Working Voices - Monday, June 22, 2026

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1. brought together and to employ such varied sources in the public presentation of accurate,
2. objective, comprehensive news on all matters finally affecting the community.
3. The Pacifica Mission Statement.
4. This is Ralph Nader, and you're listening to Radio Powered by the People,
5. KPFK, 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara,
6. and across the globe at kpfk.org.
7. Scott Bell is a stiff, and he's afraid,
8. And it's part of this, you know, gang of crooked, stupid people that don't care about our country.
9. There was a thumb on the scale for the president's version of events that I felt was a level of political influence that I had never seen in 37 years at CBS News.
10. You become a journalist because you love the country.
11. There is no democracy without journalism.
12. Good memories are forever, said the dog on the two stone
13. If you're living underneath the bridge, man, all roads lead to home
14. I got a hidden flask, I'm paid in cash, got a cross above my bed
15. You know, I hitchhiked from Chicago, and a man walked up and said
16. This is a union town, a union town.
17. Good morning, and welcome to another Working Week.
18. This is KPFK's Working Voices, and sitting in for Joy Alla,
19. I'm your host this morning, Associate Producer Hal Lohr.
20. And I'm your co-host, Marissa Remsky of CWA Local 9003.
21. And in this morning's show, Steve Zeltser takes us to hear San Francisco city workers
22. at a city council meeting.
23. Kristen Parker has this week's Education Workers Report Card, and later on in this show, I'll have the latest developments on Hollywood, labor, and AI technology with this Monday morning's edition of Working Voices Update.
24. All this and more coming up this morning on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles.
25. This is Working Voices.
26. In our first story this morning, Kristen Parker's Education Workers Report Card
27. looks at students who are training for lithium jobs that don't exist yet
28. and how LAUSD's latest budget looks to avoid painful job cuts.
29. This is Kristen Parker with this morning's Education Workers Report Card.
30. When Imperial Valley College launched a program training students to become plant operators and technicians in the emerging lithium industry Corbin Dillon enrolled in the inaugural class hoping for a career in a promising field
31. But when he completed his certificate in spring 2024, lithium-related jobs weren't available.
32. He enrolled in two more similar programs, but they anticipated jobs involving the extraction of lithium,
33. a key mineral in batteries essential to power the nation's clean energy transition,
34. remain sparse. A situation that speaks to a conundrum faced by community colleges when a
35. new industry promises to come to town and local residents want new jobs. Companies say they want
36. to hire local residents, but they'd need additional skills and training. Schools such as Imperial
37. Valley College are often left to figure out the best time to launch a program that will prepare
38. students for the anticipated new jobs before they're filled by skilled out-of-town workers.
39. An Imperial Valley College, which says it is temporarily scaling back its lithium programs because of job market uncertainty, offers a case study in the pitfalls of trying to prepare students for emerging fields.
40. It's an incredibly common challenge, says Bettany Jones, a former Biden administration official and now a senior researcher in the UC Berkeley Labor Center's Green Economy program.
41. Other fields that have faced similar uncertainty because of political and economic factors include solar and advanced manufacturing, which generally require post-secondary credentials.
42. So, in Imperial County, an agricultural area that has among the highest poverty and unemployment rates in California, the stakes are particularly high.
43. In March, its unemployment rate was 16.9%, more than triple that of neighboring counties.
44. So when three companies began seriously eyeing the region for its lithium reserves around a decade ago, attention quickly turned to jobs.
45. The region touted itself as Lithium Valley, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewables announced it could launch commercial extraction operations by 2026.
46. But the reality has been very different.
47. BHE Renewables only just completed construction on its demonstration plant.
48. and controlled thermal resources, another company active in the region is in the money-raising stage,
49. making actual work in any lithium extraction job about two years away.
50. Lithium batteries are the most common way to store wind and solar energy
51. and the main source of power for electric vehicles.
52. An estimated 18 million metric tons of lithium carbonate is embedded in the hot brine deep beneath the Salton Sea,
53. enough to power 375 million electric car batteries.
54. So, calls for more education opportunities in the Imperial Valley
55. intensified as news of a potential lithium boom spread.
56. The area's two main higher education institutions, Imperial Valley College
57. and the San Diego State Satellite Campus, acted fast.
58. San Diego State used $80 million in state funding
59. to build a new STEM campus prioritizing science, technology, engineering, and math.
60. And Imperial Valley College received funding from the United States Department of Energy
61. for its Lithium Industry Force training program,
62. touting certificate programs as a fast track into the lithium industry.
63. So predictably Imperial Valley residents hungry for stable jobs close to home have responded But again the promised jobs aren ready yet to be filled by the graduating students Industry representatives and the county blamed the delayed timelines on a 2024 lawsuit filed
64. by environmental groups that allege Imperial County officials underestimated future environmental
65. impacts. But the courts rejected that legal challenge last year. And then there is the
66. ever-changing politics and market forces that are also at play. The Trump administration eliminated
67. electric vehicle incentives last year, and both industry and the federal government have turned
68. more attention to lithium projects in red states like Arkansas and Nevada. In late 2024, a member
69. of the California Energy Commission warned Imperial County residents that the lithium
70. Valley thing is not a sure thing, citing the trend of federal funding from Trump's Department of
71. Energy going toward other red loyalist states. Even as Imperial Valley College has just graduated
72. its third year of industry-trained students, a total of 173 students have enrolled in certification
73. programs since fall 2023, but as of fall 2025, only 16 students had found jobs directly related
74. to their certificates. So as of now, Imperial Valley College has reduced the number of students
75. in each cohort and will not offer two of the certificates next year.
76. LAUSD's Next Budget
77. Will there be any way to stem painful cuts to important programs?
78. When the Los Angeles Unified School Board voted in May to finalize the elimination of more than 650 jobs as part of a plan to cut spending,
79. Its leaders promised more painful decisions would be necessary.
80. On June 16, another one of those choices arrived, as the school board will consider a fiscal stabilization plan to address multiple years of deficit spending.
81. The most recent forecast predicts a $1.3 billion deficit in the 2027-28 school year and a $3.6 billion deficit in the 2028-2029 school year.
82. Perhaps the two most prominent items on the chopping block involve signature equity programs,
83. the Student Equity Needs Index, which ensures dollars flow to schools with greater perceived needs,
84. and the Black Student Achievement Plan.
85. The proposed cuts to these programs, and others, would likely result in thousands of layoffs in the coming years.
86. In a board meeting last Friday, community members called attention to what they said was a major transgression on the horizon as school leaders say that without change, the LAUSD could deplete its budget reserves within a few years.
87. California law gives county school superintendents the power to intervene when districts are at risk of not meeting their financial obligations.
88. One of these interventions is the creation of a roadmap to address a budget deficit called a Fiscal Stabilization Plan.
89. The Los Angeles County Office of Education advises districts to show what factors are straining the budget and include strategies to reduce spending, increase revenue, and temporarily spend reserves or one-time funding.
90. Actions such as eliminating jobs often require further board votes and the plan can be revised throughout the next year It also possible that additional state funding including revenue from investments in AI could offset some of the proposed cuts The annual fund known as CENI
91. is distributed to LAUSD schools based on several factors, including academic outcomes,
92. rates of chronic absenteeism, and the health and levels of violence in surrounding communities.
93. CENI debuted in 2018, offering school principals discretionary funding to target interventions towards students with the greatest needs.
94. Originally $350 million, the board doubled CENI in 2021 while flush with COVID relief money, which is now gone.
95. This is Kristen Parker from the Montebello Teachers Association for KPFK's Working Voices.
96. That was Kristen Parker with this morning's Education Workers Report Card.
97. And this world of change consent is manufactured through bigotry and rage.
98. So billionaires and fascists can rule without a fight.
99. But their will can be broken if the people unite.
100. But their will can be broken if the people unite.
101. You're listening to Working Voices on KPFK 90.7 FM, Los Angeles.
102. Next up, from his labor video YouTube channel,
103. Steve Zeltser takes us to last week's San Francisco City Hall meeting
104. to hear public comments and interviews where billionaire mayor Daniel Lurie
105. is engaging in an open attack on union contract rights and civil service rules
106. among public workers who are members of SEIU 1021 and IFPTE 21.
107. Thank you.
108. My name is Orlando Tolbert. I work for DPH. About a month ago, I received this notice saying that I am going to be reassigned. I was shocked when I received it.
109. To this day, I can't even think of a valid reason as to why I was selected.
110. I've worked for the city of San Francisco for 32 years.
111. I've worked at this mental health clinic for 25 years.
112. And the entire time, I've been the only black supervisor in the clinic.
113. There's about eight people who supervise.
114. other stack. I'm not sure that's the reason but
115. I feel like I've been singled out. This letter that I received from HR, it doesn't state why I'm being reassigned to a different program. It's not clear. So I need some clarity on why was this reassignment made.
116. It's mandatory. I don't know if proper notice was given.
117. And I'm certain that seniority was not given because, like I said, I've been there for 25 years.
118. If you look at the seniority list, I've been, you know, I'm number three in seniority.
119. I would be number two, but my last name starts with a T.
120. And I think that has something to do with the seniority.
121. But in either case, there's about three or four hundred other 1822 administrative analysts below me.
122. It's my understanding that there was a hiring freeze.
123. Yet my my program just brought in two new workers.
124. So if there was a hiring freeze and they were brought in towards the end of March,
125. how is it that they were brought in and you know the position that I'm designated to fill
126. was put on hold was it put on hold for me back in December last year I don't know
127. uh so the civil service rules that I think apply to my case uh are rule 314 civil service rule 121
128. 409 because I say that one because I may be working out of class and then some of the MOU
129. rights are being violated. I just hope that this Civil Service Commission will
130. take a look into what I just brought. My name is Orlando Tolbert. I've worked for the city of San
131. Francisco for 32 years. I'm currently employed with Department of Public Health. I've been here
132. for 25 years. And April 6, I received a notice. I was shocked. It just came out of the blue.
133. I received a notice of work assignment change. And I was devastated. I couldn't-
134. Has there been any discussion or with management about changing assignments? I mean, after so long
135. with the city? There was no discussion with me or management. It just came out of the blue.
136. And I'm not sure why, nor am I sure about how I was selected. And what does that mean to you and
137. also the people you serve? What it means to, for the people I serve, a number of them have come up
138. to me, you know, once they learned about it. They feel like the program is going to be at a low,
139. I mean, honestly, not that I'm so important, but they feel like there's no one else that's going to be able to do the work that I've been doing.
140. And I've been working with these clients since some of them since 2002.
141. And for me personally, you know, it's embarrassing, humiliating to be dedicated for so long and, you know, doing all I can for the clinic, working when I'm not supposed to work.
142. I just feel like I got stabbed in the back by a relative I mean it just shocking And what do you have to say to Mayor Lurie I mean he a billionaire mayor His friends are billionaires He also contracted out work
143. He believes in contracting out in the city. He's apparently saying that these clients can go to
144. private non-profit contractors. What does that mean to you?
145. Well, if that's the case, it's shocking because I'm a native San Franciscan,
146. and I don't know where Mayor Lurie is from.
147. I thought he had his roots right here in the Bay Area,
148. and if that's what's happening, then I'm shocked.
149. I'm just in a state of shock just by what I'm going through.
150. Like I said, I've been with the city all these years,
151. and this has never happened to me directly.
152. Other people have been impacted around me in the past,
153. and I've stood up for them,
154. And it's a great feeling to have, you know, support like I'm receiving from Cheryl Thurton in our union, SEIU 1021.
155. I just hope the mayor and others reverse what they've put out there.
156. Perhaps this is just a test run to see what kind of feedback or input they get.
157. hopefully once the mayor and others hear directly from those of us who have been impacted,
158. they'll reconsider their decision and come up with an alternative solution. That's my hope.
159. So I'm still holding out hope. Well, San Francisco is a wealthy city.
160. You have over 70 billionaires. Why are they laying off people?
161. That's the question of the year. That is the question of the year. Why is Donald Trump doing
162. what he's doing and we have all these billions of dollars coming in but he can spend it on
163. a war in iran and thereby impact funds that californians are due so i i get what's happening
164. uh in the military they they used to say crap rolls downhill so it started at the white house
165. It hit the governor's house, and then he hit Mayor Lurie with it, and we're getting less money.
166. I understand that.
167. I'm not trying to blame anybody here.
168. I just believe that there's another solution out there, and hopefully the mayor and others can see that solution and find it and apply it to this situation.
169. I'm Cheryl Thornton.
170. I'm the Community Public Health Chapter President for SEIU, and I'm here today in City Hall.
171. because we're going to be at the Health Commission meeting.
172. Number one, they are closing two clinics in the chapter that I'm the president of.
173. And so we're here today to fight for those clinics to stay open, Larkin Street Youth Clinic and Cole Street.
174. We don't feel that these changes are going to benefit anyone, including the city and county of San Francisco.
175. The small amount of money that these clinics use is just not justification to make these type of cuts.
176. With Proposition D about to be voted on, you know, the billionaire's tax, my union, yes, which I'm in favor of,
177. Yes, indeed, to put money back into the city coffers to help pay for these cuts in healthcare
178. that happened at the federal level with the Trump administration But I can also tell you what I seeing here locally some of the same practices that occurred at the federal level with DOGE seem to be in play here
179. I have members that I'm working with that received what it seems arbitrary reassignments.
180. And in some cases, they were reassigning people who they had already worked out of class for years and then reassigned them to a lesser assignment.
181. Do you think there's systemic racism going on here?
182. Absolutely.
183. And, well, I was going to say something, but I'll hold that thought on the chapter president.
184. Well, I mean, one of the things that happened at the geriatric clinic when they had a rally there,
185. they said that they're actually getting money from the federal government.
186. These are seniors that would cover the cost of the clinic.
187. Eighteen and a half percent of the city residents are seniors.
188. And the vast majority of them are living down here in the center of the city in SROs.
189. They can't even take care of their daily activities.
190. And so they need behavioral health services.
191. I myself work in a senior center clinic, primary care.
192. I can tell you that to be able to have a clinic that does home visits,
193. that helps them with these behavioral health, is vital to a lot of these seniors' survival.
194. They're in isolation.
195. You know, they need support.
196. It's going to be a life and death issue for these people.
197. It is.
198. And it's like, wow, just throw your grandmother away.
199. type thing. Throw it in the
200. discarter.
201. The arbitrations
202. or the terminations,
203. it seems like
204. they were done without regard to the civil service
205. rules. They were done without regard to the
206. union contract. Is that union busting?
207. Absolutely.
208. And I can tell you
209. they are laying off
210. permanent civil service
211. employees and they are keeping
212. contractors and they're saying that they can do it.
213. And they are targeting people.
214. They're not following any process.
215. They're just going from here, there, wherever they want to get rid of someone.
216. And, you know, there's a member we're representing right now.
217. You'll hear from him after me, Orlando Tolbert.
218. But I can tell you that his case seems like one of these cases that was very arbitrary.
219. And the timing, it's just suspicious.
220. But it feels like what we saw at the federal level is now happening right here in the city
221. of San Francisco with these reassignments and things of that nature.
222. And I can also tell you, I am at SEIU.
223. I'm representing myself as a chapter president for SEIU 10 to 1.
224. I'm under the protection of my union because, you know, we're living in really drastic times.
225. You know this.
226. so i'm saying that because of retaliation for speaking power to truth i understand you're the
227. only black supervisor in the clinic who does this clinic serve uh the clinic this clinic is located
228. in the mission it serves all san francisco residents you know white black latino asian
229. everyone Me my job I a supervisor there I supervise nine employees I write their annual evaluations I the only black supervisor there There eight supervisors and I one of them but yet I being reassigned out of all of them
230. I don't know the process that happened, how people were selected or how I was selected, but those are the facts.
231. Thanks.
232. Cheryl, why don't you talk about, there's been a long history of systemic racism.
233. There have been hearings here in San Francisco about harassment, bullying of black employees, and it seems like it's continuing.
234. Yeah, so this goes way back.
235. It's systemic.
236. It's written in the policies of the city and county of San Francisco, these policies that we see these type of – this data comes from systemic policies, systemic racist policies that have been in play.
237. and um there's a human rights commission what's happening with the oversight
238. no comment on that but what i do want to say is is that black employees have been complaining
239. about this to the eeo system here for the city and county of san francisco since 2018
240. we had a very well-attended hearing on black employees and the racial discrimination.
241. And I have to tell you, it's no better today.
242. According to DHR, the statistics that came from the Civil Service Commission a few months ago,
243. So in the report, it says 40% of the EEO cases that are reported and are being investigated are in DPH.
244. Now, I know we're the largest department, but 40%?
245. So there you have it, the policies.
246. and until we change the policies,
247. we're going to continue to see the outcomes like Mr. Tolbert.
248. Last time when there were layoffs, Newsom, same thing.
249. They targeted black people, black workers,
250. and they did the same thing at the federal level just now with Doge.
251. This is the practice.
252. A large number of black federal women workers have lost their jobs.
253. I mean, black workers go into public service to contribute to society,
254. and it seems like they're being targeted now here in San Francisco and nationally.
255. They say, statistics show, they're the most educated group of people, sector, in the workforce.
256. And yet, yeah, I believe I saw a number of 900 almost.
257. I can't remember the exact number, but yes, it's very high.
258. The black unemployment rate is double of what it is for everyone else citywide.
259. And Trump wants to bring Afrikaners from South Africa here, but he won't put in black Latinos to this country.
260. It seems like it's overt racism.
261. We go back to the Confederacy.
262. They want to redistrict, get rid of black representatives.
263. All I can say is we are in the struggle in the trenches.
264. And all I can say is we got to be woke because
265. we just have to hold on to our seats.
266. We don't know what's next.
267. And when I say that, I mean our civil rights.
268. They're being stripped from us.
269. And people are still in the status quo mindset, which brings
270. to another point that we need to have a general strike. We need to shut it down. And the reason
271. we need to shut it down is because that's the only thing that these billionaires are going to
272. listen to. And if we don't, then they're going to continue with this behavior because that is just
273. how capitalism works. So, but we also need Medicare for all. So there's many things,
274. But I would say a general strike.
275. And my union, SEIU 10 to 1, we are building up for one next year.
276. So if you are an SEIU member, you should start saving your money so that you can have two weeks of pay minimum
277. so that you can go out there and not have to cross the picket line because we, the working class people, have to say no more.
278. Enough is enough.
279. Okay, thank you.
280. I'm here today at City Hall waiting outside of room 408 to go on the health commission meeting.
281. And one of the things that we were talking about earlier is the cuts.
282. And for the life of me, public workers, they were written into the city charter.
283. This was the will of the people.
284. Now, because of some loophole that they have figured out,
285. They are laying off permanent civil service workers and keeping contractors.
286. And all I got to say is if we are desperate times result in desperate measures.
287. And so public health is the meat and potatoes.
288. It's not the rest of the stuff on the plate.
289. It is the plate.
290. so that being said
291. we really do need our non-profits
292. but if you have to balance your budget
293. it can't be off the backs of the public services that are
294. available at the city. You must cancel the contracts
295. because I don't see how you can keep contracts
296. going and lay off the working
297. people of this city. You need to cancel the contracts. And the Civil Service Commission
298. votes on millions of dollars of contracts at the same time that they say that they're cutting
299. public workers? I just wonder how many of the billionaires that are now billionaires since
300. COVID, how many contracts did they get off of this place? You know, they're just taking the
301. the jobs from the working class people.
302. Salesforce, Epic, all these AI systems.
303. So if there's another disaster like COVID,
304. I don't know who's going to hold up the city
305. because they're going to need DSW workers.
306. And nobody ever thought the pandemic was going to happen
307. until it happened.
308. So all I have to say is that public workers are DSW workers.
309. and people did appreciate us being on the front lines when COVID was here.
310. So they need to quit.
311. Thank you.
312. Good afternoon, everyone.
313. My name is Nicole Termini-Germain, and I'm the vice president,
314. elected as well, like Kristen, my sister.
315. Vice president of representation for SEIU Local 1021.
316. I've been working for the city of San Francisco since 1993.
317. That's right, the 1900s, everyone.
318. And I've enjoyed such benefits because I've been a member of the union
319. since then for seven-night leave in local 71.
320. Now, it really concerns me as vice president
321. of representation that this contracting out is happening,
322. again for no need You can hire more workers like my sister said It not fair to those workers who would be in that position that would not be represented at all doing the same work next
323. to other folks who are. Not to mention the most egregious part, taking jobs away from the folks
324. here in San Francisco and the Bay Area, at the same time doing layoffs, which we are also fighting,
325. of course. That doesn't make sense to me. How can we be contracting out for all this money
326. and at the same time laying people off.
327. To me, it makes for an unkind city, unkind governance.
328. As a children's librarian, I'm now a children's librarian in San Francisco
329. and branch manager at the Portola Branch Library,
330. I always teach the children to be kind to one another.
331. This is not kind.
332. Let's be kind to the people, and everyone deserves representation, benefits,
333. and contracting admins to stop.
334. Thank you.
335. vote to approve the psc with the amendment that the feasibility study and cost saving analysis
336. provided to local 1021 also being provided to the civil service commission at the same time
337. tribute to 30 and 20
338. That was Steve Zeltzer from his Labor Video YouTube channel.
339. For more videos and insights from Steve Zeltzer,
340. you can go to his Labor Video YouTube channel,
341. or now you can find him at the Production of Labor Video Project on the web at labormedia.net.
342. You're listening to KPFK 90.7 FM, Los Angeles.
343. in this world of change.
344. Consent is manufactured
345. through bigotry and rage.
346. So billionaires and fascists
347. can rule without a fight.
348. But the will can be broken
349. if the people unite.
350. But the will can be broken
351. if the people unite.
352. This is Gary Oldman.
353. You're listening to KPFK 90.7 FM.
354. And finally, from the KPFK News Desk, Associate Producer Hal Lohr brings us the latest labor news with this morning's Working Voices update.
355. The representative from California has the floor.
356. Sing out to the resident gas man. Bust away is your punishment.
357. Poverize the Eiffel Tower
358. We'll criticize your government
359. Scott Pelley's a stiff and he's afraid
360. and he's part of this, you know, gang of crooked, stupid people
361. that don't care about our country.
362. Right now, CBS News, in my view.
363. is on fire. There are people in that room who go to war zones when they are pregnant. To have people
364. running CBS News who don't know that, have never felt that, and don't understand it,
365. is a tragedy I never expected to see. There was a thumb on the scale for the president's
366. version of events that I felt was a level of political influence that I had never seen in 37 years at CBS News You become a journalist because you love the country There is no democracy without journalism
367. In SAG-AFTRA Media News, the WGA East and SAG-AFTRA call out the new leaders at CBS News
368. and 60 Minutes. Both SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild East are condemning the recent firings at
369. CBS 60 Minutes, under the news network's editor-in-chief, Barry Wise, on-air correspondents
370. Scott Pele, Cecilia Vega, Sharon Alfonsi, and the program's executive producer, Tanya Simone,
371. have all been ousted from the legacy news magazine. The two unions, which represent
372. journalists, said the recent actions appear to compromise editorial independence. WGA East
373. President Tom Fontana wrote in a letter to the members on Thursday that the changes at CBS News
374. are more than mere ideological interference with the news and they display a profound contempt for
375. journalism professions. And it is clear that the CBS brass is engaged in a near-constant level of
376. editorial interference that would have previously been unthinkable. SAG-AFTRA reps echoed that
377. statement last Thursday claiming these decisions can only be seen as part of a broader strategy to
378. gut the crucial independent journalism that is so important to our democratic system. A CBS News
379. spokesperson countered later in a statement saying there is no political interference at CBS News,
380. not from ownership, not from CBS editor-in-chief Barry Weiss. But former CBS newsman Scott Pele,
381. one of the program's most highly profiled correspondents, was fired on Tuesday after
382. speaking out during a team meeting. Pele had accused CBS News management of favoring the
383. Trump administration by instructing him to put falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive
384. story. Either way, 60 Minutes is now down four correspondents following Anderson Cooper's
385. departure and the firing of Scott Pele, Cecilia Vega, and Sharon Alfonsi. And these are
386. only the most recent controversial moves from editor-in-chief Barry Weiss. Since her hiring,
387. there have already been a significant number of layoffs, and as we've already reported here on
388. Working Voices, CBS News Radio was shut down. And the lack of reporters means 60 Minutes will
389. have to line up new talent quickly to fill the correspondents' roles as production of the 2026-2027
390. season is already underway. WGA President Tom Fontana added to our friends and colleagues at
391. CBS News, we see you and you are not alone. Thousands of your union brothers and sisters
392. and siblings have your backs. SAG-AFTRA also said the union is prepared to take legal action
393. related to the company's conduct over the last several weeks.
394. I got bills to pay, I got amounts to fee
395. There ain't nothing in this world for free
396. I know I can't slow down, I can't hold back
397. Though you know I wish I could
398. I know there ain't no rest for the wicked
399. Until we close our eyes for good
400. In Hollywood News this week,
401. The Directors Guild of America's National Board on Friday unanimously recommended its
402. memberships vote in favor of a four contract with the major studios that would increase wages boost contributions to its health plan and establish guardrails surrounding AI technology DGA President Christopher Nolan
403. said in a statement that, we entered this negotiation with three main priorities.
404. Secure our health plan, protect jobs, and ensure that our members remain secure as AI continues
405. to impact our industry. We succeeded in these areas and gained in many others.
406. Under the proposed contract, major studios would increase their contributions to the DGA's health plan by 24.4% over four years,
407. the largest since the plan was founded.
408. In return, the DGA would recommend changes to its plans trustee, including modest increases to the eligibility threshold and annual premiums, the DGA said on Friday.
409. The contract also increases minimum salaries for most jobs by 2.5% in the first year and up to 3% for each of the following years in the agreement.
410. Directors of network non-prime-time strip dramatic programs will see their minimum salaries increase 2.5% for each year.
411. The union, which represents more than 19,500 directors and their teams in movies, TV, and commercials, said the agreement creates support for a federal production incentive to keep filming jobs in the U.S.
412. And according to the DGA, the proposed agreement secures the commitment of senior management at the major studios, which would engage in meaningful advocacy for a federal production incentive above and beyond the ongoing lobbying efforts of the Motion Picture Association.
413. The contract also adds more rules around the use of AI technology, including requiring directors to oversee any footage created by artificial intelligence.
414. Studios will also be required to notify the DGA if an employer decides to license a director's work to train a generative AI system to create new work.
415. The agreement also establishes an employer-funded program to enhance directors' AI skills, the union said.
416. The DGA and Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers reached a tentative contract earlier last week.
417. At that time, the AMPTP said,
418. We appreciate the hard work and commitment of our guild partners in achieving a fair deal that helps advance a stable and successful entertainment industry.
419. DGA members will have until this Wednesday, June 25th at 5pm, to vote on the plan.
420. If approved, the contract would go into effect July 1st and run through June 30th, 2030.
421. And finally, in this Hollywood Heavy Working Voices edition, the American Federation of
422. Musicians sued major labels over AI licensing deals. The union alleges that Universal and
423. Warner didn't compensate musicians after reaching licensing and settlement agreements
424. with the AI music companies Suno and Udeo.
425. The American Federation of Musicians, or AMF,
426. has launched a lawsuit against Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group
427. over claims that the two major labels didn't compensate musicians
428. when they made licensing and settlement agreements
429. with AI music companies Suno and Udeo.
430. The legal action, which was filed in a New York City district court on June 5th,
431. alleges that Universal and Warner have licensed recordings
432. recordings featuring musicians represented by the American Federation of Musicians to train
433. generative AI systems, but haven't made the payments required under the union's Sound
434. Recording Labor Agreement, or SRLA. The AMF further claims that using these existing recordings by its
435. members to train AI models is a form of new use under the terms of the SRLA, and that the affected
436. performers should therefore be newly notified and compensated for each use. The union is seeking
437. financial damages as well as acceptance that Universal and Warner breached the terms of the
438. SRLA. The AMF would also like to introduce new terms that require the labels to provide
439. information about the recordings that have been licensed to AI companies like Suno and Udeo.
440. This latest lawsuit comes after both Universal and Warner sued Suno and Udeo in 2024 for copyright infringement, claiming that copyrighted recordings had been used to train AI systems without permission.
441. The companies reached a settlement in the legal action that now allows Suno and Udeo to use Universal and Warner's recordings in their systems.
442. Everybody knows that the war is over.
443. Everybody knows that the good guy's lost.
444. Everybody knows the fight is fixed.
445. The poor stay poor and the rich get rich.
446. That's how it goes.
447. Everybody knows.
448. KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles
449. In job market news, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
450. the rise of remote work since the pandemic has made businesses more reluctant to hire young,
451. inexperienced workers and is the key driver to higher unemployment rates for recent college
452. graduates. The Federal Reserve Bank study compared occupations that can be done remotely,
453. such as software development, with those that are done in person, such as nursing, and found that
454. unemployment rates among young college graduates in remotable jobs rose by about 1% from 2017 to
455. 2019 to 2022 to 2024. Yet for workers 29 and over, the jobless rate declined slightly,
456. leading to a notably higher unemployment rate for younger college graduates in remotable occupations
457. compared with older workers. Yet in non-remotable jobs, there has been little gap in the unemployment
458. rates between older and younger college grads, the study finds. A similar pattern exists for
459. those without college degrees, the New York Fed said. The study, led by New York federal
460. research economist Natalie Emanuel, concludes that businesses are reluctant to hire new college
461. grads into remote work because it is harder to train and mentor them if they work outside the
462. office. The authors of the study calculate that remote work is responsible for nearly two-thirds
463. of the rise in the unemployment rate for young college graduates since the pandemic. The study
464. lands amid widespread concerns over the employment prospects of college grads as AI makes inroads
465. into a variety of white-collar jobs, including finance, law, entertainment, and media.
466. This spring college grads have been booing references to AI during commencement speeches But the study also notes that the worsening employment picture for young college grads predates the development of AI tools And when the author looked at the
467. exposure different occupations had to AI, it found that AI had little impact on youth unemployment.
468. The unemployment rate for college grads under 29 rose 20% before the pandemic to 3.7% on average
469. in 2022-2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank study. For college grads aged 22-27,
470. unemployment reached 5.8% last year, the highest outside the pandemic since 2012.
471. And the study's findings are consistent with the low-hire, low-fire state of the job market today,
472. where layoffs are low and the unemployment rate is mostly stable, but those out of work are
473. struggling to find new jobs. The Federal Reserve Bank study also looked at detailed data from an
474. unnamed Fortune 500 tech company that found that its hiring patterns mirrored what they had seen
475. in the broader data. When the company's offices were closed and staff worked remotely,
476. the firm tended to hire fewer inexperienced workers and more experienced workers who might
477. need less supervision to do their jobs well. And once its offices reopened, the company shifted
478. back to hiring younger workers. But even after the reopening, the company favored more experienced
479. workers for teams that included remote work.
480. Do-it-yourself. That's the idea behind self-checkout lanes.
481. A way to skip the pleasantries and skate out of the store quickly.
482. But more and more stores are now hitting cancel on those self-checkout machines.
483. Item canceled.
484. As 15% of users confess to purposely stealing at the self-checkout lane.
485. Then there's the user experience.
486. For shoppers, self-checkout is supposed to offer the convenience of just scanning and then going.
487. But sometimes it ends up being more trouble than it's worth.
488. Please wait for assistance.
489. The solution? Bringing sales associates back.
490. Self-checkout isn't going away, though.
491. It's on the rise at grocery stores, making up 44% of transactions last year.
492. A battle of humans versus machines playing out in the checkout line.
493. In Orange County labor news, Anaheim City officials are hesitating on joining a growing list of Southern California cities,
494. primarily in OC, starting to require local supermarkets and retail drugstores
495. to staff their self-checkout aisles and implement item limits.
496. It's a move that is being backed by local grocery union leaders who say regulation will help curb retail theft and keep cashiers and customers safe,
497. as well as offer much-needed support for employees as they say companies are relying more on self-checkout and less on workers.
498. Grocers argue that regulations don't impact retail theft and will only result in customers with a more expensive receipt no matter which cashier stand they use.
499. adding self-checkout stands is a convenience many of their patrons now expect.
500. Last Tuesday, Anaheim officials announced at their city council meeting they would be removing the
501. ordinance from their agenda after directing staff to bring back a self-checkout ordinance
502. based on one adopted in Costa Mesa. Councilwoman Norma Campos-Kurtz, who initially requested the
503. ordinance with Mayor Ashley Aitken said at the beginning of the council regular meeting more work needed to be done on the ordinance and elected officials will consider it at a later date The delay comes after Kurtz and
504. Aitken met behind closed doors with representatives from the Grocers Association about self-checkout
505. regulations in March and again in April, after Kurtz had also met with grocery union leaders
506. about the regulations in March. Meanwhile, Long Beach, Costa Mesa, and Santa Ana officials have
507. all approved similar rules and mandates on local grocery stores and retail pharmacies.
508. The proposed ordinance in Anaheim would have set a ratio of one employee for every four
509. self-checkout kiosks, limit shoppers to 15 items at the self-service stands, and ban
510. them from buying cigarettes or alcohol, something already barred in California law.
511. It would also have required there be at least one cashier working at a physical register
512. between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. A spokesperson of United Food and Commercial Workers' local 324 members
513. said regulations on self-checkout stands will relieve overtasked employees, keep customers
514. from getting frustrated, and prevent retail theft. Jose Perez, president of the union,
515. said workers are currently monitoring up to a dozen machines on their own while juggling other
516. responsibilities, and pushed for one employee for over three self-checkout kiosk ratios.
517. Wayne Denningham, president of the Southern California Division for Vons, Albertsons and Pavilions
518. asked council members in a Tuesday email to not over-regulate stores
519. adding the shoppers expect self-checkout stands
520. How will you know? How will you see?
521. The end of the land of the brave and the free
522. It doesn't fall fast, it fades out slow
523. How will you know?
524. And in other spaces of our modern technology workforce, Rivian has said it's laying off
525. another 2% of its workforce as part of a restructuring effort aimed at making the
526. profitable for the first time. The layoffs come one week after the Irvine-based electric
527. vehicle maker began deliveries of its highly anticipated R2 SUV. The company is hoping that
528. the R2, which is currently only available as a performance version, could attract more customers
529. with just shy of a $60,000 price tag. But, and I know this will come as a complete shock to
530. working people, industry analysts said the performance R2 is still not affordable for
531. many Americans, and investors reacted with disappointment to the first deliveries June 9th,
532. with shares falling 7% that day. Still on Wednesday, Rivian shares gained 2% after the
533. company said a standard version of the R2 starting around $45,000 will become available next year,
534. and the layoffs took effect last Monday, affecting Rivian's service and customer
535. organization employees, including sales and marketing teams. Rivian, which is pouring
536. money into autonomous vehicle efforts including a robo-taxi partnership with Uber,
537. has struggled to turn a profit with its luxury EVs. The company lost $3.6 billion last year
538. and recently said it is no longer expected to meet its 2027 adjusted core profit target,
539. citing a broad cooling of the EV market, after major automakers including Honda and Ford
540. have cut back their EV options as incentives for the vehicles have fallen under a drill-baby-drill
541. Trump administration whose support for America fossil fuel industry touted allowing a EV tax credit for new vehicles to expire back in September As a result for California jobs Rivian cut 4 of its
542. workforce in October, or more than 600 jobs, following the expiration of the credit. That's
543. after the company had also laid off about 200 employees in that september but in a recent
544. turnaround rivian surprised the market with strong earnings results in february reporting gross
545. profits for 2025 of 144 million dollars compared with a net loss in 2024 of 1.2 billion dollars
546. in its earnings release rivian credited the swing to strong software and service performance
547. higher average selling prices and reductions in costs per vehicle.
548. Rivian employed 15,232 people as of December,
549. and the laid-off employees have been provided with severance packages.
550. And that's our show for this week.
551. Once again, we're asking our labor partners, locals, and regional officers to seriously consider underwriting this show, because Working Voices and KPFK can seriously use your support.
552. So please, contact the station at 818-985-5735, or go to kpftay.org to explore those possibilities.
553. And we want to hear from you, so you can also email your comments or questions to workingvoicesataol.com.
554. But again, please contribute if you can at 1-888-985-5735 or go to kpfk.org.
555. This is Hal Lohr.
556. And this is Marissa Remsky.
557. With our thanks to Dan McCrory, Steve Zeltzer, Gary Scott, Kristen Parker, all our guests, and all our Working Voices listeners.
558. Reminding you to please stand in solidarity with this show and continue to give what you can to help keep us going.
559. And of course, always remember to educate, agitate, and organize.
560. Have a great week, everyone.
561. Hey, this is Brad Friedman of the Bradcast, heard right here on KPFK, Mondays at 3 p.m.
562. As you know, KPFK is corporate-free, listener-supported radio.
563. But that means we need you to support our work and help drastically shorten our fund drives
564. by joining the KPFK Sustainers Circle today.
565. You can pledge $5, $10, $20, or any amount you like automatically collected each month to help keep the broadcast and all of the other KPFK shows on the air.
566. Please go to kpfk.org and click Make a Pledge to join the Sustainer's Circle and help keep KPFK's important, independent voices on your public airwaves.
567. That's kpfk.org. Please sign up now. And thanks.
568. You're listening to KPFK 90.7 FM, Los Angeles. The time now is 6 a.m.
569. you