Posts tagged Los Angeles
Karen Bass’ $30 per hour mandate for hotel workers sends shockwaves through the industry forcing job cuts and restaurant closures
March 8, 2026 // Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is getting backlash after signing a gradual wage hike for hotel workers into law, with a new report claiming the measure has already begun ravaging the industry. The report found that 650 workers have lost their jobs and restaurants have closed or reduced their operating hours since September when the new wage structure took effect. The law requires hotels in the city to increase the minimum wage for workers to $30 an hour in light of the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Twin Rivers, Natomas strike plans are tied to a larger statewide push
March 8, 2026 // The collaboration is part of a campaign known as “We Can’t Wait,” in which 32 union districts are working together to negotiate with their respective districts, with some coordinating contracts to expire at the same time. Teacher labor tensions have been building across California in recent months. According to Goldberg, teachers in Los Angeles, Oakland, and West Sacramento voted overwhelmingly to authorize strikes.
Op-ed: ‘The issue is the revolution’: Who is running your city’s teachers union?
March 4, 2026 // Under the banner of “social justice unionism,” teachers’ unions are increasingly treating classrooms, teachers, and even students as instruments in a wider ideological project — one organized, replicated, and funded across the nation. This shift helps explain why contemporary political controversies are now being filtered into elementary, middle and high schools. As one activist leader put it during the NEA Educators for Palestine webinar, the anti-ICE movement is “the spark that could ignite the fire under Labor.” As the saying goes, “The issue is never the issue — the issue is the revolution.”
Wave of California teacher strikes ‘is no coincidence’
March 4, 2026 // Thousands of California K-12 teachers have walked off their jobs or voted to strike in the past few months, as part of a strategic, statewide effort by the California Teachers Association to boost salaries and benefits — and get the public’s attention. “All these districts going out on strike — it’s not a coincidence at all,” said David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union. “Everywhere in the state there are people with unmet needs. The conditions have been ripe for a long time.”
WAG axes LA awards show over AI labor dispute
March 2, 2026 // While the Los Angeles ceremony is canceled, the guild’s New York event is still expected to proceed the same day. An alternative celebration for West Coast nominees will be scheduled later.
“This Sucks”: WGA West’s Internal Battle Continues As Writers Join Staff Union’s Picket Line
February 26, 2026 // In public messaging, the WGA has tried to assure its own members that this strike would have no effect on the writers union’s upcoming negotiations with the AMPTP. With an industry still reeling from a major global production contraction, all eyes are on the above-the-line unions who are set to make new deals with the major studios in the coming months after a contentious round of 2023 bargaining that led to historically long, dual writers and actors strikes. Membership on the picket lines Tuesday seemed dissuaded by the attempts from leadership to cast aside the staff’s contributions to the bargaining cycle.
Wage Disagreements: Workers at homeless services nonprofit join DTLA-based union
February 24, 2026 // The union is one of the largest in Southern California, with more than 100,000 members. It represents employees in sectors such as foster care, mental health and law enforcement, including workers with Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and Step Up on Second.
Meet the Radicals Running to Lead the Los Angeles Teachers’ Union
February 24, 2026 // UdB was founded in 1981 as an organization for “Chicano Movement activists” to fight against “capitalism and colonialism.” The group built out those commitments in 1992, when it created the “community patrols program,” a Black Panther Party–inspired initiative to monitor federal immigration enforcement.
Thousands of LAUSD workers could get layoff notices. What to know
February 17, 2026 // LAUSD employs more than 83,000 people, including teachers, administrators, certificated support personnel and substitutes, according to June 2025 data. The prospect of layoffs isn't the only moving part in the overall picture: Labor unions have been in negotiations with the district related to wage increases to class sizes, and members of the United Teachers Los Angeles authorized the union to strike in late January.
Sex workers at Pahrump brothel are unionizing, alleging unfair contracts and conditions
February 12, 2026 // To unionize, the workers must first prove to federal labor authorities that they are employees rather than independent contractors, who have limited bargaining rights. Then they will vote on joining the union and begin negotiating a new contract. Sheri’s Ranch, which was established in 2001 by former Chicago homicide detective Chuck Lee, maintains that the workers are not eligible for collective bargaining. “We respect the right of individuals to express their views on workplace structure,” Communications Director Jeremy Lemur told The Indy in a written statement. “At the same time, Sheri’s Ranch remains confident in the longstanding legal and regulatory framework that has supported independent contractors operating their own businesses in association with the resort for decades.”