Opinion
Affordable housing is critical to solving homelessness
OPINION – A groundbreaking and startling new report shows California is losing the battle to bring people out of homelessness because living in our state is simply unaffordable.
OPINION – A groundbreaking and startling new report shows California is losing the battle to bring people out of homelessness because living in our state is simply unaffordable.
About 48,000 academic union workers at the University of California are in the second week of a strike at UC’s 10 campuses, from San Diego north to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. They walked off their jobs on Nov. 14 amid complaints of unfair labor practices, an action that closed some classrooms and research labs.
Inspired by their union-yearning congressional counterparts, state Capitol employees have taken to social media with anonymous posts about bad bosses and a percolating desire for the same bargaining rights enjoyed by other state workers. The Instagram account, “DearCaStaffers,” had about 2,700 followers by Thursday. That was 400 more than the day before.
About 17,000 graduate student researchers calling themselves Student Researchers United (SRU) at 10 University of California campuses are seeking to form a union with the United Auto Workers, a campaign that began in early 2020. UC management is not wholly on board with this move of unrepresented employees.
California is known across the country as a trendsetter in climate regulations, with tough emissions standards and sweeping environmental protections. Freshman state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), however, is pushing for more ambitious carbon-neutral rules that could move California further ahead of the rest of the nation. The effort, praised by environmentalists, has drawn fire from utility workers and gas companies.
OPINION: President Biden wants America to Build Back Better — and we at the Associated Builders and Contractors Northern California (ABC NorCal) completely agree. The foundation for the country’s economic rebound will depend on the big infrastructure plans the president has for the country.
OPINION: The election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris has left Harris’ Senate seat open. In appointing someone to fill this seat, Governor Newsom has the opportunity to secure another historic first by selecting our state’s first Latino or Latina U.S. Senator.
As rents and inequality have soared, many workers haven’t had much to celebrate with a Labor Day picnic. The working moms and dads whose children I care for rarely get a holiday off — and that means neither do I. Long hours and irregular schedules are common for parents working nonstop to lift their
California labor confronted major challenges last year but responded with frenetic organizing and a newfound aggressiveness—momentum unions hope to maintain in 2019. As 2018 opened, California had 2.49 million union members, roughly 15.5 percent of the state’s official working population
OPINION: It’s taken an army of firefighters to battle California’s historic infernos. It will take an even larger army to rebuild the Golden State from the devastation. Even with all of the current skilled construction workers, California will need to train more to achieve our goals of getting families back in their homes and communities.