hilda solis

"I do see flickers of hope, I see that there's an organic movement going on in Wisconsin, across the country," said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, "It's time to get activated, It's time to let our elected officials know what we want in terms of better working conditions and a better, fair playing field for everyone. Not just those at the top, but those at the bottom and the middle." Laura spoke with Secretary Solis at the Triangle Fire memorial on Friday about sweatshop conditions then and now, whether we can expect prosecutions for those responsible for the deaths of Massey coal mine and BP workers, and what we can do to help protect working people, U.S. citizens or not. "Get involved, volunteer, go out there and organize and make sure those people get off of the sidewalk and onto the street." Distributed by Tubemogul.

This past week saw protests against mountaintop removal and strip mining around the US. GRITtv coal correspondent Jeff Biggers attended one in Illinois, while around 100 people were arrested in front of the White House, including climate scientist James Hansen. There's no enthusiasm gap, Biggers notes, when it comes to the anti-coal protesters, many of whom have been fighting the destruction of their communities for decades. Biggers checks in with us via Skype from southern Illinois, where he's been covering the protests, and discusses the next move for anti-coal activists and the Obama administration. Speaking of coal miners and activism, Richard Trumka has a message for all the so-called progressives who don't actually look out for working people: "We can't be a world-class economy unless we make things." It's the key to rebuilding our infrastructure after years of neglect, after what he notes was "the party the rich had that we didn't get to go to," to helping to stabilize the climate and most importantly, to digging us out of the economic hole we're in. Creating jobs, green jobs, innovative manufacturing jobs, he argues, could solve all of that. Trumka is president of the AFL-CIO, but he became known to many Americans through the fiery speech he gave to the Steelworkers' union against racism and in favor of Barack Obama. He joined Laura in the GRITtv studio for a frank conversation about jobs, the economy, and Obama's administration.

The California Nurses Association and other nurses' unions were some of the strongets voices for real healthcare reform, continuing to call for single-payer Medicare for All even now. But with the birth of the new National Nurses United, the nurses are fighting battles on all fronts for healthcare--from a strike at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia to struggles with Massachusetts' program. Joining us from Boston to talk about the nurses' union, patient care, and what's next after this healthcare bill is Karen Higgins, co-president of National Nurses United, who says that any fight on behalf of patients is their fight. Social justice movements take more than clicking a link on an online petition, says Paul Rogat Loeb, author of "Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Trying Times." Making change requires getting out in the streets, going door-to-door, and talking to other people face-to-face. Loeb came to see us in studio to talk about the new edition of his book, about Barack Obama, Glenn Beck, cross-movement alliances, and how the Left can reach out to the tea party crowd. The nation's attention may be focused on the mine explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, but around the country, 16 people die every day from preventable injuries and accidents in the workplace. This video from Brave New Films looks at the regulations that exist--and new regulations that would help Hilda Solis's labor department better protect working people in the U.S. Finally, the Wikileaks tape showed soldiers treating human lives like characters on a video game--but is that just how war works? And what's wrong with that?

On February 24, three Google employees were convicted--with suspended jail sentences--of violating Italy's privacy statutes in relation to a video posted on YouTube, owned by the Web giant. Clay Shirky rejoins us at GRITtv along with Juan Carlos de Martin, founder and co-director of the Nexa Center for Internet & Society at Italy's Polytechnic University to discuss the case, the implications for Google and YouTube, and how the Web continues to change and shape our understanding of the world.
 
Continuing our coverage of the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, we bring you more footage from the Cine Institute, and Victoria Marquez, a member of the Service Employees International Union, tells her story of struggling for fair treatment in the workplace and why the U.S. needs comprehensive immigration reform now.
 
The owner of several downtown New York boutiques was arrested recently and faces four years in jail as well as civil lawsuits for up to $1.5 million. His crime? Not paying his employees for overtime, and paying some of them a flat rate of $340 a week for over 60 hours of work. Carolina Ferreyra was one of those employees, and when she found a flyer for the Retail Action Project, she helped to launch a protest that led to her boss's arrest. She joins us in studio with Phil Andrews of the Retail Action Project and Paul Sonn, legal co-director of the National Employment Law Project, to talk about wage theft, the problems workers face across the country, and what Obama's administration is doing to fight them.
 
Gentrification is a problem all over the world, not just in the urban areas of the U.S. In this video from visionOntv, a group of activists in Barcelona, Spain fight back against the pressure on their neighborhood.
 
Finally, if Warren Buffett is afraid of bankers, why can't regular people get some protection?