Posts Tagged: minimum-wage

Lorena Gonzalez leaves Assembly, heads to Cal Labor Fed

Lorena Gonzalez in the Assembly shortly after her 2013 election. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 01.03.2022

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.

California’s minimum wage rises to $15 per hour

Supporters of the $15 minimum wage at a 2015 rally in Los Angeles. (Photo: Dan Holm, via Shutterstock)

by SETH SANDRONSKY posted 12.27.2021

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. 

Now, more than ever, a strong labor movement is needed

Construction workers on the job in Mountain View. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)

by ELISEO MEDINA and DON HOWARD posted 09.01.2021

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 deeper dive into California’s housing crisis

A wood frame of a house under construction in rural California. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock) Wood frame of house under construction, Lone Pine, CA

by SCOTT LITTLEHALE posted 04.26.2021

OPINION: 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.

Union pressure behind emergency services bill

Emergency workers at a Malibu auto accident on Pacific Coast Highway. (Photo: EGD, via Shutterstock)

by JASON SORRICK posted 06.29.2017

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.

California voters: The ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’

Latinos taking the Pledge of Allegiance in Los Angeles. (Photo: Spirit of America)

by PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE of CALIFORNIA posted 03.29.2016

Only half of California adults can be expected to vote in this year’s presidential election, and they are likely to be very different from those who do not vote—in their demographic and economic backgrounds and in their political attitudes. These are among the key findings of a report released Tuesday evening by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).

California’s minimum-wage earners are one step closer to seeing their pay tied to the cost of living, a goal that advocates for low-income workers have sought for years.

Under a bill awaiting action in the Senate, the minimum wage, currently $8 per hour, would be raised by 25 cents per hour next year, then