Despite the good news of yesterday's ruling temporarily blocking key parts of Arizona's controversial anti-immigrant law SB1070, this fight is far from over.

Over the past few months, the so-called immigration 'solutions' that extreme GOP politicians have suggested include micro-chipping illegal immigrants, ending birthright citizenship and using their 'sixth sense' to spot illegal immigrants by the clothes and shoes they wear. Oh, and did we mention militarizing the border with landmines and shutting off utilities?

We think you'll get the picture once you watch this video, featuring an anti-immigration All-Star cast that includes Fearmonger of The Year Glenn Beck, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, candidate Barry Wong, Sen. John McCain and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. They tell the story of the type of America that Republicans want to create for us in a way we never, ever could. Watch now:

If we don't stand up, these types of extreme laws could be coming to your state. It's time for Republicans--especially Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl in Arizona--to stop playing political games and join Democrats to push the bipartisan immigration solutions that Americans demand.

Watch this video and then share it with your friends: http://seiu.me/azextreme

State workers in California had only been furlough-free for a month before Governor Schwarzenegger issued a new executive order on Wednesday to implement three furlough days per month. It will affect an estimated 200,000 state workers.

SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker responded to the new furlough order, calling it another example of his failed leadership:

"He is unable to provide the leadership necessary to work out a compromise solution to the state's budget crisis."

Watch Channel 1000's update on what these furlough days could mean for SEIU Local 1000 members:

SEIU Local 1000 attorneys are exploring all legal options in regard to the governor's new furlough order -- they've filed eight separate legal cases challenging the governor's furlough scheme and responded to a proposed consolidation in the Supreme Court.

Billy Pippins joined Sodexo over eight months ago as laundry worker in Cleveland. As a production worker, Billy is involved in the process of cleaning hospital pads, and has to meet laundry quotas of up to 700 pads per hour.

As we've mentioned before, high production quotas mean managers and supervisors sometimes favor speed over safety, and this can often lead employees into feeling forced to take dangerous shortcuts that could put workers and the public at risk. While Billy works hard to meet his production quotas, he has seen other workers struggle to keep up on the job. "[Management] knows it's hard to meet... If they don't get their numbers up then they try to tell them they don't need them any more..."

A U.S. District Court Judge in Arizona has temporarily blocked key parts of Arizona's controversial anti-immigrant law SB1070 from taking effect tomorrow.

This means that while the law will still take effect tomorrow, police will not be able to use racial profiling to inquire into a person's immigration status. The decision was made based on the grounds that the U.S. Constitution requires our nation to have a unified immigration policy regulated by the federal government--not a 50 state patchwork of conflicting, state laws.

This is a HUGE victory for our members in Arizona and a victory for our efforts to re-focus on Washington's responsibility to fix our broken immigration system.

SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina issued a statement after today's ruling, saying:

"Today, the Court sent out a sharp message to Congress: get to work and fix our broken immigration system where it must be fixed--in the federal government.

"The Court's decision reminds us, once again, that America is a nation of laws; that the politics of the moment will not overpower the sensible laws written by our forefathers; and that in America, opportunistic state politicians do not have free rein to violate our most basic Constitutional rights."

Read Medina's full statement here.

Celebrate this victory by watching our latest video and sharing it with your friends and family. Click here to watch: http://seiu.me/azextreme

And while you're at it, please share this video with your friends today on Twitter, and forward this email.

In 2006 Securitas--the second-largest security company in the world--signed a Global Agreement guaranteeing its employees the freedom to form a union in order to raise industry standards, which will bring good jobs and more effective security to our communities. The agreement and Securitas' Code of Conduct--which underlines the agreement--are featured on Securitas' web site.

Now more than 4,000 Securitas officers are forming a union with SEIU in Halifax (Nova Scotia), Boston, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Denver, Sacramento, Silicon Valley and Portland. Will Securitas keep its word?

In mid-July Securitas officers and community supporters in eight cities delivered a petition to local Securitas managers urging the company to fulfill its promise. Some managers took the petition, some did not, and some got angry. No Securitas manager, however, said the company would follow the agreement.

Across North America security industry standards--including wages, benefits, and regular training--are notoriously low. In this time of economic recession, the needs of our cities are at an all-time high. As a global giant--with $8.2 billion in sales and $278 million in profit in 2009--Securitas can do better by our communities.

When facts fail, the operatives for corporate America simply ramp up their efforts to build resentment against the public and private sector. DMI's Amy Traub elaborates:

It's easy for the Right to tap into all the misperceptions they've fostered about public pay and government spending and argue that "the people you're supporting with your tax dollars are living better than you are," as one Fox commentator said.

Make no mistake about it, that's a broad-based anti-union argument...Once they've successfully mobilized resentment against other working people--whether it's public workers, or, for that matter, immigrant workers--it becomes harder to hold businesses accountable for not creating quality jobs.

It becomes harder to argue for a public jobs program that would put our unemployed back to work.

It becomes harder to argue for the benefits of unions at all, because solid wages and benefits won through collective bargaining have suddenly been turned into something to be resented, rather than something to aspire to in your own job.

It's classic divide-and-conquer politics: pitting one group of American workers against another, with the hope that you'll forget or ignore the corporations and Wall Street bankers who caused this mess.

When digging for the truth, look at what critics of public services don't say.

They don't talk about reigning in hedge funds after they ransacked the U.S. economy. They don't talk about the pensions of the super rich - like BP's Tony Hawyard and the nearly $1,000,000 pension he'll receive after overseeing one of the largest environmental disasters in United States history. And they certainly don't talk about how Wall Street reform that will regulate big banks and protect U.S. consumers from this kind of economic calamity in the future.

No, instead the enemy is the parks and recreation officer who maintains your park. The operator who answers your 911 call. The math teacher who taught your kids fractions and long division.

Public services are being used as a red herring for the reckless business practices of the investment and banking community. It's a smokescreen tactic that the right has been nurturing to deflect attention from the real causes of our economy's problems. Read on to learn more about fighting back against the tide of misinformation against public sector workers.

In case you missed it....recent news, contract victories and activism from SEIU Local unions in New York, Toronto, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Connecticut, Oregon, San Francisco and Colorado.

SEIU Members to Join Rally at Mets' CitiField on July 30th: Members from 1199SEIU and Local 32BJ will join friends from Latino Sports, the Latino Sports Writers Association and the New York Immigration Coalition on Friday, July 30th for a rally outside of CitiField in Queens. That evening, the Arizona Diamondbacks will be in town to play the Mets. The demonstration will demand that the 2011 All-Star Game be moved out of Arizona to protest racial-profiling law SB1070.

Working for Fair Wages After 90 Day Strike Ends: SEIU members at The Massey Centre For Women in Toronto have ended their 90 day strike and are back at work caring and helping teenage mothers and their babies. Workers voted to approve a new contract that will allow them to move forward on their pay grid after ten years of being locked at the bottom.

SEIU Local 21LA Questions New Orleans Mayor's Furlough Proposal: New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has proposed that city workers take 11 unpaid furlough days by the year's end--and the furloughs do not make sense in several cases. For example, the New Orleans Public Library budget had enough money for its employees in 2010 without furloughs. So why are they being told they have to furlough employees anyway?

Walk A Day: A Close-up Look at Emergency Social Work: SEIU Local 721 member and child social worker Sevana Naaman responded to an immediate referral regarding general neglect of a 16-year-old boy in Sun Valley on July 16th, taking a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor and his deputy along to walk a day in her shoes. Watch the Supervisor talk about the experience:

In South Plainfield, New Jersey, the agency responsible for enforcing standards for workplace safety and health has cited Sodexo for violations of nine separate safety hazards involving building cleaning and maintenance services that endangered workers and could have harmed students.

A supervisor within the South Plainfield School District alerted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of these dangers, all of which were classified as "serious," meaning there was a "substantial probability that death or serious injury could occur from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known."

The citations against Sodexo include:

• Improper labeling of information when using dangerous chemicals
• Unsafe storage of flammable and combustible liquids
• Exposed live parts of electronic equipment
• Failure to assure that workers' have protective equipment
• Failing to assure employees receive adequate training
• Requiring workers to operate industrial trucks without testing their ability to so do safely

Brian Barker, the whistleblower in this case, says that he called OSHA after Sodexo management ignored his repeated requests to correct the problems.

"I've been a groundskeeper for 26 years.  When I came to Sodexo I was shocked because they were not in compliance with safety regulations," said Brian, who was manager of grounds keeping for Sodexo in South Plainfield.  "Finally, I said enough is enough and called OSHA."

What happened next, though, came as a surprise. The day he notified his manager that he had contacted OSHA, Brian received his first written discipline since he began working for Sodexo last year. Then after the OSHA citation was issued, Sodexo abruptly eliminated his position - even though Brian had just earned a promotion in January. This week he filed a complaint with OSHA that Sodexo retaliated against him for reporting the hazards.

Community members, union leaders and elected officials are worried about the possible connection.

"I am concerned that Sodexo cut the position of the worker who alerted OSHA to these dangers that could have been life-threatening," said US Representative Rush Holt (NJ-12), who is a member of the House Education and Labor Committee. "It seems to me that Sodexo has failed to meet its obligation to keep New Jersey students safe." The Sodexo cleaning and maintenance workers in South Plainfield do not belong to a union.

Sodexo is one of New Jersey's largest school contractors, providing food service, grounds keeping and custodial services to 73 New Jersey school districts.

There are 22 major oil-producing states in the United States. Out of these 22, California is the only one that has a loophole allowing oil companies to extract oil tax-free.

Hundreds of Californians--including SEIU child care providers, school employees and social workers--marched in Los Angeles on Thursday to demand elected leaders put an end to tax giveaways to large oil companies.

During the protest staged by SEIU Local 721 members, demonstrators dumped black slim (fake oil) in front of Occidental Petroleum Corporation headquarters. "We need to rebuild California, and that means investing in our economic recovery, saving vital services and jobs and strengthening our schools, colleges and healthcare," said Marlene Allen, an LA County social service provider and member of SEIU Local 721. "We can't keep giving away billions each year to big oil companies and other corporations."

To stand up to big corporations and help rebuild California, visit the new campaign website http://www.letsrebuildca.org.

More photos from the march.

Since kicking off the Summer Brigade program in June, Sodexo workers and students have been working hard in several U.S. cities to learn critical organizing skills and build momentum for the fall season in their fight for higher wages, affordable healthcare, and workers' legal right to form a union.

Joined together by the common goal of building awareness around Sodexo's poor working conditions, the groups have been meeting with other workers, attending rallies, protesting Sodexo events, and planning actions that will support their fight.

After first coming together in Washington, students and workers in the program quickly learned the importance of working together to reach their goals, especially after hearing others talk about their struggles.

"I'm mainly here to support the workers, because they have stories that need to be heard. My story is nothing compared to what they have to go through," Ohio State student Nick Pasquarello said on why he chose to spend his summer supporting Sodexo workers.

Check out this short video of students and workers talking about the powerful reasons they're working together this summer in places like Ohio, Louisiana, Georgia, California and Pennsylvania:

Dear Sodexo,

This is what happens when you chronically underpay your workers and fail to provide affordable health care coverage:

Meet Marcia Snell. She's hardworking and committed. She's worked for Sodexo for over 10 years at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.

Marcia had been told by doctors that she must take a blood thinner like Plavix in order to avoid a heart attack or other serious heart conditions. But on her low Sodexo wages, she simply could not afford it. Earlier this month, it caught up with her, and she had to have triple bypass surgery.

The good news is that Marcia came through surgery well and is feeling better. The bad news is that she is worrying about paying her bills instead of focusing on her recovery. She and her son and one of her daughters live together and split up their bills. They all work for Sodexo, and by pooling their wages they just barely make ends meet. Now that Marcia must take off from work to recover, the entire family is facing financial ruin.

Marcia's friends and family have set up a secure PayPal account where anyone can donate to help cover Marcia's expenses while she is recovering and unable to work. Even small donations will go far in helping the family stay on its feet. Just log into PayPal and direct your donation to joe.musick1@gmail.com.

But as Marcia says, this isn't just about her. Sodexo workers across the United States are living on the edge, barely getting by on low wages and inadequate health care.

Sodexo can do better, but workers must organize to make it happen. We hope you'll join with Marcia to clean up Sodexo.

Click here to sign up for email alerts from the campaign, click here to join us on Facebook, and click here to email us to find out how you can get involved at your workplace or school and in your community.

"Even though I'm a U.S. citizen and a native Arizonan, since SB1070 passed, I'm starting to feel like some people think I don't belong here."

Most of us wouldn't even be Americans if it weren't for immigration.

I was born in Kearney, Arizona--a small town between Phoenix and Tucson. But my own parents came from Mexico. They came, like so many people before them, to make a better life for their kids. My dad worked in the copper mines, and my mom worked at Motorola.

Today, I've achieved what my parents hoped for. I'm a proud Arizonan with three kids. I work for the Town of Gilbert Water Department, making sure our hydrants are safe, water lines are clear, and our system is running smoothly. Without a doubt, I'm one of the lucky ones. But with the political storm brewing on SB1070, I'm starting to think my luck may have run out.

Even though I'm a U.S. citizen and a native Arizonan, since this extreme immigration law passed, I'm starting to feel like maybe some people think I don't belong here.

Just last weekend a sheriff's car pulled me over and asked if I was speeding.  And then they asked if I had any covering over my taillights.  Now, I'm pretty sure they didn't clock me for speeding--since they didn't even write me a ticket. And I don't know how they could have seen my taillights--since they were driving in the opposite direction.  But what they could see as I was coming down the road was my face and my last name - Villalobos - proudly stenciled across my back windshield together with my son's football jersey number.   

The police asked for my registration and driver's license - so they saw I'm a citizen, and they let me go.  But I felt targeted for being a Mexican-American.

That same weekend, some stranger at a restaurant approached me and my friends and used a slur you don't hear that much anymore - "Wetback." He told me I'd better start carrying my papers around now that SB1070's been passed. I felt attacked.

They may say this law is aimed at solving illegal immigration, but it feels to me like it's aimed right at me and my family. 

I don't really care much for politics, and it seems to me that the politicians who passed SB1070 aren't really interested in immigration reform.  They're just trying to get more votes from people who want to see some action taken on the problem.  But this is the wrong action - way wrong. 

We need to stop SB1070 before it leads to division and hate in our communities. No one who works hard and contributes to their community deserves abuse just because of the way they look, the cars they drive, or their last names. Arizona needs to do better. I know Arizona can do better.

To learn more about SEIU's fight to stop SB1070, go to http://www.ItStopsinArizona.com

As Sodexo's corporate offices attempt to build public relations about their commitment to serving nutritious foods by heavily promoting the issue of healthy eating in the past month, The Washington Post has released a timely, scathing critique of the food in a government cafeteria serviced by Sodexo.

Last week, The Washington Post staff chowed down at the cafeterias of various federal government buildings in Washington, D.C. The exercise in eating was a taste test of the results of new government food service contracts that were put in place to encourage the use of healthier, organic and local food. The Post rated the food at seven federal cafeterias on availability of healthful options, variety and taste. One of the worst-scoring cafeterias was the Sodexo-serviced South Café at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As Jane Black writes about the 100-calorie snack packs filled with cookies and chips, she noted that, "there was plenty [of food items] that a PR guy could tout as healthful."

But among the other food served by Sodexo at the South Café were cheese quesadillas with 780 calories and 53 grams of fat, a chicken entree "as dry as sawdust," slices of frozen pizza and a chicken sandwich with reheated pre-cooked meat. Even an employee was taken aback by the meals served at the country's own executive department for farming, agriculture and food.

"Are you reviewing the food here?" a U.S. Department of Agriculture employee asked when she spied me scribbling notes near the salad bar. "Because it's disgusting. We are the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There is no reason why the food can't be appetizing and appealing."

Sodexo's use of pre-cooked meat in federal services is nothing new. And experience shows that when such precooked foods are prepared centrally, safety risks at the source of production can spread to the point of sale. In 2001, the U.S. Marine Corps consolidated its food service contracts to save money. When awarded the contract, Sodexo centralized some of its Marine Corps food production at a "cook-chill" facility in Tennessee. Food was prepared, frozen, and shipped around the country to be reheated on base.

But in 2007, Sodexo ended its Marine-related operations at the facility, one month after the USDA issued a voluntary recall of nearly 3,000 pounds of chicken that may have been contaminated with bacteria. Some of the recalled chicken had been shipped to Camp Pendleton and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.

In April of this year, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA-47) called for an investigation of Sodexo for possible food safety concerns, as Sodexo nears the end of its eight-year contract with the Marine Corps. Sanchez's office recalls public records that show there had been "a pattern of food safety problems" at the Tennessee facility, including 70 USDA records of food safety noncompliance between December 2005 and September 2009.

As Rep. Sanchez said of Sodexo's expensive contracts, "The government has an obligation to use taxpayer dollars responsibly." But above and beyond government contracts, Sodexo also has an obligation to follow through on their promises: if the company is touting healthy food options, they should be serving healthy food options in their cafeterias nationwide.

The Washington Post review was just one cafeteria. But what Sodexo serves its customers should meet their purported standards of quality, and it makes you wonder what they're feeding America's teens and children at schools and universities across the country.

If Sodexo is going to push the importance of fresh and nutritious foods on us in their public relations, they need to step up to the plate and act on their commitments.

Today, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced a $20 million settlement with Sodexo for overcharging 21 New York schools districts, the State University of New York (SUNY) system, and state facilities that include a center that provides services to abused, neglected and abandoned children.

The $20 million is the largest-ever monetary settlement under the New York False Claims Act that does not involve Medicaid funds.

Yesterday, we touched on Sodexo's "kickback" system that has been alleged to lead to inflated food costs. Here's how it works:

"Food manufacturers like Kellogg's and Pepperidge Farm offer rebates as an incentive to purchasers to buy certain products over others for school meals. These rebates -- which have been called 'kickbacks' from suppliers -- go to the food service companies; it's not always clear if school districts see the benefit, as documented in the In These Times report. While money changes hands, your child is eating Pop-Tarts and drinking sugary, flavored milk."

This investigation by Attorney General Cuomo's office determined that Sodexo "promised to provide goods at cost" but failed to acknowledge these rebates. This resulted in "illegal overcharges to the schools" that were "in violation of the contracts, as well as state and federal laws."

While Sodexo continues to push their rhetoric of serving healthy foods in America's schools, questions are being raised about whether the company is placing profits over nutrition. We previously highlighted an investigative report by In These Times that claimed Sodexo generated hundreds of millions of dollars each year in revenue from kickbacks that appear to have led to inflated food costs for some publicly funded schools. The plot just got thicker.

Last week, Ed Bruske at Grist wrote a startling article about the kickbacks contracted food service companies are earning by partnering with particular, large food manufacturers - which often lead to schools serving processed foods with high sugar and sodium contents. Food manufacturers like Kellogg's and Pepperidge Farm offer rebates as an incentive to purchasers to buy certain products over others for school meals. These rebates -- which have been called "kickbacks" from suppliers -- go to the food service companies; it's not always clear if school districts see the benefit, as documented in the In These Times report. While money changes hands, your child is eating Pop-Tarts and drinking sugary, flavored milk.

Bruske's story reinforces the idea that companies like Sodexo are more focused on revenue than serving healthy foods in cafeterias. The article mentions several of the nation's leading food service companies, but one of the most must-read paragraphs includes a quote from a former Sodexo manager who admitted that the company rewarded employees who pursued these manufacturer rebates:

[...] Rick Hughes, who spent eight years as a manager for Sodexo in Colorado, said performance evaluations were based in part on how well Sodexo employees adhered to the company's choice of products, determined in large part by manufacturer rebates.

"We were rewarded for purchasing specific products," said Hughes, who now works the other side of the fence, as food services director of Colorado Spring School District 11. "Especially if the company is mandating that you buy their foods, absolutely that's what food service directors are buying," Hughes said. "There's big money tied up in big company food and agribusiness. There's not a whole lot of money tied up in fresh vegetables and fruits. So just follow the money. That's what's being given to kids."

For more, read the article in its entirety here.