The “Fortune 500” grocery companies reversed their decision to ransack employee health care when workers voted to strike, and a fair contract was reached. In September, nearly 10,000 local grocery workers ratified their contract and served as a sterling example of what can be achieved through collective bargaining. Strong local hire requirements in the labor agreement ensured that more than 40 percent of the workers on these school projects came from census tracts with high unemployment. Thanks to the Project Stabilization Agreement at the San Diego Unified School District, some students have already worked on projects funded by the school bond.
To date, we have helped 33 young people earn their high school diploma or GED and have prepared them with the skills necessary to gain entrance into a joint labor-management apprenticeship program. Last year, the Labor Council and the San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council launched a successful pre-apprenticeship program targeted at bringing high school dropouts into the construction trades. Now, as contractors at the airport change, all of the workers – some who have been working there for decades – will be able to keep their jobs. Even among the stormy clouds of these tough economic times, there have been silver linings for our region’s workforce.Īirport workers convinced the airport authority – made up of commissioners from both political parties – to institute a worker-retention policy as concession and parking contracts went out to bid. Low-wage and middle-class workers throughout the county faced daunting unemployment, wage stagnation, rising health-care costs, home foreclosures and more. Fulfilling this mission proved to be quite challenging this past year. At the Labor Council, our mission is to advocate for more jobs, better jobs and better lives for all of San Diego’s workers, union and nonunion.