Los Angeles

Los Angeles And San Francisco Announce They Are Moving Forward With Plans To Start Public Banks

October 11, 2019 Staff, Publicbankinginstitute.org Create! Los Angeles, Public Banks, San Francisco

Close on the heels of the Public Banking Act being signed into law last week, LA City Council President Herb Wesson announced he will be introducing a motion within the week to hire a banking expert to draft a comprehensive plan for a public bank for the City. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that San Francisco was also pushing ahead with plans for a city-owned bank. Wesson announced the motion in a press conference (Facebook link) celebrating the unprecedented success of AB 857 in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Monday Oct 7.

Los Angeles County Sues Monsanto Over Chemical Contamination

June 5, 2019 Andrew Emett, Nationofchange.org Resist! Chemicals, Contamination, Lawsuit, Los Angeles, Monsanto

According to the lawsuit, Monsanto had been aware that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were harmful but concealed the data for years while polluting the water. Los Angeles County recently filed a lawsuit against Bayer, the company that purchased Monsanto last year, for allegedly contaminating the local environment with an outlawed chemical that Monsanto used in many of its products decades ago. According to the lawsuit, Monsanto had been aware that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were harmful but concealed the data for years while polluting the water.

Thousands Of Uber Drivers Are Striking In Los Angeles

March 27, 2019 By Alexia Fernández Campbell, Vox.com Resist! Class Struggle, Los Angeles, Strikes, Uber, Workers

Uber and Lyft drivers in Los Angeles are refusing to pick up customers today — part of a one-day strike to protest Uber’s recent decision to slash pay rates for drivers in the area. Last week, Uber slashed its per-mile pay by 25 percent in Los Angeles County and parts of Orange County. That means drivers will earn 60 cents per mile instead of 80 cents. That decision has pushed drivers, who were already struggling to make ends meet, over the edge. Hundreds of drivers swarmed the streets, chanting and picketing outside Uber’s office in suburban LA.

Public Schools Should Offer More Vegan Menus

February 25, 2019 Staff, Pe.com Create! California, Food and Agriculture, Los Angeles, New Economy, Schools

LOS ANGELES – Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, D-Van Nuys, announced proposed legislation Wednesday that he said would provide incentives for public schools across the state to offer students a plant-based entree and plant-based milk at meals. Under AB 479, the Healthy Climate-Friendly School Lunch Act, schools would receive additional state funding for serving the vegan options, which Nazarian said would be healthier and more climate-friendly. The bill would also provide state support for staff training, engagement, recipe development, and other technical assistance needed to help boost participation rates, according to Nazarian’s office.

Some Early Lessons From The Los Angeles Teachers Strike

January 26, 2019 Bruce A. Dixon, Blackagendareport.com Resist! Class Struggle, Los Angeles, Strikes, Teachers

Corporate media absolutely won’t tell you this, but this year’s Los Angeles teachers strike is the latest chapter in the long running struggle against the privatization of public education in the US. With massive public support, 30,000 teachers have voted a settlement that increases their wages a little, brings back nurses, librarians and counselors to each and every one of the city’s 900 schools, caps class sizes and charter school expansion and more. Striking teachers managed to bring issues to the table that were supposed to be impossible to address, like the manipulation of school board real estate, school closings and charter policies to gentrify neighborhoods, among others.

Canada’s Reconciliation Fail, LA Teacher’s Strike Big Picture & The Commodified Self

January 24, 2019 Eleanor Goldfield, Occupy.com Resistance Report Canada, Energy, Los Angeles, Strikes, Teachers

How the lie of a struggling school district drove LA teachers to strike – and the larger fight for public school funding vs. charter school elitism that these actions highlight. Next, in the forests of British Columbia, sovereign indigenous clans continue a decade-long shutdown of dirty energy projects. And finally, Chris Garaffa joins us to talk tech – suggestion: leave your phone in the other room – it won't want to hear this.

UTLA Reaches Bargaining Deal With District

January 23, 2019 Staff, Utla.net Educate! Class Struggle, Los Angeles, Strikes, Teachers, Unions

After six days on strike along with parents, students and community members across Los Angeles, we have reached a historic agreement that addresses major issues impacting our schools, students and professions. Below are links to the full text and summary of that agreement, which the UTLA Board of Directors endorses for a YES vote.

The Radical Worker Politics Of The Los Angeles Teacher Strike

January 21, 2019 Jared Sacks, Roarmag.org Resist! Class Struggle, Education, Los Angeles, Strikes, Teachers

Depending on one’s capacity for optimism, 2018 either foretold the rebirth of labor militancy in the United States or, conversely, suggested the last gasp of a movement that has been in near-terminal decline since the 1970s. Two key events took place last year, which, per one’s analysis, have led to opposing predictions for workers in the US. First, in February 2018, after years of austerity under Republican control, West Virginia teachers and school personnel decided to go on strike. But this was no conventional work stoppage. In West Virginia, teachers are considered providers of “essential services”, making any strike action illegal...

Teacher Strikes Expose The Corrupt Privatization Of Schools

January 19, 2019 By Jeff Bryant, IndependentMediaInstitute.org Educate! Education, Los Angeles, Privatization, Schools, Strikes, Teachers

This week, Republican lawmakers held a press conference on Capitol Hill to kick off National School Choice Week, an annual event that began in 2011 under President Obama who proclaimed it as a time to “recognize the role public charter schools play in providing America’s daughters and sons with a chance to reach their fullest potential.” This year, Democratic lawmakers took a pass on the celebration. You can thank striking teachers for that. In the latest teacher strike in Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school system, some 30,000 teachers walked off the job saying unchecked growth of charter schools and charters’ lack of transparency and accountability have become an unsustainable drain on the public system’s financials.

L.A. School Board Member Breaks Ranks To Support Striking Teachers, Blames Beutner As District Losses Mount

January 18, 2019 Erick Galindo, Lataco.com Resist! Class Struggle, Education, Los Angeles, Schools, Strikes, Teachers

The teachers strike is happening because of Superintendent Austin Beutner and School Board policy of not contradicting him publicly during the negotiations, according to L.A. Unified School Board Member Scott M. Schmerelson. “I believe that there are resources available to end this strike,” Schmerelson said in a statement. “What I do not see from Austin Beutner, and his supporters, is the political will to substitute constructive negotiations for the fear mongering, expensive taxpayer funded ads, slanted editorials, and endless press conferences.” Schmerelson’s statement comes on the heels of news that school attendance dropped 22 percent from already tiny numbers the previous two days.

Billionaires Vs. LA Schools

January 17, 2019 Eric Blanc, Jacobinmag.com Educate! Class Struggle, Education, Los Angeles, Ruling Class, Strikes, Teachers

Unlike many labor actions, the Los Angeles teachers’ strike is not really about wages or benefits. At its core, this is a struggle to defend public schools against the privatizing drive of a small-but-powerful group of billionaires. The plan of these business leaders is simple: break-up the school district into thirty-two competing “portfolio” networks, in order to replace public schools with privately run charters. As firm believers in the dogmas of market fundamentalism, these influential downsizers truly believe that it’s possible to improve education by running it like a private business.

LA Teachers Strike Shows There Is Little Difference Between Dems & Repubs On Corporatized Education

January 16, 2019 Steven Singer, Gadflyonthewallblog.com Resist! Education, Electoral Politics, Los Angeles, Reform, Strikes, Teachers

On Monday more than 30,000 teachers at 900 schools in Los Angeles, California, will be on strike. And unlike the wave of teachers strikes last year in red states like West Virginia, this time educators are taking to the streets due to the policies of Democrats. At issue are things like lowering class sizes and providing more nurses, librarians and counselors. But behind these issues lies one of the most important facts about our country. When you get right down to it, there is very little difference between many Democratic policymakers and their Republican counterparts.

Los Angeles Teachers Strike To Defend Public Schools From The Privatizers

January 15, 2019 Barbara Madeloni, Labornotes.org Organize! Class Struggle, Education, Los Angeles, Privatization, Strikes, Teachers

Last spring a teacher uprising swept the red states. Today it reached the West Coast, as the 34,000 members of United Teachers Los Angeles began a long-anticipated strike in the nation’s second-largest school district. Teachers, parents, students, and community supporters hit the picket lines in their fight against the budget cuts and privatization being pushed by the school board and Superintendent Austin Beutner, a former investment banker. In November the L.A. Times and Capital & Main leaked the outline of Beutner’s plan to carve up the district into clusters of schools run like competing stock portfolios. Any school judged to be an underperformer would be sold off like a weak stock.

Los Angeles Teachers Strike In Second Largest School District In US

January 15, 2019 David Brown, Wsws.org Resist! Education, Los Angeles, Strikes, Teachers

More than 33,000 teachers in Los Angeles, California went on strike Monday morning, setting up picket lines at more than 1,200 public schools in the second largest school district in the US. Teachers are demanding higher wages, smaller class sizes and more support staff. The walkout is the largest struggle by educators since the wave of statewide strikes in West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Arizona from March to May in 2018. Unlike those previous strikes, where teachers were largely confronting Republican-controlled state governments, Los Angeles teachers are in a direct battle with the Democratic Party, which controls every lever of government in Los Angeles and California.

US: 31,000 Strong LA Teachers’ Union To Strike Next Week

January 12, 2019 Staff, Telesurenglish.net Resist! Class Struggle, Los Angeles, Strikes, Teacher's Union, Teachers, Unions

A union representing over 30,000 teachers in Los Angeles, California has threatened a massive walkout to demand higher salaries, smaller class sizes, and a moratorium on new charter schools. The strike is expected to take place Monday. United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) had warned they would strike in the city's 900 public schools Thursday if an agreement was not reached before then. On Wednesday, however, the teacher’ union delayed the walk-out after officials with the Los Angeles Unified School District said they had not been given a legally required 10-day notice of the labor action. A judge refused to rule on the issue Wednesday, saying that the LAUSD's court papers had been incorrectly filed.

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