Southland grocery strike could be imminent. New LGBT rules for LAUSD students and teachers. Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Henry Sheehan, Tim Cogshell and Charles Solomon to discuss this week’s films including Contagion, Straw Dogs, Drive, Restless and more. Plus, critic Peter Rainer calls in to discuss his account of the Toronto Film Festival. TGI-FilmWeek!
Southland grocery strike could be imminent
The union representing workers at three Southland grocery chains issued 72-hour notice Thursday to cancel its contract, removing the final hurdle for a strike. It remains to be seen whether a strike will actually be called, but a work stoppage could now occur as early as Sunday night. The contract negotiations impact 62,000 employees at Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons. They’ve been ongoing for eight months and workers say they’re fed up with inaction. Rising health care expenses are at the heart of the battle. According to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, the chains refuse to pay a larger share of workers’ spiraling health care costs. The chains say they’re disappointed the union has taken this step because doing so only alarms employees and customers. They say they remain committed to reaching an agreement and hope to continue negotiating. Eight years ago, there was a four-month strike that cost the three chains about $2-billion dollars. Is another strike imminent? Are grocery workers being shortchanged by stores’ refusal to pay more for medical fees? Or in a bad economy is this the most the groceries can afford? Can the two sides reach an agreement and avert another costly lockout?
Guests:
Brian Watt, KPCC Reporter at the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770 Hall in Korea Town
Rick Icaza, President, United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Christie Ly, Spokesperson, Albertson’s
The new LGBT rules at LAUSD
The Los Angeles Unified School District has become the first California school district to implement SB 48 — the bill passed by the state legislature requiring school districts to include the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans in their social studies curriculum.
The district approved a resolution last Tuesday that includes a new curriculum for students that would include positive lessons about LGBT individuals. It also calls for training teachers on how to address gay students and their issues in an effort to ban anti-gay bulling on school campuses. One element of the bill would require teachers to intervene if they hear students using anti-gay rhetoric.
"We're talking about creating classrooms and environments that are truly welcoming and embracing, not 'tolerant,'" said Steve Zimmer of the LAUSD school board. "We are at a moment where embracing and affirming all students and all backgrounds is really part of being a teaching professional."
Zimmer and Judy Chiasson, also of LAUSD, clarified: This bill is not meant to add lessons about LGBT issues to school curriculum, but just to open the conversation to include those issues when fitting, they said.
"This is not about shining a spotlight, it's about not hiding these things anymore," Zimmer said. Using an example of teaching English classes about James Baldwin or Langston Hughes, Zimmer said, "it's not necessarily about saying we're going to study this person in relation to their LGBT status, but making sure that that part of the writer's identity is just as much part of the rich and textured analysis of the writing … that is really the transformation we're looking for."
Chiasson and Zimmer hope that teaching more diversity in the classroom will help give hope to those students who might feel like outsiders.
"I grew up in a time when my history book was completely whitewashed. It didn't do anything to show the richness of our communities," Chiasson said. This all-inclusive teaching approach, she said, is "important for all minorities."
Chiasson is concerned certain groups will be uncomfortable with this new legislation, but as far as the teaching community is concerned, promoting acceptance and safety is the first priority.
"Everybody brings prejudice into the classroom," she said. "But the overwhelming obligation of teachers is to create a safe environment for their students and under no circumstances would we endorse a teacher saying something biased, discriminatory or create a toxic environment for his or her students. That is wrong on any level for any issue."
A group called Stop SB 48 is trying to solicit enough signatures to create a ballot measure that would overturn the law effective January 2012. It’s unknown whether the board would stand by the resolution should SB 48 be overturned. In real-time, district officials need to come up with a plan within three months to implement the resolution.
Guests:
Steve Zimmer, Member of the Los Angeles School Board, representing district 4 (West Hollywood, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Echo Park, Burbank); proposed the resolution adopted by the School Board on Tuesday
Judy Chiasson, Ph.D, Coordinator with the office of Human Relations, Diversity & Equity at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)
FilmWeek: Drive, The Lion King 3-D, Straw Dogs, Contagion and more
Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Henry Sheehan, Tim Cogshell and Charles Solomon to discuss this week’s films including Drive, The Lion King 3-D, Straw Dogs, Contagion and more. Plus, critic Peter Rainer calls in to discuss his account of the Toronto Film Festival. TGI-FilmWeek!
Guests:
Henry Sheehan, film critic for KPCC and henrysheehan.com Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Box Office Magazine Charles Solomon, animation critic for KPCC, author and historian for amazon.com Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and Christian Science Monitor Live tweeting this week's reviews: