Feature Archives

On Sunday, October 8th at 9:00am, maritime workers and other trade unionists picketed Hornblower Yachts at Pier 33 in San Francisco. Photos | Video They planned to return at 4am on Monday to picket the boats that ferried people to Alcatraz for the Indigenous People's Day commemoration. Alcatraz Cruises, part of the anti-union Hornblower Yachts, took over the contract to run the Alcatraz ferry service using non-union crews. The IBU and the MMP, unions that represent workers there, have been negotiating with Hornblower owner Terry Macrae. At issue is whether the captains or "senior" deckhands, who comprise half the workers, can be union members.

Emergency Action: Thurs. Oct. 5th, 7–9 a.m. at Woodfin Suites Hotel, 5800 Shellmound, Emeryville.
On Friday morning, September 29, community members including faith-based leaders, local union members and residents demonstrated their support for immigrant workers at the Woodfin Suites in Emeryville. Carrying mops, brooms, drums, and noise makers, protesters demanded "Woodfin Clean-Up your Act" and "Worker Rights Now!" as workers waved bedsheets from the windows. Photos

On Thursday, September 14th, 2006 around 3:30 pm, about 100 UC Berkeley custodians and their supporters protested on campus to demand a living wage and an end to the doubling of their workload. Demonstrators marched from Lower Sproul Hall to California Hall to voice their frustration. The marchers rallied in front of California Hall, where they delivered approximately 30 custodians' applications for the new Vice Chancellor for Equity position. Report with Photos

The Bay Area Industrial Workers of the World rallied outside Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley, CA, in support of the theater’s workers. Fellow workers from all parts of North America to participate, putting the number at about 125 Wobblies and union-supporters.

On Monday, August 28 and Tuesday August 29, hospital workers at John Muir Medical Center's Concord Campus went on strike, urging the management to come back to the bargaining table. Without a contract since October, members of the 450-strong union have been struggling to prevent the profit-oriented John Muir management from cutting back their families' healthcare packages. Other issues of concern include the need for safe staffing guidelines, protection from unnecessary layoffs, and a ban on low-bid subcontracting.

Thousands of San Francisco hotel workers and their supporters gathered for a march on Thursday, August 31st, at 4:15pm, next to the Four Seasons on Market Street between 3rd and 4th Streets. At 5pm, a group of over 60 labor and community activists sat down in front of the main doors of the Palace Hotel, blocking the entrance in an act of civil disobedience. The police arrested those protesters, and quickly cited and released them. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 Last week, over 93% of Local 2 workers at 13 hotels in San Francisco voted to give union leadership the authority to call a strike, if necessary. These UNITE HERE! Local 2 workers have been working without a contract for two years, and have not received a raise in three years.

On Labor Day, Monday September 4th, KPFA's Labor Collective will protest the station's banning of labor program proposals. People will gather at 1pm outside of KPFA's studios, 1929 Martin Luther King Drive at University in Berkeley. The Labor Collective says, "We call all supporters of 'Free Speech Radio' to join the picket line and speak out to protest the banning of labor programming proposals to KPFA."