Puerto Rico Calls Debt Unpayable – For the first time in its history, Puerto Rico defaulted on its massive debt, which is currently more than 70 billion dollars. Many are calling Puerto Rico the “American Greece” or the “Caribbean Detroit,” referring to other governments that have defaulted on their debt. Many Puerto Ricans are calling on Congress to give the island bankruptcy rights, and on the White House for a financial rescue package. Speaking on Radio Bilingüe’s program Linea Abierta, journalist Ed Morales, former professor of Columbia University in New York, comments on the costs of this crisis for Puerto Rican families, the politics in Washington around this issue, and possible ways out of the crisis.
California Airplane Janitors Accuse Employer of Wage Theft – In Los Angeles, a group of workers who clean airplanes in the international airport are about to go to labor court with their employer, a contracting company, charging him with stealing overtime and minimum wages. As this issue is decided in court, an anti-wage theft bill advances in Sacramento, proposing penalties on those employers who opt to avoid paying owed wages. In the next days, the president of the California senate, Kevin de León, author of the bill, will hold a citizen forum in Los Angeles, city known as the wage theft capital of the country. With more details, our correspondent in Los Angeles, Rubén Tapia.
Mexican Farm Workers Call for Boycott Against California Fruit Giant – A farm worker leader from the San Quintín Valley, an agro-export enclave in Northern Mexico, travels to the United States calling for a boycott against the products of Driscoll’s, the leading supplier of berries in this country. The organized laborers in Baja California are holding Driscoll’s responsible for the conditions of semi-slavery under which they claim they pick the berries for the U.S. market. The farm worker delegate, teacher Gloria Gracida Martínez, explained details of the campaign and the group’s petition during a visit to the studios of Línea Abierta in Oakland, California
