Posts tagged Los Angeles
California superintendent candidate calls out teachers union, says she’s a ‘real threat’ to ‘socialist agenda’
October 1, 2026 // Conservative California superintendent candidate Sonja Shaw told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that she would not back down from confronting the United Teachers Los Angeles union (UTLA), after a circulated video allegedly showed a union leader calling Shaw a "real threat" and warning that her election "would cause a huge problem for us." Shaw, the president of the Chino Valley Unified School District board, pointed to Los Angeles student achievement scores as she accused UTLA of protecting the education establishment rather than focusing on academic outcomes.
Ballot Question 2 asks: Should public defenders have the right to unionize?
September 29, 2026 // Question 2 would allow employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, or CPCS, to participate in collective bargaining. If they negotiate a contract, CPCS would then be required to request the funding needed for that agreement from the governor within 30 days. The Yes On 2 campaign was organized to help grant public defenders the right to join a union. The campaign’s central argument states: CPCS employees should have the same opportunity to organize and negotiate collectively that many others have.
What happened to North Hollywood’s Star Garden, the nation’s only unionized strip club
September 24, 2026 // Since the NLRB complaint was filed in 2024, the club has not resumed normal operations with its 17 unionized dancers on an indefinite strike. Without a hearing, it’s uncertain if a union will operate anytime soon in a strip club industry valued at $7.7 billion. The Star Garden owners, Yevgenya “Jenny” Kazaryan and Stepan “Steve” Kazaryan, and their attorneys could not be reached by LA Public Press for comment. Stepan Kazaryan is also the registered owner of Dreams strip club in Wilmington. Other business filings show he owns Pink Diamonds Club in North Hollywood and Burlesque Enterprise Inc.
Ignored by Her Union: LA County Homecare Provider Speaks Out
September 21, 2026 // Dallas, TX — In a video released today by the Freedom Foundation, Shequita Chamberlain, an in-home healthcare provider for her mother, exposes how SEIU 2015 has trapped her in union membership despite never joining, and has continually ignored her requests to opt-out. Chamberlain has been trying to leave SEIU 2015 since 2021. She has sent four certified letters, called repeatedly, emailed, and even showed up in-person at SEIU 2015’s headquarters—only to be turned away under supposed COVID protocols.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass sends letter to USC president urging administration to drop appeal and allow faculty to unionize
September 7, 2026 // Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told USC President Beong-Soo Kim she was “concerned” by their move to ask the National Labor Relations Board to evaluate whether university faculty had a right to form a union in a letter Sept. 1.
NBA Docks Clippers’ Draft Picks, Suspends Ballmer in Cap Caper
September 3, 2026 // Article XIII of the CBA prohibits salary-cap circumvention, meaning arrangements by teams to compensate players outside their employment contracts. If teams find ways to compensate players outside the cap, they have engaged in cheating—not only because they have violated rules they agreed to follow, but also because such conduct undermines fair play and gives those teams an unfair advantage over their competitors. This isn’t the first time the NBA has imposed a five-draft-pick penalty for salary-cap circumvention. In 1999, then-NBA commissioner David Stern ordered the forfeiture of five first-round picks from the Minnesota Timberwolves and imposed a $3.5 million fine for a salary-cap scheme (the NBA later restored two of the forfeited picks, so the ultimate penalty was loss of first-round picks in 2001, 2002 and 2004).
Uber drivers say Waymo robotaxis are driving down their pay
August 31, 2026 // The Atlanta Rideshare Drivers Union is claiming that drivers have reported lower pay, longer waits between rides, and fewer fares since Waymo began offering its service in the city last June, Axios reports. As such, the union is calling on city and state leaders to curb Waymo’s expansion — and to consider some measures to easen its disruptive effects on their livelihoods.
Uber drivers won a 12-year fight to unionize. Robots have already taken the wheel
August 19, 2026 // It’s a real victory for their cause, but in the years since drivers began organizing, the ride-hail industry has entered a new era. Robotaxis, once a bug-faced curiosity(opens in new tab), are shaping up to be an existential threat to human rideshare drivers. Experts disagree on the pace and scale of the labor transition, and policymakers are crafting regulations that may bear down on the autonomous vehicle industry. However, there are some warning signs in early-adopter cities. In San Francisco, Uber saw utilization and hourly earnings decline in 2025, it says.
Opinion: George F. Will: Chicagoans are getting fed up with the city’s teachers union
August 14, 2026 // At more than 50 Chicago schools, the percent of students achieving math proficiency is 0.
Thousands of LAUSD workers face layoffs that didn’t have to happen
August 12, 2026 // In a seven-page July letter, the Los Angeles County Office of Education appointed a fiscal expert to work with the district and scolded officials for signing $1.2 billion in collective bargaining agreements earlier this year and drawing down from a fund for retiree health benefits, against the advice of its own fiscal advisor. “The Board’s decision to override its own staff’s fiscal advice raises serious concern about the District’s willingness and ability to execute its financial stabilization plan with fidelity,” the county wrote.