Media Advisory for Tuesday, May 1 at 10:45AM
Contact: Caroline O’Connor, Communications Director, L.A. County Federation of Labor, 213-400-8401 or coconnor@launionaflcio•org
2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Dolores Huerta, L.A. mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel to join May Day protest in support of L.A. trash workers
Brave New Foundation’s Cuentame to premiere new video “Workers are not Garbage”
NYC’s Outernational to play live from new album “Todos Somos Ilegales/We Are All Illegal”
What: May Day Protest to Support Trash and Recycling Workers at American Reclamation
When: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 10:45AM
Where: American Reclamation, 4560 Doran Street, Los Angeles, 90039
Who: Dolores Huerta, labor and civil rights activist & recipient of the 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom
Eric Garcetti, L.A. City Councilmember and mayoral candidate
Wendy Greuel, L.A. City Controller and mayoral candidate
Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, L.A. County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
Randy Cammack, President, Teamsters Joint Council 42
Ron Herrera, Secretary-Treasurer, Teamsters Local 396
Trash sorters and waste haulers who work at American Reclamation
Brave New Foundation’s Cuentame
Outernational, New York City-based rock band touring for new album: “Todos Somos Ilegales/We are all Illegal”
More than 500 union, community and immigrants’ rights supporters
Visuals: Jumbotron screen to premiere Cuenteme’s new video: “Workers are not Garbage”
Outernational live performance
May Day banners and signs
Waste and recycling workers in uniform
Images and quotes projected on Jumbotron as backdrop
500+ people in attendance with May Day signs in support of waste workers
This May Day in Los Angeles, immigrant workers are not only marching for their rights downtown, but they are standing up for their rights at work. Trash haulers and sorters at American Reclamation will be joined by 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Dolores Huerta, Los Angeles City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles Controller and mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel, L.A. Labor’s Maria Elena Durazo and more than 500 supporters to protest American Reclamation’s exploitation and hazardous working conditions right outside its front door. The protest includes the premiere of “Workers are not Garbage” a new video by Brave New Foundation’s Cuentame* about the dangerous and even deadly working condition inside Southern California’s waste and recycling industry. NYC-based Outernational will play live from their new album “Todos Somos Ilegales/We are all Illegal.”
“It’s the dark side of recycling that no one ever sees. These are human beings, not machines, who separate recyclables from dead animals, medical waste and dirty diapers, who drive polluting and unsafe trash trucks every single day on our streets. They are treated worse than the garbage they handle,” says Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “May Day is known as International Workers’ Day, but its roots lie in this country with immigrant workers striking for the 8-hour day. This May Day, the Los Angeles labor movement will join immigrant trash workers at American Reclamation to fight for their basic rights as workers.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON AMERICAN RECLAMATION
American Reclamation, a waste and recycling company that has public contracts to pick up and sort commercial trash, treats its workers worse than the garbage they haul and sort. It pays poverty wages with no benefits, exposes employees to health and safety hazards on a regular basis and fired workers who filed a safety complaint with CalOSHA.
“When we were hurt, cut by a sharp object we handled on the line or pricked by a dirty needle we didn’t see, we weren’t given proper first aid,” says Karla Campos, a fired trash sorter at American Reclamation after she filed a complaint with CalOSHA. “Sometimes we bandaged wounds with pieces of paper or material from the trash, and we were told to get back on the line as we bled.”
*CUENTAME
Brave New Foundation’s Cuéntame (translation: count me or tell me your story) is a place for Latinos and the public in general to share stories, submit interesting articles, take action and more. Through short videos, docu-series, and interviews from our studio, the streets, or sent to us by you, we unite voices to create a powerful community. Cuéntame is on the front lines of exposing profiteering practices at private immigrant detention centers, tackling unjust immigration laws and pushing back against racism in the media. Cuéntame proudly promotes the best in Latino arts, culture and music and engages the online community, connecting to the younger generation to motivate civic participation –as the 2012 election heats up.
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