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06/27/05
Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --
Have unions lost their punch? Membership and wages are down, but this labor leader is out to make a change.
Andrew Stern>> "It is time. It is so long overdue that we join with our union allies and either change the AFL-CIO or build something stronger that can really change workers' lives."
Val>> And then, how do you keep gang violence from seeping into our schools? Give youngsters a gang of their own.
It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times.
Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education.
And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.
Val>> There's no putting it mildly. One of the nation's biggest labor unions is in turmoil. It is the AFL-CIO, a federation of sixty unions whose ranks have been slipping lately and now the AFL-CIO is on the brink of a major split. NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Kaye introduces us to the man who's making waves.
Jeffrey Kaye>> To understand how the economy and the strength of labor unions have changed, go back to August 1992. A Mariachi played a Mexican farewell tune as workers ended the last shift at the last automobile factory in Southern California. The employees at the General Motors plant, all of them unionized, earned paid vacations, health and pension plans and averaged what today would be twenty-one dollars an hour. Today The Plant on the site of the old factory is a shopping center where non-union workers make barely more than minimum wage with few fringe benefits. This block is a metaphor for our times, says labor analyst Kent Wong.
Kent Wong>> What we see has happened to the GM plant right here in Van Nuys is a reflection of the shifts in the economy where we've gone from a manufacturing or an industrial-based economy to a service-based economy.
Jeffrey Kaye>> With the rise of a service economy, union membership has plummeted and labor leaders are arguing over how to revitalize their movement. The debate was prompted in large part by this man, Andrew Stern.
Andrew Stern>> "It is time. It is so long overdue that we join with our union allies and either change the AFL-CIO or build something stronger that can really change workers' lives."
Jeffrey Kaye>> Stern is President of the 1.7 million member strong Service Employees International Union, the fastest growing union in the country. The SEIU's success has come mostly from organizing poorly paid, often immigrant, workers in the service economy such as security guards, health care employees and janitors. The union is the AFL-CIO's largest affiliate, but Stern has threatened to pull out of the federation unless it makes dramatic changes.
Andrew Stern>> We've made the decision that, if nothing changes in the AFL-CIO, we're leaving.
Jeffrey Kaye>> The AFL-CIO is a shadow of its former self. Fifty years ago when the American Federation of Labor merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, labor was among the most powerful political forces in America.
Kent Wong>> Unions back in the 1950's represented about thirty-five percent of the U.S. workforce, so fully one in three workers was a member of the union. Today the percentage is under thirteen percent and in the private sector, meaning in the non-governmental sector, only nine percent of workers in the United States are organized.
Jeffrey Kaye>> To help workers regain economic and political power, Stern says the AFL has to change its structure and financial priorities.
Andrew Stern>> It's about providing a vision to workers about how they can win. That's what we did in our union. We gave them a vision about how they can win.
Jeffrey Kaye>> In its battles with employers, the SEIU has favored national and industry-wide strategies. That's what it did five years ago to win a contract and wage increases for striking janitors in Los Angeles.
Andrew Stern>> And all of our members from all around the country actually struck buildings in different cities, poured resources into the strikers, because we understood we needed to be coordinated where, in the past, we would have let each local union and each market, you know, make it or break it on their own.
Jeffrey Kaye>> Similarly, says Stern, the labor movement would be stronger nationally and globally with better coordination. He wants to force the Federation's fifty-eight unions which often compete with each other to merge into around twenty. Stern also wants to slash the AFL-CIO's budget by returning fifty percent of dues money to individual unions for labor organizing.
Andrew Stern>> "We're actually talking about trying to get the unions focused, you know, on an industry, have a strategy for the industry, and then have the resources to accomplish that. That's what the AFL has to do. It has to get people focused on the right industry, make sure there are plans and make sure there are resources."
Jeffrey Kaye>> Stern's brash critiques have put him at odds with his former mentor, John Sweeney, who headed the SEIU before Stern.
>> "I turn this gavel over to the next President of the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney."
Jeffrey Kaye>> Ten years ago, Sweeney won the presidency of the AFL-CIO with Stern's backing. Sweeney's reform slate ousted the old guard with promises to reinvigorate the labor movement. But union membership dropped and today, with it's own leadership under assault, Sweeney says he wants change as much as Stern.
John Sweeney>> Andy is very bright. He's a visionary. But it's one thing to have the vision and promote change. It's another thing to get majority support for those changes and I have always strived for consensus to build positive programs and Andy doesn't have as much patience.
Jeffrey Kaye>> The stage for a showdown was set last week in Las Vegas when union leaders gathered for their annual winter meeting. Closed door sessions turned into a debate about labor's priorities. Sweeney came with a plan to direct more funds to political activity rather than labor organizing, which Stern advocates.
John Sweeney>> "Workers are squeezed and hurting. We're making a long-term plan to build a majority for working families in state houses and city governments as well as the Congress and the White House."
Jeffrey Kaye>> Sweeney said labor's political priorities should be a campaign to fight the president's privatization plans for social security.
John Sweeney>> "This will be the labor movement's biggest issue's mobilization ever."
Jeffrey Kaye>> As Sweeney mustered his forces, Stern and SEIU leaders work to build alliances with other unions. In a public show of unity, leaders of four major unions, teamsters, food and commercial workers, laborers and the union representing hotel and garment workers, joined Stern in calling for reform. Teamsters President, James Hoffa, read their joint statement.
James Hoffa>> "We believe that a massive shift in resources and focus to organizing and growth in our union core industries and sector is the only path to rebuilding worker power in the workplace and in the political process."
Jeffrey Kaye>> The alliance tempered Stern's threat to pull out of the AFL-CIO.
Andrew Stern>> "The first thing, it was lonelier in November than it is now and I feel well supported by having three of the four largest unions in the Federation at this table along with two of the most dynamic unions. So I think we are now in the middle of an enormously important discussion and we're going to keep evaluating things, you know, as this discussion continues."
Jeffrey Kaye>> These union leaders lost the first round. Their push to direct more funds to labor organizing was turned down.
Andrew Stern>> The AFL's proposal will put less money in organizing than the AFL is currently spending today. That's not a plan to win. That's fake change.
Jeffrey Kaye>> And the threat to leave? Is that still on the table?
Andrew Stern>> If the policies that the AFL-CIO has at this meeting become the ultimate policies that are successful, that's not the kind of AFL-CIO we would want to be part of.
Jeffrey Kaye>> Stern's most radical proposal, to force unions to better coordinate and to merge, didn't come to a vote at the Las Vegas meeting. Sweeney says he has facilitated mergers and welcomes more, but not with a heavy hand.
John Sweeney>> There's such a thing as democracy. The workers themselves have to participate in a merger. This is not about just banging heads together and forcing them to merge.
Jeffrey Kaye>> In July, the AFL-CIO will hold its next convention and delegates will be asked to vote on proposals designed to reverse organized labor's downward slide.
Val>> This July, the AFL-CIO will hold its annual convention in Chicago and that's when the delegates will be voting on the proposals that they hope will reverse the union's downslide.
Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times".
Val>> It's an issue that makes a lot of Californians very angry. Who should pay the medical bills for millions of illegal immigrants? Now, for years, state officials have argued that the federal government should and finally the federal government has agreed. But how much will it pay? And how much difference will it make? Hena Cuevas goes to one Southern California hospital to find out.
Hena Cuevas>> When paramedics rush a patient into an emergency room in Los Angeles County, treatment always comes first.
>> "Do you have any pain anyplace? In your back?"
Hena Cuevas>> It's only after the patient is stabilized that hospitals ask how he or she will pay for the services and it seems that more and more of them can't cover the cost.
Dr. Brian Johnston>> The biggest issue is being paid for the services we provide.
Hena Cuevas>> Dr. Brian Johnston has worked in the emergency department at White Memorial Hospital in downtown Los Angeles for thirty years.
Dr. Brian Johnston>> The problem is that there are large numbers of uninsured and there are large numbers of people whose insurance companies refuse to pay once the services have been rendered.
Hena Cuevas>> It's widely accepted that many of the uninsured are also undocumented immigrants and critics like Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform say that places an enormous strain on the state.
Ira Mehlman>> As long as you're going to have millions and millions of people pouring in here with no health insurance and no resources to pay for their health care, you're going to have a health care system that's in crisis.
Hena Cuevas>> Nearly thirty percent of the uninsured who use the emergency room at White Memorial are illegal immigrants who, in many cases, use the ER as their primary care physician and, according to the law, they can't be turned away even if they can't pay. Now, after decades of pleas from the state for help with those expenses, the federal government is stepping in. The Department of Health and Human Services will spend one billion dollars nationwide over the next four years to help hospitals cover some of the expenses of treating illegal immigrants. What do you think is the significance of the federal government finally paying out this money to help the hospitals?
Ira Mehlman>> Well, on the one hand, it's an acknowledgement from the federal government that the federal government's failure to control illegal immigration is a serious problem that is costing states and communities all across the country a lot of money.
Hena Cuevas>> California is expected to receive more of the bailout than any other state, nearly seventy-one million dollars. And Los Angeles County could get about forty percent of that, or twenty-eight million dollars, not nearly enough when the deficit is twenty times that amount. According to the California Medical Association, emergency room losses in 2002 alone topped six hundred million dollars.
Dr. Thomas Garthwaite>> Our hospitals have a budget deficit about as far out as the eye can see.
Hena Cuevas>> Dr. Thomas Garthwaite, Director of Los Angeles County's Department of Health Services, says the system is severely under-funded.
Dr. Thomas Garthwaite>> It used to be said that the real key to real estate was location, but the real key to running a profitable hospital is now location. You have to build your hospitals away from the uninsured if you're going to run an emergency room. Otherwise, you have all these patients who come in and have no hope of paying these enormous hospital bills.
Hena Cuevas>> But will this solve the problem?
Dr. Thomas Garthwaite>> No, I don't think it solves the problem, but, you know, it's a step in the right direction. So to actually have some funding go towards where it's very much needed is helpful. Even though it's not all the funding we need, it's in the right direction.
Hena Cuevas>> For Mehlman, it's not just about the money.
Ira Mehlman>> We're dealing with the symptoms of the problem rather than dealing with the cause of the problem itself, and the cause of the problem is uncontrolled mass illegal immigration that's been going on for many, many years.
Hena Cuevas>> But Dr. Johnston, who sees the uninsured daily, says the problem goes beyond treating those who are here illegally.
Dr. Brian Johnston>> Illegal immigrants are part of the problem, but they're not the largest part by any stretch. About seventy-five percent of the problem is people who are legally here and United States citizens. There's no question that anybody who is uninsured puts a strain on the system. To blame it on illegal immigrants, I think, is fallacious.
Hena Cuevas>> As a rule, hospitals don't check the immigration status of any of their patients. But now to receive the federal funds, doctors will have to start asking questions.
Dr. Thomas Garthwaite>> We can't ask directly, are you here illegally? So we have to ask several questions that kind of put the person in a category that would make you assume that they're here perhaps illegally.
Hena Cuevas>> Mehlman argues that doctors will have to ask illegal immigrants the same things they ask patients who are here legally, questions about insurance and verifying ID.
Ira Mehlman>> When people with private health insurance walk into a doctor's office, they're asked pretty much to empty their wallets and have every document photocopied. The doctors do it because they know the private health insurance companies won't pay if they don't. There is no moral or ethical reason why they can't do the same thing when it's you and me, the taxpayers, paying for it.
Dr. Thomas Garthwaite>> The biggest concern with doing screening is the perception that the screening will lead to you being put in some database or being turned in to immigration authorities and, therefore, individuals who need health care might avoid health care.
Hena Cuevas>> Dr. Johnston says that asking questions about immigration status would interfere with his first priority: treating the patient.
Dr. Brian Johnston>> Well, I'm not going to ask. I don't ask. That's not part of the doctor-patient relationship and I'm not going to ask that question. My worry is that people will stay away for fear of that question and I don't know what effect that is going to have.
Hena Cuevas>> So you think there might be fear?
Dr. Brian Johnston>> Oh, I'm sure there will be fear. This issue has been raised before. I think that those who are here illegally and don't have papers are very sensitive to it. I would be very surprised if there wasn't fear.
Hena Cuevas>> And Johnston argues that fear may cause many of the undocumented to delay treatment, making it even more expensive in the long run.
Dr. Brian Johnston>> You know, we know what to do. We have the technology. We have the knowledge. What we need to do is fund our health care system and not just for illegals, for everyone.
Hena Cuevas>> The California Medical Association estimates that one out of five Californians is living without health insurance.
Dr. Thomas Garthwaite>> I would also say that the needs of the uninsured in Los Angeles largely and greatly out-strip the available resources.
Dr. Brian Johnston>> Our county health care system has been backing out. They've been closing beds. They've shut down clinic visits. They've closed down public health clinics. So to blame that on the illegal immigrants, I think, is divisive, erroneous and inflammatory.
Hena Cuevas>> But Mehlman says that no one should expect taxpayers to foot the bill for free medical care while both state and federal government are running deficits.
Ira Mehlman>> As noble as it is to try to provide health care for people, we have finite resources. We live in a finite world. One of the things we've got to remember is that, whether it's being paid for by government at the local level or is being paid for by the federal government, it's still our money.
Hena Cuevas>> I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times.
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Val>> Stabbings, brawls and lockdowns. You'd think we were talking about our prisons. Unfortunately, we're talking about some public schools. The recent rash of violence begs the question: how do you keep gang violence off of our school campuses? Well, there is a way, an aggressive program that doesn't involve more police and metal detectors. NewsHour correspondent, John Merrow, went to East Los Angeles to see how it works.
John Merrow>> Two gang members have been shot in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles.
[Film Clip]
John Merrow>> Four blocks away from the crime scene, Breed Street Elementary School is forced to lock all its doors. Teachers and students cannot go out until police say it's safe.
>> "The lockout is officially over."
John Merrow>> Street violence is a part of these students' lives. If you've ever heard a gunshot, would you raise your hand if you've heard a gun? How about if you've ever seen or talked to a gang member?
Maria Casillas>> We have a great waste of human lives in this community. We have about thirty-six organized gangs in the Boyle Heights area and Boyle Heights is a 2.2 square mile area.
John Merrow>> Maria Casillas is President of Families in Schools, a civic reform organization that works with Breed Street School.
Maria Casillas>> If you look at this environment here, you've got about a sixty-five percent dropout rate by the time these kids go to high school. It means that more than half of the kids you see here will probably drop out.
John Merrow>> And those students who remain in school face a culture where learning is not respected.
>> Kids in middle school just think that it's not cool to be smart.
John Merrow>> But Breed Street Elementary School in the heart of Boyle Heights is fighting back. How? With its own gang, S.O.S. The leader and founder of the S.O.S. Gang is former teacher, Janis Hiura.
Janis Hiura>> "Say I am the best S.O.S. in the world."
John Merrow>> Officially, S.O.S. stands for Society of Students.
Janis Hiura>> "And who's going to open that meeting for me?"
John Merrow>> It began as a small group in Hiura's fifth grade classroom. Her objective was to change her students' attitude toward learning by instilling confidence, teaching problem-solving skills and developing social skills.
Janis Hiura>> "First it starts with save our --"
Students>> "Selves."
Janis Hiura>> "Then what?"
Students>> "Save our students."
Janis Hiura>> "Students. Then save our --"
Students>> "School".
Janis Hiura>> "And where are we going for?"
Students>> "Save our society."
John Merrow>> Four years ago, Breed Street Elementary received a grant from the Annenberg Foundation, which also helps fund NewsHour education stories. With these funds, the principal created a new position. She asked Hiura to leave her role as teacher and make S.O.S. her fulltime job.
Janis Hiura>> Our target is the kid that's struggling, the kid that's struggling and believes they're dumb, the kid that is so shy that they don't understand and they won't ask for help.
John Merrow>> Whether they're members or not, all first through fifth grade students learn the S.O.S. principles starting with its code of behavior known as Being A.P.
Janis Hiura>> "Okay, I need five people to show me an A.P. lunch line. Remember we talked about that?"
John Merrow>> A.P. means Advanced Placement, a term generally used in high schools referring to the most challenging classes. But to Hiura, A.P. is a larger concept, one that includes behavior as well as academic performance. She believes that, starting in first grade, students should be encouraged to strive for their best.
Janis Hiura>> "And you know what I like? Are they pushing each other?"
Students>> "No."
John Merrow>> Students also learn how to pop up in class instead of raising their hands. This is called Popcorn.
Student>> Popcorn means like we don't raise our hands up. We get up and other people get up. We let them go.
John Merrow>> The idea behind Popcorn is to teach students how to speak with confidence and listen to others.
Janis Hiura>> "She's grabbing me with her what?"
Students>> "Eyes."
John Merrow>> Making eye contact is an important part of what Hiura calls power greetings in which students learn to present themselves with self-assurance. Any student who wants to join S.O.S. can. The only requirements are good effort and behavior in the classroom. Grades are not a factor. Active S.O.S. members meet whenever time permits. They talk about upcoming projects such as developing a mentoring program as well as how to improve S.O.S. and spread it elsewhere.
Janis Hiura>> "We're going to talk about buddies, how to get the buddies that aren't S.O.S. in S.O.S."
John Merrow>> Tenth grader, Dennis, gives S.O.S. credit for making him a more active participant in school. So S.O.S. has changed you?
Dennis>> I had quiet power. I was a bright student, but I really wasn't motivated to participate. Now, well, look at me.
John Merrow>> Fourth grader, Stephanie Sanchez, used to be afraid to speak in class. Today she's comfortable in front of large audiences.
Stephanie Sanchez>> Joining S.O.S., I've changed a lot. Each and every day, I get powerful and stronger. It changed my whole life.
John Merrow>> S.O.S. members sometimes lose their way and may be asked to turn in their badges. Hiura and S.O.S. members decide on a case-by-case basis when and how a member can get back in. She relies on the buddy system to keep behavior in check.
Janis Hiura>> "What have you two buddies been doing? Bringing each other --"
Student>> "Down".
Janis Hiura>> "Is that what S.O.S. is all about?"
Student>> "No."
Janis Hiura>> "You knew how to bring yourself down. Now I want to see if you know how to what?"
Student>> "Bring ourselves up."
Janis Hiura>> "Okay, I want you to write me up a plan."
John Merrow>> In just four years, S.O.S. has grown from thirty Breed Street students to four hundred, more than half the school. In addition, four other elementary schools in the Boyle Heights neighborhood have adopted S.O.S. in some capacity, but S.O.S. faces significant challenges. Researchers are just starting to track whether S.O.S. helps students academically. There's no real evidence that S.O.S. improves academic performance?
Janis Hiura>> No, it's all soft date.
John Merrow>> If, in the end, there's no difference, would you then get rid of S.O.S.?
Janis Hiura>> No, because I know the difference it has made. They're doing better in life. I had a student encourage their parent to go get a restraining order when their dad was victimizing them. That's worth everything.
John Merrow>> While some students have remained active in S.O.S. long after Breed Street, there's no official S.O.S. program past fifth grade. Breed Street students go on to a huge middle school. After that, comes the nation's fourth largest high school with about five thousand students and a graduation rate of only fifty-eight percent. Are any of you nervous about leaving this wonderful school and all of a sudden you're going to go off to this huge middle school?
Student>> I actually am not because, no matter what middle school I go to, I'm going to try to start it over there. I already joined a gang and it's S.O.S. This is our positive thing.
John Merrow>> Currently, some S.O.S. members, including a few older kids who've remained active, are working with local civic leaders figuring out how S.O.S. can become an effective force in a new high school due to open in 2006.
Val>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education.
And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.
Val>> Next time on Life and Times --
They're called credit counseling services, but sometimes you have to watch out for the person doing the counseling.
>> Well, it was on-the-job training, so to speak. But, no, I wasn't professionally trained as a credit counselor. How good as a salesman was the main thing.
Jeffrey Kaye>> You would tell them not to pay their bills?
>> Not to pay their bills, yes, basically.
Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.
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