Browsing Category : Economy

Labor Wins Big in Local General Elections


Bucking the national trend local Labor-backed candidates and measures did extraordinarily well in Tuesday’s election.  Here’s a recap: In what was one of the most contested and expensive races in San Jose, Ash Kalra won his bid for Assembly District 27, surpassing his opponent Madison Nguyen by nearly 5,000 votes and counting.  Charter schools, a primary funder of Nguyen’s, and…

Groundbreaking workforce standards on VTA’s Tamien project


Billions of dollars in public and private funds are pouring into our region to fuel Silicon Valley’s development boom. But the boom is a double-edged sword: without enough middle-class jobs for our community, long-time residents are being priced out. We urgently need innovative ways to leverage this development and ensure it leaves a lasting investment in expanded opportunity. The Santa…

San Jose Workers Rally Against High Rise Developers


Today, more than 1,000 local construction trade workers gathered to rally against developers and land speculators like KT Urban for failing to hire local skilled workers and pay them middle-class family sustainable wages. KT Urban is currently developing its latest high-rise, luxury condominium project, Silvery Towers, in downtown San Jose. Workers also urged San Jose elected officials to create good public…

Santa Clara VTA Votes for Community Workforce Agreement Policy


Last week the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board took a big step towards shrinking inequality and building an inclusive middle class.  The Board voted to open up career opportunities on over $4 billion in construction projects for local community members who are struggling to find good, family-supporting jobs.  This groundbreaking Community Workforce Agreement policy was a major goal of…

Cafeteria Workers at Intel Are Latest Tech Service Workers To Join Union


Cafeteria workers at Intel’s Santa Clara campus voted overwhelmingly to unionize and be represented by UNITE HERE Local 19. Following key wins by janitors, security officers and shuttle bus drivers, this victory for food service workers — the fastest growing subcontracted industry that serves the tech sector — breaks new ground for Silicon Valley Rising, an unprecedented campaign across these…

Chamber Email Riddled With Misleading Information About Opportunity to Work Initiative


Earlier this month Victor Gomez, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy for the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, sent out an email containing false information about the Opportunity to Work (OTW) initiative, which will be on the November ballot in San Jose. In fact, the Chamber deliberately mislead many of the email recipients who are not covered by…

Brownstein: San Jose rent control law still falls far short of the need


Special to The Mercury News By adopting only minimal improvements to San Jose’s rent control law, the City Council has allowed our affordable housing crisis to grow worse each year. Wildly escalating rents are the most damaging effect of the region’s housing problems. High rents displace seniors and low wage workers; they force multiple families to crowd into a single…