Jobs and Labor

Your Bosses Really Don't Care If You Don't Invite Them to Office Happy Hours, Study Says

Maybe you don't actually need to worry about getting fired if you gently tell your boss that his or her ideas are fucking stupid. A new study conducted by researchers at UC Berkeley says that people in positions of authority -- whether at home or in the workplace -- are quicker to recover from mil ... More >>

San Francisco Bulls: Hockey Team Inks First Player; Affiliation With Sharks Remains Elusive

Unless you're within the devoted cadre of Slovakian hockey aficionados, you probably don't know much about Peter Sivak. You've probably heard of the San Jose Sharks, however. They're the guys with the teal uniforms who fly onto the rink via an oversize shark head and through a mist of dry ice. Well, ... More >>

KPIX-TV Reporters Weren't Fired for Being Middle-Aged, Court Rules

San Francisco KPIX-TV did not discriminate against two veteran news reporters when it terminated them nearly four years ago, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled today. The three-person panel decided that William Schechner and John Lobertini didn't to prove that they were targeted during company lay-offs ... More >>

Court Workers to Decide on Possible Strike

There are few experiences in San Francisco more excruciating than waiting in line outside the Hall of Justice to take care of a traffic ticket. People crane their necks, instinctively trying to snatch a sight of the front of the line. Somebody inevitably says, "Why are three of the windows closed?" ... More >>

Examiner Newsroom Hit with Layoffs

This will be a very unmerry Christmas for Examiner staff​As expected, the San Francisco Examiner's new owners trimmed its newsroom yesterday afternoon, laying off half the copy desk as well as other editorial staff. We called Todd Vogt, publisher and president of the Ex, who told us layoff notices ... More >>

City Family's Loathsome, Disingenuous, Idiotic Smear of Jeff Adachi

One of the most tiring elements of living in the Internet age is the increasing use of superlatives -- i.e. "Worst. Meal. EVAR." So, it is with due consideration that we posit Prop. C backers' new ad claiming "THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE!" between union-busting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and public defe ... More >>

It's Official: The Bay Citizen Unionizes

Hellman's Frankenstein Monster ​Just a year after Warren Hellman launched The Bay Citizen, the editorial newsroom decided to officially unionize. On May 26, The Bay Citizen signed union cards indicating they want to join the Pacific Media Workers Guild, Local 39521 of The Newspaper Guild-Communica ... More >>

Criminal Cases Would Be Less Affected by S.F. Court Layoffs

​California's oft-discussed governmental dysfunction is starting to take its toll. Public access to our state's natural resources is already on the chopping block; on Friday, more ominous news arrived about public access to justice. In light of the budget approved last week by the state Legislatur ... More >>

Apple Employee Wants to Unionize

Taking a bite out of Apple​There's a great scene in The Social Network where Andrew Garfield's character, Eduardo Saverin, storms into the Facebook office, picks up Mark Zuckerberg's laptop, and sends him a strong message by shattering it.That's the sort of scene we imagined when word got out that ... More >>

Which Pol Will Forgo a Pay Raise?

Or don't take the money and run​Yesterday, SF Weekly told you about the amazing news that your elected officials were looking forward to getting pay raises -- despite the city's $300 million budget deficit. We wondered whether this would upset voters, who will experience yet another round of unfor ... More >>

Premium pay nets city workers millions in bonuses for just doing their jobs

Convention & Visitors Bureau Kicks Out Unruly Union

​Since its labor contract expired in August 2009, hotel workers' union Unite Here Local 2 has spent months waving signs in hotel-visitors' faces and generally causing a ruckus (this is, after all, how labor actions work) in its efforts to win a new labor contract. Tired of this crap, this week the ... More >>

SEIU Boss Andy Stern Quits. Bay Area Union War He Started Continues.

Andy Stern is gone. His mess remains. ​Rivals of America's most powerful union boss, Andy Stern, have cheered the resignation of the SEIU's erstwhile leader. But Mark Brenner, director of Labor Notes, a magazine covering the U.S. union scene, says a Stern resignation will not quell bitter disputes ... More >>

@sk Jamie Varon: I lied on my LinkedIn profile

Muni May Lay Off 170 Operators on Friday

Jim Herd​Muni spokesman Judson True has confirmed a rumor disseminated by the Muni Drivers' union: 170 operators -- and 230 Muni employees -- will be facing layoffs after Friday's Municipal Transportation Agency Board meeting. "At the Friday meeting, service reductions will be voted on. If the boa ... More >>

Rec and Park Workers Anticipating Pink Slip Announcement at Meeting Today

Will the Empire at least provide him with COBRA?​Last week we wrote about angst rippling through the city's Recreation and Park Department over imminent layoffs. This week, scores of recreation directors and assistant rec supervisors -- the two classes of employees even the union confirms are faci ... More >>

SEIU Organizer on Doomed Campaign: 'What Else Could We Do?'

​The other day we wondered just what the SEIU was thinking in running a large, highly visible, public campaign to stave off layoffs -- when the one and only person who could prevent them, Mayor Gavin Newsom, was already quite firm in his position. And he and the SEIU -- well, they're not seeing ey ... More >>

City: Nurses Will Be Paid More Here Even With Slashed Salaries

City nursing assistants will soon be paid far less to deal with the R.P. McMurphys of the world​The city of San Francisco's response to hundreds of nurses who stand to lose perhaps $14,000 a year in compensation: You don't know how good you've got it. The Department of Human Resources is circulati ... More >>

Breaking: Board Votes to Save SEIU Jobs -- Until Mid December

'Jetson, until Dec. 15 and possibly thereafter, you are not fired!'​UPDATE, 5:30 P.M.: MAYORAL SPOKESMAN SAYS NO MONEY WILL BE SPENT TO STAVE OFF LAYOFFS; DETAILS BELOWIt'd be cruel to lay off scads of city workers right before Thanksgiving -- so let's think about axing 'em right before Christmas. ... More >>

So, How Many SEIU Workers are Facing Layoffs? Depends on Whom You Ask.

'Jetson, depending upon whom you ask and whether or not you factor in several semantic games, you may or may not be fired!' ​The big news of the day in the city -- other than our pending return to a quasi-barter economy; I'll exchange two chickens for a scrape of gold off the City Hall dome I can ... More >>

And They're Off: Chronicle Commences its Latest Round of Layoffs

​After the San Francisco Chonicle's management last week told the Media Workers Guild it was in a layoffy mood, everyone was left to ponder all the big journalistic questions: Who? When? How many?If you picked Monday, Aug. 31 in your layoff pool -- congratulations. The Chron started -- but did not ... More >>

Be Elated As You Ride BART Monday. Who Knows How Long It'll Last?

Has BART found the map to smooth service?​If you were hoping to work from home Monday, your best excuse just pulled out of the station. BART and the tenacious ATU No. 1555 union reached a tentative accord yesterday. You can ride the morning train with a new-found enthusiasm Monday. See you over th ... More >>

BART, Unions Reach Accord -- Union Vote Could Come Next Week

Seats: Still sticky. Union contracts: Tentatively agreed upon.​BART's trains don't run 24 hours -- but its negotiations with unions do. After an all-night session, bedraggled transit and union officials emerged, blinking, before cameras not long ago to announce a tentative pact.  Several sour ... More >>

S.F. Labor Icon Jack Henning Dies -- But the Labor Movement He Joined As a Young Man Died Long Ago

Jack HenningLabor leader Jack Henning, the president of the state's AFL-CIO from 1970 to 1996 and the man credited with helping pass bills that gave farm workers and government employees the right to form unions and strike, died today at his home in San Francisco. He was 93. According to a press rel ... More >>

Putting the "Yay!" in Yay Area

Lights, Camera, Mystic!

Rec & Park Workers Terrified Over Looming Layoffs Amid New Hirings of $100K Managers -- and Ready to Rally

The Recreation and Parks Department has found another way to get folks out of the pool: Cut jobs and cut hoursYou have to feel for Jared Blumenfeld. Taking over the city's Recreation and Parks Department -- especially on an interim basis -- is like being handed a feather duster and being asked to ti ... More >>

Fledgling Newspaper Union Appeals Labor Board Decision

By John Geluardi Three Contra Costa Times reporters, who say they were targeted for layoffs once they succeeded in forming a union, filed an appeal last week with the federal labor board after the board rejected their initial complaint for lack of evidence. Last July, just weeks after organizers ... More >>

Newspaper Management Strikes Back

Video: Adam Werbach Describes New Job

8,000 SF Employees Take Home Over $100,000 -- And Then Some.

SEIU's Rosselli Resigns as State Boss -- Sac Bee

Convicted Embezzler Linda Simwa Cons SF Symphony, UCSF

Mother’s Work

Some working moms face job discrimination, while others encounter barriers to success. They're all potential activists for the new grass-roots group, MomsRising.

Filling the Civic Gap

Meet Donald Fisher, the private billionaire with unprecedented sway over ordinary San Franciscans' lives

No Administrator Left Behind

The University of California system is embroiled in a scandal over perks and compensation for some of its highest-paid employees. Are they worth it? Find out where you stand!

Get Out of Town, Already

Leave the BlackBerry home this year -- break out of vacation deprivation and relax

Requiem for a Pension Fund?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launches an attack on CalPERS. The giant pension fund's Democratic allies aren't taking it lying down

Work It Out

Best Union Members

Tie Between Strippers and Bike Messengers

Modern Love

The etiquette of online dating

A Black and White Issue

A lawsuit alleging racism at Amtrak's Oakland yard has made it to the Supreme Court -- and could affect discrimination cases nationwide

Social Grace

Work Jerks

The Late Victor Van Bourg

The Life and Death of a Lion

Cothran

Strike While the Iron Is Hot

Bike messengers organizing for April 15 walkout

Crime and Patronage

For more than a decade, three different mayors have let one man dole out government jobs to alleged murderers, crack dealers, and other serious felons. The question, obviously, is why.

Unspun

Slap Shots

The Grid