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This week on Uprising:

* Low Wage Workers Suffer Shocking Labor Violations
* Black Agenda Report on LA School Reform in the Age of Obama
* Taxing Junk Food: Could it Work?
* Palestinian PM Announces Plan for Defacto State

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Low Wage Workers Suffer Shocking Labor Violations

If unemployment rates are the clearest indication of the state of the economy, then the recession seems to be going strong. Even though the number of jobless claims in August fell from July, they were greater than anticipated by economists. These days, a job, any job, is considered a boon. But, a new study released just before Labor Day, reveals that those among us in the low-wage work-force, are routinely denied overtime page and are often paid less than the minimum wage. Considered the most comprehensive look at wage violations over the last ten years, the study released on Wednesday, surveyed more than 4000 workers across a spectrum of low-wage industries such as the discount retail market, childcare, and apparel manufacturing. It found that a whopping 68% of workers reported pay-related violations within the past week, amounting to about 15% in lost wages. Those most affected among the low-wage workers are women, African Americans, and undocumented immigrants. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis responded to the study’s findings, saying “There is no excuse for the disregard of federal labor standards – especially those designed to protect the neediest among us.” Some have argued that the study’s findings make the clearest case for expanding and strengthening unions.

GUEST: Nik Theodore, Director of the Center for Urban Economic Development, an Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago

For more information, visit www.unprotectedworkers.org and www.urbaneconomy.org.

Black Agenda Report on LA School Reform in the Age of Obama

Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report. This week’s commentary is on LA School Reform in the Age of Obama.

Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Taxing Junk Food: Could it Work?

At the nexus of the health care reform debate and the economic recession is a proposal to tax those foods that are directly linked to health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and other obesity-related diseases. Such foods include the obvious culprits of fast-food and sugar-laden drinks marketed by mega corporations like McDonalds and Pepsi-co. It costs the nation $147 billion annually to treat diseases that stem from consuming such foods. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that a tax of only 3 cents per 12 ounce soda would raise $50 billion over ten years, which could be used to offset the healthcare costs. The political battle has many hallmarks of the effort several decades ago to lower the incidence of smoking related diseases by taxing cigarettes. Not surprisingly, an intense lobbying effort by the American Beverage Association has beat back efforts by Congress to insert taxes on sugar-, salt- and fat-laden foods as part of the health care reform bill. Now, a new study from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, suggests, among other things, that taxes on high-calorie, low-nutrient foods are one way to approach a growing public health problem.

GUEST: Antronette, Yancey, Professor at the Department of Health Services, Co-Director, Center to Eliminate Health Disparities at the UCLA School of Public Health, Michael Jacobson, Executive Director of Center for Science in the Public Interest

Palestinian PM Announces Plan for Defacto State

The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned last week against a plan by the Palestinian Prime Minister to establish a defacto Palestinian state within two years. The 65 page plan was announced last week by Salam Fayad and is the first of its kind by the Palestinian Authority. The proposal aims to go ahead with building a state infrastructure regardless of negotiations with Israel. Prime Minister Fayad is an American-educated economist and is reported to be widely respected in Israel. He hopes to see a democratic state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. The plan is viewed as a pro-active approach by the Palestinians to end the Middle East conflict, but is not necessarily endorsed by all political organizations. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are among those who oppose it, saying the only way to Palestinian independence is resistance. But Fayad, at last week’s press announcement of the plan in Ramallah declared, “”The world should also know that we are not prepared to continue living under a brutal occupation and siege that flouts not only the law, but also the principles of natural justice and human decency.”

GUEST: Daoud Kuttab, former Princeton Professor of Journalism, award winning journalist and TV producer and General Manager of the Community Media Network and Radio Al Balad

Read Daoud Kuttab’s blog about the plan here: http://www.daoudkuttab.com/?p=560#more-560

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect, and their oneness.” — Mahatma Gandhi