Angry over what they call airlines' dangerous practice of hiring contracted workers at low wages to do tasks like clean out cabins and handle bags, unionized LAX employees went on strike today. Protesters showed up at the airport at a bleary-eyed 3:00 a.m., and will continue picketing throughout the day. more ›

Morning commuters braving Downtown L.A. today have already been detoured around over a dozen street and intersection closures as well as changes and delays in Metro bus services as a result of Tuesday's May Day rallies. And the fun won't stop for commuters until around 7:30 tonight. more ›

Tomorrow, May 1, the Occupy movement will strike in over 125 American cities, an event organizers claim is the first truly nationwide General Strike in U.S. history. "A Day Without the 99%" will transpire in solidarity with the immigrant movements, and Occupy Los Angeles has vowed to shut down the city of L.A. more ›

If you have an appointment at Kaiser today, you might want to call ahead -- one of the largest healthcare worker strikes in the hospital's history is happening today, reports NBC Los Angeles. more ›

California Club workers who rallied and protested a potential wage freeze in a one-day strike in December have triumphed and struck a deal with the private downtown Los Angeles club. more ›

Nearly 2,000 nurses are striking today at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. They began their walkout at about 7:00 a.m. and won't be allowed back in the hospital until Tuesday. City News Service reports that the group of nurses, who are part of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, haven't had a contract for months, in part because they say that their employer is trying to jack up the amount that they pay for health insurance when the rate that the hospital pays isn't going up at all. more ›

Workers at one of L.A.'s oldest downtown private clubs are striking today in protest of a potential six-month wage freeze. About 150 cooks, servers, janitors, housekeepers and dishwashers stopped serving the 1% today at the California Club by walking off the job in a one-day strike. more ›

Employees at Food 4 Less, a grocery chain owned by Kroger, are threatening to walk off the job, reports the OC Register. The workers are reportedly angry about claims that workers at Ralph's, which is also owned by Kroger, make up to $3 more an hour than they do. The union has been in talks with Kroger, and they're expected to pick back up towards the end of the month. more ›

Faculty at California State University's 23 campuses will be holding informal protests today to draw attention to the current "impasse" in an ongoing salary dispute and in the wake of executive pay raises. A strike by the faculty union has been called at two campuses for November 17. more ›

Local inmates are doing Ghandi proud. The group of prisoners in an estimated 12 California facilities participating in a hunger strike has grown to nearly 12,000, reports L.A. Now, possibly the largest inmate hunger strike in recent U.S. history. The prisoners are protesting a number of regulations, most prominently those surrounding solitary confinement. more ›

A tentative agreement has been reached between the union and the three major SoCal grocery store chains, bringing to an end a tense and protracted period of negotiations hinging largely on health insurance fees and other wage-related issues. more ›

It's back to the bargaining table for union leaders and representatives from the three major local grocery store chains, and there will be no strike this week. Over the weekend, a vote by unionized grocery workers yielded a 90% return in favor of authorizing a strike. more ›

Grocery workers negotiating for a better health care plan have rejected a proposal by the management of Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons. Supermarket chains may come back with a better offer, the Orange County Register Reports. If not, union members could decide to give immediate notice to strike and then walk out 72 hours later. more ›

Ballots are being cast today and tomorrow by unionized grocery workers from the big local chains and a strike could be authorized as a result. "Depending on the outcome of this vote, a strike could happen as early as next week," notes ABC7. The issue remains the employees' health care plan, and its monthly cost. more ›

Grocery workers in Southern California have been threatening to strike since April, but according to a statement from the worker's union, the time may be at hand. This week, they say, meetings are being held with picket captains, and a strike could come as soon as next week. Workers are protesting their contracts, the negotiations of which have been going on for six months. more ›

The Angels may be in the middle of a 10-game road trip but that didn't keep a display of power away from Angel Stadium this week. In fact, there may be nobody around to turn the power back on when the team returns next Tuesday. Workers at Angel Stadium voted on Thursday to authorize a strike after seeing their wages frozen by management. more ›

Amid ongoing contract negotiations and the constant threat of a worker strike, officials representing Ralphs, Vons and Albertons issued a statement today addressing the state of their bargaining with the grocery workers' union. In it, they comment on the agreements reached so far at the negotiating table, which include retaining parts of the current pension plan. more ›

After threatening to go on strike nearly two months ago, grocery workers employed by Ralph's, Albertson's and Vons have found some common ground with their employers as they hammer out the details of their contracts. In a statement today, the workers announced that the union and the store management had reached an agreement about the worker's pensions. more ›

Vons, Ralphs, and Albertsons announced in a statement that a tentative agreement has been struck with the grocery workers' union, United Food and Commercial Workers Locals (UFCW), regarding the pension portion of the paperwork. Terms of the agreement that affects more than 60,000 employees in the region were not disclosed. more ›

After voting to authorize a strike, grocery store workers are getting closer and closer to actually going through with protesting their employers, including Ralph's, Von's and Alberton's, reports the Daily Breeze. The proposed strike came about in part because of foot-dragging on the part of the grocery stores; the workers contracts ran out in March and employees were put on a day-to-day contract. more ›

Employees of Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons have voted to go on strike, reports the Daily Breeze. The announcement comes after contract negotiations have been ongoing since the beginning of March. Contracts have been on a day-to-day basis since then. Last week, the union that represents grocery workers -- United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 -- announced that they would ask members to vote on the possibility of a strike at last night's meeting. more ›

Nurses at Kaiser Permanente LA Medical Center left frustrated after meeting with hospital management one week after staging a protest on Sunset Blvd. amid a contract dispute. more ›

Major League Soccer made history this past week, but for all the wrong reasons. Frustrated by the lack of progress towards a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between themselves and the league, MLS players overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike. Through their vote, players have essentially told MLS that if an agreement is not reached by March 25th, clubs shouldn't expect to see them in their respective locker rooms. more ›

Although no strike is reportedly on the immediate horizon, the Service Employees International Union "announced that 74 percent of its membership approved [a] strike authorization in votes counted Saturday," according to abc7.com, and "union leaders will meet in the coming week to decide what steps to take." more ›

I was driving back from the Costco in Burbank one afternoon when my boyfriend turned to me and asked "Why in God's name is there a custom hat store on Magnolia? Who wears hats anymore?" I thought a second, laughed, and said -- "Hollywood!" Movie-makers will always need milliners and other manufacturers of specialty props -- right?? more ›

Hollywood can have problems giving credit where credit is due. Ideas get stolen, supporting actors go unnoticed, and many times the writers who make up the foundation of the entertainment industry never get the limelight in the way that they should. That is, until they decide to go on strike, or a blonde bombshell declares them unfit for accolades. So it should be a source of honor and pride for these men and women when, once a year, they are truly recognized and heralded for their achievements. This is the Writers Guild of America Awards. more ›

After negotiations hit a stalemate back in November, the Screen Actors Guild and representatives from Hollywood studios announced yesterday that "they will meet for two days next week," according to abc7.com. (SAG's site says they were to meet in Sherman Oaks last week, and has not been updated to reflect yesterday's announcement.) In the time since they last met to hash out a new deal, things have been rocky for SAG and its leadership. Murmurs about impending strikes and the lack of resolution prompted teamsters and members of the stagehands' union to picket outside SAG headquarters on Wilshire Blvd. this week. SAG also fired their top man, Doug Allen, when he was unable to make anything happen, either. Allen favored a strike, but many believe that is not going to happen under new leadership. more ›

Paranoia was rife in Los Angeles County during the Second World War. Military Aircraft were constantly on the defense from the German's as well as the Japanese after the Pearl Harbor assaults, so rumor that another foreign invasion was on the horizon caused mass hysteria. more ›

Talk about drama. A marathon 30-hour meeting between Screen Actors Guild national board members landed the outcome of pretty much nothing. Doug Allen, SAG's chief negotiator and national executive director, was almost fired, but filibusters and a sleepy board did not have the votes to fire him or authorize a strike or do much of anything else. The best take comes from the Hollywood Reporter: "The emergency national board meeting began before 9 a.m. Monday and pushed on through the night into Tuesday afternoon, when the organizers had scheduled a hard-stop time of 1 p.m. Within an hour of the official end of the proceedings, exhausted-looking board members could be seen stumbling out to their cars." more ›

The TV Junkie says "welcome back" to you all, to a new year and a new "Winter Season" of TV. Premieres we are looking forward to this month are "Nip/Tuck" (FX 1/6), "Damages" (FX 1/7), "24" (Fox 1/11), "Battlestar Galactica" (SciFi 1/16), "Big Love" (HBO 1/18), and "Lost" (ABC 1/21). more ›