Unions

A legislative deal will keep a malpractice measure off the November California election ballot, but another issue is headed for voters.

CalMatters is dedicated to explaining how state government impacts our lives. Your support helps us produce journalism that makes a difference. Donate now. Today, as millions of Californians rush to file their tax returns and apply for tax credits, state lawmakers are returning to Sacramento from an 11-day spring recess — and preparing to resume negotiations over […]

Big labor and big business are spending big bucks in a special election for a San Diego seat in the state Assembly. The campaign, now headed to a June 7 runoff, previews battles to come in the 2022 campaign.

CalMatters is dedicated to explaining how state government impacts our lives. Your support helps us produce journalism that makes a difference. Donate now. On the surface, California’s economic recovery from the pandemic is looking rosier and rosier — but underneath, worker discontent is brewing. Today, nursing home workers are scheduled to hold events across the state — […]

The divisions among California Democrats were on display during the party convention, including tensions with labor and progressives.

The unprecedented breadth and depth of the tax increase to fund single-payer health care is economically tone deaf.

United Farm Workers membership has been down for years, so low that UC Merced researchers declared farmworker union membership statistically zero for 2020. Supporters say it’s too early to write the union’s obituary but UFW struggles to push its political agenda and grow its ranks.

An unusually high number of influential state legislators are retiring or running for higher office. The reasons include a combination of new electoral districts, term limits and political ambition.

As union representation has bottomed out in some of the country’s lowest-paid industries, a group of California lawmakers and labor leaders are pushing to test a version of sectoral bargaining, a labor strategy common in other high-income countries. Progressives are pushing for a state-appointed council for the fast food industry to set wages and work conditions, which have historically been negotiated privately between employers and worker unions.

Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, a key union backer in the California Legislature, will step down to take over the California Labor Federation.