Headlines

USC shuttle workers voted Thursday to unionize and join Service Employees International Union Local 721, the largest public sector union in Southern California.

USC shuttle drivers and dispatchers who claim they’re grossly underpaid are urging school officials to refrain from anti-union tactics as they prepare to vote on whether to join SEIU Local 721.

“The bill gives fast-food cooks and cashiers the power to raise the industry-wide minimum wage to up to $22/hr,” SEIU said in a statement.

The organizations at the strike, whether it is Fight for $15, SEIU 721, SBWorkers United or California Gig Workers Union, are ready to multiply the strikes and actions to prevent corporations from killing AB 257, another pro-worker law.

Court reporters from Los Angeles Superior Court who belong to the Service Employees International Union, Local 721 rallied downtown Wednesday against forcing litigants to hire their own reporters.

Rosalina Nava, a court reporter in Los Angeles County Superior Court, said the executives’ arguments are red herrings meant to make a move to electronic recording look inevitable.

A partir del 14 de noviembre, la Corte Superior de Los Ángeles no proveerá los servicios gratuitos de los taquígrafos judiciales para casos de derecho familiar o testamentos.

The L.A. County Court Reporters Assn. has pushed back on what they call “misconceptions” about the reporter shortage and offer what they call “easy solutions.” They also provide a document on the group’s website of recruitment suggestions.

According to Service Employees International Union 721, daily, private court reporter fees can cost anywhere between $800 to $2,000.

“We must reiterate that a court reporter fee-barrier is unacceptable. In our economically diverse state, we must demand a level playing field when our constituents enter the courthouse,” says California State lawmakers Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, Assemblyman Miguel Santiago and Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer.