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Inside Climate News

California’s Oil Country Hopes Carbon Management Will Provide Jobs. It May Be Disappointed

A 2023 study from the University of California Berkeley Labor Center found the majority of unionized oil workers laid off from a refinery in Northern California in 2020 were able to find new work — mostly in the petroleum industry — after the facility suddenly shuttered, but took pay cuts amounting to nearly a quarter of their previous salaries. Only 43 percent of their new jobs were unionized.

Christian Science Monitor

Minimum wages rise: Here’s where the changes matter most

“Research finds that minimum wage laws do what they’re intended to do. They improve low-wage workers’ earnings, which has a full range of positive impacts, both on workers and on society,” says Ken Jacobs, who co-chairs the University of California, Berkeley’s Labor Center.

Daily Bruin

Gov. Gavin Newsom announces plan to modify scheduled health care wage increases

Lucia said intertwined concerns about the cost of SB 525 and the state budget deficit drove Newsom to request a collaborative revision of the law. However, she added that the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s cost estimate for SB 525 is far lower than the circulating estimates, falling in the range of several hundred million dollars rather than billions of dollars.

RELEASE: Ensuring the Supply of Agricultural Truck Drivers: What the State of California Can Do

This report provides the first in-depth look at the labor market for agricultural truck drivers in California and the first study of this workforce anywhere in the U.S. in almost 30 years. It finds that, while there is not a shortage of people interested in truck driving, the industry faces challenges with retaining drivers, with turnover being especially high for long-haul drivers.

RELEASE: Fossil fuel layoff: The economic and employment effects of a refinery closure on workers in the Bay Area

A new report from the University of California Berkeley Labor Center released Wednesday documents the difficult post-layoff job search and working conditions of hundreds of California fossil fuel workers in the aftermath of the 2020 closure of the Marathon Martinez oil refinery in Contra Costa County, providing an illuminating case study of the perils and needs of workers in the nation’s changing energy landscape.

Sep 10

Skills to Win

The Skills to Win Workshop is a six-week series for rank and file members and staff of unions, worker associations, worker centers, and community organizations that are embarking on, or in the midst of, organizing campaigns.

Nov 12

Lead Organizer Training

This four-day, in-person workshop is offered to individuals in labor and community-based organizations who are lead organizers and want to strengthen their skills in effectively managing their team.