Category: Labor

by MacKenzie Elmer / Voice of San Diego / April 22, 2024

The ongoing war between public power proponents and San Diego Gas & Electric looked more like a battle between the municipalization advocates and union labor Thursday [April 18].

Each team’s respective poster-bearing players – with signs that read either “fire SG&E” or “municipalization is union busting” — took turns encumbering the live feed webcast of the City Council Rules Committee’s public comment period. But almost no one from a labor union spoke in favor of the proposed government takeover of the energy grid. Proponents had hoped the City Council would consider putting up a ballot measure and spare them the burden of collecting signatures.

By Katy Jae Waldman

San Diego is a beacon of equality, progress, and acceptance that makes it unlike anywhere else in the world. It is a vibrant and lively place with a diverse and powerful
community. San Diego takes care of its people, and we are proud of it. But unfortunately, the people that keep us clothed, fed, and caffeinated are suffering at the hands of their employers.

Amidst their rapid growth, it has become clear that Better Buzz Coffee is no exception to this. It seems that their pitch decks and investor meetings left out how their wageworkers were to share the spoils of their achievement. Their profits are soaring, but their workers are hurting.

By Ken Stone / Times of San Diego / April 7, 2024

After a rally and brief march Thursday, a group of labor-union advocates at the University of San Diego entered the Hughes Administration Center and made their way to Room 222.

The office of James T. Harris III, USD’s president. They buzzed for entrance. No answer. “The door was locked,” Meghan Donnelly told fellow nontenure-track faculty and supporters after emerging from the campus HQ facing the stately Immaculata Church. She reported that an election plan had been slid under the door, so Harris would see it when he returns.

In San Diego, City, county and local offices will be closed today, Monday for César Chávez Day along with courts, public health clinics, family resource centers, libraries and animal shelters. County parks, campgrounds, and neighborhood day-use parks will largely remain open, though county officials said certain facilities will be closed Monday.

There will be mail delivery because César Chávez Day is a federal commemorative holiday, first proclaimed by then-President Barack Obama in 2014, and not a federal holiday.

Eaze Drivers Act as Negotiations Stall: Petition Demands Fair Treatment

By Brent Beltran / UFCW San Diego / Feb . 22, 2024

The workers at Eaze, a leading state-wide cannabis delivery company, are taking a stand as negotiations with UFCW Locals 5, 135, 324, and 770 for a statewide master agreement slow down. When the agreement is ratified by the members, it is poised to be the largest Collective Bargaining Agreement covering cannabis delivery drivers and staff in the country.

Frustrated by the slow progress of negotiations, members of the Eaze bargaining committee have united to collect signatures on a petition. T

by Jeffrey W. Forrest/ National Law Review / Feb. 12, 2024

On January 30, 2024, the San Diego City Council approved an ordinance implementing Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposal to establish an extensive project labor agreement (“PLA”), which is slated to impose various conditions and restrictions on most City-funded construction projects.

Most notably, the PLA establishes conditions of employment and minimum wage requirements, additional safety protocols, and other regulations imposed on contractors and their subcontractors.

Axios San Diego reports that on Tuesday, Feb. 13, hundreds of flight attendants, pilots and other airline workers will be picketing outside the San Diego Airport as part of a nationwide demonstration over their pay and working conditions amid ongoing contract negotiations.

They’re asking for raises and challenging their pay structure and will be joining picketers from multiple unions representing 100,000 flight attendants for Alaska, United, American, Southwest and other airlines who are expected outside 30 airports nationwide. The industry norm is they don’t get paid until the plane doors close.

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By Thomas Fudge / KPBS / December 15, 2023

There are still taxi drivers in San Diego despite the storm of changes to the industry brought by ride-hailing companies. You can still call a dispatcher to get a ride from drivers with the United Taxi Workers of San Diego (UTWSD). But now those taxis also have an app, just like Uber and Lyft.

“You can go to your Apple App store, your Google Play store and just search for Ride United. You’ll see ‘Ride United (Passengers)’, and just click download like with any other app,” said UC San Diego communication professor Lilly Irani.

By Kristina Houck / Patch San Diego / Dec. 5, 2023

After the New Year, employment discrimination for off-duty cannabis use will be illegal in California. Assembly Bill 2188 and Senate Bill 700 amend the California Fair Employment and Housing Act to protect employment rights for people who use marijuana.

Beginning Jan. 1, it will be against the law under AB 2188, with certain exceptions, for California employers with five or more employees to discriminate against current or potential workers for cannabis use off the job and outside of the workplace.

Starbucks’ annual “Red Cup Day” may be accompanied with long wait times Thursday, Nov. 16 instead of holiday cheer.

Thousands of workers, including some in San Diego, are planning to strike while demanding the coffee giant comes to the bargaining table in regards to staffing and scheduling concerns.

The Workers United union proclaimed the day as the “Red Cup Rebellion,” choosing the date because it’s one of Starbucks’ busiest days of the year. Annually, those who order a holiday drink of this day receive a reusable cup.

Thousands of Kaiser Permanente health care workers went on strike this morning, Wed., Oct. 4 at hospitals and medical offices in San Diego and across the country.

Kaiser has failed to reach a deal with a coalition of unions to renew a contract that expired Sept. 30. Union leaders are fighting for more staffing and higher annual pay raises, arguing their wages have not kept up with the rising cost of living and inflation.

 Only one thing can save us from predatory AIs: our own data

by John Robb and Jacob Siegel / Tablet / Sept. 25, 2023

As Hollywood recycles comic book remakes with funding from China, the once-great cultural capital appears to be in a state of steep decline. But in one area, at least, the movie industry is offering a bold and inspiring vision for the future. The writers and actors who went on strike to prevent studio owners from using artificial intelligence (AI) to exploit and expropriate their work are on the front lines of a new data war triggered by the explosive growth of AI. This past July, Fran Drescher, former star of the popular sitcom The Nanny, and now president of the SAG-AFTRA union,