Image by PeopleImagesOPINION – Less than two years ago, I achieved a lifelong dream: I became a small business owner. It was supposed to be the start of a better future for my family. Instead, it’s been a fight for survival.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Is the use of NDAs as sinister as critics make out? Our guest today, former Speaker Robert Hertzberg argues that confidentiality agreements are a key part of building trust in sensitive legislative negotiations between diametrically opposed parties – and are sometimes the only way to get warring sides to the table.
White paper written "MINIMUM WAGE" with markers.OPINION – On April 1, California enacted a piece of legislation that mandates a minimum wage of $20 per hour for fast-food workers. But even the legislation’s primary supporter Governor Gavin Newsom seems to know this policy is bad for business.
Tia Orr, photo by Scott Duncan, Capitol WeeklyBy any accounting, SEIU California had a very good year. Some might say a monster year. And much of the credit goes to executive director Tia Orr, who rose to the job amidst turmoil and then led labor to some of its biggest wins in years.
Image by Ground Picture via ShutterstockOPINION – California’s population age 65 and greater will nearly double by 2030, increasing by 4 million. People are living longer than ever before, and as a result, more people will need assisted living and skilled nursing services.
Senate Bill 525 directly threatens our ability to care for this growing population by forcing additional costs
Lorena Gonzalez in the Assembly shortly after her 2013 election. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP)Lorena Gonzalez, the San Diego-area Assemblywoman who successfully pushed landmark legislation to reclassify many California independent contractors as employees, is leaving the Capitol to run the California Labor Federation. Gonzalez, 50, will become the group’s executive officer when the current leader, long-time chief Art Pulaski, retires this summer after serving 25 years as the top executive.
Supporters of the $15 minimum wage at a 2015 rally in Los Angeles. (Photo: Dan Holm, via Shutterstock)Minimum-wage workers in the Golden State will get an hourly pay raise in the new year. Under California law, the state minimum wage rises to $15 per hour for employers with 26 or more workers and to $14 hourly for employers with 25 or less employees on Jan. 1, 2022.
Construction workers on the job in Mountain View. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)OPINION: For many, Labor Day means a day off work and one last summer BBQ. But without a strong labor movement, our country wouldn’t have weekends at all, let alone long ones. Unfortunately, union membership has fallen by half over the last 40 years, often as a result of state “right to work” laws.
A wood frame of a house under construction in rural California. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)
Wood frame of house under construction, Lone Pine, CAOPINION: When it comes to California’s housing crisis, policy makers have often taken the narrow approach of throwing money at efforts to boost supply of sub-market rate units, with comparatively little focus on the dynamics that are driving demand for low income housing.
Emergency workers at a Malibu auto accident on Pacific Coast Highway. (Photo: EGD, via Shutterstock)OPINION:Providers of emergency medical services across the state are opposing AB 263 authored by Assembly Member Freddie Rodriguez. Under the pretense of an “Emergency Worker Bill of Rights,” AB 263 is nothing short of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.