3 results for tag: Santa Cruz

UCSC Grad Students Are on Strike for a Living Wage

By Kim Kelly February 21, 2020 Though it has only just begun, 2020 is already shaping up to be a pivotal year for the labor movement, including a group of workers in Santa Cruz, CA, that started the (academic) year off with a bang. Graduate students at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) have been on strike since February 10, after months of contentious conversations with the school administration. Unlike many of their peers across the country who have been shut out of organizing, the UCSC cohort are members of United Auto Workers Local 2865, a union that has long represented graduate students in the UC system. Their current contract, ...

Near Silicon Valley, Human Service Nonprofits Fail to Pay Living Wages

The Patch January 29, 2020 A human resources survey conducted by Community Bridges, in partnership with the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County and the Human Care Alliance of Santa Cruz County (HCA), gives us reason to revisit how nonprofit personnel are faring in a growing economy with historically low unemployment. From some perspectives, these are good times. A year ago, NPQ’s Steve Dubb took a look at the findings of the 2019 Nonprofit Employment Report published by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Civil Society, which found that overall employment in the nonprofit sector was large and growing faster than in for-profit counterpa...

Santa Cruz City Council passes living-wage increase

By Josh Copitch Jan 29, 2020 The Santa Cruz City Council voted on and passed a living wage increase during Tuesday's City Council meeting. The increase applies only to employees with contracts with the city of Santa Cruz. Depending on several factors, the living-wage for city workers would be $17.90 or $19.53. The change would go into effect on July 1. According to the council, the wage would depend on whether city employees received minimum vacation leave, sick leave, and health insurance benefits. The smaller amount would go to employees who also received the stated benefits. Currently, the minimum wage is $12-$13 per hour (depending ...