Posts tagged Los Angeles
Opinion: Feds give LAUSD much-needed tough love
July 13, 2026 // One is the fact that LAUSD keeps caving to the teachers union, and offering contracts that the district simply cannot afford. Another is the fact that the district has already borrowed three-quarters of a billion dollars to pay settlements in sexual abuse claims dating back decades. And on the subject of sexual abuse, the Department of Education is still investigating LAUSD’s alleged practice of protecting teachers accused of sexual misconduct. Instead of getting rid of problematic teachers, LAUSD often keeps them around — keeping some in the classroom, and reassigning others.
Special Feature: How Public Employee Unions Built California’s Most Powerful Political Machine
July 13, 2026 // In California, public employee unions are often among the most influential organizations helping determine who becomes governor, mayor, county supervisor or school board trustee. They endorse candidates. They contribute millions of dollars to campaigns and independent expenditures. They provide campaign volunteers, voter outreach, mail programs, and political infrastructure that many candidates could not easily replace. By the time contract negotiations begin, the relationship between labor and management has often existed for months or years. That does not mean elected officials simply surrender to union demands. Many negotiate in good faith and work hard to protect taxpayers while fairly compensating public employees. But in government, the officials responsible for approving compensation packages are frequently supported by the same organizations representing the employees who will benefit from those agreements.
Seventeen States & Localities ‘Are Increasing Their Minimum Wage In July’
July 6, 2026 // On July 1st, the Minimum Wage rose in the States of Alaska, Oregon and in our Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C. - lifting wages for more than 361,000 Workers and collectively raising their earnings by more than $221 million. In addition to these two States and Washington, D.C. - 14 Cities and Counties also increased their Minimum Wage this Summer, including Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Big labor torching World Cup tourism with sky-high hotel prices and looming layoffs
June 30, 2026 // HTC’s president may get the credit for negotiating this latest contract, but his nearly $1 million compensation package is largely insulated from these economic setbacks. Meanwhile, the workers whose dues pay his salary will bear the long-term consequences of the deal. World Cup visitors may be the first to feel the pain of higher room rates, but hotel workers could end up being hit the hardest by seeing their shifts reduced, or worse, having their jobs disappear.
Ex-union official charged with theft from firefighters’ fund
June 18, 2026 // According to Bonta, investigators found that, between December 2022 and January 2024, Walker “stole” more than $82,000. “This individual opened a foundation bank account, naming himself as the sole signer, and then used that account to transfer foundation funds into his personal accounts,” said Bonta. “We found that he attempted to conceal those transfers by creating false reimbursement records and forged receipts specifically designed to mislead auditors.”
SoFi Stadium workers given ‘Kick ICE Out’ buttons by union ahead of USMNT-Paraguay
June 16, 2026 // Union shop stewards inside SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles are handing out buttons which read ‘Kick ICE Out’ for workers to wear at the venue hosting FIFA’s World Cup match between the United States and Paraguay on Friday night. The Unite Here Local Eleven union represent over 2,000 workers at the venue who largely work in food and beverage concessions, including cooks, dishwashers, servers and bartenders. The Athletic received images of both cooks and bartenders wearing the buttons. The union said the language of their agreement with the stadium operators, Legends Global, permits employees to wear “one (1) official Union button while on duty”.
California Policy Center: The unions that count California’s votes
June 15, 2026 // Union contracts also make the organized workforce harder to bypass or supplement. Los Angeles, like other counties, must give notice and bargain before contracting out work its represented employees have historically done, so a registrar facing a slow count cannot simply bring in outside help. This dependency deepened when California began mailing a ballot to every active registered voter during the COVID pandemic. A mailed ballot adds a labor-intensive chain not required for in-person ballots, including signature verification, envelope opening, extraction, and scanning, often performed by permanent unionized staff over weeks. The count has thus consolidated into a single central operation dependent on a unionized workforce.
LA hotels hit by largest job losses in a decade as ‘Olympic wage’ mandates bite, data shows
June 11, 2026 // "This is the largest year-over-year drop in the hotel industry in a decade (barring losses related to COVID)," the EPI noted in its report. "While countywide the minimum wage reached $17.81 an hour last year (higher than the state’s $16.50 hourly mandate), the City of Los Angeles also increased its hotel-specific minimum wage mandate up to $22.50 an hour."
SoFi Stadium workers’ union reaches deal to avoid strike during World Cup
June 10, 2026 // The contract will expire on April 30, 2028, aligning with over 100 other stadium, hotel, and airport concessions contracts that expire before the Olympics. Community groups in other World Cup host cities such as Atlanta and Miami also have called for a halt on U.S. immigration enforcement during the matches, fearing arrests near stadiums and watch parties could dampen the festivities.
CA Post Editorial Board: ‘Unite Here’ needs to unite, here, to make World Cup a success
June 8, 2026 // The union, which spent piles of cash on the recent primary elections, wants to exploit the World Cup to flex its political muscle. It’s top demand has nothing to do with its contract with the stadium, or with FIFA, but is rather just a complaint about immigration enforcement. The union wants employees to be able to walk off the job if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is operating at the venue. That’s an insane demand. Essentially, the union wants illegal immigrants to be able to work at SoFi — jobs Americans, want and deserve. The unions also wants its members to be able to skip work virtually at will, whenever they decide that ICE is some kind of threat.