As the state navigates the energy transition, it needs a clear and comprehensive plan to provide real support for refinery workers and communities affected by closures.
California extended Medi-Cal for undocumented immigrants over the last decade, starting with low-income children in 2016, adding young adults in 2020 and adults 50 or over in 2022, and then completing the coverage with adults ages 26-49 in January 2024.
“We do not currently have the plans in place to ensure a just transition, but we have learned a lot over the last couple of years about and learned from workers and communities who’ve been affected by closure so far about what a transition can and should look like and how to actually make it happen,” said Jessie Hammerling.
According to the UC Berkeley Labor Center, around 500,000 undocumented Californians don’t financially qualify for Medi-Cal, and are not eligible for Covered California or employer-based coverage because of their legal status.
About 25 Bay Area cities also have higher-than-statewide minimum wages, most pegged to inflation, that go up on Jan. 1. A few other cities, including San Francisco, have higher minimums that will adjust on July 1.
California has about 2.5 million uninsured residents under age 65, or about 8% of the state’s population, according to estimates from UC Berkeley Labor Center.
What differentiates app-based workers covered by Prop 22 the most from other workers is that they lawfully earn an employee equivalent of $5.97 per hour, without tips, in a context where the average California municipal minimum wage is $16 per hour.
A study released this week by the UC Berkeley Labor Law Center found that drivers for Uber, Lyft and other passenger companies in California were making an average of $5.97 an hour after taxes, or $7.63 an hour including tips.
Labor unions called the Prop 22 protections “feeble” and said researchers at the UC Berkeley Labor Center had determined that the drivers’ average compensation is between $5.64 and $6.77 an hour.
Veritas, the largest landlord in San Francisco, has defaulted on another loan and is losing 23 apartment buildings. Our practitioner in residence Brad Hirn discusses Veritas, the Union-At-Home ordinance, and ongoing tenant organizing.
Higher wages will increase expenses for some fast-food chains, but “they don’t have to raise prices,” Lopezlira said. “They’re making lots of revenue” — profits of 6% or more for Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, and nearly 10% for McDonald’s.
“It’s not just that everything is getting more expensive. It’s that health care in particular is eating up a bigger and bigger chunk of people’s budgets,” said Miranda Dietz.
In addition to California’s tight labor market and population losses, San Francisco is particularly unsuited to filling police department positions, Hinkley said — most of its adult population is college-educated, and thus can get higher-paying jobs in the private sector.
Under the new California law, an estimated 450,000 health care workers will receive a wage increase, according to a June analysis of the bill by the UC Berkeley Labor Center. That represents 40% of the state’s health care workforce and nearly 3% of the state’s overall workforce, the analysis found.
Given Kaiser’s size and influence as one of the largest health care providers and employers in California, the outcome could set the tone for other health care companies when it comes to working conditions, said Laurel Lucia.
Because Peet’s has deep roots in the Bay Area, other workers nearby could be inspired by the unionizing efforts of their colleagues and start their own, said Ken Jacobs, the chair of UC Berkeley’s Labor Center.
Incremental wage increases might not solve the housing problems for working people in expensive areas like Sonoma, but coupled with other benefits like expanded childcare that unions like Unite Here have been able to wrangle from employers, it’s a step, said Ken Jacobs.
Ken Jacobs is keeping an eye on Peet’s. A key next step, he said, will be for the recently unionized workers to draft their demands ahead of negotiations. Depending on how the company approaches these developments, the first round of contract bargaining can be a very tough one for the unionizing workers.
Enrique Lopezlira, an economist at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, said wage gaps are in part caused by discrimination. He pointed to studies that show that resumes with traditionally white-sounding names were more likely to be contacted by employers than similar resumes that used Black-sounding names.
The largest strike in U.S. academic history, across all 10 University of California campuses, is the latest example of the comeback unions are making.
Announcing a union without driving for a contract, “Has not been common in the United States,” said Ken Jacobs.
Labor Center researcher Lopezlira said his organization is beginning research on why the public sector has seen slow recovery in employment staffing since the pandemic. He said the city’s lack of affordable housing could be one of the causes of the high number of vacancies in government positions.
The best strategy for Hill staffers seeking unionization, Jacobs said, would be to “negotiate some agreements with sympathetic congressional offices,” and then create a template of a contract for other offices to organize around.
Ken Jacobs explains why support for unions is higher than it’s been since the 1960s, and why the wave of Starbucks unionization is unlikely to end anytime soon.
The franchise business model that dominates the fast-food industry creates a layer of separation between workers and parties responsible for working conditions, a recent UCLA study states.
