Posts tagged California
Huntington Beach Police Union Spends Big Against City Council Incumbents
October 16, 2026 // Spending is heating up in the race for Huntington Beach City Council after the local police officer’s association dropped nearly $100,000 in independent advertising targeting sitting council members who voted against their raises and supporting their opponents. The Huntington Beach Police Officers Association has spent over $100,000 on city council races as of Oct. 13 according to campaign disclosures. Most of that spending came through the police union’s political action committee, where they disclosed spending $16,000 apiece opposing Mayor Casey McKeon and Councilman Pat Burns just weeks after they voted against a nearly 18% raise for officers over the next three years.
Grocery Worker, Age 86, Sues Union After He Was Fired for Refusing to Pay Dues
October 15, 2026 // California is one of 24 states where unions can get private-sector employees terminated under common “union-security” contract agreements with employers, which require all members of a bargaining unit to pay dues as a condition of employment. Objecting employees can opt out of full union membership, paying instead generally lower fees for direct representation that don’t cover other union activities, such as political lobbying. Nationwide, 26 states have different “right-to-work” laws making union dues payment voluntary
Hundreds of Orange County workers go on strike, potentially impacting some services
October 14, 2026 // A strike could cause delays to road and flood channel maintenance, landfill operations, parks and beach maintenance, repairs to county and first responder vehicles, and other public services, according to the union. In response to the strike threat, Orange County officials said that contingency plans were in place to maintain essential services.
SEIU Local 1000 announces one-day strike after members give authorization
October 12, 2026 // State workers aren’t required to participate, so it’s unlikely that every SEIU Local 1000 member would engage. Members who go on strike will not be paid during that time. SEIU Local 1000 has a strike fund intended to cover costs like legal expenses if an employee faces retaliation for participating, according to the union’s website - but not to replace lost wages.
Commentary: 1,000 health care workers protest take-over of their local. Are union officials listening?
October 8, 2026 // In 2009, a political disagreement about organizing and bargaining strategy, involving the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and its second largest healthcare local, led to a costly and disastrous trusteeship in California. Tens of millions of dollars were squandered on this bitter internal fight. Thousands of SEIU members angrily protested the removal of their elected leaders, who faced trumped up charges and a multi-million dollar damage suit. In response to their rights being trampled, rank-and-filers, who only wanted to democratize and reform SEIU, instead created the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), an organizational rival.
Workers at a SoCal Sephora revolt against union attempts after already rejecting it
October 8, 2026 // Employees at the sprawling 6,750-square-foot beauty store on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade told The California Post they’ve been harassed and bullied by officials with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 after rejecting the union — with workers claiming the bitter standoff has fueled a staff exodus and cost employees hours and benefits. “They’re just stuck waiting and have this union that again purports to represent workers, but is doing the opposite of it here,” said Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which is providing informal legal help to the frustrated workers.
Op-ed: Hospital Strikes Should Be Illegal
October 7, 2026 // Hospital workers should not be legally permitted to withhold their critical labor from the patients who need them just because their union has a disagreement with management. If railroad workers can’t do it and public employees can’t do it, hospital workers should not be able to do it either. Congress should amend the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit strikes by hospital employees.
Solvang city workers go on strike, repeatedly clash with officials over wages
October 6, 2026 // A California town know as the “Danish capital of America” has broken out in civil war over how much city workers should get paid. Unionized workers in Solvang have been on strike for three weeks and have refused repeated offers from officials for a negotiated pay rise.
New Jersey: Kim Kavin: Carveout Chaos Ahead
October 2, 2026 // Anderson is the founder of Freelancers Against AB5, the leading advocacy group in California that is still trying to figure out how to get that state’s ABC Test law repealed. She is currently a Future of Work Fellow with the Institute for the American Worker in Washington, D.C., an excellent program about labor and employment policy that I completed earlier this year. And, Anderson and I both testified before Congress on this issue in 2023, when her testimony included the following passage, some three years after California’s ABC Test law and a cleanup bill that followed it had gone into effect:
San Juan Unified School District faces unfair labor practice charge over layoffs
October 2, 2026 // The California School Employees Association filed an unfair practice charge last month, alleging that San Juan Unified School District refused to negotiate how the recent layoffs and related staffing changes would affect employees and failed to provide information needed to represent them.