In March 2019, as one of his first major decisions in office, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a moratorium on executions. He later dismantled the lethal injection chamber at San Quentin State Prison — a move that garnered plenty of criticism despite the fact that California has not executed anyone since 2006. Today — on Day […]
California farmworkers marched 335 miles last year to pressure Gov. Gavin Newsom on a law that would help them unionize. Then the union agreed to give back a key win.
State legislators sometimes exempt themselves from the laws they pass, but this session, they could change course on an emblematic bill: To allow their own staffers to form a union.
A dispatch from CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn: UC striking workers are facing a high-stakes game of Deal or No Deal. Friday evening, the University of California and the negotiating team representing 36,000 striking academic workers approved a tentative agreement to end the five-week work stoppage — thought to be the largest-ever labor action […]
Headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk are two highly controversial labor-backed bills that could test the limits of the governor’s commitment to progressive policy as he seeks to elevate his national profile and appeal to voters in other states. Among the pile of bills that state lawmakers greenlighted in marathon Monday floor sessions as they […]
Some of the most powerful groups in the state are at an impasse regarding key housing legislation. Politicians will likely have to choose between alienating a powerful union and streamlining affordable housing development.
The end of the legislative year is upon us and that can only mean one thing in California: We’re about to have another loud debate about a controversial housing bill. It’s a Sacramento tradition years in the making. Legislators like to wait until the last minute (sometimes literally) to consider the year’s most contentious pieces […]
This is CalMatters political reporter Ben Christopher, filling in for Emily who is out sick. Feel better, Emily! Fast food workers and labor advocates wrapped up two days of marching, chanting and mariachi playing around the state Capitol on Wednesday, part of a years-long campaign for a legislative proposal that could transform California’s fast food […]
Proponents say AB 257 could curb wage theft, but restaurateurs say it could raise costs and prices and fundamentally change relationships with fast food chains.