Feature Archives

On February 12, SEIU 1021 city workers marched and protested at Twitter corporate headquarters in San Francisco. Service Employees International Union workers demanded an end to tax subsidies and the defense of their healthcare benefits. Many in the SEIU are angry about their declining income while Mayor Ed Lee is giving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax subsidies to billionaires and their tech corporations and $11.5 million to Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison's Americas Cup.

On February 11, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled that Indybay reporter David Morse should take his civil rights lawsuit against BART police to trial. Morse was arrested while covering a "No Justice No BART" protest on September 8, 2011. Prior to the demonstration, BART police commanders commissioned an intelligence officer to profile Morse, publish his photograph, and prepare officers to make his arrest. The Magistrate has now ruled that Morse has sufficient evidence to pursue his First Amendment claim against BART for arresting him in retaliation for his extensive and critical reporting on BART's police department.

H.H. Bhojani reports at AlterNet that about 10pm on January 29, Robert Asberry got on a train around Glen Park. A police officer got onto the car at the San Bruno station. He approached Robert and asked him to get off the train. Robert refused to obey the cop’s orders. After a brief back and forth, the police officer tases him. Other policemen file into the car, and while Robert is on the floor, restrained and posing no real threat, he is again tased. Police officers later carry Robert out of the BART car.

The California Department of Corrections (CDC), which practices culture jamming by "altering California's most criminal advertising", has unveiled a new campaign of bus shelter ads to confront San Francisco’s eviction crisis. On February 11, the CDC successfully apprehended, rehabilitated and discharged bus shelter advertisements in city districts with historically high rates of tenant displacement, including the Fillmore, the Mission and South of Market. According to a report from the city’s Budget and Legislative Analyst, all types of evictions increased 38% over the past three years with a 170% spike in Ellis Act evictions over the same period.

On February 14, protesters gathered outside the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco to protest the brutal slaughter of dolphins. Approximately 30 people held signs and handed out literature to people in the financial district to raise awareness of the Japanese practice of slaughtering dolphins. Activists from Sea Shepherd and In Defense of Animals organized World Love for Dolphins Day demonstrations on Valentine's Day at Japanese consulates in major cities across the United States.

On January 31, as part of an "International Day of Action" against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), protesters rallied in front of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office in San Francisco's Federal Building and marched on Market Street. Nancy Pelosi has said publicly that she has concerns about the TPP but she continues to avoid taking a bold stance against Fast Track and TPP that might make a difference in the legislation's chances.

Workers and activists in support of the Korean Railway Workers Union and its jailed leaders rallied on January 17 at the San Francisco Korean Consulate. The government mobilized a counter-demonstration of retired Korean military veterans and elderly pro-government women to harass and attack the solidarity rally. They failed and the rally took place. Another solidarity action was held at the consulate on February 25.