Posts tagged San Francisco
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.
Socialists Push ‘Rank-and-File’ Plan to Steer US Labor Unions
August 18, 2026 // From 2018 to 2021, the Young Democratic Socialists of America, DSA's campus wing, adopted what it calls the "rank-and-file strategy" as a national priority, urging members to take jobs in what YDSA called strategic sectors: education, healthcare, and logistics. The Democratic Socialist Labor Commission, DSA's internal labor arm, published a pamphlet describing the approach as a way to rebuild "a militant, left-wing, and democratic labor movement."
Op-ed:Will Swaim: California schools turn to child sacrifice
August 7, 2026 // This was no accident. Sacrificing their younger union members in order to boost the pay of the older members is a key part of the union playbook – and the predictable outcome of state law commonly known as “LIFO,” or “last in, first out.” It’s buried in California Education Code section 44955, a single phrase that lays out the order of layoffs in any financial crisis: “employees shall be terminated in the inverse of the order in which they were employed.” Many younger teachers say they did not know about LIFO. “We’re pretty shocked,” said a two-year Los Angeles teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity. She said the general feeling among young teachers is “betrayal.” “We supported the bargaining team throughout this process – stood out in the rain to protest and rallied online support for the new contract,” she said. “No one, not even once, told me this could happen.”
Op-ed: How one California law created 1.2 million headaches
August 3, 2026 // AB 339, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year and in effect since January, requires local public agencies to give unions 45 days’ notice before issuing or renewing a contract for services that represented employees could perform. The intent is sound: to prevent agencies from quietly outsourcing work that civil servants could and should be doing. But somewhere between the Capitol and the reality of county HR departments, the operational math fell apart.
Ghirardelli chocolate workers in San Francisco walk off job for 3-day strike
August 3, 2026 // Workers at San Francisco's Original Ghirardelli Chocolate and Ice Cream Shop walked off the job on Thursday for a three-day strike. Union members and their representatives say the company isn't being transparent about how much it earns from a health coverage fee it charges customers. The workers want to stay on their current healthcare plan. Two other stores in Ghirardelli Square that are staffed with non-union workers, remain open.
Workers at Berkeley’s Graduate by Hilton hotel push to unionize
July 22, 2026 // “UC Berkeley makes up a huge amount of its business, whether directly or indirectly,” she said. “The trends here really are very different than the rest of the industry.” Trevor Jackson, co-chair of the UC Berkeley Faculty Association, said he was invited to join the protest. He said he knows the university does a lot of business with the hotel and he wanted to support its workers. “I’m a professor of history and I will tell you history is on your side,” Jackson told picketers. “We got your back.” Maricela Castro told the group through a Spanish translator she has worked at the hotel for 30 years. She said she’s a room attendant who makes $23 an hour and feels like she does the work of two people.
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.
SQ 832 gets final push from socialists before election
June 17, 2026 // State Question 832 would more than double Oklahoma’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2029 and then continue increasing it every year based on increases in the cost-of-living in the nation’s largest urban centers, as measured by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). That would effectively tie Oklahoma’s wage mandate to the cost of living in places like New York City or San Francisco, where it far exceeds Oklahoma norms, particularly in rural communities.