Lois Wolk Stands Strong For Sodexho Workers but Needs a Push on Health Care

Wolk's Strong Statement in Support of Sodexho Workers

Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) issued her strongest statement to date in support of the Sodexho Workers:

Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, released a statement this morning in response to the new plan.

“Certainly, any improvement in the wages and benefits for the workers at the university is a good thing,” Wolk said. “However, I am very disappointed that the university did not meet with representatives of AFSCME and Sodexho workers in the past several weeks, as I was led to believe by the university.

“This only underscores the awkward, and ultimately untenable, situation of the university acting as the employer, negotiating pay and benefits, while they are not in fact the employer of record. I hope the university will consider a more aggressive schedule for rectifying this situation, as has been done on other UC campuses.” (Davis Enterprise 8.30.07)

This is by far the strongest and most pointed statement that she has made in favor of the Food Service workers as the continue their fight to become full University Employees. The implications are clear here--this has not gone far enough, the university is increasingly being marginalized even from strong supporters such as Assemblywoman Wolk, and the university needs to come forward and negotiate in good faith.


Assemblywoman Wolk and Senator Machado Are Encouraged To Support AB 8 For Universal Health Care

Dear Friends, neighbors and activists:

Please call right now and ask Assembly Member Lois Wolk and Senator Mike Machado to fix health care and IMPROVE Assembly Bill 8.

We've been fighting for health care all year and have accomplished a lot. Together, we helped create a bill, AB 8 (Nunez and Perata), which would:

• Set a health care minimum wage (a required employer contribution of 7.5%) that would protect jobs and benefits;
• Provide health coverage to over 4 million people who don't have it now;
• Create a statewide insurance pool;
• Stop insurance companies from denying insurance on the grounds of pre-existing conditions.

However, WE'RE NOT DONE YET. AB 8 still doesn't do enough to control health insuarnce costs or make it affordable for individuals and families. That is why we need to make the call and ask legislators to make sure that AB 8 makes healthcare more affordable.

Here's the message for AB 8 calls:

"Hi, my name is ________. I'm a voting constituent of Assembly Member Wolk (or Senator Machado) and I'm calling to ask the Assembly Member (or Senator) to fix our health care now by improving AB 8 and making health care more affordable by controlling health care costs. Thank you."

Additional info: It's not real health care unless we can afford to use it!

Health insurance must be truly affordable, and we must make sure individuals and families are protected from having to buy insurance they can't afford.

We need to:

• Get insurance and prescription drug costs under control.
• Introduce real competition wit a public insurer.
• Require more information on health care quality and costs, giving us more power to make better decisions.
• Make sure no one is required to buy insurance they cannot afford.

Here are the toll free numbers to use:

Senator Mike Machado 1-866-682-3135

Assembly Member Lois Wolk 1-866-466-8431

---Doug Paul Davis reporting