May 1, 2018

Labor: May Day

May Day is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to solidarity among all working people. It’s a reminder that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere—and we only can fight back against oppression when we proudly stand together as a united global movement.

 

AFL-CIO: Urge Congress to pass the Protecting America’s Workers Act

A piece of legislation that would expand the Occupational Safety and Health Act to cover all workers in the U.S. has been introduced in Congress.

 

LA Times: Unions at Disneyland say they have enough signatures to put living wage ordinance on Anaheim ballot

If enough signatures are verified, the measure on the November ballot would ask voters to require Disney and other large Anaheim employers that accept city subsidies to pay workers a minimum of $15 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2019, with salaries rising $1 an hour every Jan. 1 through 2022.

 

OC Register: Kaiser Permanente workers to begin picketing over outsourcing, relocating jobs

“Kaiser is raking in money and yet it’s acting like it has no choice but to outsource jobs, relocate workers and pay new employees less,” union member Lanette Griffin. “It makes no sense because Kaiser Permanente is a nonprofit organization and it is supposed to be putting the community’s interests first.”

 

Orange County

Voice of OC: OC grapples with $33 Million in Sheriff cost overruns

The overruns are in addition to the significant boost in discretionary funding to the Sheriff’s Department at the start of the budget year, which already called for using $2 million in reserves to fund the department this year.

 

Voice of OC’s Santana: Could OC use a regional housing agency?

Continuing to wait on the Orange County Board of Supervisors to come up with effective regional governing policies for critical quality of life challenges like homelessness and housing is proving to be a dangerous gamble.

 

OC Register: Poseidon desalination plant: What to know about its pros and cons for Southern California water

The day of reckoning is drawing near for Huntington Beach’s long-planned desalination plant, which would help quench Orange County’s thirst with sea water and free up imported water for the rest of the Southern California.

 

California

OC Register: California’s record low unemployment is far from perfect

California continues to generate numerous grand employment opportunities. But that doesn’t mean every worker is getting what they need.

 

KPCC: What you need to know in the free-for-all race to replace Darrell Issa

Even before Issa’s retirement, the seat was considered a toss-up. Registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats in the district, but Hillary Clinton carried the top of the ticket

Publication Date: May 1, 2018