Good morning. It’s Monday, Jan. 29. I’m Suhauna Hussain, a labor reporter at the L.A. Times. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
‘Hot Labor Summer’ is long gone. But California is still a ground-zero for labor actions.
A resurgence in labor activity last summer hit California in large part due to corporate greed, low unemployment and our unique housing crisis, as my colleague Sam Dean wrote in August. The Hollywood strikes that defined the city last year may have ended (read more about the actors’ deal or the writers’ deal), and more and more hotel workers are coming to agreements with their managements.
But labor controversies are still rolling through the courts, universities and workplaces. Here are some developments to pay attention to if you care about California labor policy or workers’ rights.
A judge ruled that a criminal case against the ‘Justice 8’ activists who defend street vendors could proceed
Edin Alex Enamorado and other activists defending street vendors face charges related to some of their controversial tactics. After a five-day preliminary hearing that concluded Jan. 10, a judge dropped some charges but ruled that a criminal case could proceed. Times columnist Gustavo Arellano argued in a recent column that the charges constitute prosecutorial overreach, calling the police officers, sheriff’s deputies and detectives who served as witnesses “unprepared and unconvincing.”
Newsom sought to delay healthcare minimum wage increase
About 500,000 California healthcare workers were expected to see pay increases beginning in June under a new law bumping up their industry’s minimum wage. Citing budget woes, Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking to delay the pay raises. It’s unclear what the new timeline will look like. Labor advocates say they are worried about how budget concerns will further impact workers’ gains — not only in the timeline for newly enacted legislation, but depleted staffing for state agencies enforcing laws around workers’ health and safety and wage theft claims
California’s civil rights department sued a grocery company
The lawsuit alleges that Ralphs illegally denied jobs to hundreds of people based on their criminal history. The suit is the first of its kind under the state’s Fair Chance Act, which limits the use of conviction history in hiring decisions. It’s part of a push to combat discrimination that formerly incarcerated people face when looking for work.
A USC case could determine the future of college athletics
Are USC football and basketball players employees under the National Labor Relations Act? That’s a question that the NLRB began hearing arguments for in November. The outcome could potentially mean universities would have to pay their athletes, with potentially existential implications for the current business model.
Striking hotel workers were allegedly hit by pellet gun projectiles; union criticizes police response
Last week four workers and one union organizer with Unite Here Local 11 were protesting outside Hotel Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles when they were “repeatedly fired upon, apparently with an air rifle,” the union said. It appears to be the latest incident in which workers have been attacked as they protested outside properties in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Unite Here Local 11 officials criticized the police response as “deficient and problematic.” Los Angeles police did not arrive at the scene for three hours and in that time a third worker was struck on the collarbone, the union said. After months of strikes, approximately half of some 60 Southern California hotels involved have reached tentative deals with workers.
The University of California rejected a proposal to hire undocumented student workers
The governing board of the UC system has declined to move forward with a plan to hire immigrant students who lack legal work authorization. UC regents argued implementing the plan could open the…
This article was originally published by a www.latimes.com . Read the Original article here. .