Unions

California cities are struggling to hire police in a tight labor market after the COVID pandemic. Some are raising by double digits and offering eye-catching bonuses.

Did you mask up during public gatherings over the holiday weekend? Or is the COVID-19 resurgence really not that bad? It can be confusing, explains CalMatters’ health reporter Kristen Hwang. Though testing data has become less reliable because access has decreased, we know that COVID-19 hospitalization rates have been steadily ticking upwards, and wastewater surveillance […]

Despite warnings from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office and concerns from some labor-friendly Democrats, the Senate budget committee on Wednesday approved two bills to fund new contracts for three-fourths of the state’s rank-and-file workers.   The misgivings? Extra goodies in the tentative deal for prison guards, the lack of time to review the contracts negotiated by […]

The battle over LGBTQ+ students in California public schools and parental rights is heating up again — and this time Attorney General Rob Bonta is going to court. Bonta on Monday announced that he has filed a lawsuit against Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education over its recent policy to require district teachers […]

California is struggling with the intertwined crises of homelessness and mental illness. But are Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new CARE Courts the right prescription? That depends largely on whether county courts and mental health departments succeed as they roll out the program starting in October. And as CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang details, that’s definitely a work in […]

California received a one-two punch from Mother Nature as Tropical Storm Hilary unleashed torrential record rains and flooding across Southern California, and an earthquake struck near Ojai — all during what has historically been the state’s wildfire season. The wild weekend prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to head south, declaring a storm state of emergency even […]

California has been spared many devastating wildfires so far this year. But for a reminder of the death and destruction they can bring, you only need to look at the searing images of the island paradise of Maui going up in flames last week — just as Paradise in California was turned to ashes in […]

While much of the attention of “hot labor summer” has been focused on workers in the private sector — such as hotel workers, delivery drivers and Hollywood screenwriters — employees in the public sector are also demanding better pay and working conditions. On Tuesday, thousands of city workers across Los Angeles, including staff at LAX […]

Showing solidarity with other social classes is a prominent union strategy in the so-called “hot labor summer” sweeping California. It’s too soon to say if the inter-union activity will get employers to bargain.

“A catastrophic hunger crisis.” That’s the dire warning from the California Association of Food Banks, after federal pandemic food aid ended earlier this spring.  But why does a state with so much food — California produces nearly half the country’s fruits and vegetables — and that spends so much on food aid have so many […]