California Divide

A wage theft settlement with the Cheesecake Factory is one of the first uses of a state law designed to hold bigger companies accountable, as well as their contractors.

State officials hope a lottery and an emphasis on first-generation homebuyers will make California’s most generous down payment assistance program more equitable.

San Francisco provides all tenants facing eviction access to an attorney. Across the Bay, in Contra Costa County, it’s a different story. Two tenants’ stories show the difference a lawyer can make.

Kern County agrees to better protect free speech in a deal with the state Justice Department — inspired by the county’s’ 2020 squashing of COVID contracts to organizations that advocated defunding police.

María Vela’s family has lived in East L.A. nearly 30 years, but new owners of her duplex asked her family to vacate by Christmas. Most evictions are due to nonpayment of rent, but owner move-ins also cause family displacement.

Detainee says ICE officers flew him to Texas, where he was threatened with force-feeding and was made to end his fast with solid foods, causing illness.

As extra pandemic benefits ended, California poverty rose in 2023. Pay increases in 2024 and labor activism could change the equation.

The Exclusive Poultry Inc. agreed to pay $3.8 million in wages, damages and penalties in part for hiring children for dangerous work. The case is one of hundreds federal labor officials investigated last year.

The California food banks association warns of rising food insecurity, but its pleas for more state aid face a tough slog next year due to the projected budget deficit.

With nine months' experience in the Assembly, Liz Ortega will lead the Labor committee after a strike-filled summer and several wins for low-wage workers.