Industrial Workers of the World - Los Angeles Branch
Update from FW Ali (1/13/15): Seems like folks were not outsourced. The city council was filled with courageous worker stories including fellow worker Jorge Mejia's In which he described being an "as needed" employee since 1985. The city council voted and approved to (1) create a new job category for the "as needed" beach maintenance workers (2) make the beach workers take a test (possibly a performance test) even tho all of them have taken and passed civil service exams already (3) open up the application process for the new job category up for one day filing to all new applicants, and (4) let go of the beach workers who fail the test but train them for other positions. It doesn't sit well with some of us- the beach workers want all their coworkers to become permanent - not top scorers on a test. Mild victory but still a victory.
To: City of Santa Monica
Permanent Status for Santa Monica Beach Workers
Santa Monica Beach Bathroom workers deserve to be made permanent based on their many years of service to the City of Santa Monica, working full time, 40 hours per week and five days a week, without benefits or due process. The ten "as needed" workers have been exploited for too long, some for over ten years, and should be made whole without having to pass an unnecessary Civil Service test that may have little to do with their actual job duties.
Why is this important?
The problem of long-term, full-time workers being stuck in second class temporary status isn’t just a problem on the Santa Monica beach. Employers shifting jobs from permanent positions to temporary positions is now so common that it’s created a whole new section of permanent temporary workers in the economy - the ‘permatemp’ economy. Employers often do this to avoid things like unions, benefits, tougher labor laws - things that for us workers mean the difference between a job that allows us to get somewhere in life and a job that just keeps us barely surviving to the next day. We can do better. Santa Monica can lead the way.
How it will be delivered
We will email the signatures and deliver in-person to the following:
City Manager Ron Gould - [email protected]
City Council - [email protected]
Incoming City Manager Elaine Polachek - [email protected]
Assistant City Manager Martin Pastucha - [email protected]
Director of Human Resources Donna Peter - [email protected]
Director of Public Works Susan Cline - [email protected]
