Thursday, December 27, 2007

Blogging

I've been really bad at this blogging thing, but I'm going to start up again insha'Allah.

BTW if you want to take a trip to Pakistan to view the madness first hand, let me know. There is a delegation heading there next week; I'll forward you the 411.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Housekeepers Win Historic Citation against LAX Hilton for Health and Safety Violations

At a November 15th press conference, politicians, community members, and clergy came out in support of LAX Hilton housekeepers who filed a complaint and won a citation against the hotel from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health for violating the Repetitive Motion Injury (RMI) standard.

Totaling $14,425 in proposed fines, this is the first time that CalOSHA has cited a hotel for violating the RMI standard. It cited the privately-owned LAX Hilton on October 30th for failure to control exposures causing such injuries and failing to train workers on injury symptoms, prevention and reporting. Additional violations included electrical, chemical and eye protection hazards and a failure to adequately complete accident investigation forms under the Injury and Illness Prevention Program Standard.

California is the only state in the United States that has a workplace repetitive motion injury standard. According to the LA Times, CalOSHA Director Len Welsh said the LAX Hilton "did not follow policies that other Hilton hotels followed." In the same article, Adela Barrientos, one of the LAX Hilton housekeepers who filed the complaint along with the Southern California Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, stated that "they keep putting more things in the room."

The LAX Hilton, located on Century Boulevard just outside the Los Angeles International Airport, is under a national boycott. Housekeepers there held a "Day of the Dead Tired" march through Los Angeles along Century Boulevard, drawing attention to work-related injuries and the need for health care.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Monday, December 03, 2007

Love the Poor

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "O God, grant me life as a poor man, cause me to die as a poor man and resurrect me in the company of the poor." His wife asked him why he said that, and he replied: "Because (the poor) will enter Paradise (before) the rich. Do not turn away a poor man. . .even if all you can give is half a date. If you love the poor and bring them near you. . .God will bring you near Him on the Day of Resurrection."

Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1376

It can be the difference between kicking the beggar
(and I've seen this happen in Muslim countries!),
smiling at him or buying him lunch . . .