Action of the Week: The Reaching Higher Coalition
LAX, Thursday, June 26
Standing next to the Bradley terminal, with a sea of Service Employees International Union members around me, I got Gil Cedillo on the horn. “I see a bunch of people in purple shirts, but I don’t see Gil Cedillo!” I told him.
“Huh?” he explained.
Just then my mom rang in. “Where are you?” she asked over the din of Si, se puede!
“I’m at the airport, for a SEIU thing,” I told her.
“Oh, how fun!” she said. “What do they want?”
Justice, I told her. And when do they want it? Oh, right about now.
This week’s Action of the Week! was gearing up for next month’s contract negotiations with LAX, and all the usual suspects were there: SEIU (but always), Justice for Janitors, a couple chicks in yellow Bus Riders Union T’s, and 10 uniformed cops, two traffic officers, and three of the brave men from the TSA.
LAX is bound by Los Angeles’s living wage ordinance, but the mandated $11 per hour is no longer a living wage, SEIU organizer Brian Rudiger said. Due to LAX’s “massive part-time-ization, [our] average member is making $19,000 a year.” Only three percent, he said, have access to affordable health care.
Meanwhile, next to a lady with a mop, the slim and blonded Janice Hahn stood next to kindly-looking Bill Rosendahl (probably beats his dog) and the Rev. Lewis Logan of Bethel AME as she said “‘The working poor’ should not be a phrase.” That’s right! But according to Ann Coulter, who knows these things, Hahn was a little bit off; it’s “working families” that shouldn't be a phrase, since it's a euphemism for “families where no one is working.” Thanks, Ann!
If you happen to feel differently, take note: Over the next 10 years, the city will be investing $8 billion in modernizing the airport. The Reaching Higher Coalition suggests we might – maybe – think about plowing some of that into people, too.
Published: 07/02/2008
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