The days of unlimited campaign contributions for candidates running for Fresno County offices are over. Now, the limit is $30,000 per election cycle (primary and general election), as approved by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, 5-0, at Tuesday's meeting. The limits not only apply to individual contributors but to...
Risks, Rewards, and Robots: The Future of Work in California
Are robots coming for California’s jobs? In today’s increasingly automated economy, that’s certainly the fear. Technology has always generated economic churn, destroying some jobs and creating others. Already advances have generated a whole new sector of “gig” employment, and deeply disrupted other workplaces, from brick-and-mortar bookstores to newspapers to travel...
Risks, Rewards, and Robots: The Future of Work in California
Are robots coming for California’s jobs? In today’s increasingly automated economy, that’s certainly the fear. Technology has always generated economic churn, destroying some jobs and creating others. Already advances have generated a whole new sector of “gig” employment, and deeply disrupted other workplaces, from brick-and-mortar bookstores to newspapers to travel...
Walters: A Model of Mismanagement
Two years ago, with teachers in Sacramento’s school district on the verge of striking, the city’s mayor stepped in to mediate a compromise contract. “Forty-three thousand students, parents, teachers and our entire community can breathe easy this afternoon,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg declared after the Sacramento City Unified School District and the Sacramento...
Newsom Signs Law Overhauling Charter Schools
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law overhauling California's charter schools Thursday in a move seen as a compromise between teachers’ unions and charter school supporters, who have long argued over how charter schools impact public education. Charter schools are privately-run or nonprofit public schools that operate by different...
Kaiser Permanente Strike Threat Eases With Tentative Deal
Kaiser Permanente and more than 80,000 of its union workers reached a tentative contract settlement early Wednesday. In a statement, the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Union said the tentative pact "will revitalize the long-standing worker-management partnership and accomplish a set of goals to make sure Kaiser is the best place...
Big Tech or Big Labor? 2020 Democrats Line up With Unions
SACRAMENTO — Thousands of miles from the union halls of Pennsylvania and Michigan, organized labor is flexing its muscles in a pitched battle with Big Tech. And the Democratic Party's 2020 class isn't being shy about picking sides. In a rare injection of presidential politics into a state policy debate,...
Walters: California Unions Win in Politics But Lose Members
One of the more curious anomalies about California is that while labor unions’ political power has increased to virtual hegemony, especially in the last decade, union membership has declined just as sharply. On Labor Day 2019, one can only wonder whether both trends will continue and if so, what the...
Walters: Who's an Employee and Who's Not?
Lorena Gonzalez finds herself in an unusual political position this year — and clearly relishes it. Gonzalez, a Democratic assemblywoman from San Diego, is best known as a fierce warrior for worker rights and benefits, and carries a heavy load of legislation, usually on behalf of unions and other advocacy...
Fresno Airport Labor Deal Signals Major Shift in Policy
Fresno, which once banned Project Labor Agreements on public works projects, will now engage in them. “Elections have consequences,” Fresno City Councilman Miguel Arias succinctly noted. And, thus a historic shift may have occurred when it comes to labor power at City Hall. Historic Shift The council’s 7-0 vote to...