California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill to rename César Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day following sexual abuse allegations against the Latino labor icon. State lawmakers approved the legislation earlier in the day. The state has honored Chavez with a state holiday on his birthday, March 31, for years. The swift change comes after allegations Chavez abused girls and women, including fellow labor icon Dolores Huerta. The two led a landmark farmworker labor movement in California’s agricultural heartland in the 1960s and 1970s. Chavez’s name is on scores of monuments, schools and streets around California and the country.
A new AP-NORC poll finds that men and women have different views on who has the advantage when it comes to earning competitive wages. Equal pay emerged as the biggest source of concern for women in the poll — compared to getting an education, a job or a promotion — and an area where men and women are far apart in their perception of gender equity. About 3 in 10 working women say they've personally experienced wage discrimination, compared to about 1 in 10 working men. The findings come at a time when men’s earnings are rising faster than women’s, and the gender wage gap is widening. It also comes as President Donald Trump’s administration dismantles federal agencies and legal tools designed to investigate wage discrimination.
Americans feel more pressure from society and social media to have an expensive engagement than from their own inner circles, according to new…
The public is experiencing the consequences of a partial U.S. government shutdown in long wait times at some airports as Transportation Security Officers take time off to manage the financial strain. The Department of Homeland Security says hundreds more have quit their jobs altogether since the shutdown began on Valentine's Day. That could worsen the delays at airport security checkpoints and pose longer-term problems for an agency that historically has had some of the U.S. government’s highest attrition and lowest employee morale. TSA pay starts at around $34,500 and the average pay is $40,000 to $55,000, according to government figures.
Dolores Huerta and the late César Chavez are both credited with leading a movement that got growers to negotiate for better wages and working conditions for farm workers. Their legacies as United Farm Workers of American co-founders and leaders are now getting new attention after allegations emerged that Chavez sexually abused girls and women, including Huerta. Cornell University labor history professor Paul Ortiz says the movement's rise is one of the most important events in U.S. history and is the most important event in U.S. Latino history. He says agricultural workers had tried to organize for centuries but almost every effort failed until the success of United Farm Workers.
About 3,800 workers for the world’s largest meatpacking company began striking Monday. If they don’t get a new contract soon, already costly beef could become even more expensive for U.S. consumers. The walkout at the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley, Colorado, comes after the union said 99% of the workers voted to authorize the strike, seeking higher wages and better health care. Swift Beef owner JBS USA says it complies with labor and employment laws and any employee who doesn’t strike will have work and be paid. Union officials say the company's offer of 2% wage hikes is less than inflation. The company says its offer is fair.