P.O.W.E.R.

Charles Brown CharlesB at CNCL.ci.detroit.mi.us
Thu Oct 8 13:20:15 PDT 1998


---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 09:19:51 +0200 From: Viggo Andersen <viggo.andersen at post3.tele.dk> To: Workfare-Discuss at icomm.ca Subject: P.O.W.E.R.

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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