 |
| Courtesy Zeta |
I'm in a bit of a rush today trying to transplant my flower seedlings which have come up, give them a sprinkle of water and do extra laundry before the great five day water shut down that begins at midnight tonight which we have all been anticipating. No where have I read that there will be water stations for people affected in the 332 colonias throughout the area to provide emergency water, perhaps this might change considering the impact on people. If you don't have a pila, this is bad news. Our pila will be able to hold us over and Mike filled up two large containers (tambos) just in case.
UPDATE/EDIT 09/07: Reprieve ! We have one half to one more day of water ! The faucet will be turned off tonight at midnight, whew. About 600,000 thousand people will be affected; still, take a look at Frontera's report and video which gives you a good idea of the poverty in Tijuana ( and truthfully this is not the worst of it) and what these folks have to go through without water. Once again there is no mention of water tanks or water stations available for the population. I thought there was supposed to be a Doctor in the house:
Frontera
Corte de Agua a Partir de Jueves Por La Noche
end edit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of water and rights of indigenous people, here are two links covering the Lakota Pipeline with all of the current updates, videos and interviews. I'm adding these because of this past weekend's events which the corporate media in the U.S. didn't quite get right, especially NBC. The interviews clarify the issue of "private property".
- Democracy Now ! For Spanish speaking, click top of page to translate the interviews:
NATIVE AMERICAN
- INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY MEDIA NETWORK
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My understanding is that the boycott against Driscoll's remains in effect. However, the California Farmworkers got a break finally:
From teleSur:
Published 31 August
Farm workers may get the standard overtime rates: time and a half after eight hours and double time after 12 hours.
California’s farm workers may soon be covered under national labor overtime laws like any other worker if Governor Jerry Brown signs into law a newly-passed bill, that landed on his desk Monday.
Rather than qualifying for partial overtime pay after 10 hours, as is the custom now, farm workers will get the standard overtime rates: time and a half after eight hours and double time after 12 hours.
The victory, they said, is for them.
"These workers have been the face of this bill," Gonzalez told union leaders in front of the assembly. “They're the ones who pushed it, not just today but for decades in California."
He staged a 24-hour fast before the vote as an extra push for the bill, which received heavy lobbying against its passage from agribusiness.
Several reports have shown that farm workers regularly face substandard working conditions that would not be tolerated in other industries, with limited access to healthcare and housing.
The bill, AB 1066, passed the assembly on its second try Monday after passing the senate last week. It defined the workday of farm workers—overwhelmingly immigrant and about half undocumented—the same as the work day of any other worker: eight hours a day, 40 hours a week.
Rather than qualifying for partial overtime pay after 10 hours, as is the custom now, farm workers will get the standard overtime rates: time and a half after eight hours and double time after 12 hours.
The victory, they said, is for them.
Assemblymembers Lorena Gonzalez and Rob Bonta, who introduced the bill and co-authored it, respectively, both grew up among families of agricultural workers and knew Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers movement intimately.
"These workers have been the face of this bill," Gonzalez told union leaders in front of the assembly. “They're the ones who pushed it, not just today but for decades in California."
Farm workers were exempted from the minimum wage and overtime pay in 1938, which Bonta said amounts to racism.
He staged a 24-hour fast before the vote as an extra push for the bill, which received heavy lobbying against its passage from agribusiness.
Several reports have shown that farm workers regularly face substandard working conditions that would not be tolerated in other industries, with limited access to healthcare and housing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
How exactly this will affect the Driscoll's Boycott and the plight of the Jornaleros de San Quintin is unclear - that is, will Driscolls and others buckle under pressure and finally give in to demands. Meanwhile, from Zeta more on San Quintin, noted that this article did not have a huge amount or readers so that is unfortunate:
 |
| Courtesy Zeta |
Zeta
Apagan pronte "brote" en SQ
por, Juan Carlos Dominguez
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The regional and national drug war violence I will come back to - or at least try to start; we had a scary experience in Tijuana involving a Taxi Libre when we were driving up to the States Sunday morning which left me de-winded, no one is immune. The latest is that the Marinos apparently are being called back to patrol the streets and to give people a sense of security which they do not have.
I'll be back, meanwhile hit the links...or whatever (;