A great wedding

My eldest son Steve and new daughter-in-law Luci had a great wedding in North Bend, Washington. I am blogging about this on my family blog.

On vacation again

I am in Seattle with family for my oldest son's wedding. I will be back in August. I am covering the trip on my family blog.

CSUEU News

Bargaining Alert is on the web

From Tevin Laxer at UNION HQ:
Bargaining alert #7 is on the web. How is bargaining going? Click here to find out.

SJSU Union Meeting Planned

From San Jose State Chapter 307 President President Jeff Baldwin:

To all Units 2,3 5 and 9 staff:
The next general meeting of the CSUEU (the union formally known as CSEA) will meet on Monday, August 15th from 12 noon to 1 PM. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for Music Room 150. Details of the meeting and confirmation of the meeting place will be sent in a later email.

One of the agenda items is the vote to approve the chapter's budget for this calendar year. The budget, as proposed, has been posted on the chapter website http://www.sjsu.edu/~csueu for your review.

Tell your members of Congress that you oppose CAFTA!

The time to act is now!

Despite being passed by the Senate, we still have a chance to stop CAFTA when it goes to the House of Representatives. A formal CAFTA vote is most likely to take place THIS WEEK, so the time to act is now. Our representatives NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU in order for them to make the right decision. That is, they need to hear from you why you oppose CAFTA!
Please take a minute of your time and send a letter to your representative by going to:
[This Link]
In Solidarity,
South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council

Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Representative Anna Eshoo (if you live in CA, and in district 14)
Representative Mike Honda (if you live in CA, and in district 15)
Representative Nancy Pelosi (if you live in CA, and in district 8)
Representative Richard Pombo (if you live in CA, and in district 11)
Representative Sam Farr (if you live in CA, and in district 17)
Representative Zoe Lofgren (if you live in CA, and in district 16)

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: I urge you to oppose CAFTA

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

I urge you to oppose DR-CAFTA, the Dominican Republic-Central American Trade Agreement that President Bush is sending to Congress.

This trade agreement will harm US and Central American workers, environmental and consumer protections.

Under NAFTA, California lost thousands of jobs, and we cannot afford to loose any more. CAFTA would give new protections to US multinational companies for operating outside the country. At the same time, CAFTA would reduce protections for workers - here and in Central America.

In addition, our worker, consumer, and environmental protections that are passed by the federal or state government can be challenged by foreign investors.

CAFTA's provisions would undermine many common state purchasing laws and preferences, handcuffing state governments with restrictive "trade" rules that limit legislators' policy options to promote good jobs and a healthy environment. CAFTA's provisions are an unwarranted usurpation of!  state sovereignty. Our state has much to lose, but little to gain, by signing up to CAFTA's purchasing rules.

Please voice your opposition to this trade agreement.
Sincerely,

In memory of Jay King

I just learned this today:

Jay King died about two weeks ago. He was having heart problems, and then had some sort of seizure that made his heart stop and the doctors couldn't revive him. He was 53 years old and was also planning on taking early retirement (that would have gone into effect right about now.)

I have known Jay for a number of years. Jay worked in the College of Education as a tech. Jay was a real gentleman, with a heart of gold. Unfortunately it was not a healthy heart and he suffered from other medical problems. He had a passion for technology and a child-like curiosity for how things worked. He struggled with disabilities and one or two people who were not very accepting of his. I am proud to have known him and proud that he was my friend. The university is worse off without him and I will truly miss him. My heart goes out to his family and friends for he was a good man and was loved by many.

Arnold coming to south bay

As his poll numbers plummet, we need to keep the pressure on Arnold - let's stand together to show California that we won't stop fighting until his attacks on working people are beaten!

Bring Signs! Bring Banners! Bring Everybody!

Monday, July 11, 2:00 pm

Yahoo! Headquarters
701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale
For more information call CJ at 408-266-3790 x578.

Directions

From San Jose:
Take 101 North and exit on Mathilda Avenue.
Turn right on Mathilda and continue to First Avenue (also marked as Bordeaux on the right).
Make a left on First Avenue.

From San Francisco:
Take 101 South and exit onto 237 east (Alviso/Milpitas exit).
Merge onto 237 and exit immediately toward Mathilda Avenue.
Turn left onto Mathilda Avenue and continue to First Avenue (also marked as Bordeaux on the right).
Make a left on First Avenue.

Contract bargaining update, July 7, 2005

Click here to see a CSUEU Contract Bargaining Update, Issued July 7, 2005.