Labor
A nurses strike at Children’s Hospital Oakland seems inevitable after the last bargaining meeting with hospital administration was canceled yesterday. After nearly a year of negotiations, Children’s Hospital nurses still don’t have a contract.
Mike H. had been waiting for half an hour to hear his name called by an intake counselor at the Rubicon Legal and Economic Service Center in Richmond. But he was in no rush. He had been waiting for over 30 years for this; Saturday was the closest he’d ever been to getting his criminal record dismissed.
After nearly a year of contract negotiations, Children’s Hospital Oakland nurses and administrators are at an impasse over benefits and the nurses now poised for a strike. They will go back to the bargaining table early next week, but if they don’t come closer to a compromise, they will stage a five-day walkout starting May 5. The strike would be their second in the same contract negotiation cycle; Children’s nurses staged a three-day strike last October.
Oakland designer Zoe Hong is a 31-year-old emerging fashion talent in a region rarely recognized for its style. Hong is currently working on her third season, a 10-piece mini-collection for summer, and is planning a larger collection for Fall. She sells her creations at Etsy.com and Kreeya.com, as well as in three boutiques, including The Factory in San Francisco.
Nurses at Children’s Hospital in Oakland have approved a five-day strike amid contract negotiations with the hospital administration over pension and healthcare benefits.
With no public libraries of its own, Piedmont depends on Oakland for its books—not to mention its groceries, and access to the outside world. But the most recent contract granting Piedmonters access to Oakland’s libraries expired in 2008, and representatives of the two cities have been negotiating a new contract ever since. Though a long-term agreement is still far off, this week officials did manage to settle on one thing: a price for last year’s service
Lacy Lefkowitz teaches ancient history at Claremont Middle School, but last night she gave her students a lesson in current affairs. Six of Lefkowitz’s sixth graders stood before the board to read their letters about what they thought ought to be cut, and what ought to be saved, at their school next year.
There will be no budget-based layoffs of elementary school teachers in Oakland next fall, Deputy Superintendent Maria Santos announced at Wednesday night’s school board meeting. About 230 teachers had received lay-off warning notices in March.
Mayor Jean Quan said that closing the budget gap by only making cuts would require 80 percent reductions in discretionary spending from the general purpose fund.