Workers at the Caliornia College of the Arts walking a picket line. (Photo: SEIU Local 1021)California College of the Arts employees with the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 went on strike today (Feb. 8) at the private college’s Oakland and San Francisco campuses. The CCA strike is the first such labor action at a private college in California since a brief a one-day work stoppage at Pepperdine 46 years ago.
Stacked shipping containers awaiting distribution at the Port of Los Angeles. (Photo: Angel DiBilio, via Shutterstock)The pandemic economy has catalyzed changes for California businesses and consumers. Take the impacts of the state’s system of ports that connect with the movement of goods to 40 million residents.
Roof top solar panels on rooftops in a Southern California neighborhood. (Photo: Simone Hogan, via Shutterstock)Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger championed an effort to install a million solar energy systems throughout the state. Fifteen years later, lured by incentives, there are more than 1.3 million solar rooftops that produce enough electricity for millions of homes across California. But a sharp debate is brewing among energy experts, the utilities, consumers and labor interests about fairness of the original program, called “net metering.”
Stanford University, where major stem cell research is being conducted.(Photo: yhelfman, via Shutterstock)The California stem cell agency says it has received $15.6 million in royalties from Stanford University, the largest such payment by far in the 17-year history of the state research agency. Until the announcement, the agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), had received only $557,292 in royalties.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has proposed state health care for undocumented immigrants, at a press conference in Paramount on Jan. 22. (Photo: Ringo Chiu, via Shutterstock)California could soon be seeing an unprecedented overhaul of its state health care system — but only if the politics and money come together. Two proposals are making the rounds at the Capitol which, if approved, would greatly expand eligibility for publicly funded health insurance.
The USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, a major California hospital. (Photo: TonelsonProductions, via Shutterstock)Last year during the winter’s peak, hospitals in the state had an estimated 54,000 patients, with roughly 22,000 of them testing Covid positive. Today, similar numbers reflect the hospitals’ overcrowding. But now, there is an overall 20 percent reduction in health care workers, and the combination of the two has seriously stressed hospitals.
Hollywood Boulevard at dusk in Los Angeles. (Sean Pavone, via Shutterstock)Americans disagree about California. And at least part of the argument hinges on politics. Republicans don’t think much of California; Democrats like the place. According to a recent YouGov study, Republicans list California as the worst state. Only Washington D. C., which is not a state, ranks below California in Republicans’ estimation.
A PG&E vehicle at the intersection of Oliver and Skyway in Paradise during the 2018 Camp Fire.(Photo: Dylan Mittag, via Shutterstock)Rather than fixing its system during its five-year felony probation, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. instead spent the time, which ends today, “on a crime spree” of negligence, causing 31 wildfires, 113 deaths, thousands of lost structures and a half-million charred acres, according to the federal judge who oversaw the probation.
Employees on the job at a Santa Barbara restaurant. (Photo: Ruben M Ramos, via Shutterstock)California’s growth of nonfarm payroll jobs continued on a steady pace as 2021 ended, according to recent figures from the state Employment Development Department that do not fully reflect the impact of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. “The 50,000 gain in the labor force was encouraging in December and certainly included more women,” economist Lynn Reaser told Capitol Weekly.
A nurse at a protest at Alameda Hospital in 2020 seeking improved medical protective equipment. (Photo: Sheila Fitzgerald, via Shutterstock)On the front line of health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, registered nurse members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United are pushing for more employer accountability tied to a crisis of staffing and unsafe workplaces. The union, which represents about 100,000 registered nurses in California, says the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has not adopted such workplace protections.