Public Policy
Fast food and low-wage workers in Oakland, Richmond and Berkeley joined a workers’ strike dubbed “Fight for $15” on Wednesday, continuing a two-year-long campaign that calls on fast food chains to institute a $15 minimum wage and the right for workers to unionize without reprisal.
Mayor Libby Schaaf and City Attorney Barbara Parker announced last Monday that Oakland has joined the Cities United for Immigration Action (CUIA), a national coalition that supports President Barack Obama’s appeal of a federal district court order that halted his recent immigration reform plans. “We continue to stand with President Obama and millions of Americans in affording law-abiding individuals a path to citizenship, the chance to earn an honest living and freedom from the fear of having their families torn…
On an early October morning in 1990, Ralph Spinelli swung open the back door of a large restaurant as he shoved his other hand into the pocket of his lightweight windbreaker, pretending to hold a gun. He had eaten at the restaurant several times before and knew that the door was unlocked around that time for deliveries — it was his habit to notice the weaknesses of an establishment. The three workers in the restaurant stared at Spinelli in bewilderment…
Despite early signs of rain, thousands of people converged in Oakland on Saturday in what organizers are billing as the largest anti-fracking demonstration in U.S. history, calling on Governor Jerry Brown to put an end to hydraulic fracturing in California.
Next weekend Californians will march to demand a “real” climate change leadership
Here are some of our favorite and most-read stories from 2014. We’ll be back in 2015!
Animal rights groups are claiming that in Oakland, animals are being unlawfully killed; they want the shelter to sign up to the No Kill movement, which keeps euthanasia for only the most extreme cases. The new director, however, has different ideas.
After 4 years, Oakland schools’ African American Male Achievement initiative assesses how it’s doing
The Office of African American Male Achievement will release reports in January that focus on its flagship program and hopes for future growth.
Oakland’s superintendent of schools Antwan Wilson has been at the helm for six months. The midwest-raised leader credits his mother, a passion for civil rights, and growing up poor for molding him into the leader he is today.