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1. 7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara.
2. Apple Space, many enforcement actions.
3. I'm suing under the US EPA's laws for RCRA, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, TCA,
4. and the EPCRA, the Community Right to Know, as well as the California Public Nuisance Law,
5. looking to get them into compliance with the law, if at all possible,
6. but if not, shut down, because they shouldn't be operating in that area.
7. It's full of sensitive receptors, including a university, a church, these parks, and literally a children's playground across the street.
8. I'm paid in cash, got a cross above my bed.
9. You know, I hitchhiked from Chicago, and a man walked up and said,
10. This is a union town, a union town.
11. Good morning, and welcome to another Working Week.
12. This is KPFK's Working Voices.
13. I'm your host, Joe Ayala, president of NABIC CWA Local 53.
14. And I'm your co-host, Marissa Remsky of CWA Local 9003.
15. And in this morning's show, Steve Zelcher looks at environmental issues in an interview with Apple Health and Safety whistleblower and environmentalist Ashley Grzowik.
16. Then takes us to San Francisco City Hall for a protest against the continued radioactive contamination at the Hunters Point shipyard.
17. Enrique Sanchez brings us his latest Spanish United interview with YouTuber Stephanie Parahamas.
18. Kristen Parker has this week's Educational Workers Report card on the California state budget.
19. And later, our associate producer Hal Lohr has our latest Working Voices update.
20. All this and more coming up this morning on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles.
21. This is Working Voices.
22. In our first story this morning from his labor video YouTube channel,
23. Steve Zeltser interviews Apple health and safety whistleblower Ashley Jovic.
24. then, after the break, takes us to an ongoing protest against the mishandling of the continued radioactive contamination
25. at the old Hunters Point Navy shipyard in front of San Francisco's City Hall.
26. Actually, the morning before I was fired,
27. that it occurred to me that even on my quote-unquote personal device,
28. that of course Apple would be reading everything in iCloud.
29. Yeah, well, their privacy policy for employees says they will too.
30. So I kind of put those dots together.
31. They said they'd spy on like any of your devices, even your friends' devices,
32. if it's like they think that Apple business is implicated.
33. So I realized like one of my work device with that MDM profile on it
34. is definitely just like a bug.
35. They're probably watching the camera and listening to the mic.
36. And so I turn it off and wrap it in tin foil kind of thing,
37. put it in the closet.
38. I'm sure they didn't like it when I figured that out.
39. And then the personal one,
40. I'm realizing that I've been talking to lawyers
41. and government agencies in my iCloud email.
42. I had all my events on my iCloud calendar I had all of my documents in iCloud dry All of my contacts They without much effort knew exactly what I was doing at any moment
43. One of the federal courthouses in San Jose where the issue of the contamination near this Apple fab is being raised as a serious health and safety issue.
44. Hi, I'm Ashley Jovic.
45. I'm the plaintiff in Jovic v. Apple, Santa Clara, and Genoa.
46. It's an EPA citizen suit and California public nuisance suit over an ultra hazardous chip fab in Santa Clara.
47. These are the kind of chip fabs that used to operate in Silicon Valley in the 70s, 80s, even late 90s.
48. It's the reason Santa Clara has Santa Clara County as some of the most superfund sites, federal toxic waste dump cleanup sites in the whole nation.
49. They're extremely dangerous. They're known to create insane pollution.
50. And Apple's operating one now today. They started in 2015. It's still in operation.
51. And it's strictly across the street from a huge apartment complex with over 1,800 units, children's playgrounds, city parks.
52. And myself and other people have been injured from their chemical emissions.
53. They're hazardous waste violations.
54. They're toxic gases.
55. They're likely polluting the ground, the stormwater.
56. The creek next to it is a creek flowing to the ocean.
57. And it's the last few times I visited a frothy mess that's discolored and has sheen and bubbles.
58. They have voiced U.S. EPA federal enforcement action over hazardous waste violations.
59. They've faced a Bay Area Quality Management District air quality violations, but they're still in operation.
60. And even the city at this point has noted that there shouldn't be homes anywhere near a site like this.
61. It's extremely dangerous and they have gases that can be released and kill people within minutes.
62. It potentially cause a mass fatality event, including all the more slower carcinogens being released and pollution to the environment.
63. I'm suing under the US EPA's laws for RCRA, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, TCA, and the EPCRA, the Community Right to Know, as well as the California Public Nuisance Law.
64. I'm looking to get them into compliance with the law, if at all possible, but if not, shut down, because they shouldn't be operating in that area.
65. It's full of sensitive receptors, including a university, a church, these parks, and literally a children's playground across the street.
66. It's incredibly dangerous.
67. Apple's faced many enforcement actions for what I'd say is very reckless behavior and failure to comply with basic rules.
68. They're operating with permits for a good amount of time.
69. They may still be missing permits.
70. They're not telling people what they're doing.
71. It's not even labeled as an Apple building.
72. They're not reporting it as a chip fab, semiconductor manufacturing.
73. It's a huge danger to the community.
74. We're in court today with a motion to dismiss from the three defendants and my motion for a preliminary injunction asking to shut down hazardous waste.
75. and toxic gas activity at the facility. The court today granted the motion to dismiss on standing
76. arguments, which is how these lawsuits are generally dismissed. They're very hard to file
77. as a citizen. You're filing on behalf of the DOJ and US EPA when they don't act to take
78. civil or criminal action. But the standing requirements are very strict. The judge today
79. showed a lot of generosity, though, for the plaintiff's side, which I'm representing the
80. government in that sense, but also the community interests and public policy interests. And he's
81. going to give me, it sounds like, 42 days to file an amended complaint to resolve the standing
82. issues. Apple made the primary arguments on this, arguing that because after they fired me and
83. retaliated against me, I couldn't get a job in the area, I moved to the East Coast looking for work.
84. And I was on the East Coast for a couple years. And I filed this while I was on the East Coast,
85. while I was also still participating in those enforcement actions as well.
86. And I only returned to Santa Clara recently as homeless insolvent and bankrupt but had some public donations for housing here I in temporary housing and I permanent housing I surviving with public donations and I back
87. But they argued because I filed this lawsuit while I was in Boston, the entire lawsuit should be dismissed.
88. And there should be no action.
89. So we'll have a chance to amend, file an amended complaint, and we'll keep pushing on this.
90. And it sounds like worst case, I might have to withdraw it and file a new one now that I'm here.
91. So it's just going to delay things, which is unfortunate because people could be harmed in the interim.
92. And if there was a major earthquake with all those chemicals near that facility, I mean, the residents could be in danger.
93. Workers could be in danger.
94. Not just an earthquake.
95. They've had ongoing releases themselves, leaks, spills, apparently planned releases.
96. And some of these gases are extremely dangerous.
97. Some of them are more like solvent vapors.
98. They'd make you sick but not immediately know that you're acutely ill.
99. Many of them are carcinogens.
100. There's mercury.
101. And then if there was an earthquake, it'd be catastrophic.
102. They also have a bunch of chemicals that can't be exposed to water.
103. So if there's some kind of flood or water event, it causes explosion.
104. They have ones that can explode and burst into fire.
105. It's just extremely dangerous.
106. We've known for a very long time that chip fab is probably the most dangerous manufacturing industry in modern history.
107. Most people don't even know it's there because it's unmarked.
108. You can't see a sign that says this is an apple fab.
109. You have to go in the driveway to see the signs of danger, chemical dangers.
110. And even then, it doesn't say it's a chip fab.
111. For those that are local to Silicon Valley or know that history, you know what chip fab means.
112. And one of the things, the biggest dangers is people don't, even if they were to find it's a chip fab,
113. they don't know that means ultra hazardous.
114. That doesn't mean it's one of the most dangerous things you could possibly be near,
115. that it's the kind of thing that creates these federal superfund sites and all that.
116. But you can't even walk in, but you can't see it's Apple.
117. You can't see what their manufacturing activities are.
118. when you walk by, you can find a National Fire Prevention Association fire diamond showing the
119. absolute most dangerous level for fire and explosion and lethal health impacts and a sign
120. that says don't add water if there's an issue, which makes it difficult for firefighting. But
121. even then, that's all you're told. And you might get yelled at if you're trying to take pictures,
122. as Steve found out. And Trump has and his court, the Supreme Court, have limited standing to people
123. such as yourselves, and the judge actually made the statement that he could not act because of the
124. new Supreme Court decisions that limit standing, you think that tied his hands? I think so. And
125. the standing for these suits has been limited over the last few decades, over and over. There's been
126. a lot of suits, and the defendants are usually very high-powered, big corporations, and they try
127. to get these court decisions preventing anyone from being able to bring these suits at all.
128. so if they can get away with preventing the EPA and DOJ from pursuing action,
129. they're trying to prevent the citizens from pursuing action.
130. But Congress created these statutes as a last resort when the government won't act,
131. and it's supposed to be people like me or people like you guys watching
132. when there's something you see and you know it's dangerous to the community
133. and it's a last resort that you're going to act yourself.
134. And these corporations, these governments have really been limiting the ability
135. for people like me to actually bring these.
136. And it did seem like the judge was chilled by those recent decisions,
137. and I think that's why he gave me so much time to amend.
138. and didn't want to act on anything until I could do that to ensure that he actually had jurisdiction.
139. And that's dangerous for all of us because these these sites that deserve these kind of lawsuits are dangerous to the community.
140. That's the nature of bringing these suits, many of them.
141. So having to delay this long and having so many hoops to jump through when the community could be harmed in the interim is really dangerous.
142. And more people need to be aware of this.
143. So we need to push to get more action and to have the courts feel more comfortable to at least even hear these lawsuits at all.
144. OK, thank you.
145. It the labor union homie it deeper than rap It the labor union Can talk what I talk walk in my shoes I a winner for life man I will not lose
146. With my backs against the wall and the pressure is on,
147. man, I see them obstacles, I bring them on.
148. You're listening to Working Voices on KPFK 90.7 FM, Los Angeles.
149. And now a new $27 billion lawsuit is in play.
150. This is all in response to a warning from the Environmental Protection Agency.
151. It says that the soil samples the company used to test for radioactive contamination may be fake.
152. This new lawsuit is against Navy contractor Tetra Tech,
153. which was in charge of clearing radiated land at the former naval base at Hunter's Point in San Francisco.
154. Well, the EPA says that up to 97 percent of the soil that was shipped from that site needs to be tested for radiation.
155. And now the suit says people who lived there face, quote, generational threats of cancer and other incurable illnesses related to document fraud.
156. The allegations of malfeasance by Tetra Tech do not stop on that side of the band.
157. Today, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors is calling for an update on an investigation into that site.
158. We're fully confident that a scientific fact based and independent resampling analysis will prove that the fault the claims against us are false.
159. That's a Tetra Tech engineer who says the company will pay for another round of testing
160. and for a third-party independent analysis of their work.
161. Some of the soil from Hunter's Point was also taken to Kirby Canyon in Morgan Hill,
162. all certified as non-hazardous by Tetra Tech.
163. Bradley Angel, Green Action for Health and Environmental Justice,
164. we're about to kick off the rally for demanding a full cleanup of the shipyards
165. as extended humanly possible.
166. Real independent community oversight funded by the government, not the Navy.
167. because we don't trust any of them. And people are still getting sick at the ship. And not only
168. people getting sick, but so many of the residents and many of our friends have passed away who live
169. in the community from the ongoing contamination. And that's why one of the demands is health
170. reparations and health monitoring for the community and investment in the community.
171. Communities pay too big a price for the corruption and the gentrification attempts that City Hall is
172. up to their eyeballs in guilt. So today, we're coming together to demand justice, finally.
173. Well, the Department of Public Health in San Francisco hasn't even done a survey
174. of health problems at the shipyard for workers and for the residents. There was a hearing,
175. Matt Haney called that hearing, and they admitted they didn't even know what was going on there as
176. far as the health concerns. This is Department of Public Health. And, well, it's worse, because I
177. think they do know what's going on. And every time, like when they found the radioactive deck
178. marker next to the luxury condos on land that was incorrectly deemed clean, they said, oh,
179. it's no big deal. Well, hell yeah, it's a big deal to have radioactive stuff next to where
180. kids play in the dirt, where people live, what's under people's bedrooms. And their plan is to
181. build 10,000 more luxury homes. And we usually typically work with lower income and working
182. class and people of color communities, but we don't want to see rich people poisoned either.
183. So this is, and City Hall has been complicit in pushing gentrification, pushing the cover-up,
184. and not requiring a full cleanup, and we're going to talk about that today, and the fact that the
185. city does have the power to bring about as much justice as is possible. They're closing clinics
186. now. They're cutting public health workers. I mean, at the same time, people need health care.
187. It's the same struggle and the same fight.
188. And the cleanup, I mean, already a billion, over a billion dollars has been spent.
189. Two people went to prison, executives of managers of Tetra Tech.
190. They falsified reports.
191. Do you think it can be cleaned up?
192. I don't think it would be cleaned up where it would be safe to live on.
193. But they have to clean it up to the extent humanly possible.
194. Because otherwise it ends up further into the neighborhood, ends up into the base.
195. They have to do better.
196. But no, I don't think it would be cleaned up where I would never want to live there.
197. Dr. Hensa Porteson-Chai.
198. I'm the founder, CEO, and principal investigator of the Hunters Point Biomonitoring Foundation.
199. I'm also a retained expert witness for the Hunters Point Community Law suit and USAV Tetra Tech.
200. And people are still being contaminated, sickened here.
201. What is Mayor Lurie's role in this?
202. Mayor Lurie's role is nonexistent.
203. He has been outside of the conversation.
204. He's not responded to requests to meet with environmental coalition members.
205. And he is advancing the shipyard's development plan, including the plan to site housing on a federal Superfund site that's radiation contaminated.
206. There was a Board of Supervisors hearing just a few weeks ago in which they accepted funds to advance the development of the parks and residential development.
207. And as you know, the plan for open space at the shipyard is the grounds for them demolishing radiation contaminated buildings.
208. The building demolition plan involves phase one, the Parcel G complex, and then B, where the artists are.
209. And then they're going to move around the southern shoreline and get those buildings that are very contaminated.
210. Why is the city not doing a health survey of people who live in Hunters Point, Bayview and also Treasure Island?
211. OK, it's all it's down to the money, Steve.
212. OK, so we are we saw the transfer of Lenar to Five Points.
213. And everybody who really follows this story knows that Five Points was a subsidiary of Lenar, the multibillion-dollar development company.
214. So when Lenar got in hot water with the Tetra Tech scandal and all that, what did they do?
215. They rebranded themselves as somebody else.
216. And then the thing is, it's all about the money, just like I said during the rally today.
217. We saw on the front page of San Francisco Chronicle that the breaking of Candlestick Project was on there, but there was nothing about this new finding of radiation in there.
218. They wanted to blow up Candlestick Park in the community.
219. There was a fight against that.
220. They wanted to blow up right where people were living.
221. Right.
222. And the reason why we've pushed against that is that we still believe that this, remember, the soil, you can take away the topsoil, but there's still radiation underneath.
223. Right?
224. It's not gone anywhere.
225. You think it can actually be cleaned up?
226. They've already spent over a billion dollars supposedly to remediate the site, yet they're still finding these radioactive materials there.
227. Well, I think science tells us that it can't be cleaned up because we have to look at the half-life of the actual radiation isotopes that have been originally found there.
228. And we have to stop ignoring the fact that the Navy did this when they did the 23 nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll in the 1940s with all these nuclear tests.
229. They did this and brought this to our community.
230. And they have to own that and stop saying that it can be cleaned up and put away.
231. No, you brought it here.
232. Now you've got to deal with it.
233. And the only way we can make them deal with it, Steve, is we're going to have to take them to court.
234. We're at that point now.
235. And the politicians like Matt Haney for example had a hearing on why the Department of Public Health is not really even doing a survey of the residents and workers who have been contaminated
236. They said, we don't know anything about doing a survey.
237. It seems like the city, Mayor Lurie, these politicians don't really want to find out that people have been contaminated.
238. I mean, really, the big cover up.
239. There's no media, corporate media here today.
240. No.
241. ABC.
242. What do you think about that?
243. No.
244. OK, so what there are errors.
245. that they're in collusion. If they're not here, they don't care. And I'm talking to San Francisco
246. Chronicle. I'm talking to KTVU. I'm talking to KPIX. I'm talking to Bay Area ABC7. I'm calling
247. them all out. They are in collusion with the corporate developers. They're in collusion with
248. Mayor Daniel Lurie, ignoring this human rights disaster. And there were community people here.
249. The other thing is the unions. Where do unions stand on this? Because, you know, the teachers
250. Union, SEIU, they're closing clinics in this neighborhood and closing clinics for working
251. class people in Hunters Point. At the same time, they're saying they don't have any money and
252. they're going to use developers' money to build more homes. Right. And so as the developers go,
253. so the community goes. We are in economic dangerous times. People are afraid for their jobs.
254. They don't know how they're going to put gas in the car. They don't know how they're going to put
255. food on the table. They don't know how they're going to pay their rents or their mortgages.
256. So, of course, these corporate developers have billions of dollars to spread around and they can control the political ideology of a person because they are being motivated by money.
257. Their heart says we care about the people, but then they say we live in a capitalist system.
258. I can't afford to feed my people.
259. So it is what it is.
260. So what's going to happen? What has to happen to protect the residents and workers at 100th
261. Point and Treasure Island? Because it seems like these politicians get money from the same people
262. that you're fighting as far as developers. And I mean, it's OK. Now, remember, I'm a coordinator
263. with the Marie Harrison Community Foundation. Marie Harrison's daughter is standing right there.
264. Ariane Harrison. She's right here. And she's told me and we've talked about that the only way we're
265. going to be able to get any protection for this community is for us to file a lawsuit. It's going
266. We're going to have to start filing a lawsuit, get these people into court to be held accountable for the poisoning of this community.
267. And the issue of health care, I mean, the fact that people have to fight for their health care.
268. If there were a single payer, everyone would have health care.
269. All residents would have health care.
270. What do you think about the fact in San Francisco that even though people have been contaminated by this site and they're sick, they can't even get health care in San Francisco?
271. Well, it's indicative of a capitalist system.
272. We don't have a system for health care for all, you know, shelter, food, health care.
273. These are the basics. These are the basics that the Black Panthers talked about years and years ago.
274. And he's still talking about the same questions that they faced in the 60s and 70s.
275. We're still facing them here in 2026. We're still fighting the same.
276. Everybody wants a safe place to live, an affordable place to live.
277. Everybody wants safe health care. They want a safe place for their children to live and thrive.
278. we're still fighting the same question. And it seems like the wealth in San Francisco,
279. the billionaires, you've got these techno billionaires, Pacific Heights are making
280. hundreds of billions of dollars. And yet the people of San Francisco, the black community,
281. the brown community, people at Hunters Point, they're against the wall. They're not just against
282. the wall. They're being subjected to a sophisticated gentrification program and being pushed out
283. because the city of San Francisco does not view us as desirable. The black community is undesirable.
284. They want us out of here. They want this to be a tourism, a tourism and a place for the affluent and rich to play.
285. It not a place for people of color or poor people to be at anymore And where is Scott Weiner and Chan on this whole issue Because they running for Congress here in San Francisco It not just a local issue
286. It's a national issue. Congress appropriated the money to the Navy to clean it up. Where do they
287. stand on this issue? I cannot tell you. I can tell you that I did send a very detailed email
288. out to Connie Chan, to both her board of supervisors email and to her campaign email,
289. and I got nothing back. And sometimes she's responsive. I like Connie Chan. I don't do,
290. do not dislike her. I like Scott Wiener. I have some issues with his stance on Palestine,
291. of course, but I don't dislike more money to Israel at the same time people here are suffering.
292. Right. But right now we're talking about environmental justice. So my question to
293. Scott Wiener is where are you in environmental justice, Scott Wiener and Connie Chan,
294. where are you? Why are you ghosting me? My name is Pierre and I'm here with the
295. Marie Harrison community foundation. And we're talking about Bayview Hunter's point
296. and getting it cleaned up out there, all the radioactive soil, all the pollution.
297. We're fighting for clean air, clean water, and a clean environment.
298. How long have you lived there?
299. I'm 41 years old. I've been living there for 41 years.
300. And what's happened to you and your family health-wise as a result of living there?
301. I have a lot of friends. A friend of mine died, middle school friend.
302. She caught asthma, had breathing problems, and it was because she lived in the West Point area.
303. which is right there by the shipyard and everything, and she lost her life.
304. So a lot of lives of my friends have lost, and health-wise, for a lot of us still living there.
305. And why do you think they're covering this up?
306. There was no media here.
307. We all know why they're covering it up.
308. It's a lot of money being invested, and the money is overruling and overpowering the people.
309. And where's the mayor?
310. You tell me.
311. He's not out here.
312. Yeah, he must be in his office or at a...
313. With the developers.
314. Yeah, he might be having a meeting over caviar.
315. My name is Priyana.
316. I'm an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and I organize in the Bayview.
317. And the people, the community people who came here today said that for decades they've been polluted, contaminated.
318. Why is the city, Mayor Lurie, and the city allowing the development when they're sick and need to be taken care of?
319. Mm-hmm.
320. Exactly.
321. I mean, this isn't new. It's something that's been going on for decades. And so you definitely have to ask that question exactly that. Why are they allowing developments and actually selling them on that land that they know is contaminated? Why are they not cleaning things up? Why have they not invested in meeting the community's demands? And all of it ties back really to the system. It's a bigger problem.
322. and lorry all the millionaires all these people are complicit in this system they're complicit
323. in people whose lives are lost people who are dying in the bayview and losing family members
324. and this system it's called capitalism it's a system that does not care about our lives and
325. it puts profit before that it ruthlessly sacrifices our lives they'll take our labor
326. and then at the end of the day when they don't need us anymore they just cast us away so that's
327. exactly what's happening. And you talked about the war. It seems like there's unlimited amounts of
328. money, billions of dollars for more war. The politicians here in Congress have supported the
329. war. Lurie supports the war on the Palestinians. Who are they representing? Right. Well, they
330. clearly are not representing the interests of the people. Lurie and these billionaires that are
331. donating millions of money towards him and towards his campaigns and his political agenda.
332. And these wars are not wars that we actually have any say in You know if we had the power and if we had the money we would not be putting that towards war that just kills our siblings abroad
333. We would be putting that money into communities and meeting the demands that we need,
334. like housing, health care, cleaning up the Bayview,
335. investing in affordable health care and clinics and pharmacies in the Bayview.
336. And they do not represent the interests of the people.
337. They only represent lining their pockets, to be honest.
338. that's exactly what they do and they know they're doing it and this rally had a lot of different
339. groups community groups political groups and yet the corporate media abc mbc ktv none of them were
340. here today what does that say right yeah we need more media covering this i mean there's a reason
341. why the media is not here and not putting attention to this i believe that if they did
342. they know that people would be out here people would be outraged because none of us want this
343. to happen. If we had the power again, we would be putting that into meeting the demands right away.
344. And so the media, the corporate media, they're owned, you know, by these billionaires. And so
345. they have their own political agenda as well. And they do not represent the interests of the people
346. either. And one of the issues in the campaign for governor was the issue of single payer
347. health care. These residents and workers are sick. They're fighting for health care,
348. even surveys, but shouldn't they, healthcare be a right? And are you, are we going to get it through
349. these politicians who apparently are controlled by the insurance companies? Yeah, absolutely.
350. Healthcare is a right. All of these things, affordable healthcare is a human right.
351. And we've been talking about single payer healthcare for years. It's not something that's
352. new and it is something that is very popular. If you ask people on the street, of course they want
353. healthcare. We have the money for it and we can calculate exactly how much money it would cost to
354. give it. It's just that that money is being spent instead towards Department of Defense, towards
355. war, or even California has pension funds that are invested in Israel. So all that money can go
356. towards us and our needs, but we need to take power. We need political power. How is that going
357. to happen? Because it seems like we're going towards fascism. They want to have martial law.
358. They even said that the vote in California was rigged.
359. It seems like they're getting ready for a dictatorship.
360. Well, exactly when capitalism is falling, that's what this looks like.
361. Capitalism has its own contradictions, and it cannot survive.
362. It has to constantly expand and take our labor, our lives, resources abroad in order to survive.
363. And eventually, it's not going to be able to.
364. But we need to be ready and we need to be building now because we can't wait any longer.
365. We need to build the movement as a united, broad front because that's what has always won all of our rights.
366. That's what we've always done for anything and everything that we've fought for and won and have now.
367. It was fought for by the people.
368. That was Steve Zeltzer from his Labor Video YouTube channel.
369. For more videos and insights from Steve Zeltser, you can go to his Labor Video YouTube channel, or now you can find him at the Production of Labor Video Project on the web at labormedia.net.
370. You're listening to KPFK 90.7 FM, Los Angeles.
371. Hi, I'm Danny Glover, and you're listening to Fiercely Independent, KPFK, 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara, and worldwide at kpfk.org, radio powered by the people.
372. Next up, Working Voices contributor and...
373. Enrique Sanchez with Spanish United Radio brings us this insight into mental health issues in the
374. Latino community in an interview with mental health advocate, hypnotist, and YouTuber Stephanie
375. Pare-Hamas.
376. Well, I think as Latinos, if we have a problem, even when we speak to our families, we're
377. told to be super strong.
378. I will say it was hard telling my parents that I was seeing a therapist because I didn't
379. want to disappoint them that I essentially am not strong enough to do this.
380. But instead, it was kind of turned to like, you're strong enough to actually seek a therapist, you know?
381. I mean, it's never been a thing in my family to seek out.
382. You just kind of deal with it.
383. This is not something that we do in our family.
384. Welcome to Spanish United Radio.
385. I'm your host, Enrique Sanchez.
386. Would you be kind enough to introduce yourself to the audience, please?
387. Well, hello.
388. I am Stephanie Perejamas, and I am so happy and honored to be here.
389. so explain to the audience um a little bit of your background how you started your youtube channel
390. and uh what made you decide to get into the field of of helping people uh within your your community
391. and so my educationally i have like my bachelor's in health and human development i have a master's
392. in marriage and family therapy. I have another degree that kind of encompasses hypnosis,
393. like nutrition, like holistic health, stuff like that. And I used to work a lot within like the
394. behavioral health world. And then once I became a mom, I wanted to do kind of my own business
395. where I was able to travel around to different states and stuff like that, which is really hard
396. to do with license and counseling. You can't really go from state to state. And so anyway,
397. I decided to create my YouTube channel because I really wanted to make hypnosis recordings and
398. meditation recordings and just like give like little tips on just accepting yourself and just
399. really creating a life for you, regardless if everyone else is applauding for you or disagreeing
400. with you or disappointed in you, all of these things, because this is our precious life and
401. we deserve to live a fulfilling, beautiful one. So that's why I created my YouTube channel.
402. Nice. Have you ever felt like you've received any negative backlash, let's say from social
403. conservative Christian groups or anything like that? Or has it mostly been positive?
404. You know, most of it's been positive. Every once in a while, I'll get a comment
405. that is pretty derogatory.
406. Or I'll get like, I did have somebody actually
407. from the community really harassed me one time,
408. threatened me, called the cops on me,
409. called Child Protective Services on me.
410. That scared me for a little bit
411. to see if I really wanted to continue to do this work.
412. But then I continued to get messages about,
413. you know, how this was really helping them
414. and giving them courage
415. and how they were changing their lives
416. and how they were happier than they had ever been.
417. And so luckily, I've only had one really, really scary traumatic for me incident.
418. Otherwise it just a few comments here and there And those are just comments Like yesterday I had a comment of somebody saying that I only help people because I charge them money
419. But I was like, I could work with any population.
420. And this is the population I choose to work with because it's creating a positive impact.
421. And people don't have to work with me.
422. And I have tons of free content.
423. So usually it's about either the negative comments are about there are posts about like Bible verses or it's about how I'm charging people to work with them.
424. Right. So is your background religious in general or is it secular? Forgive me for asking.
425. Like so many people say I'm way more spiritual than I am religious.
426. I don't I don't really go to church and I really don't support groups of people who marginalize or say that other groups are bad.
427. just because they're different, all of these things. And I feel like there's
428. so much cruelty in the world and so much negativity. And so if other people are using
429. a place that's supposed to be of love and support to harm other people,
430. I just don't want to be a part of that. I've noticed there's not too many organizations
431. or advocates that actually are for the Hispanic community. And as you know,
432. The Hispanic community is the most heavily persecuted community in the United States right now.
433. As a civil rights leader, I've gotten a lot of harassment because they say, you know, why are you buying to help a community that, you know, that nobody cares for and similar to yours?
434. You know, I feel that the Hispanic community, you know, has been marginalized for such a long time and many of them are even afraid to reach out.
435. Aside from working in radio, you know, and, you know, working as a professor, but I also, you know, feel that it's a community that needs to be held the same way you help your community.
436. I did AmeriCorps in Connecticut for a year and I worked a lot with the Hispanic community and
437. there I know what you're saying to to not have it there's not many many people who will speak
438. up and use their voice for that community so I think that's beautiful aside from your YouTube
439. channel do you have like an office or a practice where where you do your sessions is it mostly
440. online? It's mostly online. The only thing I do that has to be done in person is like body work,
441. which is like a somatic emotional release. It's like a trauma release through your body where
442. it's different pressure points. And so I have to do that because it's basically pushing on
443. different pressure points while you're doing a specific breath work. Other than that, everything
444. else I do is online over Zoom. So I love that we're able to have the internet and be able to
445. connect with people over Zoom or Discord, stuff like that. I really think it helps with the
446. loneliness epidemic. So another question, like within your community, like what percentage
447. would you say is Hispanic? Is it a large percentage or small percentage or somewhere
448. equally in between? Well, the reason why I ask, because when it comes to mental health services
449. or anything, Hispanics tend to be the lowest in receiving mental health, aside from the
450. economical part, but also there is a stigma. It's like someone who is afraid to seek out
451. mental health services from reaching out, even though they feel that it is a social stigma.
452. So I think that people who reach out to me directly that are Hispanic would probably be
453. very, very low in the percentage. People who watch my channel might be a little bit higher
454. because they can do that in private and not have to disclose themselves You know what I saying So I think what important is who telling you that it wrong
455. to get the mental health stuff?
456. You know what I mean?
457. And how is that person handling the stressors in their life
458. or the disappointments or the grief
459. or the joys in their life?
460. And is that what you want to do?
461. Or do you want to do it differently?
462. And just think of it as a tool.
463. If I was a carpenter or something like that, I have to have tools in order to do a good job, right?
464. So just think of it as just it's one aspect of your life where you're just gathering tools.
465. And so it's just like any other part of your life.
466. And it's important.
467. Like mental health is something that everyone else and you can change it.
468. So it's unfortunate that it gets stigmatized.
469. But it's something where you have to love yourself enough to like let people judge you, you know.
470. So change the words if you need to, like reframe it so that you can allow these tools to be a part of your toolbox.
471. You know, instead of feeling like you're doing something negative or wrong or harmful to yourself, it's thinking like you're just telling yourself suggestions that make you feel better about life and give you tools to handle situations in a way that you want to.
472. That makes you feel proud of yourself instead of disappointed in yourself.
473. Absolutely.
474. Absolutely. So like, you know, aside aside from, you know, working in the field that you do, like, you know, if you had a message that you could give to the Hispanic community, for example, you know, that's going through struggles, you know, like, what would be your message to them?
475. first i would acknowledge that they're going through struggles and that their struggle is real
476. they're not alone sometimes it feels like we are alone and sometimes we almost want to be alone in
477. that struggle right because we want it we want it to be acknowledged that it's hard struggles are
478. real they're frustrating and they can be overwhelming and at the same time within that
479. struggle do not continue to repeat the old story that is the negative one that's going on in your
480. mind. So whether that's you telling yourself, it's never going to be better. It's always going to be
481. hard. You're never going to be good enough. It's never going to be your turn. Change that story
482. and start telling yourself, even if you're not going all the way to like, okay, amazing things
483. can happen for me. Maybe you can start with like, okay, the rest of the day is going to be better
484. or tomorrow is going to be better. Every day gets a little bit better. Tell yourself a new story.
485. And we change our story to something that's going to be more uplifting and help us feel better.
486. then we start making different choices that help us uplift ourselves. And so just changing your
487. story to what would feel better and remind you of like your own power. And also like
488. anybody who's suffering, look what you've already gone through. Look what you've already overcome.
489. And you're going to tell me this, this time it's different. Are you kidding me? No way. This time
490. it might be harder, but you're still going to be able to get through it. You have the tools.
491. And if you don't have the tools, go learn the tools. You know what I mean? There's tools available to you to help you through any challenge that you're in. But it can get better. And you can, I think, have the turn that suffering into beautifulness for yourself, you know?
492. Well, one final comment is for those who want to become advocates for marginalized communities like yours, what would be your advice to them?
493. Hmm. I would say go connect with people, just connect with people, have conversations. You
494. know I think that one of the best ways to okay So and this is where I might be coming at this from like a different lens because I know a lot of people feel like it not my job to educate
495. The thing is, having conversations isn't necessarily taking on the responsibility of educating.
496. It's connecting people with a real story.
497. and it's letting people know, okay, so many times people, okay, so I feel like I grew up in a very
498. small town in Montana and there's very few opportunities to see anyone who doesn't look
499. like you. And so I think when you have an opportunity to go to different communities
500. and have conversations with people and make friendships and let people know, like United,
501. right? We become more united. And then we know somebody who we thought was different that we
502. didn't necessarily like that kind of different, right? But then once we know somebody and we can
503. connect a story and we know like, oh, wait, so these challenges really do exist. It's not just
504. on TV or the news, like I know somebody who had this challenge, then I think it creates more love
505. and acceptance and compassion in the world and empathy. And versus if we all stay so separate
506. and divided, then it makes it so you can never really know somebody who experienced that challenge.
507. Am I making sense? Is this making sense? Yes, you're making perfect sense.
508. So now I can have more compassion and I can ask questions and I can understand more and I can be
509. more aware of how I'm treating people or the things I'm saying or the way I'm showing up or
510. the organizations I support. You know what I mean? So I just really think connecting and
511. conversations. And if we, I really love the idea that all of our friends shouldn't look like us.
512. We should have a variety of friends so that we can have compassion and understanding and have
513. difficult or hard conversations that open us up and let us know like everyone, like Jim Rohn used
514. to say, right? It rains on the rich. Like everyone has difficulties that they're going through,
515. but how can we become, as you say, united, right? And approach them together versus separate and
516. divided. Absolutely. Well, anyway, we've come to the end of our time. I want to tell you,
517. Stephanie, thank you for being a guest on this show. I really truly, truly appreciate your
518. presence and for to the listeners that are in spanish united radio we are on all social media
519. platforms we are in spanish united facebook instagram twitter and on onus x we are on youtube
520. and again thank you so much for being a guest on the show stephanie thank you enrique this was such
521. a pleasure
522. that was the latest from spanish united radio from working voices contributor enrique sanchez
523. to hear this interview in its entirety you can find it on the spanish united youtube channel
524. our work and when we get there we can't wait to be out so let me tell you what it's about
525. hi this is hallie berry and you're listening to kpfk 90.7 fm kristin parker's education workers
526. report card looks at what california's new 2027 state budget has for education funding
527. and fresh maternity leave policies for teachers and other education workers
528. Thank you.
529. This is Kristen Parker with this week's Education Workers Report Card.
530. From Sacramento, following weeks of negotiations, Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders last
531. Monday approved a $352 billion budget for next year that raises some taxes, sets a
532. aside $6.4 billion for the year after and delays billions of dollars in planned social service
533. cuts. So effectively, Gavin Newsom leaves with his last California budget balanced for two
534. consecutive years and a significant reduction in future year deficits, at least until he is no
535. longer in office. So for now anyway, the deal largely preserves Newsom's earlier spending plan
536. for K-12 education. It increases special education funding by $2.4 billion and gives school districts
537. and community colleges higher cost-of-living increases to provide 14 weeks of pregnancy
538. leave for their employees, something California teachers unions have championed for years.
539. But the latest spending plan also withholds $3.9 billion in constitutionally guaranteed
540. funding from K-12 schools, an accounting mechanism Newsom wanted to use in case the state overcommits
541. with a revenue forecast that is too optimistic. If the state collects more tax revenue in the
542. next year than projected, the budget deal requires the state to use a portion of that to pay down on
543. what it owes the schools, causing the California Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers
544. union, to accuse state leaders of violating the state constitution and threatening to consider
545. suing the state. The deal also allows Newsom to radically diminish the authority of the elected
546. state superintendent of public instruction, shifting TK through 12 school governance to a
547. new education commissioner appointed by the governor. Starting January 15, 2027, the
548. superintendent will become one of 13 members on the state board of education led by the commissioner,
549. leaving the CTA, some senators, and candidates running for superintendents skeptical of promised
550. outcomes after Gavin Newsom slammed the policy through the budget process. Especially when voters
551. in November are already set to vote for a superintendent whose duties will be significantly
552. pared down after voters have already rejected four ballot measures to abolish the superintendent role,
553. according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. But for now, we'll have to wait to see
554. what happens after the November elections. In other education news, even before the ink was dry
555. on a new regressive LAUSD policy that would cripple online research abilities from LA public
556. school students by limiting computer time in the classroom and removing take-home computers from
557. LAUSD's economically struggling communities. School librarians across California were
558. blindsided last week when a last-minute budget change stripped TK through 12 schools on a trove
559. of research materials, potentially leaving thousands of students without resources to do
560. reports, projects, or homework assignments. Without notice to schools or librarians,
561. the California legislature last week counseled $5.5 million that pays online fees for the
562. Encyclopedia Britannica New York Times PBS video documentaries scientific journals and thousands of other online materials used by students and teachers These cuts go into effect on July 1 2027 The program
563. called COMPASS, is an online database of research and curriculum materials that have been vetted by
564. teachers and librarians. COMPASS is also available through public libraries, but the vast majority of
565. users are at TK through 12 schools and ever since the program launched in 2018
566. it's received nearly 1 billion hits. Compass is especially important at a
567. time when fewer schools have libraries and librarians to help students with
568. research and although nearly 90% of schools have physical space on campus
569. for books, magazines, and other research materials, only about a quarter of those
570. spaces are staffed by librarians.
571. Whereas Compass is available free to all schools in California, and if schools were to subscribe
572. individually to Compass materials, they'd spend more than $216 million annually, according
573. to its state library report.
574. In expense, lower-income districts are less likely to have money for, so without access
575. to Compass materials, students could likely rely on free resources online.
576. That's only if the student's family can actually afford computers and internet access,
577. and those free resource materials tend to contain advertisements or track user data,
578. a violation of state student privacy laws.
579. A problem compounded when free resource materials are also less likely to be vetted for accuracy,
580. a particular danger in the age of artificial intelligence.
581. Funding for COMPASS was in earlier versions of the budget the legislature debated over
582. the last few months. But the final version eliminated Compass funding after July 1,
583. 2027. Instead, it directs $5 million in California school funding toward the state's new dyslexia
584. screener and $60,000 for technical support of an online lesson-sharing platform called
585. California Educators Together, bringing up the question of what underprivileged LAUSD students
586. and teachers in low-income schools due now for research, with retro-fashionably limited
587. computer access time at the city level and limited library resources available from the state.
588. Just FYI, California ranks 49th nationwide in school librarian staffing, with nearly 10,000
589. students for each librarian, according to research by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
590. This is Kristen Parker with this week's Education Workers Report Card.
591. That was Christian Parker with this morning's Education Workers Report Card.
592. Music
593. And finally, from the KPFK News Desk,
594. Associate Producer Hal Lohr brings us this morning's Working Voices Update.
595. The representative from California has the floor.
596. Thank you Marisa I Hal Lohr with this week Working Voices updates and well it official at least for now The COVID pandemic era work week is finally coming to an end for tens of thousands of California state workers
597. After years of delays and legal challenges, Governor Gavin Newsom last Wednesday doubled
598. the state's in-office requirement to four days a week from two, sending at least 90,000 employees
599. back to government offices for most of the work week. For Newsom, the mandate is part of a broader
600. effort to restore state government to what he calls a more traditional rhythm after repostponing
601. the policy twice due to opposition from public employee unions. The groups who have been fighting
602. the rule argue the state is abandoning a work arrangement they say has lowered costs for
603. taxpayers, helped recruit and retain employees, and supported California's climate goals by
604. reducing commuting. One of the most unusual challenges comes from the California Attorney's
605. Administrative Law Judges and Hearings Office in state employment, known as CASE, which argues
606. Newsom should have completed an environmental review before requiring employees to spend two
607. additional days each week driving into the office. But a judge on Monday denied CASE's request to
608. temporarily blocked the policy, allowing the RTO order to move ahead while the broader lawsuit
609. plays out, and the next court hearing is scheduled for November. Other groups fighting the mandate
610. include SIEU Local 1000, which filed an unfair labor practices complaint after union members
611. slammed the RTO measure at a Wednesday rally in Sacramento, staging a caravan of roughly 1,000
612. vehicles through downtown Sacramento carrying signs reading, Fighting for What We Deserve.
613. And SEIU Local 1000 Union leaders insist the broader battle over remote work is far from over.
614. And by the way, the professional engineers in California government are also vowing to continue the fight, citing a state auditor's report estimating remote work could reduce state-owned and licensed office space by almost a third and save taxpayers about $225 million annually.
615. But we'll keep you posted as this fight goes on.
616. And finally, Riverside-based radio station KGGI has lost its last local on-air hosts.
617. Longtime radio personalities Evelyn Erives, Nick Knack, and Garrison King were all cut
618. from their Inland Empire station last week as part of iHeartMedia's latest round of national
619. layoffs. In an internal memo, the media giant said it would restructure its radio programming
620. to better leverage the company's technology. iHeartMedia declined to comment on how many
621. people lost their jobs, but dozens of on-air and other staff positions have reportedly been cut
622. across the country. The iHeartMedia memo framed the changes as a way to move faster and operate
623. with greater precision across markets, and to position us not just to adapt to the future,
624. but to lead it. In other words, in an industry where the salaries paid to radio workers
625. is a variable expense, the cuts are part of a broader push to cut costs.
626. In May, iHeartMedia launched a new savings program, set to begin in the second half of 2026,
627. aimed at trimming an additional $50 million on top of the $100 million in savings,
628. the company had already announced iHeartMedia is the nation largest radio operator with more than 850 stations in 160 markets and with a sizeable presence here in Burbank And no KPFK 90
629. FM Los Angeles being listener supported is not one of them. But like so many other media
630. outlets, iHeartMedia's landscape continues to evolve as the company has learned to lean
631. harder into podcasting. Last year, iHeartMedia introduced its Guaranteed Human Campaign, though,
632. an ongoing pledge that no iHeartMedia station or podcast will feature an AI-generated personality
633. or AI-generated music. But how that promise squares with the latest layoffs is now unclear.
634. And with the stations such as Riverside's KGGI now stripped of their local hosts,
635. the company has said nothing about who or what will replace them, making listener-supported radio
636. like KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles more vital to our free speech on the airwaves than ever.
637. And that's our show for this week.
638. Once again, we're asking our labor partners, locals, and regional officers to seriously consider underwriting this show.
639. Because Working Voices and KPFK can really use your support.
640. So please contact the station at 818-985-5735 or kpfk.org to explore the possibilities.
641. We need to hear from you.
642. You can also email your comments or questions to workingvoicesataol.com.
643. Please contribute if you can at 818-985-5735.
644. This is Joe Ayala, president of NABIC CWA Local 53.
645. And this is Marissa Remsky of CWA Local 9003.
646. Our thanks to Dan McCrory, Steve Zeltser, Gary Scott, Kristen Parker, Enrique Sanchez,
647. Hill Lohr, and all of our guests.
648. Please continue to give what you can to keep us going.
649. Remember, we're in this together.
650. And of course, always remember to educate, agitate, and organize.
651. Have a great week, everybody.
652. I've got work to do, I've got so much work to do
653. Work, work, yeah
654. Work, work
655. Work, work, yeah
656. Will Gear Theatricum Botanicum returns this June 6th through October 4th
657. with outdoor repertory theater, events, and educational programs for all ages.
658. A Midsummer Night's Dream is back, alongside Romeo and Juliet,
659. Treasure Island, Noel Coward's Waiting in the Wings,
660. and Bernardo Cubrilla's dark and incisive new comedy,
661. the people of Pompeii set in the aftermath of the 2025 Palisades fire.
662. Theatricum is located in Topanga Canyon, just off the 101 freeway,
663. in the shade of the California live oaks.
664. Explore and picnic in the gardens before the show.
665. Further information available at www.theatricum.com and at kpfk.org.
666. Thank you.
667. You're listening to KPFK 90.7 FM.