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The Thorn West is a state and local news roundup compiled by members of DSA-LA. Our goal is to provide a weekly update on the latest developments in state and local politics, and to track the issues that are most important to our membership.
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Issue No. 86 - November 19, 2021
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- For the second year in a row, California is predicted to see a multi-billion dollar budget surplus, putting the state on a collision course with constitutional spending limits.
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- Councilmember Marqueese Harris-Dawson spoke candidly with Jon Peltz of Knock LA, a rare unfiltered interview for an LA City Councilmember with Harris-Dawson’s questionable voting record.
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- LAist spoke with the residents of several encampments in designated 41.18 sites, to see if the required outreach had materialized. Their accounts validate the concerns of many that the city has been lackluster in meeting its outreach commitments. “They have not followed up, come back out or done anything for that matter,” said one resident.
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Police Violence and Community Resistance
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- The Metro board met this week to consider recommendations made by its newly established Public Safety Advisory Group, and took a step towards drastically reducing the role of law enforcement on public transit.
- Meanwhile, months after the city of Pomona seemed to commit to the removal of law enforcement from public schools, they have substantially backtracked.
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- Over the weekend, IATSE members voted on whether to ratify the proposed Basic Agreement with the AMPTP, an agreement many members felt didn’t do enough with the leverage membership provided by overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike. Because the election relied on a delegate-based voting system, ratification passed, despite a majority of membership (50.4%) voting against it.
- The Alliance of Health Care Unions had also voted to authorize a strike. That strike, against Kaiser Permanente, was also forestalled when the two sides reached a tentative agreement, with workers being said to have won many key concessions.
- Despite reaching a contract agreement, thousands of Kaiser workers struck for two days in sympathy strikes with several hundred hospital engineers, who have been striking for weeks.
- Finally, a planned walkout by untenured faculty represented by the University Council-American Federation of Teachers was avoided when a tentative agreement was reached with the University of California. “This is the best contract in UC-AFT history,” said union leadership.
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