The Brief

Hot labor summer is in full swing.

Workers have taken to the streets to fight for better pay and improved work conditions across the country, including many in SoCal.

While delivery truck drivers and UPS were able to clinch an agreement to narrowly avoid a work stoppage, impasse has settled over contract negotiations in other industries.

And other labor unions are eyeing walkouts and strikes.

Here are where some of these labor disputes stand this weekend.

L.A. city workers

On Tuesday, more than 11,000 Los Angeles city workers are expected to walk off the job for a 24-hour strike.

SEIU Local 721, the union representing city workers — including sanitation workers and traffic officers — announced the action on Friday.

David Green, president of SEIU Local 721, told LAist that one of the challenges city workers face is chronic understaffing.

"Hundreds of proposals have been sent back. The reality is we can't retain staff right now so we're asking them to fill in the staffing vacancies and to come back to the table in good faith," Green said.

Picketing is scheduled to begin at City Hall at 4 a.m. on Tuesday, according to Green.

The nearly empty entrance to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is seen on April 16, 2020, in Los Angeles.

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Valerie Macon

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Disruption is expected at several locations including the Los Angeles International Airport, the Port of Los Angeles, and L.A. City Hall.

Negotiations for a new contract between the union and the city resume the week of Aug. 14.

Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement late Friday that the workers "deserve fair contracts and we have been bargaining in good faith with SEIU 721 since January." She went on to say city officials are ready to get back to the bargaining table at any moment.

Hollywood strikes

Hollywood writers and producers met for the first time in three months on Friday, but no agreement to restart negotiations was reached.

Perhaps that's not too much of a surprise, since the two sides were trading barbs ahead of Friday's meeting.

“So far, the companies have wasted months on their same failed strategy,” the WGA said in its statement.

A sign on the picket line on the fourth day of the strike by the Writers Guild of America in front of Netflix in Hollywood.

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The writers union also challenged the AMPTP to come to the table on Friday “willing to make a fair deal and begin to repair the damage your strikes and your business practices have caused the workers in this industry.”

On Thursday evening, the AMPTP responded with their own short statement calling the WGA Bargaining Committee’s rhetoric "unfortunate." AMPTP officials said the goal of the Friday discussion was "to determine whether we have a willing bargaining partner."

They added: "This strike has hurt thousands of people in this industry, and we take that very seriously. Our only playbook is getting people back to work."

Meanwhile, Hollywood actors are about three weeks into a strike of their own.

Hotel workers

Striking hotel workers hold signs while working the picket lines outside of the InterContinental Hotel in Downtown L.A. on July 2, 2023.

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Thousands of hotel workers have been staging rolling strikes since July, after contract negotiations broke down with major hotels in Southern California.

On Saturday morning, striking hotel workers are marching in Santa Monica, from the Viceroy Santa Monica to the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows.

Workers will continue picketing at dozens of other hotels in downtown Los Angeles, the Westside and Long Beach, according to a statement from the union representing hotel workers.

The unionized housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, front desk agents, servers and food service workers want an immediate $5 an hour raise with raises totaling $11 over three years.

Other asks include affordable health care and manageable staffing workloads. The union, Unite Here! Local 11 has centered the high cost of living in Southern California — saying its members can't afford to live where they work.

Hotel industry officials have pushed back on the issue of affordability, saying that accountability should be with elected officials.

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican army killed the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho, " in an operation Sunday, a federal official said.

The official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said it happened during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco.

It followed several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations.

Videos circulating social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the city of Puerto Vallarta, a major city in Jalisco, and sprinting through the airport of the state's capital in panic. On Sunday afternoon, Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta "due to an ongoing security situation" and advised customers not to go to their airport.

The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, is one of the most powerful and fasted growing criminal organizations in Mexico and was born in 2009.

In February, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military—including helicopters—and a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital's police force and now head of federal security.

The DEA considers this cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico's most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states where it distributes tons of drugs. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines.

Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted several times in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

The most recent superseding indictment, filed on April 5, 2022, charges Oseguera Cervantes with conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for the purpose of illegal importation into the United States and use of firearms during and in connection with drug trafficking offenses. Oseguera Cervantes is also charged under the Drug Kingpin Enforcement Act for directing a continuing criminal enterprise.
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Hermon — Some shoppers heading into Fresco Market were lost in their phones, but when they momentarily looked up, they were greeted by a flap of brilliant green feathers and a cheery squawk. Phones were put away.

“Pepe! Hey Pepe! So good to see you!”

Perched on the shoulder of T.J. Gonzalez, Pepe the Parrot was in full greeter mode. Wide-eyed and seeming to almost smile as he surveyed the parking lot and his approaching public, Pepe did what he naturally does: make people happy.

A common sight at the Hermon market, near where they live, Gonzalez and Pepe can also be found at community centers, farmers’ markets and local events. They often take the Metro into downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach and other locations.

There’s no money asked, stressed Gonzalez, adding that Pepe simply adores the attention. “People want to see and talk with him more than me,” he joked as he cracked a nut and placed it in his mouth. On cue, the bird reached around Gonzalez’s mouth to retrieve it.

Michael Eagle-Hall of El Sereno is delighted to meet Pepe outside of the Fresco Market in Hermon.

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A mail carrier for 37 years before he retired, Gonzalez found Pepe, a red-crowned Amazon (flocks are often seen in Northeast L.A.) in July 2021. The chick had fallen out of a nest and was flailing on a busy street in San Marino. “He was like roadkill,” said Gonzalez, who watched cars drive over (without striking) the bird.

Gonzalez retrieved the parrot and looked for help, but wildlife rehabbers said they’d euthanize the bird since it had a broken wing. Gonzalez instead brought him to a vet and christened him Pepe.

Since Pepe could not fly, Gonzalez started walking him around the neighborhood. He soon discovered how kids and adults enjoyed interacting with the parrot. Pepe is also a social media darling, with more than 8,600 followers on Instagram.

Pepe is more of a squawker than a talker, but Gonzalez has learned how to art-direct photos of people and the bird, instructing them on how to hold their hands and arms best. “We just want that smile because that’s all that Pepe wants from you,” said Gonzalez.

Crews have now recovered the bodies of all nine backcountry skiers who were killed in an avalanche in Northern California earlier this week. It marks an end to what authorities on Saturday described as an agonizing five-day search and recovery operation complicated by intense winter storms northwest of Lake Tahoe.

"While we wish we could have saved them all, we are grateful that we can bring them home," said Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon during a Saturday news conference.

Until Saturday, authorities had not confirmed the death of a ninth victim, a skier who had been missing and presumed dead. Officials say their body was found near the eight other victims that have now been recovered. Authorities said avalanche hazards and weather conditions were too dangerous most of the week to search for the remaining victim or recover the bodies.

Four of the bodies were recovered on Friday, and the rest of the bodies were recovered on Saturday, all in the Castle Peak area where the avalanche – one of the deadliest in California history — struck. Six people from the group of 15 skiers survived Tuesday's disaster, the last day of a three-day backcountry ski trip. One guide and five travelers were among the survivors.

Helicopters with the California National Guard as well as the California Highway Patrol were used to hoist the remaining bodies from the mountain, officials said at the press conference.

On Friday, officials were able to use specialized techniques with the help of Pacific Gas & Electric to reduce the avalanche risk.

The ski trip was organized by Blackbird Mountain Guides, an outdoor tour company based in Truckee, Calif. Moon confirmed the identities of the victims. Three guides were killed: Andrew Alissandratos, 34, from Verdi, Nev.; Michael Henry, 30, from Soda Springs, Calif.; and Nicole Choo, 42, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. The other victims, who had signed up for the group trip, are: Carrie Atkin, 46, of Soda Springs; Lizabeth Clabaugh, 52, of Boise, Idaho; Danielle Keatley, 44, of Soda Springs and Larkspur, Calif.; Kate Morse, 45, of Soda Springs and Tiburon, Calif.; Caroline Sekar, 45, of Soda Springs and San Francisco; and Katherine Vitt, 43, of Greenbrae, Calif.

The Sierra Avalanche Center classified the avalanche between a D2 and D3 on the avalanche danger scale.

"A D2 would take down a person. A D3 would take down a house, so it was right in between those. It was described by them as a football field length of a path of the avalanche," Sheriff Moon said on Saturday.

Multiple agencies are investigating.

"We are investigating the incident to determine if there were any factors that would be considered criminal negligence," Ashley Quadros with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office said in an email to NPR on Sunday. "It is a standard investigation. It is too early to know if criminal charges will be applicable, as the investigation is preliminary and remains active and ongoing."

The area will be closed to visitors for several weeks.
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