Sep 24, 2015
The Pope’s visit to the United States is reenergizing organizations throughout our nation that advocate for the just, humane and dignified treatment of workers. The Pope’s message on income inequality, workers’ rights, migrant rights and economic justice has put the spotlight on a very real issue facing working families in Silicon Valley: the significant and growing economic disparity between those…
Sep 22, 2015
City of Santa Clara Final adoption of ordinance to raise minimum wage to $11/hour This is the second reading of the ordinance approved by City Council last month. The ordinance will raise the City of Santa Clara’s minimum wage to $11.00 per hour, effective January 1, 2016, and bring it in line with the other cities in the region that…
Sep 18, 2015
This week the City of Sunnyvale adopted Silicon Valley’s strongest ordinance to regulate short-term rentals of residential properties, such as Airbnb, HomeAway, or FlipKey. The ordinance, which is aimed at mitigating the impact of short-term rentals on affordable housing, allows hosted-only short-term rentals, requires a permit from the City, and does not extend the policy to mobile home parks. It…
On Monday the 49ers beat the Vikings on the field, but suffered a dangerous loss off the field – to their reputation. A number of 49er fans savagely beat one Vikings fan as he lay helpless on the ground. Here is the video of the ugly incident: video-shows-49ers-fans-beating-on-vikings-fan-after-monday-night-game-180955657[1] While the motives for the attack are still unknown, this incident highlights…
Sep 14, 2015
City of San Jose MEMOS regarding Liccardo’s proposed minimum wage study The memo from Councilmembers Kalra, Peralez, Rocha, and T. Nguyen recommends the Council approve the memo from Mayor Liccardo, and Councilmembers Jones and M. Nguyen which puts forth a study on minimum wage increases, adding additional direction. New directions include: The study should fully consider the potential positive effects…
Sep 11, 2015
Today, the County of Santa Clara decided to terminate its contract with Turner Construction. Turner is years behind schedule for completing the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and is costing the County thousands of dollars a day in lost revenue. In addition, last year’s steam explosion at the Medical Center, which injured workers, raised questions about the company’s safety procedures.…
Sep 11, 2015
Last night, the efforts started by Silicon Valley Rising (SVR) to achieve a regional minimum wage took a solid step forward at the Santa Clara County Cities Association (Cities Association) meeting. For more than a year, Silicon Valley Rising has been leading the charge to raise the minimum wage throughout the Valley and has seen success in Sunnyvale, Mountain View,…
Sep 11, 2015
This year’s Labor in the Pulpit/Labor on the Bimah was a resounding success! 40 volunteer speakers took Silicon Valley Rising’s message of combating income inequality into more than 60 services across Santa Clara County, reaching more than 10,000 members of the faith community. Hundreds of congregants moved to action, signing our Faithful Contracts in support of Silicon Valley Rising and pledging to…
Aug 31, 2015
City of San Jose Initial staff report on Mayor Liccardo, Councilmembers Jones and Nguyen’s call for study on impacts of $15 minimum wage in San Jose Staff will present a verbal report with their initial analysis on the previously recommended direction from the August 13, 2015 memorandum from the Mayor, Councilmember Jones and Councilmember M. Nguyen. The memo presented by…
Aug 27, 2015
This year marks the 17th anniversary of Labor in the Pulpit/Labor on the Bimah/Labor in the Minbar in Silicon Valley. Over Labor Day weekend, community leaders, civil rights advocates and union members will be addressing congregations and parishes across Santa Clara County to celebrate the historic partnership between the labor and faith communities. This year, the message will center around income…