Results tagged “strike”

But what does Mayor Gavin Newsom and/or the Mayor’s Office of Communications have to say about Sunday's impending BART strike, you ask? Good question. Here's the answer. Ahem:

Remember the BART strike of September 1997? Which lasted an entire week? Turning into a nightmare. Well, what with BART officially announcing a strike, you should get ready for more of the same come Sunday night.

After teasing us over and over and over with a strike that promised to cripple public transportation and the lives of many, BART and union leaders came to a contract agreement, tentatively. According to first-on-the-scene SFAppeal, "management and union leaders this morning announced a tentative agreement on a four-year contract. The announcement was made late this morning in Oakland by BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger, Services Employees International Union President Lisa Isler, and Amalgamated Transit Union President Jesse Hunt." After the sort-of agreement was reached, Duggar, according to SF Chron, "said the agreement was the result of 'sacrifice and compromise' and would allow BART to continue operations under 'stable financial footing.'"

Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 -- BART's second-biggest union, representing around 900 train operators, cranky station agents, and other assorted power workers -- voted 100% against management's proposed contract yesterday. The contract they hated so much? It called "for wage freezes for three years and a 0.75 percent increase in the fourth year." Pretending to care, Gov Arnold growled, "I urge the parties to continue bargaining and to successfully reach an agreement without any strikes, lock-outs or other job actions...The public expects that the parties will remain at the bargaining table until an agreement is reached." Does this mean that BART will finally -- -- go on strike? Who knows. But it sure is an insufferable tease to MSM outlets who could use some sweet traffic gold during these summer months. Anyway, BART spokesperson Linton Johnson said, according to BCN, that he "expects negotiations to continue in a week or sooner."

The looming BART strike was nipped in the bud. For now, at least. According to CBS 5 / BCN, "[a]fter a marathon round of negotiations, Larry Gerber, the chief negotiator of Service Employees International Union Local 1021, and Jesse Hunt, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, said late Thursday night that they will have their members vote on the contract offer sometime next week." So, BART employees will stay on the job until at least next week. When will that vote happen? No one knows yet.

The largest union representing BART workers voted overwhelmingly last night to authorize a strike, which btw people, would take place next Wednesday if a deal isn't reached by then. The unions have called in a mediator who arrives in town today, and it was a mediator who helped hammer out an eleventh-hour deal that averted a strike in 2005. BART workers are asking for a 3% cost of living increase in their new contract, which the agency doesn't want to give them because they're facing a $250 million shortfall over the next four years and they're already going to be hiking fares in July and December. BART, for its part, is already battening down the hatches and preparing commuters for the worst.

Many of BART's 355,000 daily commuters are still unaware that the agency might go on strike next week, which would cause quite a meltdown throughout the Bay Area.

UC workers, ranging from janitors to food service workers, walked off the job this morning at all University of California campuses and hospitals. According to CBS 5, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 3299 guys walked off the job this morning after the UC offered workers a pithy, disagreeable hourly wage increase from $10.28 to $11.50 to $12. Then, the AFSCME Local 3299 declared it was "calling a strike on behalf of the 8,000 service workers it represents" at least until Friday. This will greatly affect UCSF hospitals and UCB campuses, the latter of which is infamous for a student body that lacks proper hygiene and regular bathing rituals. Godspeed, AFSCME Local 3299.

It seems that over 1,000 custodial artists have gone on strike as of this morning at some of Silicon Valley's most prestigious hi-tech companies, including Cisco Systems and Apple, livid over a new contract. Accordng to the Mercury News:

Just moments ago, in a letter to its members, the WGA announced that writers have voted by a 92.5% margin to lift the “restraining order” and officially end the strike. The move comes on Day 100 of the labor dispute.

Due to the continuing WGA strike, the Golden Globes look like they might - might - get the ax. (For all of you book-reading intelligentsia who claim to have TV sets only so that your can watch your Netflix DVDs of The Sopranos and The Wire, you can read more about the strike here.)

A sad week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part photo essay, one, two). That wasn't the only photo essay either: Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy friends and Star Trek actors all joined in at the Writers Strike and KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas brought two nights of amazing bands that included Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park (Part I), Modest Mouse, Muse, Spoon and The Killers (Part II). Not only is L.A. a great music town, it has just been named the best city for bookish types. For those who are looking for something a little more active, American Gladiators are back (yes!) and if that's not enough, how about a Christmas gift of action and adventure?

Photo of a funny sign in Golden Gate park

By Frances Reade

Kids, it's time to get rocking. (Especially before the "Private Party" dry spell that is coming on. Yikes.) This week, the San Francisco music gods are offering a vast array of newbies and veterans - something that we will graciously partake of any day of the week. Now that the bets are in (okay, so no one really cast any bets - how boring is that?), you can go to Cafe du Nord, tonight,...

HBO bought the rights to Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sport, the infamous book penned by Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. According to a sister over at Variety, in it Bonds is "painted in 'Game of Shadows' as a gifted player who made a Faustian bargain to increase his power." (Might we suggest Damn Giants as a working title, then?) Ron Shelton -- auteur...

It's not fair that our sister, LAist, gets all of the great writers strike coverage. Alas. But the Bay Area's own Sean Penn has joined the noble striking effort. He helped to create the above Writers Guild of America-conceived video for "Project Speechless," videos that feature A-list thespionic talent. What's more, they found a way of making Mr. Penn funny. (We kid, Sean. Please don't hit us. Not that you'll have the chance.) Anyway,...

By day he's an Alight Electric employee. By night? A Ford F-350 Super Duty hero. It seems that last night on the Golden Gate Bridge, John Beatty of Mill Valley saved the day, so to speak, after noticing a woman unconscious in her Jeep, moving into oncoming traffic. At around 6:50 p.m., Sylvia Durrance, 62, came to a stop while driving southbound in the No. 2 lane. She appeared lifeless, her body slumped over...

There's been so many murders lately that it's hard to find a new twist on the stories, so here's one: a Pizza Hut pizza delivery man was shot and killed in the Richmond last night as he was trying to deliver a pizza. Apparently, he got lost and was wandering around trying to find the house he was supposed to deliver the pizza too and when he was stopped by several men trying to rob him. When he tried to run away, he was shot in the back, something that anyone who has ever seen a Western knows is the coward's way.

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: This week is worst than last week. Really though, there's nothing (except the Original Cast Recording of Lovemusik). Even on the Amoeba Records website, they only have two, we repeat, two records on their list. With the holidays approaching, one would think that there would be an avalanche of CDs being released but again, there's only a few. Please...

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and veggies in South Central. On the entertainment front, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are suing Showtime over the show titled Californication and Rami Kashou of Project Runway chatted with LAist about his Palestinian heritage and, of course, designing beauty.

Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, the day where big retail shoppers traditionally break even for the year! Traditionally considered the biggest shopping day of the year! Is it retail therapy? ....Or is it kowtowing to the gods of capitalism and binding the workers who long to be free?

It's kind of an interesting Presidential Race in that two of the leading Republican contenders, Romney and Guiliani, are basing their campaigns on bashing the liberal bastions they governed. The obvious reason is to throw some red meat at conservatives by saying not only are they not actually liberal, but that they based most of their governance on beating back gays, Jews, and dark skinned people liberals. So Rudy just put a commercial out saying that he tamed "America's Most Liberal City." This didn't sit well with New Yawkers, however, and Douglas A. Muzzio, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College, fought back and said, “Blame San Francisco. We’re not No. 1.”

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: (There are no major standouts this week) Please Let Us Know What You Think About: 1. Amy Winehouse - Frank: Winehouse doesn't have much luck - her last single, "Rehab," was so deliciously repetitive that it apparently drove her into exhaustion rehab. Will her next single be "Fuck Me Pumps" or "Amy Amy Amy"? We hope that nothing gets...

Photo of a daylight graffiti artist on Haight Street

Judging by the audiences' volatile reactions, She Wants Revenge did everything in their power to give the audience what they wanted: a spectacle (with some music). About half-way through their hour and a half set, a fight erupted. (This isn't the first time, we hear, that fights have started at one of their shows.) The lead singer, Justin Warfield asked, "Can't we all just get along?" and then continued singing their synth-pop Depeche Mode influenced...

Phillyist prepared to party by doing the hustle, lighting the lights, shopping up a storm, and... visiting Khrushchev?

Good news everyone-- well-known libertarian, Ron Paul fan, exotic male dancer and bisexual male escort Starchild has been aquitted of charges of prostitution by a Fremont court. Starchild was up on charges for soliciting prostitution on Craigslist and was caught up in a sting by a Fremont police officer.

-- The WGA strike suuuuuucks. As does a fall season full of reruns. [The Bastard Machine, The Snitch]