WEDNESDAY | MAY 22, 2013
Fla. Unemployment Benefit Requirement Violates U.S. Law
Florida’s requirements that people filing an unemployment insurance claim must submit their applications via the Internet and take an online skills test violates federal civil rights and anti-discrimination laws, the U.S. Labor Department has found. Florida officials said they would enter into negotiations to comply with the ruling and work to make unemployment insurance accessible [...] 
The battle for unemployment benefits for contract school workers spilled into Atlanta streets Saturday, as about 250 people called for full disbursement of denied money from the Georgia state government and no similar withholding in the future. The contract workers are owed about $300 to $3,700 per person in benefits for scheduled school holidays [...]
Continue reading …
For Merleane S., a 19-year-old, single mom, her work shift on March 15 included taking and filling orders at a fast food restaurant in Palm Coast, Fla. She was earning the state's minimum wage of $7.79 per hour. Similar to other U.S. workers, she was trying to make sure her family was secure.[...]
Continue reading …
“It’s Time for Ten.” That simple message, easy to grasp and easy to repeat, was a critical detail in a successful grassroots campaign to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour in San Jose, Calif. The idea for the campaign grew out of a sociology class at San Jose State University ‒ a volunteer [...]
Continue reading …
San Jose, Calif. saw the country’s largest minimum wage increase by percentage go into effect on March 11, growing from $8 to $10 per hour. The idea came in large part from Marisela Castro, who thought about the topic and helping at-risk youth during a class project at San Jose State University. Supporters say tens [...]
Continue reading …
The Farmworker Association of Florida held its general assembly on Sunday in Apopka. The statewide assembly is held every five years to refocus the organization mission, identify issues impacting farmworkers, and prioritizing issues to guide work for the next five years. The top three issues impacting farmworkers and low-income immigrants are immigration and the need [...]
Continue reading …
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is close to naming Thomas Perez, a civil rights official in the Justice Department, as his choice to head the Department of Labor, two people familiar with the process say. His nomination could come as early as Monday, the people familiar with the process said Saturday. They spoke on [...]
Continue reading …
The threat can be as straightforward as telling a worker he will be fired or as thinly veiled as a reminder that the worker is paid in cash and there’s no way to verify withheld wages. Whatever form it takes, immigrant workers across California’s Silicon Valley, and many other places, face retaliation from employers if [...]
Continue reading …
The city of Atlanta is first employer in Georgia to “ban the box” on employment applications – doing away with the question about past criminal offenses. The city joins about 40 other cities and counties throughout the United States in removing questions that discriminate against people with criminal backgrounds. A recent report by the National [...]
Continue reading …
Read about Modesto Hernandez and how immigrants play a central role in U.S. agriculture: equalvoiceforfamilies.org/immigration-agriculture-workers-and-the-cost-of-eating/
Continue reading …
Follow Us