SSVW Commemorates Labor Day By Advocating For Workers

SSVW celebrates and honors all those — past and present, known and nameless – whose courage and sacrifices contributed to the American labor movement which benefits us all. Since Congress enacted a 25-cent per hour national minimum wage in 1938, federal and state labor laws have evolved to ensure fair wages & hours of employment, leaves of absence, job safety and other working conditions, while preventing workplace discrimination against women, minorities, and the disabled. SSVW is proud to protect the rights and interests of all employees. For the past 31 years, our firm has been an advocate for Southern California working people. We have assisted our labor union clients at the bargaining table and in arbitrations. We have assured due process for those facing discipline that threatens their jobs and livelihood. We have pursued and prevailed in legal battles to enforce employment, discrimination, pension and work injury laws. Our “Best Lawyer” rating is well-earned. Contact us if you need help.

We Support Increasing San Diego’s Minimum Wage Now

Over San Diego Mayor Faulconer veto, the San Diego City Council recently passed a new minimum wage law raising the minimum wage of $9.00 an hour to $9.75 effective January 1st for all San Diego employers regardless of business or industry – with a further increase to $10.50 come January 1, 2016, then to $11.50 on January 1, 2017. Inflation-based adjustments will take effect annually thereafter beginning on January 1, 2019. This new law will also give workers access to earned sick days for the first time – a small but life-changing improvement for nearly half of San Diego’s private workforce who lacks access to earned sick days. You will hear opponents decry this new law and invoke misplaced notions of “democracy” when seeking signatures on a referendum petition to stop implementation of these modest increases until a vote in June 2016. If you’re presented with such a petition or confronted by views advocating an unnecessary and expensive election campaign, know the facts.

• Using a Self-Sufficiency Standard – that is a monthly budget for no-frills living, without public or private assistance – the Center on Policy Initiatives (“CPI”) reports that, even with full-time work, about 1 in 4 households in the region can’t make ends meet.

• Too many jobs in our region pay too little to meet basic costs of living, even for people working full-time. The area’s tourism and retail industries have the largest numbers of employees whose incomes are too low to support themselves and their families.

• 38% of all working-age households in San Diego County have incomes too low to cover basic necessities – that’s more than 300,000 households – with the worst impact on households with children, and official poverty rates don’t reflect the true extent of economic distress. (See “Making Ends Meet 2014,” by CPI, www.onlineCPI.org.)

• According to the Wall Street Journal (8/5/14), even Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services concludes that U.S. income inequality is harming U.S. economic growth by excluding large swaths of the population from its cumulative benefits.

Skilled Advocates For the Injured Worker

At the turn of the 20th century, the United States began enacting statewide worker’s compensation laws, starting with Maryland in 1902. California eventually legislated a ‘no fault’ system in which the employee need not prove the employer’s fault for an injury happening at work, but is limited to recovering only prescribed values for rated injuries that impair their ability to work temporarily or permanently, and no compensation for pain and suffering. Amendments over the last 10 years to California’s worker’s compensation statutes have eroded benefit amounts, the means to attain them, and their duration. Ensuring you, a family member or friend maximizes benefits requires experienced counsel to navigate the work-injury claim from start to finish. Our firm’s workers’ compensation lawyers and staff fight for our clients’ rights to prompt employer-paid medical care and treatment, temporary replacement income, and the very best compensatory award. Call us if we can help you, a family member, a co-worker or a neighbor with a work injury: 619-239-7200 or (toll free) 844-318-7200.

Meet Elizabeth “Liz” Diaz

Elizabeth “Liz” Diaz began her legal secretary career 26 years ago. Back in 1988, Liz was a new Mom to son Christopher, who just married this past June after graduating from CSULA with his Bachelors in Science. Liz’s younger son Joshua is a biology major at SDSU. Liz and her husband Gabriel tirelessly supported their sons’ education and soccer pursuits, including league championships. Along the way, Liz honed her skills and efficiencies as a certified legal secretary, adapting from telex machines, word processors, floppy discs and dictation to modern day technologies serving six civil attorneys and two law clerks. Whether interacting with existing or prospective clients, co-workers or her many “bosses,” Liz is adaptive, skilled and knowledgeable, while remaining calm, patient, and always pleasant. We salute and thank you Liz, not only for continuing to serve loyally our firm and our clients, but being a role-model for women striving to balance job and family, and doing both so well for so long.