New UC Berkeley Labor Center Study Shows the Impact of Raising the Wage in California

Hint: raising the minimum wage is good for everyone

By Rachel Warino

 

Historic legislation to raise the wage in California to $15 an hour would be an economic boost to workers and California’s economy, according to a new study released by the UC Berkeley Labor Center. According to researchers, slowly hiking minimum wage to $15 would benefit 5.6 million Californians.

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Why CSU Faculty Are Ready to Strike!

by Niesha Gates

California State University (CSU) faculty and students marched to the state Capitol this morning to rally for fair pay for salary and investment in the CSU.  The California Faculty Association (representing CSU professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors & coaches) have been fighting for a fair contract for over two years. Their potential strike dates will be April 13-15 and April 18-19 if the statutory process fails to produce an agreement. Check out the video below to learn about their fight and why they are willing to go on stike!

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California Leaders Announce Historic Deal to Raise Minimum Wage to $15

History was made today. Gov. Brown joined legislative leaders, workers and unions to announce a deal on proposed legislation to make California the first state in America to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. This day was a long time in the making. Worker led movements like the Fight for 15, labor unions and community groups have been gathering momentum for several years on this issue.

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Who Benefits from Private Courts in the TPP? We’ll Give You One Guess

By Ian Kaplan

The Trans-Pacific Partnership sets up private “corporate courts,” with few rules, that are only open for multinational companies to sue countries. Nearly all the winnings in these “corporate courts” go to the world’s biggest corporations and richest people—and most of the rest goes to the lawyers who work in these tribunals, according to a new study.

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We’re standing together to put an end to surprise medical bills

Last year’s biggest legislative battle on healthcare to return

by Rachel Warino

“When Sarah had a baby in June 2015, she researched her options and chose an in-network hospital. She ended up having an unplanned C-section and was surprised when she received a $1,050 bill for the out-of-network anesthesiologist. “I'm grateful that my baby girl is healthy and that my delivery went well, but I had no idea the anesthesiologist would be out-of-network and not covered by my insurance. That unexpected additional $1,050 bill was a burden on our budget”

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North Valley Labor Federation Public Employee Summit Builds Power in the Valley

by Tim Robertson

On Saturday, March 5, members from fifteen public sector unions joined for a summit in Merced to discuss ongoing threats to public employees and how to fight back. The event, hosted by the North Valley Labor Federation, saw over 40 union members from across the Central Valley – a challenging area for unions – unite to build power for working people. Through improving communications and organizing skills, public employee members and leaders are now poised to grow the power of their locals and the Labor Movement as a whole.

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IBEW 1245 Launches Public Sector Member-to-Member Education Drive on the “Union Difference”

by Eileen Purcell

IBEW 1245 public sector members discuss the union difference

 

“Why pay dues when I can enjoy all the benefits of the union contract without spending a dime?” 

This is just one of the tough questions that 60 IBEW 1245 public sector member-leaders tackled as they prepared to launch a new member-to-member educational drive to push back against the growing attacks against public sector unions.

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