Highlighting the Great Outdoors This Month BUSINESS PROFILE Cycle de Pro: Road Bikes and Coffee Delights Page 10
ENTERTAINMENT Play Review: ‘Tennessee Williams UnScripted’ Page 9
Page 8
SPORTS Glen Helen Raceway Hosts Motorcross Championship Page 23
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COMPLIMENTARY COPY VOLUME 20, NO. 25
pasadenaindependent.com
Your Voice, Your Community
Thursday, June 23, 2016 - June 29, 2016
Since 1996
With labor negotiations having stalled for quite some time, city workers, represented by the AFSCME took their plight to city hall on Monday, June 20.
- Photo by Terry Miller
Unsung City Workers Seek Equal Footing at Negotiation Table BY GUS HERRERA Labor disputes between the City of Pasadena and the city’s workers, who are represented by the local 858 branch of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), have recently escalated.
Fed up with the fact that negotiations have been at a standstill for quite some time, there was a public rally slated for Monday evening, June 20, for protesters to demand fair and equal treatment for blue-collar city workers in front of city hall. Unfortunately, maybe as a result of the sweltering triple digit
heat, the rally did not take place. Instead, the AFSCME took its plight within the air-conditioned council chambers, during council’s regular meeting. The AFSCME, which is the largest and fastest-growing trade union of public employees in the United States, was formed to fight for “fair-
All Fireworks Illegal in Pasadena Violators Face Jail Time Got fireworks in Pasadena? If so, you might find yourself making an appearance in court as all fireworks are illegal to sell, use, or possess in the City of Pasadena. The city
maintains a zero tolerance enforcement policy for fireworks and Pasadena’s police and firefighters are teaming up for special enforcement patrols against fireworks.
Violators are subject to arrest; having their vehicles impounded; up to one year in jail and fines up to $50,000. SEE PAGE 12
ness in the workplace, excellence in public services, and prosperity and opportunity for all working families,” according to the Union’s website (www.afscme.org). AFSCME Local 858 claims to represent 300 Pasadena city workers, 16 percent of the workforce. These workers, whose daily la-
bor is commonly taken for granted, are the men and women who help maintain the city we call home. They constitute some of the city’s most critical departments: water and power, parks and recreation, etc. According to a statement postSEE PAGE 13
Jasmine Richards, Black Lives Matter Activist, Released From Custody Jasmine “Abdullah” Richards, founder of Black Lives Matter Pasadena, who was convicted on one count of attempting to free a prisoner in police custody during a 2015 incident in
Northwest Pasadena and sentenced on June 7 to 90 days in jail, was released from custody on Saturday, June 18. When Richards’ arrest was originally announced,
authorities said she had been charged with attempting to break a California state law known as “felony lynching.” SEE PAGE 12