WORKER-FRIENDLY PUBLIC POLICIES

Living Wage Legislation: Each of the founding organizations played a critical role in the passage of living wage laws in their geographic area. CLUE L.A. enabled the passage of two living wage laws - one in 1996 covering contracted workers throughout the city and the second in 2006 covering all tourism industry workers in luxury hotels in the LAX area. San Diego Interfaith Worker Justice Committee's ongoing testimonies at City Council meetings were an inescapable moral force that contributed significantly to the 2006 passage of their living wage law.

The East Bay Interfaith Worker Justice Committee pushed successful living wage policies at the Port of Oakland, the City of Berkeley and the City of Emeryville. The Interfaith Council for Religion, Race and Social and Economic Justice helped lead the community effort to win creation of the San Jose living wage ordinance in 1997, which was - at the time - the highest such standard in the nation.

Health Care:
The founding organizations have also made a major impact on health care policy. In the East Bay, East Bay ICWJ partnered with unions to win a contract campaign that gained dental and vision care for 10,000 Alameda County home health care workers. In San Jose, the Interfaith Council helped to lead a coalition effort to win health benefits for all children in Santa Clara County (the first county to provide such a benefit.)

In Los Angeles, CLUE L.A. organized in five Southern California counties to prevent state budget cuts which would have decimated nursing home care and then went on to carry out an educational campaign that had a major impact on the successful initiative to pass legislation increased funding to insure quality care in nursing homes around the state. CLUE L.A.'s capacity to organize in conservative congregations and communities was key to these successes.

In 2006, after a two year struggle by labor and community leaders, the new CLUE-CA chapter in Stockton was able to influence Board of Supervisors to release over 11 million dollars in funding for living wages and health benefits for in home health care workers.

Since the establishment of CLUE-CA, San Diego, Los Angeles and new chapters in Stockton, Orange County and the Inland Empire have worked together to educate congregations and to engage congregations in educating their legislators about the critical importance of attaining statewide health care legislation that is affordable, accessible and accountable. Moderate legislators from these areas ended up playing a significant role in the inclusion of affordability provisions in recent legislation.

CORPORATE CAMPAIGNS

Each of the founding organization has been instrumental in workers attaining a voice in workplace decisions through defending their right to organize so that they can attain union representation. They have also stood with workers in their struggles to obtain fair labor-management contracts. Lastly, they have prevented WalMart from building supercenters that would destroy local small businesses and living wage employers.

Hotel Workers:
Hotel workers in San Diego, Santa Monica, San Jose and Oakland have won union recognition and fair contracts through the participation of religious leaders and congregations in guaranteeing their right to organize and supporting just treatment of workers. These victories included the amazing accomplishment of hotel workers in 17 luxury hotels in Los Angeles in 2006 who were able to negotiate the alignment of their contract expiration dates with workers in ten other cities, thereby insuring a real dialogue with their multinational employers.

In San Jose, the collection of over 15,000 postcards from congregation members enabled 300 Doubletree workers to gain an agreement that yielded fair wages, health benefits and safe workloads. The East Bay ICWJ's battle with Woodfin Suites Hotel ensured compliance with living wage laws and the right to organize for immigrant workers.

Janitors and Security Officers:
Both janitors and security officers work for the same employers, companies that contract with building owners and municipalities. This third party context can land workers in a shell game in which the companies and the contracting parties shuffle off responsibility on each other. The participation of religious leaders and congregations can be a crucial ally in addressing the true source of power and holding all parties accountable for justice.

San Diego ICWJ has been a powerful ally for janitors in various contexts, including the successful battle of airport janitors to win family health care and higher wages and the countywide achievement of full family health care. San Diego ICWJ was also supported by CLUE L.A. in a successful effort to hold Westfield Malls accountable to hire responsible contractors for their janitorial services.

CLUE-CA affiliates in Los Angeles and the East Bay area worked together to support security officers in their struggles for union representation, living wages, health benefits and adequate support and training. Together, they achieved a commitment from the Building Owners and Managers' Association in Los Angeles to support contractors who allow union representation as well as winning a major battle in the East Bay to ensure that local governments choose contractors that honor their workers' needs and concerns. One of the largest national contractors, ABC Security, was seen as "untouchable" for their personal connections with elected officials, but the influence and moral authority of clergy leaders made a key contribution to ABC's decision to meet new standards for fair worker compensation and justice and dignity on the job. Recently in San Francisco, joint efforts by CLUE-CA leaders in Los Angeles, East Bay and San Francisco enabled 4000 security officers to achieve a contract that guaranteed living wages and family health benefits.

Grocery Workers:
In 2004, 70,000 Southern California grocery workers were on strike or locked out. CLUE L.A. worked with San Diego and Northern California affiliates to organize a statewide pilgrimage to the residence of CEO Steve Burd.

Carrying 40,000 postcards and statements from every major religious authority in Southern California, and accompanied by journalists from four major television and print outlets, over 200 religious leaders congregants and workers' families held a prayer service outside the gates while Bishops and other religious authorities gave the documents to a company representative. Afterwards, pastors from Mr. Burd's congregations quietly met with designated religious leaders.

Shortly afterwards, Mr. Burd went back to the negotiating table for 14 days that resulted in a settlement; he also contributed over 180 million dollars to the health care fund of the workers and their families. In 2007, CLUE L.A. again engaged in the struggle for a fair contract, co-coordinating a Blue Ribbon Commission highlighting the effect on workers of inadequate health insurance. The ensuring contract significantly improved the health care benefits of the workers.

Hospital Corporation of America:
In 2006, CLUE-CA affiliates in San Jose, Los Angeles, and Ventura teamed up to successfully call a national hospital to fulfill their moral accountability to provide safe staffing levels. After letters, delegations, prayer vigils, Op Eds and a national e-magazine article by prominent religious leaders, the hospital workers were able to obtain a contract which ensured that mediators would be able to determine staffing levels, resulting in significantly higher staffing and improved patient care.

WalMart:
In 2004, CLUE L.A. organized the religious community in Inglewood to counter a ballot initiative which would have allowed WalMart to build a supercenter. The religious role in this collaborative effort was crucial; the weekend before the vote polls showed WalMart winning. After 20,000 congregants heard messages on WalMart and walked precincts, the initiative lost - 63%-37%.

Inglewood was the first largely minority and low-income community in the nation to refuse WalMart. In 2006, a CLUE-CA affiliate in San Luis Obispo received CLUE-CA support and technical assistance in a successful battle to keep a supercenter out of Atascadero. In 2007, the new CLUE-CA chapter in Orange County successfully organized a multicultural and interfaith coalition with Vietnamese, Muslim, Jewish, Anglo and Hispanic leaders to discourage the building of a WalMart supercenter in Garden Grove.

ORGANIZATION ACHIEVEMENTS

• The catalyzing and co-coordination of the New Sanctuary Movement, with congregations accompanying immigrant families facing deportation in five California cities and interfaith coalitions in forty cities across the country participating in the movement in some form
  
• Dialogues between African-American and immigrant religious leaders in the East Bay
  
• Staffing of a new coalition of 1200 Hispanic Pentecostal and Evangelical congregations in Southern California
  
• Full interfaith and multicultural participation in every founding organization
  
• Increasing involvement and leadership by young religious leaders in Southern and Northern California, including a statewide conference in which 30% of the participants were under 30