Programs & Achievements Living Wage: +The Living Wage Coalition of Sonoma County (LWC) is a project of NEWS
organized to introduce ordinances to most cities and counties in the region
and to build community-labor alliances. The City of Sebastopol (2003) and
the City of Sonoma (2004) have subsequently passed living wage ordinances.
The Living Wage Coalition is a project of NEWS. Ordinances can be
downloaded and other information about the LWC is available at http://www.livingwagesonoma.org. Affordable Housing: +Collaborated with environmentalists and housing advocates to lobby for new
affordable housing policy such as "jobs-housing linkage fees," inclusionary
zoning, and a housing trust with a dedicated source of public financing. As
a result, the City of Petaluma (2003), Sebastopol (2004), and the County of
Sonoma (2005) have implemented jobs-housing linkage fees. +Published "Affordable Housing for All: Solutions to Sonoma County's
Affordable Housing Crisis" which analyzes the housing crisis in Sonoma
County and provides new policy to address the crisis (March 2003). +Published "Mendocino County At the Crossroads: The Crisis of Affordable
Housing" which analyzes the housing crisis in Mendocino County and provides
new policy to address the crisis (September 2003). Accountable Development: +NEWS is a charter member of the Sonoma County Accountable Development Coalition to educate the public and lobby elected officials to support the responsible use of
public subsidies to create good jobs with benefits. The living wage and
'card-check/neutrality' provisions negotiated for the hotel workers at the
Petaluma Sheraton by the LWC and North Bay Labor Council in 2000 are an
example of public subsidy accountability. +Published "The Limits of Prosperity: Growth, Inequality, and Poverty in
the North Bay," which examines income-inequality and working poverty in the
North Bay and outlines a comprehensive policy agenda including living wage
and accountable development (March 2005). All reports can be downloaded at:
http:// www.neweconomynorthbay.org. Support for Worker Organizing: +Documenting and supporting union organizing campaigns by low-wage and
immigrant workers in nursing homes, health care, construction, municipal
services, waste disposal, and other industries. Sonoma nursing-home workers
at the Sonoma Valley Health Care Center and Santa Rosa parking-lot
attendants successfully unionized with our support. +Organized the Sonoma Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice to educate
and mobilize the faith community on economic justice issues. Popular Education: +Organized and sponsored the annual North Bay Labor and Social Action
School at Sonoma State University in collaboration with the North Bay Labor
Council and other labor, environmental, religious, Latino, and community
organizations. +Developing a workers education and leadership development program (WELD)
for workers and residents impacted by living wage ordinances or involved
with union organizing. | 
