Archived Radio Show

May 1, 2023

Original Radio Show  ID:
WSA230501

Listen to the Show on the Mp3 Player below

Duration 57 minutes

---

Featuring

Click the Name to access the Segment below

1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz,  Host of Women's Spaces 

2. Lisa Maldonado , Labor Representative, California Nurses Association

3. Renee Saucedo, Project Coordinator of ALMAS LIBRES at Raizes Collective, and Coordinator at Northern California Coalition for Just Immigration Reform.

----

----   

1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz:   Today is International Workers Day and I have two special guests with me this morning. Joining me in the studio is Lisa Maldonado, Labor Representative for the California Nurses Association. Lisa has an extensive background in labor relations and union organizing and we will be talking about the history of May 1 and her involvement in labor relations.

Also joining me in the studio is Renee Saucedo who will be talking about the Immigrant Rights movement. Saucedo has worked in the immigrant rights and worker rights for over thirty years as an advocate, attorney, educator, and community organizer. It is an honor to have both women with me in the studio.

Today, May 1st, is International Workers Day, and I would like to dedicate this show to my father Solomon “Solly” Holtz who was a committed Union Man. My dad was born in Poland and came to America when he was only five years old. Two things he always reminded me:

1.  Never cross a picket line (Tell story) and

2. He never met a boss or owner who would give you a raise without a struggle.

That Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) would be so rude as to tell the President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) at her Committee meeting on the pandemic under the previous administration that she was not a real mom, since she was a stepmom, and therefore could not be trusted on her advice at the time is an affront to all  stepmoms and to the AFT union, I encourage all women to write a protest letter to the Congresswoman.*

----

2.  Our First Guest Lisa Maldonaldo talks of the mentors in her family, her grandfather and father, who were migrants from Mexico to work in the USA, that influenced her to pursue her career in union organizing. Often after completing a harvest or another project the owner would call the Immigration agency to turn in the migrants and avoid paying them their earned wages. Lisa has degrees in political science and earned her law degree. She emphasizes that the immigrants cause is tied to the union cause for fair labor practices and wages. She finds it ironic how easy and unfettered capital can cross the borders, and how difficult it is for workers to cross the border. Lisa is a Labor Representative at California Nurses Association, which constantly pushes back on under staffing at Sutter and Kaiser hospitals. Hospitals are businesses that unfortunately prioritize the bottom-line at nurses' and patients' expense. Labor activism is constantly dealing with safety issues and who is working under what conditions.

About our Guest: Lisa Maldonado, and I love this, describes herself as an Attorney, Union Thug, Troublemaker, Boat Rocker, Revolutionary & Nice Mexican Girl all in one! At present she is the Labor Representative at California Nurses Association.
She is the Former Executive Director North Bay Labor Council at AFL-CIO, Former Area Director at SEIU Local 1021. Also, she has previously worked as Field Director of the ACLU of Northern California where she coordinated field campaigns on issues such as racial profiling, the death penalty, marriage equality and immigrant’s rights.
She has previously served as a Campaign Coordinator for the California Faculty Association and the Political Director of the San Mateo Central Labor Council.
Lisa has a degree in Political Science from San Francisco State University and a JD from the University of San Francisco Law School.

Guest Link:

California Nurses Association (CNA)  https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/california-nurses-association

 ----

3. Our Guest Renee Saucedo also share her family influences on her career as an attorney defending immigrant rights and worker rights.  Immigrants are now more involved in unions and help in leading them. Undocumented immigrant women have lots of courage as it is almost impossible today to change one's immigration status. Renee talks about the RAICES Collective, that is based in Santa Rosa since its founding in June 2015, with its mission to empower and mobilize the Latinx and Indigenous communities through the arts, culture, and environmental education. Renee announces the International Labor Day march and rally in Santa Rosa today, beginning at 3 PM in Roseland with a march to the Federal Building to lobby for the passage of HR1511, Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929, which would allow 8 million people to apply for permanent residency. The march then continues to Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa for a rally. See the poster under Announcements.

About our Guest: Renee Saucedo has worked in the immigrant rights and worker rights movements for over 35 years as an advocate, attorney, educator, and community organizer. She helped expand the creation of day laborer and domestic worker organizations in Northern California and helped lead immigrant rights campaigns such as the those which led to drivers’ licenses for California's undocumented, County Sanctuary Laws, and movement around national Immigration Reform.
Renee currently works for the Raizes Collective as Project Coordinator of ALMAS LIBRES and coordinates the Northern California Coalition for Just Immigration Reform. 

Guest Link:

Raizes Collective website:  www.raizescollective.org

ALMAS Libres / Raizes Collective fb page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/httpswww.raizescollective.org/

Reference Link:

H.R. 1511: Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 - status: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hr1511

---- 

 Herstory

Our history is our strength. Check out important dates to remember in herstory at the National Women's History Alliance,, where the date descriptions were sourced unless otherwise indicated.

Herstory Events:

May 1, 1890 - The first May Day celebrations focused on workers took place

Herstory Birthdays:

May 1, 1830 (1930) – Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, labor leader and organizer.

May 3, 1901 (1981) – Estelle Massey Osborne, first African American nurse to earn a master’s degree, integrated the American Nurses Association and served on its board of directors (1948-52)

----

Announcements  

 Monday, May 1, 2023, International Labor Day March and Rally, See poster below. More information at https://www.facebook.com/events/166155705988009/?ref=newsfeed

----

Monday, May 8, 2023, 11 AM PT # repeats 11 PM PT, features Christian F. Nunes, President of the National Organization for Women (NOW), discussing the 2023 Feminist State of the Union, and playing of Hilary Clinton's interview at that event.  Radio KBBF 89.1 FM, North SF Bay or live streaming at https://kbbf.org/live

----

Wednesday, May 11, 2023, 11 AM PT, repeat of Monday's show, features Christian F. Nunes, President of the National Organization for Women (NOW), discussing the 2023 Feminist State of the Union, and playing of Hilary Clinton's interview at that event.  Radio KPCA 103.3 FM, Petaluma, CA. https://petalumacommunityaccess.org/kpca 

----  

Music Selections

The Opening and Closing Theme song The Woman in Your Life is You is done with permission of the Composer and Singer Alix Dobkin ((August 16, 1940 – May 19, 2021) Alix Dobkin death was just announced - Thank you for all you did for Lesbians to be recognized and Women to be honored. May you rest in peace. See our Interview with Alix Dobkin on 12/1/2014 and our Memorial to Alix Dobkin on 5/24/2021

The Woman in Your Life is You by Alix Dobkin from the album Living with Lavender Jane (2010 Women's Wax Works) - www.alixdobkin.com

We Were There, sung by Bev Grant from the album We Were There – Women’s Labor History (2002 Human Condition Music).   

Bread and Roses, sung by Bobbie McGee from the album Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways (2006 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings).

-----

Link:  Spinitron.com Playlist for Women's Spaces Show