The Activist Beat with Rose Aguilar, host of Your Call on KALW in San Francisco is a weekly roundup of progressive activism that the mainstream media ignores, undercovers, or misrepresents. <\/em><\/p>\nThanks to the Occupy movement, yesterday\u2019s May Day actions in more than 115 cities across the country got widespread coverage in the corporate media. <\/p>\n
The angle that deserves far more attention is this: labor groups, city workers, and immigrant rights groups are protesting alongside Occupiers for the first time. These are the people who keep things going; they produce everything we use; and they make it possible for corporate profits to continue breaking records.<\/p>\n
According to a Wall Street Journal analysis, 500 of the largest publicly held companies generated an average of $378,000 in revenue for every employee on their payrolls in 2007. Last year, that figure rose to $420,000 and yet, workers are seeing none of those gains. In fact, they\u2019re seeing their wages drop. <\/p>\n
According to a recent Washington Post op-ed by Harold Myerson, the standard wage at Midwestern auto factories has declined from $28 an hour to $15 an hour. New hires have their hourly wages contractually capped at around $19, no matter how long they work for the company. <\/p>\n
At a new high-tech plant in Muncie, Indiana, Caterpillar is hiring workers at just $12 an hour. That\u2019s only $24,000 a year. Yesterday, in Joliet, Illinois, at least 50 union machinists walked off the job over a new contract that keeps wages flat for six years and raises healthcare premiums. Meantime, Caterpillar\u2019s CEO saw his pay package increase by 42 percent to almost $15 million last year. The company\u2019s revenue grew 41 percent to a whopping $60 billion last year.<\/p>\n
According to a former manager who is now suing Caterpillar, the company avoided paying more than $2 billion in federal income taxes from 2000-2009. <\/p>\n
One of the main messages of yesterday\u2019s actions was that we do not have a budget deficit. We have a revenue deficit. Corporations like Caterpillar must pay their taxes. <\/p>\n
Librarians, nurses, social workers, and janitors gathered in front of Bank of America in San Francisco yesterday to raise awareness about multinationals based here that do not pay local business taxes. These 52 companies include Bechtel, the Gap, Charles Schwab, and Neiman Marcus. <\/p>\n
Also yesterday, Golden Gate ferry workers went on strike shutting down ferry services until 2:00. Workers haven\u2019t had a contract for 10 months. Their main grievance is over healthcare premiums. I interviewed a ferry terminal assistant who makes $22 an hour after 20 years on the job. A bus strike is expected on May 10.<\/p>\n
Over 4,500 nurses went on strike and protested in front of nine Sutter hospitals throughout the Bay Area. Nurses say they\u2019re being asked to take a 30 percent pay cut. <\/p>\n
Immigrant rights groups also took to the streets. They then marched downtown to show solidarity with Westfield Mall janitors and retail workers who are also fighting for fair contracts.<\/p>\n
Something exciting is happening. We\u2019re seeing a convergence of different groups with similar messaging. And that is: we don\u2019t\u2019 have a budget deficit; we have a revenue deficit. Corporations are making record profits, our wages are flat, we\u2019re losing our homes, and our schools are underfunded. This is not sustainable. <\/p>\n
Rank and file workers are discovering their power and the benefits of creating alliances with the Occupy movements.<\/p>\n
They know that we will not see short-term changes. They know that if they\u2019re going to be involved in this movement, they have to be in it for the long haul. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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The Activist Beat with Rose Aguilar, host of Your Call on KALW in San Francisco is a weekly roundup of progressive activism that the mainstream media ignores, undercovers, or misrepresents. <\/em><\/p>\n