AFL-CIO

Unions Rally to Block Koch Brothers' L.A. Times Purchase

By Nanette Gonzalez and Sarah Fenske In just two short months, Charles and David Koch's dreams of purchasing the L.A. Times have gone from a well-sourced rumor, first reported on this blog, to the catalyst for outraged essays in newspapers across the country to a protest song by none less than Ry C ... More >>

Sen. Feinstein's Westwood Office To Be Target Of Pro-Immigrant Protest

For most intents and purposes, Dianne Feinstein is a fairly progressive and pro-immigrant senator from California. But immigrants' rights groups feel she hasn't gone far enough, fast enough, especially in light of President Obama's call for comprehensive immigration reform that would include a path ... More >>

On The Heels of Water Rate Increase For L.A., Report Says Average Water And Power Worker Makes Nearly $100,000 a Year

Craig Bennett​You think times are hard? Try being an average-salaried Department of Water and Power worker, who takes home $96,805 a year of public money, according to a recent analysis by Bloomberg. Can you even, like sustain a Whole Foods-stocked pantry on that kind of money? Really, that's ... More >>

Mitt Romney: America's First Mexican President?

We always knew that, with Barack Obama blazing the trail for African Americans, someday Latinos would get their first president too. What we didn't know is that it could actually be ... Mitt Romney!? Ay, dios mio. Turns out that sometime Southern Californian Mitt has deeper Mexican roots than a ca ... More >>

Powerful Unions Back Occupy L.A.'s Class Warfare Downtown

Those rabble-rousers that have been stirring things up downtown L.A. in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement just got some powerful backers. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO) said hell yes to Occupy L.A. in a statement released last night. Lest you forget the federatio ... More >>

Un-Gerrymandering Los Angeles

Get ready for the brawl of cutting Southern California in pieces, on paper

Measure L: For Sheryn Morris and Other Librarians, Adults, Students and Immigrants Need Libraries Now More Than Ever

Jason Jones​Sheryn Morris has been a librarian for 32 years. Eighteen of them at the Los Angeles Public Library system. She currently works at the reference desk at the literature and fiction section of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library in downtown. "We really love our jobs," says Morri ... More >>

Measure L: Benjamin Franklin Librarian Alicia Moguel Says Young Students and Unemployed Impacted By Budget Cuts to L.A.'s Libraries

L.A. Librarian Alicia Moguel​The Benjamin Franklin Branch Library in Boyle Heights serves 16 local elementary schools -- from public to private -- but young students can't go to the busy library after school on Mondays due to deep budget cuts to the Los Angeles Public Library system. "We no ... More >>

Measure L: Exposition Park Branch Librarian Maddy Kerr Says Veterans and Students Deeply Impacted by Library Budget Cuts

L.A. Librarian Maddy Kerr​At L.A.'s Exposition Park Branch Library near the University of Southern California, children's librarian Maddy Kerr has seen firsthand the troubling after-effects of severely reduced operating hours at the Los Angeles Public Library system. "People tell me that if ... More >>

Measure L: Robertson Branch Librarian Henry Gambill Says Budget Cuts Hurt Students Who Need Hard-to-Find Books

L.A. Librarian Henry Gambill​Read the most recent L.A. Weekly news story on the public library budget cuts: L.A.'s Library Measure L. Aside from the dying city of Detroit, Los Angeles is the only significant U.S. municipality to close down its entire public library system two days a week due ... More >>

Measure L: Cypress Park Librarian Patrick Xavier Says Harsh Budget Cuts Hamper Top-Notch Customer Service

Cypress Park Branch Library​In northeast Los Angeles at the Cypress Park Branch Library, acting senior librarian Patrick Xavier has been dealing with the daily fall out of severe budget cuts to the Los Angeles Public Library system, which has reduced his staff. "It's a struggle to maintain a ... More >>

Measure L: Studio City Librarian Karen Pickard-Four Says Teens and Seniors Feel the Pain of Budget Cuts at L.A. Libraries

Ted SoquiRichard J. Riordan Central Library in downtown L.A.​At the Studio City Branch Library in the San Fernando Valley, acting senior librarian Karen Pickard-Four says teens and senior citizens feel the pain of severe budget cuts at the Los Angeles Public Library system. "For those kids w ... More >>

Measure L: Due To Severe Budget Cuts, L.A. Librarians Struggle to Help Students and Families

Richard J. Riordan Central Library in downtown L.A.​Update, 2:50 p.m.: The Library Foundation of Los Angeles gave a major boost to the Measure L campaign, contributing $200,000 to get the ballot measure passed. Read more after jump. Last summer, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the ... More >>

Happy Birthday Mr. President: Secret Service Vetoes Birthday Cake

Washington SceneThe Obamas celebrating in 2003​ Happy Birthday, Mr. President. President Obama turns 49 years old today (CNN Developing News: "I have a more gray hair"), and is celebrating the event by, well, working. According to the White House, he will finish his day by heading to Chicago i ... More >>

Obama Buddy Is Union Buster

Tyler Perry is on the outs with everyone — except Oprah and Barack

As Props. 94-97 Pass, Tribes Tell Voters: How Dare You?

Sore winners turn Biltmore victory party into a complaint session

The Greatest Good for the Smallest Number

The Republican Congress doesn’t like to legislate, and it shows

The Smartest Movement

Immigrant advocates just may have figured out how to change America for the better

The Reiner Riddle

Whatever his Sacramento troubles, Meathead’s created a smart progressive initiative

Life of Labor

Miguel, Martin and Maria Elena

Sour Grapes

California’s farm workers’ endless struggle 40 years later

The Architect

Miguel Contreras, 1952 – 2005

Making Those Red States Blue

Unions look to battleground states — and the South

Letters

All Together Now

The trick is spreading unity into the countryside

Dennis the Annoyed

Kucinich, the Cleveland crusader, battles Washington

Recall Demographics

And the importance of SB2

Something That’s Aggressive, That’s Refreshing, That’s Energetic

Excerpts from the L.A. Weekly’s interview with Martin Ludlow, candidate for the 10th Los Angeles City Council District

Letters

New Dock City

Can the ILWU stay out of the bite?

Letters

The Push for a Living Wage in Mexico

Independent unions challenge economic elite, but victories are rare and hard-fought

On the Edge

In times of war, living-wage backers fight for the jobless

Bad Timing

Globalization meetings, protests called off in Washington

Rail Against the Thief

A protester’s guide to Inauguration Day

My Life as an Underdog

The Green-Republican front against DiF

The Workers Walk

And belatedly, county officials realize they probably should try to negotiate a settlement

Turn the Channel

Why those striking actors just can’t get respect — or a contract

What Los Angeles Needs To Know About the Democrats

Can the world’s oldest continuous political party regain its majority? Its activists? Its purpose?

People’s Podium

A protester’s guide to the Democratic convention

Ralph Rising

What the Nader Candidacy means for Gore, the Greens, the left, and the nation

Aborted Takeoff

Hopes for union grounded at LAX

The World Festival of Sacred Music -- the Americas

Global Sacredness, Locally

Immigrant Workers

The law that keeps them chained

Letters

The Living-on-the-Edge Ordinance

This county ordains a living wage for some, instead of for all

B.S. on Campus

USC food workers fast for new contract

Less Than the Sum of Its Parts

Our fragmented progressive movement, and what to do about it

Lap dancers

Lap dancers win right to be treated as employees