Sacramento, CA – On Friday, December 4, 2009, the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) will unveil a new photographic exhibition, Red Menace! The Sacramento Conspiracy Trial of 1935. The exhibition documents Communist farm labor organizers on trial in Sacramento for attempting to “overthrow the government.” The evening will include an address about the trial by Dr. Kathryn Olmstead, a professor in the History Department at the University of California, Davis. The exhibition reception with light refreshments begins at 6:00 p.m., while the lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. at CSH (551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento). Tickets are $10.00 a person and must be purchased in advance at CSH or by callin

Communications sent to several Sacramento County supervisors during an Oct. 20 meeting reveal a significant disconnect between some union members and their leadership regarding furloughs.  More than 20 e-mails were sent to Supervisors Susan Peters and Jimmie Yee during the meeting, the vast majority of which supported furloughs over firings. "I was never asked by my union rep if I would prefer furloughs over layoff. I was never notified of any meetings," wrote one woman. "Of course I would rather be furloughed than laid off!"  "The meetings that I have gone to seem to be rallies with incomplete information and a slant toward the union's position," wrote one social worker. John Lewis, St

The City Council has changed its original plan to lay off 168 workers Friday, and now layoffs are expected to take place in about two weeks, according to acting city spokeswoman Wendy Klock-Johnson. The number of layoffs is in flux and may soon change depending on negotiations with five city unions. On Tuesday, the city adopted its 2009/2010 fiscal year budget and closed out a gap of more than $43 million. The budget that was approved comes with major cuts to city services. Changes to the budget will be amendments because the budget has been adopted. City officials continued to say Tuesday that many cuts and layoffs could be averted if the unions make concessions. Negotiations between

April 12, 2009 New health care union grows in Sacramento By Seth Sandronsky Employees at nursing homes in Sacramento, Woodland and Pacifica, operated by North American Health Care, Inc., left the Service Employees International Union to join the new National Union of Healthcare Workers on March 17. “The new union tells us the truth about our contract negotiations with the employer,” said Ulette Bloomer, a cook and union steward on the night shift at Valley Skilled Nursing Home, by Sacramento’s UCD Medical Center. “SEIU was not honest about that and kept giving us the runaround.” The former SEIU employees, 350 in all, are the first-ever members of NUHW. They will remain covered by the cu

Several hundred hardhats gathered at the southwest corner of the Capitol grounds this morning to protest the budget deadlock that has thrown hundreds of labor brothers out of work. In fact, said Jarad Donabedin, a member of Laborers Local 185, “Everyone here is out of work. This is real life.” Called by the California Alliance for Jobs, speakers from operating engineers, carpenters and laborers locals spoke in a highly-charged atmosphere to repeated cheers from those gathered. The most common chant was “What do we want?” “A budget!” “When do we want it?” “Now!” chanted as the protesters circled around the area, holding picket signs reading “LEGISLATORS DO YOUR JOB SO WE DON’T LOSE OURS!