Posts tagged Los Angeles

    Vegas-to-LA rail project lands $3B in federal funds

    December 6, 2023 // “This historic high-speed rail project will be a game changer for Nevada’s tourism economy and transportation,” Rosen said in a statement. “It’ll bring more visitors to our state, reduce traffic on the I-15, create thousands of good paying jobs, and decrease carbon emissions, all while relying on local union labor.”

    California faculty at largest US university system launch strike for better pay

    December 4, 2023 // The California State University chancellor's office says the pay increase the union is seeking would cost the system $380 million in new recurring spending. That would be $150 million more than increased funding for the system by the state for the 2023-24 year, the office said. Leora Freedman, the vice chancellor for human resources, said in a statement that the university system aims to pay its workers fairly and provide competitive benefits. “We recognize the need to increase compensation and are committed to doing so, but our financial commitments must be fiscally sustainable,” Freedman said.

    TEACHERS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS PROTEST CTA’S RADICAL POLITICS AT UNION CONFERENCE

    October 31, 2023 // This past weekend, the California Teachers Association (CTA) held its quarterly State Council of Education in downtown Los Angeles to elect CTA leadership, set CTA policy, develop legislation and strategize for the upcoming election year. Much to the consternation of the 800 CTA delegates in attendance, a group of local teachers, congregants and concerned community members gathered outside the building to protest the union’s repeated attempts to push a radical political agenda into California’s classrooms. Led by Brenda Lebsack of the Interfaith Statewide Coalition and Pastor Luis Olan of “Restauracion Familiar,” the demonstration featured around 120 participants — mostly Hispanic fathers, mothers and children raising their voices against CTA. For years, CTA’s financial and ideological priorities have shifted away from promoting “the well-being of its members.” Though the union collects a significant amount of revenue from membership dues, CTA spent less than half of its budget on workplace representation in 2021.

    Diamondbacks Respond to Team Decision to Cross Strike Picket Lines for Series vs Dodgers

    October 11, 2023 // With the Arizona Diamondbacks in Los Angeles to face the Dodgers for Games one and two of the NLDS, the club found itself in hot water online after it was revealed that they crossed a union picket line to stay at the JW Marriot L.A. Live hotel in Downtown LA. The issue was brought up by UNITE HERE Local 11, which is a union of more than 32,000 hotel, convention center, restaurant and sports area workers in Southern California and Arizona.

    Outfest Film Festival Staff Unveils Plan to Unionize

    September 28, 2023 // The organizers are seeking to include 11 staff members across the organization whose designations fall below the Associate Director level, according to organizers, with a recent card count being described as “near-unanimous” in favor of unionizing. The group is attempting to join the Communications Workers of America Local 9003.

    UAW widens strike against GM and Stellantis but not Ford

    September 24, 2023 // GM called the strike escalation “unnecessary” and accused union leaders of “manipulating the bargaining process for their own personal agendas.” “We have now presented five separate economic proposals that are historic,” the company said. The 20 percent raise in its latest offer would boost 85 percent of GM’s UAW workforce to base-wage earnings of $82,000 a year by the end of the contract, the company said this week. It is also offering two weeks of paid parental leave and other perks. Stellantis said it submitted a new offer to the UAW on Thursday but has not received a reply. It said its 20 percent wage increase offer would boost all its full-time UAW workers to earnings of $80,000 to $96,000 annually by the end of the contract. The company questioned “whether the union’s leadership has ever had an interest in reaching an agreement in a timely manner.”

    As L.A. City Hall staffers consider unionizing, competing unions seek to woo them

    September 12, 2023 // The city work force, like the vast majority of the public sector work force across California, is heavily unionized. Staffers for elected officials, however, have long been at-will employees — they can be hired without dealing with civil service requirements, but also lack the protections that a civil service job confers. That’s the norm for staffers to elected officials across the country. But the City Hall effort is far from an outlier.

    OPINION: LOS ANGELES PROTEST UNDERSCORES PARENTS’ DISGUST WITH UNION-BACKED DEPRAVITY MASQUERADING AS EDUCATION

    September 11, 2023 // A protest staged this week in the very heart of the beast at the Los Angeles City Hall brought home the point in lurid detail. Organized under the banner, “Leave Our Kids Alone!” the event brought together a diverse coalition of groups ranging from LEXIT (Latinos Exiting the Democratic Party), Gays Against Groomers, an Armenian parental group, the Dad Army and many others to speak out about the serial transgressions of the California educational system. Among these were the revelation that public schools no longer be compelled to inform parents of a child’s gender transition and the imposition of a curriculum openly advocating for the LGBTQ agenda. What these parents were demanding is the simple right to be informed about life-altering decisions that have been assumed by the California state government. Virtually every speaker had a horror story about how children are being victimized by this misinformation movement, whose leaders alternately deny their actions or falsely claim the smut-centric curriculums have broad public support.

    As Hollywood strike drags on, Biden’s relationship with unions becomes complicated

    September 6, 2023 // For example, in the 2020 election, labor unions contributed $27.5 million to Biden’s campaign while his opponent, former President Donald Trump, received less than $360,000, according to Open Secrets. The states with the largest concentration of union workers are hardline Democratic states, like Hawaii, New York, Washington, Oregon, New Jersey and California. In 2022, 10.1% of American wage and salary workers belonged to unions compared to 20.1%, in 1983, signifying a large drop in membership. But this hasn’t translated to a drop in popularity for unions, at least according to recent polls.