Friday, June 22, 2012

Georgia Asks Employers to Rat Out Job Seekers Who Fail Drug Tests

Master Sgt. Urbano Sosa demonstrates the job o...
Master Sgt. Urbano Sosa demonstrates the job of an observer for a UPL collection exercise. As observer, maintaining a direct line of sight with a specimen bottle at all time helps to ensure a proper chain of custody and prevents tampering or altering of a specimen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The state of Georgia has publicized a rule asking employers to tattle on unemployed job seekers who test positive for drug use when applying for work. The Georgia Department of Labor rule is the latest in a flurry of state programs that impose drug tests on safety net applicants and sanctions on those who fail the tests. The Georgia rule was prominently featured on the state’s Department of Labor’s website last week.*
As I wrote last month, the problem of jobless folks abusing drugs is a concocted one that works to stigmatize the safety net programs so that they can be undercut. In an interview with Colorlines.com, the Georgia Department of Labor said it did not collect data on the number of people who have previously been booted off the jobless rolls for drug use. 
Drug testing policies have been all the rage among conservative legislators since the start of the recession. At least 30 states considered bills in the last year that would have had unemployment or welfare applicants peeing in a cup. 
In April, Georgia passed a law requiring all welfare applicants to take a drug test. A similar law passed by the Florida legislature last year was struck down as unconstitutional in a federal court, but Georgia lawmakers refused to heed the warnings and passed the law anyway. The welfare law will go into effect on July 1


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SB 1070: High court has already decided, but process maintains suspense

Minneapolis protest against Arizona immigrant ...
Minneapolis protest against Arizona immigrant law SB 1070 (Photo credit: Fibonacci Blue)

The U.S. Supreme Court might issue its opinion on Arizona's controversial immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, as early as Monday. Or next Thursday. Or, heck, maybe sometime in July.



Despite what you may have heard, nobody knows for sure.

So, as they have for weeks, folks with a stake or keen interest in the ruling -- politicians, immigration advocates and, yes, journalists -- will fire up their computers at exactly 7 a.m. Arizona time to see if today's the day.

So what's the holdup?
But here's the thing: The Supreme Court already has decided the case, and they likely did so two months ago.

There's plenty of politics involved in writing, negotiating and tweaking that opinion. And while nobody -- or at least nobody willing to talk openly -- knows what's happening with the SB 1070 case behind the Supreme Court's closed doors, we do have a general understanding of the justices' process.


Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/2012/06/18/20120618sb-1070-high-court-already-decided-process-maintains-suspense.html#ixzz1yWLPnZDn

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

SEIU Launches Largest Field Campaign In Union's History For 2012 Election


SEIU Members and Volunteers Will Target Communities of Color, Working Families and Union Households to Win Presidential and Down-Ballot Races
Stern & Burger join union members in ABA march
Stern & Burger join union members in ABA march (Photo credit: SEIU International)
Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--June 19, 2012.  The Service Employee's International Union (SEIU), the nation's fastest growing union with 2.1 million members, today is launching the largest and most-targeted political field campaign in the union's 91-year history to re-elect President Obama and win other key elections in eight battleground states.

The union will be targeting union and non-union members--with an emphasis on African American and Latino communities, younger voters, union households and other working people--on an unprecedented scale. By Election Day, the SEIU field campaign intends to connect with voters by making 13 million phone calls, knocking on more than 3 million doors and holding more than 1 million conversations across the country, with the majority of the work focused in Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

"Our boots-on-the-ground effort will be bold and targeted," said Eliseo Medina, SEIU International Secretary Treasurer. "Far too much is at stake this election cycle. We are using our human and capital resources to stand by candidates who will stand up for working people and not return the country to failed policies of the past. We know our communities can make a difference when they go to the polls."
The field campaign is part of SEIU's broad political program, which includes aggressive paid and volunteer GOTV efforts; large-scale civic engagement initiatives with community partners in the African American and Latino communities; major paid media campaigns; and coordinated voter education and voter protection programs to inform people of their rights. The political program's goal is to elect candidates who support working people and the 99% agenda: create good jobs here at home, rebuild an economy where everyone pays their fair share, invest in healthcare and other services for those in need and create a fair pathway to citizenship for every immigrant worker.

The launch of the SEIU field program comes on the heels of a joint SEIU/Priorities USA Action $4 million Spanish-language TV and radio ad campaign in Colorado, Florida and Nevada. An ad released yesterday as part of that campaign features Mitt Romney's hostile immigrant rhetoric while a round of ads released last week highlights Latinos' reactions to Romney's own words on jobs and other key issues.
To view ads launched Monday, visit: http://action.seiu.org/page/content/06152012/
To view ads launched last week, visit: http://action.seiu.org/page/content/06092012/

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