring they create access to health and they eliminate disparities in health.  Obviously, that’s a good thing - as long as women are included.  The problem is, if you don’t believe that gender equity is a core function of government, you don’t include women.  And that’s what has happened.

California NOW and a diverse coalition of health and equality advocates were working with the legislature to ensure that women, especially women of color, were represented both in the Office of Health Equity which is where the work of the Office of Women’s Health will be placed and the Health in All Policies Task Force.

And we were making progress.   Through intensive lobbying and a lot of late nights, we were able to craft the language which changed the Office of Health Equity into one where women could not be eliminated….where the Health in All Policies Task Force couldn’t ignore us.

Perhaps we were making too much progress because last week Governor Brown announced a new task force. The “Let’s Get California Healthy Task Force.”  Its first meeting is set for June 15th.

The stake holders the Governor thinks should be in charge of a ten year strategic plan from that task force are (wait for it) Catholic hospitals and Kaiser, their company union SEIU Health Workers, Anthem Blue Cross and the California Endowment.

Did you get that?

The stakeholders in charge of creating a ten year strategic plan under which all of the Health and Human Services will be mandated are Catholic Hospital West, now referred to as Dignity Healthcare (although I refuse to call it that), Mercy Hospital, and Kaiser, their company union SEIU Health Workers, Anthem Blue Cross and the California Endowment.

The foxes will officially be in charge of the hen house. These self-interested corporations will be in charge of the implementation of goals and objectives to close the gaps in access to health care.

So after women and men of color were successful in altering the Office of Health Equity Trailer Bill that the Governor was trying to ram through the Legislature – the California Hospital Association and their unions and the Governor quickly acted to nullify that work.

When government does not believe that women’s equality and empowerment are core functions of government, a consistent pattern in the creation, implementation and maintenance of policies and programs emerges….women simply are not included.

We will not allow this governor to hand over our health care to Catholic Hospitals and those who collude with them to offer substandard care to women.

So my call to you today is this….Get off your chairs and vote. Get us the two-thirds majority in the Legislature. Come to Sacramento and put your body in the chair in the hearing rooms where they vote on these bills that affect the almost 19 million women in our state.  Force the legislators to see you and hear from you.

Together, we must also advocate for single payer health care. It is an individual’s right to be able to access health care and we must get corporations and employers out of the picture for everyone to be able to exercise that right.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly, we need to let women know what’s at stake in this election and what the Governor is doing in Sacramento.  One of the ways we can do that is through electronic town halls which have been proven to be effective in reaching large audiences.  However, those obviously cost us money so we need help securing the funds necessary to reach the millions of women in California who are affected by what’s happening.

California NOW is determined to continue speaking out on this issue and educating voters throughout the state.  But we cannot do it alone.  If you are with us, I’m asking you to contact every woman – and man – you know and tell them what is going on and insist they tell everyone they know.  And insist that they vote!  And if you want to help us reach millions of women with the townhalls, please click here to make an online donation.

Monday's Action Checklist

Tell Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act!  In what marks their latest anti-woman position, Senate Republicans are prepared to vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act. This would provide a much-needed update to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to make it fit our modern times.  At its core, this law enforces actions against employers who discriminate against an employee's compensation based on gender and it strengthens penalties for equal pay violations.  Take Action NOW:  Click here to sign the petition urging Congress to pass the bill.

You may have heard that throughout the country, states have adopted new barriers to voting, making it harder for Americans to exercise their rights at the ballot box.  Here in California, there is a bill (AB 1436) that allows eligible voters to register to vote on election day and the two weeks leading up to it. This allows voting to be open to any citizen who is eligible and willing to exercise this fundamental democratic right. States with Election Day Registration (EDR) lead the nation in voter turnout. With EDR, we too can increase voter participation.
Take Action NOW:  Click here to sign the petition urging state legislators to support AB 1436.

When 40 million Americans lack even a single paid sick day, that is a big problem for the health of our families and for the health of our economy.  Research shows that the costs of replacing workers, including advertising for, interviewing and training new employees often far outweighs the cost of retaining employees by offering paid sick days.  The Healthy Families Act (H.R. 1876, S. 984) would set an important national standard for paid sick days. Its passage would be a critical step toward meeting the health and economic security of working families.  Take Action NOW:  Click here to sign the petition urging Congress to pass H.R. 1876.

Monday's Action Checklist

American Reclamation is a family-owned recylcing and solid waste company in El Monte.  However, Teamsters Local 396 who has been helping the employees form a union says employees are badly treated and that management is fighting unionization.  Dozens of employees of the city-contracted trash-hauler are rallying for change in what they say are dismal working conditions and environmentally detrimental and illegal practices.  Workers say rats and roaches are in the company's bathrooms and break areas. They also allege that the management team ignores employee safety hazards and have detailed the lack of adequate training and safety features on trash trucks.  Take Action NOW: Click here to watch a video and learn how you can help.

31 Republican Senators - all men - voted last week against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act.  We cannot simply ignore those 31 votes against women.  Voters need to know the names of these 31 and MoveOn has made it super simple for us to do just that through social media.   Take Action NOW:  Click here to ensure that the names of those 31 senators are spread like wildfire through our social media channels.

Parents have enough on their plates; we shouldn't need a degree in chemistry to pick safe toys and safe food for our children. That’s why we need comprehensive chemical reform today.  Scientific studies demonstrate that toxic chemicals we are exposed to every day can significantly increase the risk of developing childhood cancers, infertility, and learning and developmental disabilities.  Take Action NOW:  Click here to sign the petition urging senators to pass the Safe Chemical Act.

Unite Against the War on Women

On Saturday, April 28, women across the country will come together to Unite Against the War on Women.  California NOW will be participating in events in Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento.

Since the 2010 election, the Republican Congress and legislators in state government have introduced and/or passed hundreds of bills restricting women's reproductive healthcare choices.  This year, the attacks have included trying to fire women for using birth control in Arizona, repealing equal pay laws in Wisconsin and state-sanctioned rape in Virginia.  And who could forget Darryl Issa's Congressional panel on birth control that did not include a single woman's testimony.

Here in California our own Democratic governor is throwing women's equality and empowerment out the window as he proposes eliminating gender equity in his plans to restructure our state's government.

To counter these attacks, a newly formed organization Unite Women says, “Enough is enough" and is mobilizing women and men on April 28th, 2012 to Unite Against the War on Women! With rallies and marches in every state capitol, California is proud to host three events: Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego.

Los Angeles: Meet at 10 am at Pershing Square, South Side 
Sacramento: Meet at 11 am, State Capitol Building, North Steps 
San Diego: Meet at 10 am, Balboa Park, Organ Pavillion 

Each location is rallying and marching for a day-long demonstration of equality.

For more information or to volunteer, please visit Unite Women California's fan page at  https://www.facebook.com/womenunitemarch or email UniteCalifornia@gmail.com.

Information on events nationwide can be found at www.UniteWomen.org