http://www.sfo.com/~coh/power.html
POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights)
organizes workfare workers to win fair and equal treatment for
people doing workfare in San Francisco. POWER was initiated in
January 1997 as a project of the three-year old General
Assistance Rights Union (GARU). GARU has since changed its name
to POWER to incorporate Workfare Workers from other benefits
programs. POWER is fighting to change workfare into a fair work
program, a program which pays workers a prevailing wage for the
work they perform and which provides a safety net for those who
cannot.
Organizing is the heart of POWER's work. POWER members are at the
worksites every day, informing workfare workers of their rights
and inviting them into the organization. POWER has already
collected authorization cards from more than 2,800 of San
Francisco's 3,000 workfare workers, won 'employee status' for
workfare workers from Cal-OSHA, and pressured the City to create
a "workfare ombudsperson" position to field workfare workers'
complaints.
In this campaign, POWER has employed direct action on countless
occasions to demand accountability from City officials. Over
fifty POWER members, dressed in bright orange t-shirts and
fedoras (mayor Willie Brown's trademark) and carrying a 30-foot
Will-Lie Brown puppet, "joined" the Mayor's tour of the City when
he hosted the U.S. Conference of Mayors, winning extensive media
coverage. POWER has also utilized direct action to represent
workers whose rights are abused at worksites.
As part of this campaign, POWER is offering San Francisco's
non-profit agencies the opportunity to sign the "Pledge for Fair
Work." The Pledge proposes a basic set of criteria to be met
before anyone else is forced into a workfare placement. Signatory
organizations agree to accept workfare placements only if the
workers have voluntarily agreed to this placement, the
organizations will not displace other workers, and the
organization will join in the campaign for equal treatment, equal
protections and equal compensation.
POWER is building a collaboration between workfare workers and
organized labor. Recognizing that living wages for all workers
cannot be won without cooperation between organized labor and
workfare workers' organizations, POWER fought for and won equal
representation on an influential Labor/Management Welfare Reform
Committee which is charged with developing San Francisco's public
apprenticeship program. With workfare workers' involvement in
this process, POWER plans to stop the development of any two-tier
system.
POWER will continue to fight the attack on poor people until
everyone who wants to work can find meaningful full-time
employment and until everyone receives the same rights,
opportunities and respect as everyone else-regardless of economic
status. "We reject the notion that poor people have no rights,"
says POWER Director Steve Williams. "We know that by working
together we can make a change for all poor people and for all
workers. So we'll keep organizing until everyone in this City
understands that slavery is dead, and we're not letting ANYBODY
bring it back."
For further information about POWER , or for information about
receiving the POWER newsletter or the Pledge for Fair Work,
contact Steve Williams or Ilana Berger at (415) 346-9693; fax
(415) 775-5639.
Workfare Facts
Toxic Facts
P.O.W.E.R. Demands
---------------------------------
Homelessness in San Francisco | What's Up | About the Coalition
Affiliated Projects and Activities | What You Can Do | Links
COH Projects:
Civil Rights | Housing Not Borders | Shelter Outreach
Substance Abuse Mental Health Work Group (SAMH) | Street Sheet |
P.O.W.E.R.
---------------------------------
Coalition on Homelessness
468 Turk Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415.346.3740 | Fax: 415.775.5639 | Email: coh at sfo.com
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