Nov 16, 2016
Yesterday, the San Jose City Council voted to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 by 2019, three years before the state of California reaches that standard. San Jose — the 10th largest city in the nation— is the latest to join five other Santa Clara County cities in a regional effort to raise the wage. In the wake of…
Nov 11, 2016
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…
Oct 20, 2016
It should come as little surprise that Hillary Clinton is well-positioned to gain California’s fifty-five electoral votes on November 8, given the state’s strong Democrat registration advantage and diverse demographics. In fact, the pollsters at FiveThirtyEight estimate she has a 24.9% lead over Donald Trump, pegging her chances of state victory at 99.9%. If the race for California is already…
Oct 5, 2016
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…
Sep 29, 2016
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…
Sep 16, 2016
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…
Sep 15, 2016
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…
Sep 14, 2016
Today brought news about a big tech shuttle bus driver win. Drivers at Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation — serving companies including Cisco Systems, Zynga, Electronic Arts, and Intuit — joined the Teamsters union. This is a critical victory in the larger effort by Silicon Valley’s workers and communities to combat occupational segregation in the tech industry under the Silicon Valley Rising…
Sep 9, 2016
Let’s be blunt. San Jose City Council Candidate Steve Brown is a hate-filled bigot who believes that LGBTQ people are second-class citizens. He sees nothing wrong with businesses refusing to serve individuals they suspect of being LGBTQ. He also opposes marriage equality. “Steve Brown’s homophobic views perpetuate a cycle of oppression and fear that cannot be tolerated,” said Ben Field,…
Aug 12, 2016
After nearly two weeks on strike, the Santa Clara Professional Employees Association (SCPEA) and the Santa Clara County Superior Court have reached an agreement. SCPEA, which is recommending that its members ratify the agreement, is scheduled to hold a vote this weekend. If members approve the deal, the strike will end, employees will return to work on Monday, August 15th and…