Like thousands of activists around the country who are protesting the ever-mounting gap between the extremely rich and those of us who are the 99 percent, UUSC's economic-justice partner based in Springdale, Ark., is supporting the Occupy Northwest Arkansas movement. Meanwhile, rooted in its core mission to organize and advocate for workers to obtain a safe workplace and a fair wage, worker members of the Northwest Arkansas Workers' Justice Center (NWAWJC) continue to deal with day-to-day, firsthand experiences of wage theft, otherwise known as "the crime wave no one talks about."

NWAWJC has been a leader in bringing public attention to the enormity of the nationwide wage-theft issue, and I was especially pleased to see that their latest public activism caught the attention of radio and television outlets in Fayetteville, Ark.

The media coverage included a major feature story on KUAF-FM, the National Public Radio station in Fayetteville. You can listen to the nine-minute segment, "Restaurant Involved in Wage Theft Picketed," which aired as the lead in the daily Ozarks at Large program on Friday, November 18, 2011.

Click play button to listen or download the MP3 file.

The forum and rally also was featured in a two-minute video segment on KNWA-TV, a Fox Network affiliate, also based in Fayetteville.   

The news stories focused on events organized by the workers' justice center in Fayetteville. The forum spotlighted and urged support for an anti-wage theft bill pending in the Arkansas state legislature. The forum was followed by picketing in front of Celi's Restaurant on Center Street in Fayetteville for allegedly withholding wages from a former employee.  

"Wage theft takes a toll in our communities as wages are stolen from millions of workers in the United States every year," said Fernando Garcia, the center's campaign director. "Wage theft too often forces workers to make tough decisions between feeding their families and providing them shelter. Workers should not have to go through these difficult times because some greedy employer decides to not pay wages."

Ana Aguayo, the center's communications director, pointed out that unscrupulous employers often use threats and other pressures to dissuade workers, many of whom are recent immigrants and do not speak English, from reporting wage-theft abuses.

"Wage theft includes violations of minimum-wage laws, not paying time-and-a-half overtime pay, forcing workers to work off the clock, workers not receiving their final paychecks, and stealing tips," said Aguayo. "Even the Economic Policy Foundation, a business-funded think tank, estimated that companies annually steal 19 billion dollars in unpaid overtime. The scope of these abuses is staggering."

Last year, at the urging of NWAWJC, the mayor of Fayetteville issued a proclamation condemning wage theft as an illegal practice that causes irreparable harm to low-income workers and ethical businesses. Fayetteville was the first city in the United States to issue such a public pronouncement and to promise strong action to combat wage theft.

Each Friday throughout the summer, a UUSC staff member will recommend one of his or her favorite books about human rights. Today, UUSC Senior Associate for Media and Public Affairs Dick Campbell recommends Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers.

If it wasn't so fresh in our minds, you might think this book is a fictional tale of human-rights outrages committed in the name of disaster relief and the war against terror. But here is the true story, told in a relatively unbiased journalistic tone, of a respected Syrian-American businessman and his Muslim family whose real-life experiences capture the essence of the governmental mismanagement, negligence, and racism in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

After his wife Kathy and their children leave their flooded New Orleans home to stay with relatives in Arizona, Abdulrahman Zeitoun stays behind for several days in his rowboat to rescue stranded and vulnerable survivors. For his efforts, he is arrested and held incommunicado for weeks in a makeshift maximum-security prison on suspicion of being a terrorist. Read the book to get the full suspense-filled drama filled with tragic consequences.

Simon Sangale Ole Nasieku is the national chairman of UUSC program partner the Kenya National Alliance of Street Vendors and Informal Traders (KENASVIT). He wrote the following post about what the referendum and the new constitution mean to the many thousands of workers throughout Kenya.

The historic win for the "yes" camp in the national referendum was a clear and resounding statement that Kenyans have been yearning for a new constitution. We in KENASVIT pay tribute to the thousands of informal traders who participated in the vote.

The referendum process was carried out in a calm and peaceful environment, and this is a plus for all Kenyans. After the post-election violence in late 2007 and early 2008, KENASVIT started a campaign of peace building, conflict resolution and reconciliation among our members countrywide. The campaign was geared toward bringing communities together and resolving not to fight again. Street vendors and hawkers had suffered loss of wares, injury, deaths, and displacement.

The government and other stakeholders undertook national peace campaigns through media public forums and road shows that created opportunities for discussions of contentious issues, thereby allaying many fears.

The campaigns targeted individuals who were encouraged to read, decide, and vote yes or no. KENASVIT played a big role in distributing over 10,000 copies of the proposed Kenyan constitution to Bodboda (bicycle transporters), hawkers, disabled persons, women, and youths.

The issues that made the Yes campaign more appealing to street traders and hawkers, resulting in its resounding victory, were the following:

• An expanded Bill of Rights, including economic, social and cultural rights alongside civil and political rights (the rights to health, food, shelter, and other basic needs are now protected by the constitution)

• Reduced powers of the president

• Better checks and balances of power (cabinet secretaries drawn from outside Parliament will now replace the ministers)

• Better representation of the people, including women

• Opportunities for marginalized and special-interest groups, youths, persons with disabilities, and other members of society

• Devolution of power to counties (counties will use resources to bring services closer to the people)

• Management of public land, crucial to street traders and hawkers, will be now administered by the National Lands Commission; urban and peri-urban (suburban) land will be accessible to street traders and hawkers

KENASVIT officials played a significant role in civic education, and during the referendum day street vendors were involved in voting, observing the polling, and serving as polling clerks. The declaration of a public holiday on the referendum day enabled most to vote, and the massive security presence helped a lot.

Street vendors, hawkers, and most of the informal traders in Kenya overwhelmingly supported the proposed constitution, and we are eagerly awaiting the president to put it into action in order for us to monitor its implementation.

Evalyne Wanyana is the national coordinator of the Kenya National Alliance of Street Vendors and Informal Traders (KENASVIT), a UUSC economic-justice partner. She wrote the following post about the days leading up to and immediately following the approval of a new constitution that promises a brighter future for the vast majority of Kenyans.

For close to two decades, Kenyans have worked toward enacting a new constitution, the closest attempt being the 2005 referendum. At that time, Kenyans rejected the proposed constitution because it failed to represent the wishes of the majority.

As the bumpy road toward achieving a new and better constitution for Kenya continued to unwind, life for common citizens got worse by the day. Government malpractice, such as corruption, abuse of power, discrimination based on ethnicity, and denial of justice for marginalized communities, thrived against the backdrop of a weak constitution and inadequate governing institutions. Kenya was quickly acquiring a second name called "impunity."

Kenyans were rife with frustration and disappointment with the state of affairs in the country, and the disastrous consequences of the 2007 national elections crushed our hopes of bringing about the desired change through a democratic process. The post-election violence that followed the presidential election of December 2007 made us realize as a nation that the stability of our country and our future rested in having a new constitution, and thus we had to do all that it takes to put it in place.

The Committee of Experts on the constitution, with support from the citizens, civil-society groups, and faith-based organizations, worked around the clock to give Kenyans the proposed new constitution. When the final copy was released to the country on May 6, 2010, I obtained several copies for me, my friends, and my neighbors so that we could read it and be able to make informed decisions come August 4, the day of the referendum.

Although I have a very tight work schedule, I squeezed in time to read the proposed constitution. On many occasions I engaged in debates with my friends and neighbors, particularly on contentious clauses, such as abortion, the Kadhi courts, devolution, and land ownership.

This helped me learn more about my fellow Kenyans' views on these issues, and sometimes I ended up convincing some of my friends and neighbors who would have opposed the draft to support it during the referendum. I encouraged anyone who was in doubt due to distortions made by the opponents of the proposed constitution to get a copy and read it for themselves. The Yes campaign's civic-education program through the electronic media, print media, and public forums enlightened many Kenyans on the proposed constitution.

A few days before the national referendum, I took leave from work to travel to my home district where I am a registered voter. The day before voting, I went to confirm my polling station. On the morning of August 4, I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and set off to the polling station. On my arrival there, I found a short queue. At 6:35 a.m., I cast my vote and left the station, feeling happy with myself that I have done my duty as a citizen in this very important event that might change our country forever.

I went home and waited until the afternoon when results from the polling stations by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission began to be televised from  the Jomo Kenyatta International Conference Center. I retired to bed at 10:30 p.m. with poll results indicating that the Yes side was leading. By mid-morning the next day, it was clear Yes had won with 67 percent of the votes and that Kenya finally had a new constitution. I was happy that Kenyans came out with courage and in large numbers to give themselves and their country a new constitution — and that I was one of them.

Although I may not live to enjoy the full benefits of this constitution, I know that my children and grandchildren and the children of my fellow Kenyans will live in a better Kenya. The new constitution is a step in the right direction and its implementation calls for total commitment from our leaders and citizens, and I have decided that I will play my part in shaping the Kenya I want for me and the future generations.

God bless us all.

UUSC partner joins front lines of Phoenix protests

I was reading a blog from one of our economic-justice partners when the news broke that a federal judge in Arizona had issued an injunction blocking key parts of the state's new anti-immigrant law from taking effect. Fernando Garcia, campaign coordinator for UUSC's partner the Northwest Arkansas Workers' Justice Center in Springdale, Ark., has been in Phoenix all week supporting the drive for human and immigrant rights as he participates in prayer vigils, rallies, civil disobedience, and counterprotests designed to express national outrage at the Arizona law.

"People here are fighting vigorously to stop this legislation in its tracks and win humane solutions to immigration," Garcia said in his blog post. "If it doesn't stop here, we better believe it will be knocking on our doors soon."

The Arizona law became effective today, July 29, but without the most egregious provisions that were put on hold by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton. She issued a preliminary injunction against sections that call on police officers to check a person's immigration status if there is a "reasonable suspicion" that someone may be undocumented and that require immigrants to carry their papers at all times.

The judge did not rule on the merits of the case but prevented enforcement of the most controversial sections until the litigation has reached a final conclusion, probably by the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Justice Department after President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder strongly criticized the new law as unconstitutional on a number of levels.

UUSC has condemned the Arizona law in the strongest terms, citing the anti-immigrant hostility it expresses and the human-rights violations it encourages, among many other reasons. (Read the full statement: "Immigrant Rights are Human Rights.")

After reading some of the news stories about the judge's ruling, including reports in the New York Times and the Arizona Republic, it was refreshing to read Fernando Garcia's account from the front lines of the mounting immigrant justice movement in Phoenix. The stories, messages, and analyses are very powerful, and paint a different picture than what we see in most of the mainstream media.  

"Regardless of the injunction, the reality on the ground is incredible," said Garcia. "I heard stories of homeowners walking away from their houses to get out of the state. One [Arizona Interfaith Alliance for Worker Justice] workers center member said four families have moved out of Arizona from his block alone. He mentioned that a popular supermarket chain has closed 70 of their stores since the law was enacted only of few months ago.

"Innumerable amounts of people have ripped out their roots to flee the political environment, but each family's departure leaves a hole in the economy and the social fabric of those who remain."

The Northwest Arkansas Workers Justice Center is a community-based organization that advances the rights of low-wage and immigrant workers through organizing for improved wages and working conditions. The Center educates and supports workers to be effective advocates, while building local and national partnerships to involve the broader community in the struggles of workers in Northwest Arkansas. Several local police departments in Northwest Arkansas participate in the federal 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law.

First it was Fidelity, now it’s Berkshire Hathaway. Two of the world’s largest financial investment firms have sold off huge chunks of stock in a major Chinese oil company, although neither is admitting that it took these actions in order to help end the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. However, the financial media is abuzz this week with news of multibillionaire Warren Buffett’s decision to sell $140 million worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock in PetroChina Co.

 

Clearly the momentum for divestment is building and the Drumbeat for Darfur is getting louder. The sale by Berkshire Hathaway was its second of PetroChina shares. The corporation is the second largest oil company by market value, and is the major purchaser of oil from Sudan.

The announcement came one week after coalitions of anti-genocide activists, including UUSC, launched expanded divestment campaigns to target more investment companies whose holdings include corporations that are helping to fuel the four-year-old genocide in Darfur. UUSC’s Drumbeat for Darfur campaign has already been pressuring Fidelity Investments, which also sold large chunks of stock while denying it was responding to pressure from anti-genocide activists. On September 5, 2007, UUSC joined colleague organizations Investors Against Genocide and Fidelity Out of Sudan in delivering petitions representing 150,000 signatures to Fidelity’s Boston headquarters.

While the divestment campaign continues to pick up steam, you can help keep the momentum building. A bill that would protect states from lawsuits when they enact divestment legislation is stalled in the U.S. Senate. Call or e-mail your U.S. senators today and urge them to act swiftly on this proposed law that will help ramp up the divestment drumbeat until it becomes deafening.

 

Both the new Congress and the Bush administration are busy these days wrangling over things like the mass firings of federal prosecutors and the leaking of the names of CIA operatives. In the midst of all the media frenzy, it’s reassuring to know that Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) have introduced bills to roll back many of the immoral and perhaps unconstitutional provisions of the new Military Commissions Act.

UUSC and colleague organizations vigorously opposed the new law adopted in the waning months of the last Congress. Among its more outrageous provisions, the Military Commissions Act allows certain interrogation techniques for terror suspects that are widely regarded as torture, continues the secret CIA role in interrogating terrorism suspects, and denies prisoners – many of whom have not been charged with anything – the habeas corpus right to challenge their detentions in federal court.

The legislation to undo some of these outrages has just been introduced, but it’s not too early to tell your senators and representative how you feel on the issue. UUSC is a founding member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which is urging its colleague organizations and other human rights groups to join a Call-Into-Congress initiative this week.

When the new law was signed by President Bush last fall, thousands of activists sent him their own “Citizens’ Signing Statement” on how they would interpret the legislation. You can add your voice by visiting our Legislative Action Center.