The Brief

This has been a summer of strikes in Los Angeles, with hotel workers, actors, and script writers all walking off the job. And that's not it — UPS workers, including tens of thousands in Southern California, ratified a new contract this month after voting to authorize a strike. Earlier in the year, LAUSD support staff struck for higher pay, closing schools for three days. Teachers joined them on the picket line in solidarity.

To understand this strike wave, LAist spoke with UCLA lecturer and historian Caroline Luce about L.A'.s labor history and what comes next.

This conversation with LAist 89.3's Nick Roman has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Labor upsurge

LAist: How does this year compare with years past?

Caroline Luce: It is certainly a labor upsurge that we haven't seen in recent memory, that's for sure. I don't know that I can find a historical analog in terms of the number of workers out on strike or threatening to strike. But we certainly have seen a wave of organizing in past years.

SAG-AFTRA member James Mathis III picketed outside of the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank on July 21, 2023.

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I'm thinking, in the early 20th century, of the free speech fights around anti-picketing ordinances that were passed in the L.A. City Council. In the 1930s, the explosion of the CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) rolling through L.A.'s war production facilities. And even in the 70s and 80s, a time of plant closures and shutdowns, a wave of working-class community organizing and forceful pushback to try to retain and keep those good jobs.

But this summer, one of the things I think is most magical is to see all these workers seeing their fates tied together. Strikes tend to work kind of industry by industry, which is to say there'll be a really major upsurge, say in Hollywood, but other workers are mostly supporting. What we're seeing this summer is workers who are identifying their shared experiences and connecting their struggles and uniting in ways that are really, really magical and wonderful to see.

L.A.'s anti-union history

LAist: When you go back in the history of Los Angeles, it was a very anti-union town, at least among the folks on the top and even in the media at the time.

CL: Yes. L.A. had a self-fashioned reputation that was much promoted by business leaders in the city as the "Citadel of the Open Shop." (That's) what they called it. An anti-union town that was friendly for business, where there was an abundance of cheap available labor. And as I alluded to before, they passed laws to ensure that was the case, including an anti-picketing ordinance in 1911 that made it illegal to have a loud or unusual or loud voice in public. So the repression of the labor movement was very real, but that doesn't mean that workers weren't constantly in the past 100 years of L.A'.s history, fighting for improved working conditions in their workplaces. They were just facing brutal repression when they did.

A small building across the street from the Douglas Aircraft Company factory, at 2700 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, circa 1937.

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One of the key moments that starts to shift things is when war production facilities and heavy mass industry comes to L.A. I'm thinking specifically of aerospace, rubber, and auto manufacturing, and steel. Oil comes first, then rubber, then cars, then all the things you need to make cars in terms of steel, and then aerospace follows.

That really starts to happen in the 1930s, and it gets an economic boost from the federal government when they passed the National Defense Authorization Act in 1940. That bill guaranteed profits for war production facilities so long as they allowed unionization in their plants. And what that meant is that these massive new facilities were brought very quickly into the labor movement. This was led by the C.I.O., the Congress of Industrial Relations, who ran massive organizing drives. The UAW in the auto plants, the Rubber Workers Union in the rubber plants, United Steel Workers in the steel plants.

Morphing into a union town

And in the span of just about five years, L.A. goes from a town that has very, very low union density to a city where nearly one out of every three workers was in a union. So that is really the base of the labor movement in L. A. as we think about it. And it has endured to a certain extent even as those industrial unions declined.

The wave of plant shutdowns meant that strongholds of union density in L.A. faded starting in the late 70s and early 1980s. Between 1976 and 1982, there were six major plants that were shut down resulting in the loss of something like 50,000 jobs and the base of those union support.

But what was interesting is alongside that wave of shutdowns and in fact, inspired in part by the community activism that emerged to stop them, what we see is new unions pushing hard in the service sector, integrating immigrant workers into their unions, letting women lead their unions.

About 300 people picketed at AT&T's Los Angeles Service Center in October, 1988, to protest layoffs by the utility.

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And so the resurgence of the labor movement that we see in the 1990s is really led by a whole different kind of workforce. Mostly those who are in service sector jobs, hotel workers and janitors being the two most famous in this ascendance. But in Hollywood, the guilds also enter a new phase of union dominance as we shift into a service sector economy.

What's next for the labor movement?

LAist: So you have the changing service worker unionization effort, and this strong push, especially this summer from the actors and the script writers. Where does all this go from here?

CL: Well, one of the things that endures, even as these service sector unions are becoming increasingly militant, increasingly dense, and increasingly unionized industries, is that this sort of differentiation remains. Which is to say the service sector unions are moving in one direction, whereas building trades, more traditional unionized sectors are kind of separate and doing their own thing.

And one of the magical things I see happening this summer is that workers across sectors are starting to form those bonds of solidarity. I'm thinking about the Teamsters showing up for the hotel workers and going out on the picket line with the writers and the actors. I'm thinking about nurses getting together with the same hospitality workers and writers and teachers. I'm thinking about the tremendous unity that was shown between the school employees and the teachers of UTLA and SEIU Local 99, who stood together and won significant increases for those school workers and are now showing up on the picket lines of the hotel workers and the writers and actors.

Lindsey Normington, a Star Garden Topless Dive Bar dancer, performs in solidarity with striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) employees on the picket line, on June 15, 2023 in Burbank, California. Dancers at the North Hollywood bar have become the only unionized group of strippers in the country.

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That kind of unity and that kind of cross-sector organizing seems really new and very exciting to me, and could result in some really interesting new coalitions that might emerge to take on other issues. We know housing has been so central — the high cost of housing — to so many of these labor strikes this summer. Not to mention the graduate student strike of last fall and a wave of organizing in the last year or two.

So to see those unions come together suggests that there may be space to tackle these bigger, more existential issues. Climate change would certainly be wonderful. But the high cost of housing may be something where these coalitions can fight for renter protections or local zoning ordinances that might mitigate some of that housing stress.

So we'll have to see. They've gotta win contracts first, right? And the studios have shown an absolute refusal to negotiate in good faith. But what's next for the labor movement, to me, could be a really exciting horizon of other issues that impact workers across these sectors and ways that those coalitions could be used to fight back.

Newfound solidarity

LAist: That kind of solidarity, why is it happening now when it didn't happen before?

CL: I'm a historian, so I don't know if I have a lot of prognostications about why that's happening now versus before, but I do think that there's something to be said for the impact of the pandemic and the multiple overlapping crises that we saw brought to bear in that moment. Certainly the uprisings around George Floyd's murder created some of this momentum.

Young workers who are coming into the workforce and not seeing a lot of prospects for their own futures. Workers of color who are insisting on racial justice and equity being part of how their union does their business.

I think today workers confront so many existential crises that they just have had enough and it's time to fight back. So the "why now" is tough. I'm a historian. I can think in the past. But I certainly think all of us are feeling this increased sense of if we don't fight now, what future do we have?

DUARTE, Calif. — Veteran actor T.K. Carter, who appeared in the horror film "The Thing" and "Punky Brewster" on television, has died at the age of 69.

Carter was declared dead Friday evening after deputies responded to a call regarding an unresponsive male in Duarte, California, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Police did not disclose a cause of death or other details, but said no foul play was suspected.

Thomas Kent "T.K." Carter was born Dec. 18, 1956, in New York City and was raised in Southern California.

He began his career in stand-up comedy and with acting roles. Carter had been acting for years before a breakthrough role as Nauls the cook in John Carpenter's 1982 horror classic, "The Thing." He also had a recurring role in the 1980s sitcom "Punky Brewster."

Other big-screen roles include "Runaway Train" in 1985, "Ski Patrol" in 1990 and "Space Jam" in 1996.

"T.K. Carter was a consummate professional and a genuine soul whose talent transcended genres," his publicist, Tony Freeman, said in a statement. "He brought laughter, truth, and humanity to every role he touched. His legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists and fans alike."

Copyright 2026 NPR

Downtown Los Angeles

A person in an inflatable frog suit holds a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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A woman holds incense during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Etienne Laurent

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A person holds up a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP via Getty Images)

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Etienne Laurent

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A person holds up a sign during a protest in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Etienne Laurent

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AFP via Getty Images

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A tourist bus drives past as people protest in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 2026 against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

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Pasadena

Alison Brett (far right) of La Crescenta at the Ice Out For Good protest in Pasadena on Jan. 10, 2026.

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Casey Law of South Pasadena at Ice Out For Good protest in Pasadena on Jan. 10.

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People have been taking to the streets nationwide this weekend to protest the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics following the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis, a 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer this week.

At least 1,000 events across the U.S. were planned for Saturday and Sunday, according to Indivisible, a progressive grassroots coalition of activists helping coordinate the movement it calls "ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action."

Leah Greenberg, a co-executive director of Indivisible, said people are coming together to "grieve, honor those we've lost, and demand accountability from a system that has operated with impunity for far too long."

"Renee Nicole Good was a wife, a mother of three, and a member of her community. She, and the dozens of other sons, daughters, friends, siblings, parents, and community members who have been killed by ICE, should be alive today," Greenberg said in a statement on Friday. "ICE's violence is not a statistic, it has names, families, and futures attached to it, and we refuse to look away or stay silent."

Large crowds of demonstrators carried signs and shouted "ICE out now!" as protests continued across Minneapolis on Saturday. One of those protestors, Cameron Kritikos, told NPR that he is worried that the presence of more ICE agents in the city could lead to more violence or another death.

"If more ICE officers are deployed to the streets, especially a place here where there's very clear public opposition to the terrorizing of our neighborhoods, I'm nervous that there's going to be more violence," the 31-year grocery store worker said. "I'm nervous that there are going to be more clashes with law enforcement officials, and at the end of the day I think that's not what anyone wants."

Demonstrators in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.

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The night before, hundreds of city and state police officers responded to a "noise protest" in downtown Minneapolis. An estimated 1,000 people gathered Friday night, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and 29 people were arrested.

People demonstrated outside of hotels where ICE agents were believed to be staying. They chanted, played drums and banged pots. O'Hara said that a group of people split from the main protest and began damaging hotel windows. One police officer was injured from a chunk of ice that was hurled at officers, he added.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the acts of violence but praised what he said was the "vast majority" of protesters who remained peaceful, during a morning news conference.

"To anyone who causes property damage or puts others in danger: you will be arrested. We are standing up to Donald Trump's chaos not with our own brand of chaos, but with care and unity," Frey wrote on social media.

Commenting on the protests, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NPR in a statement, "the First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting, assault and destruction," adding, "DHS is taking measures to uphold the rule of law and protect public safety and our officers."

Good was fatally shot the day after DHS launched a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota set to deploy 2,000 immigration officers to the state.

In Philadelphia, police estimated about 500 demonstrators "were cooperative and peaceful" at a march that began Saturday morning at City Hall, Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson Tanya Little told NPR in a statement. And no arrests were made.

In Portland, Ore., demonstrators rallied and lined the streets outside of a hospital on Saturday afternoon, where immigration enforcement agents bring detainees who are injured during an arrest, reported Oregon Public Broadcasting.

A man and woman were shot and injured by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Thursday in the city. DHS said the shooting happened during a targeted vehicle stop and identified the driver as Luis David Nino-Moncada, and the passenger as Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, both from Venezuela. As was the case in their assertion about Good's fatal shooting, Homeland Security officials claimed the federal agent acted in self-defense after Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras "weaponized their vehicle."
Copyright 2026 NPR

Bob Weir, the guitarist and songwriter who was a founding member of the popular and massively influential American rock band the Grateful Dead, has died. According to a statement from his family posted on his website and social media pages, Weir died from underlying lung issues after recently beating cancer. He was 78.

A member of the Dead for its first three decades, and a keeper of the flame of the band's legacy for three more, Weir helped to write a new chapter of American popular music that influenced countless other musicians and brought together an enormous and loyal audience. The Grateful Dead's touring, bootlegging and merchandising set an example that helped initiate the jam-band scene. Its concerts created a community that brought together generations of followers.

Known to fans as "Bobby," he was born in San Francisco as Robert Hall Parber, but was given up for adoption and raised by Frederick and Eleanor Weir. In 1964, when he was still a teenager, Weir joined guitarist Jerry Garcia in a folk music band, Mother Mcree's Uptown Jug Band. In May of 1965 Weir and Garcia were joined by bassist Phil Lesh, keyboard player Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and drummer Bill Kreutzmann to form an electric, blues-based rock and roll band that was briefly named The Warlocks. After discovering that there was another band using that name, Jerry Garcia found a phrase that caught his eye in a dictionary and in December of that year they became the Grateful Dead, launching a 30-year run over which time they grew into a cultural institution.

Weir was a singular rhythm guitarist who rarely played solos, choosing instead to create his own particular style of chording and strumming that gracefully supported Garcia's distinctive guitar explorations especially during the extended jams which were the heart of the band's popularity.

Lyrics were largely a product of a communal effort between Weir and Garcia, as well as lyricists John Perry Barlow, Robert Hunter, that often blurred the lines between who wrote what. The opening lines to "Cassidy," which first appeared on Weir's 1972 solo album Ace and was played by the Dead on live recordings including the 1981 double album Reckoning, reflect the combination of metaphor, rhyme and storytelling set to memorable melodies that the band's audiences could memorize, analyze and sing along to:

I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream
I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream
Ah, child of countless trees
Ah, child of boundless seas
What you are, what you're meant to be
Speaks his name, though you were born to me
Born to me, Cassidy

Weir's emotive singing, on "Cassidy" and other songs like "Sugar Magnolia," "One More Saturday Night" and the band's unofficial theme, "Truckin', " often included whoops and yells, in contrast to Garcia's calm and steady approach. His occasional tendency to forget lyrics was usually greeted by thunderous applause from fans.

After Garcia's death in 1995, at age 53, the surviving members of the band carried on in various forms and arrangements, the longest running of which was Weir's Dead & Company, which also featured Grateful Dead drummers Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. Weir and the band concluded their "final tour" in July of 2023, but then returned to the stage for two extended residencies at the Sphere in Las Vegas, in 2024 and 2025.

A self-described "compulsive music maker," in 2018 Weir formed yet another band to mine the depths of the Grateful Dead catalog. It was a stripped-down guitar, acoustic bass and drums outfit that he called Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. Its members included renowned bassist and producer Don Was.In October of 2022, Weir & Wolf Bros worked with a classical music arranger to present yet another iteration of the Dead's catalog, notable for never being played the same way twice, with a group that largely only plays what's written on the paper in front of them, the 80-piece National Symphony Orchestra.

In a 2022 interview with NPR, Weir explained the reason for that collaboration, and in doing so, seemed to offer a possible explanation for why the band's music stayed so popular for so long: "These songs are … living critters and they're visitors from another world — another dimension or whatever you want to call it — that come through the artists to visit this world, have a look around, tell their stories. I don't know exactly how that works, but I do know that it's real."

After Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, Weir kept the legacy of the Grateful Dead alive, touring with bands that came to include generations of musicians influenced by the group. Here, Weir performs with The Dead at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2009.

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Weir's work to shepherd and sustain the Dead's legacy was rewarded by ever younger generations of Deadheads, the band's loyal following, who attended tour after tour, often following the band from city to city as their parents and grandparents did during in the 1960's, '70s, '80s and '90s.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in March 2025, Weir shared his thoughts on his legacy, as well as on death and dying, that had a hint of the Eastern philosophies that were popular when the Grateful Dead emerged from the peace and love hippie movement of San Francisco. "I'll say this: I look forward to dying. I tend to think of death as a reward for a life well-lived," he said.

Copyright 2026 NPR