Feature Archives

Fresno is ground zero in an epic battle for the heart and soul of the union movement. Will 10,000+ Fresno homecare workers be represented by a union run by unelected, out-of-town bureaucrats who negotiate sweetheart deals behind closed doors with corporate CEOs? Or, will workers support the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), a member-driven organization that fights for better pay and benefits for its members?

UCSC is seeking to meet budget deficits by cutting health care coverage and benefits to its graduate students, including those with families and dependents. These cuts could increase the cost of co-pays for doctor visits and emergency care, decrease life-time coverage limits and probably, and most significantly, increase co-pays for prescription drugs, even those taken on a regular basis for chronic conditions.

On Wednesday, April 29th, UC Berkeley Police, apparently acting on behalf of ICE and introducing themselves as ICE agents, arrested Jesús Gutiérrez, a worker at the Clark Kerr Campus Dining Commons and a union activist in AFSCME Local 3299. Gutierrez remains in Santa Rita Jail. On Wednesday, May 13th, a rally and a march was held at Sproul Plaza, UC-Berkeley, to demand the release of Jesús Gutiérrez from ICE custody.

A lawsuit filed May 1st in federal court by a security and private intelligence firm against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has revealed details of the militarized takeover of Oakland-based local United Healthcare Workers West (UHW). SEIU spent millions to conduct surveillance of UHW's headquarters and membership meetings and to provide "protection services" to SEIU leaders visiting California.

On May 6th, Bay Area workers, clergy, union members, and elected officials held a rally and 24-hour vigil outside the San Francisco Federal Building to urge Senator Dianne Feinstein to support the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Feinstein recently withdrew her support for the bill, which would reform federal labor law and make it easier for workers to form unions and bargain collectively.

On May 1st, International Workers Day, rallies and marches were held in the San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Cruz County, and the Central Valley. Demonstrators called for action in defense of jobs, families, immigrants, and unions.

On Friday, May 1st from 4:00 - 9:00pm there will be May Day activities in the Watsonville Plaza, including speakers, free consultations with lawyers, films, and more. At 6:00pm, people throughout the Monterey Bay Area will rally and march to demand justice, human rights, and comprehensive immigration reform with pathways to citizenship.