On March 18, workers from the Long Beach Convention Center rallied at Long Beach City Hall in solidarity with workers from 1Fifty1 amidst an ongoing strike at the convention center, after a report by the Los Angeles Times alleging that the company stole wages and unjustly marked up its services.
“We are here today because of the city-owned convention center, after a report of wage theft from labor supplied by ASM Global,” Soledad Garcia, UNITE HERE Local 11 organizing director said during the rally in front of city hall.
Reportedly, 1Fifty1 paid its employees in envelopes, potentially skirting various income tax laws, and not providing pay stubs to its employees with a clear statement on what was withheld.
“We want them to ensure that ASM Global hires the affected agency workers, guarantee that all affected workers are made whole for any labor violations they have experienced,” Maria Hernandez, communications person for UNITE HERE Local 11, told Random Lengths News.
ASM moved to terminate the contract with 1Fifty1 immediately. Members of the union now call for ASM to hire those workers. Those workers are allegedly entitled to preferential hiring under a Long Beach law.
They reportedly charged ASM Global more than other contracts for its services, allegedly paying its workers $17 to $19 an hour while charging ASM Global about $26 to $30 an hour, a 60% markup paid by the city.
“For seven months, Local 11 members have been negotiating with ASM Global for a fair contract that ensures that all employees, including subcontracted workers, earn a living wage and are created firmly at the convention center,” Garcia said during the rally amidst the ongoing labor dispute between the union and ASM Global.
The union that represents these workers, UNITE HERE Local 11, has been in contract negotiations with ASM Global since September of last year amid tension on the inclusion of subcontracted workers who had been left out of the deal during a city council decision earlier that year.
“We oppose the city’s efforts to remove protection for subcontracted workers from the existing living wage ordinance. We know about the work they carry out … the allegations we’ve heard about 1Fifty1 reportedly paying their workers in cash envelopes without pay stubs is damning, we are calling on the city to investigate,” Andrea Romero, a cook for 11 years at the Long Beach convention center, said during the rally.
The living wage ordinance is called Measure RW, which was passed last year and was meant to raise the wages of various hospitality workers across Long Beach for hotels with over 100 rooms.
The measure was later proposed to expand to include airport and convention workers; however, the city council decided to exclude them from that expansion. Measure RW raised the wages to about $17 an hour, which was potentially violated by 1Fifty1, and the ordinance also mandated an escalator for wages to about $29 an hour by 2028, the year Los Angeles will host the Olympics.
The city council heard an impact report during that meeting that stated the potential loss of investment and booking that would lead to the center’s inability to meet those rising operating costs.
Subcontracted workers have hourly limits set at 960 annually, about 18 hours a week. ASM Global and the convention center have cited operating costs as the leading reason for these cuts.
The convention center reported income over pre-pandemic levels in December 2024, generating $2 billion in revenue and about $200 million more than in 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, workers have reported understaffing that has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
Long Beach Convention Center has not immediately responded to requests.
The Trump-Musk oligarchy suffered a sharp rebuke at the ballot box in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race, where Musk’s record $25+ million campaign spending bought him a dramatic 10 point loss, while in Florida two special elections in the House saw swings of 16 and 22 points away from the Republicans since November. In addition to his traditional campaign donations, Musk gave money directly to voters, in clear violation of Wisconsin election laws.
“As a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I’d be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin, and we won!” Dane County circuit judge Susan Crawford said in her victory speech. “Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy, our fair elections and our Supreme Court, and Wisconsin stood up and said proudly that justice does not have a price. Our courts are not for sale.”
Crawford’s election retains a 4-3 progressive majority on the court, which is expected to rule on an 1849 abortion law as well as a controversial public sector labor law. About $90 million was spent on the election, vastly more than the $50 million spent on the 2023 election, which ended 15 years of a conservative majority, which in turn rubber-stamped an extreme GOP gerrymander that ensured minority rule. Before that, $15 million had been the most ever spent on a state judicial election.
With 98.1% of votes counted, Crawford held a 10-point lead, over Republican Brad Schimel, a former state attorney general, in a state that Trump won by .86% in November. Every county in the state shifted significantly in the Democrat’s direction. And although they failed to win either special election in Florida, the shifts in their direction were even larger, a result that’s sure to significantly worry House Republicans who won election by single digits in November.
If it didn’t already have its hands full, International Bird Rescue or IBR is facing two simultaneous wildlife crises, Demoic acid or DA poisoning and displaced chicks.
Of the former, the Marine Mammal Center in San Pedro diagnosed the first case of domoic acid toxicosis in marine mammals in 1998. This condition is caused by harmful algal blooms, or “red tides.” This neurotoxin accumulates in small fish, like sardines and anchovies, which are then eaten by marine mammals like sea lions and seabirds in large quantities.
Veterinarian and research director at IBR Dr. Rebecca Duerr told Random Lengths News that historically DA poisoning does not hit birds and animals at the same time. However, this year, that is the case. She explained for instance, pelicans and sea lions eat the same fish. She noted the Los Angeles Beach and Harbor Department in March found 40 dead pelicans. This eco-bloom is affecting the entire Southern California bight, the stretch of curved coastline that runs between Santa Barb ara and San Diego.
Dr. Duerr said this is concerning because chicks, who typically arrive in May/June, are just starting to fledge on the very young side — meaning if the parents don’t return (because they have been hit with DA, or other issues) the babies leave the nest to survive. The other issue IBR is seeing with fledglings is, their beaks aren’t fully grown yet.
Regarding the simultaneity of DA toxicity in sea mammals and birds, the doctor said the algae blooms are randomly distributed in the ocean and various levels of concentrated toxins are distributed throughout the blooms affecting all sea life.
Domoic acid attacks the brain and the heart causing seizures and heart failure. If left untreated, it usually causes permanent brain damage.
The folks at IBR are working tirelessly to stabilize and treat seabirds affected by DA poisoning. They are often able to help flush the toxin from animal’s systems by giving them fluids, provided they receive care before significant damage occurs. The sooner a bird gets help, the greater its chance of survival.
IBR needs help. As of March 28, IBR received more than 50 affected birds, including brown pelicans, Western grebes, and red-throated loons. Birds are showing up at beaches in crisis – disoriented, experiencing tremors and seizures, which can resemble those caused by bird flu. In response, IBR is testing the rescued birds for both DA and bird flu. The staff is working with extreme caution to safeguard both people and animals during this outbreak.
Although some birds will not survive the toxicity, other birds affected by DA recover from the problem with expert care. In 2017 when Los Angeles and Ventura Counties had a similar stranding event, approximately half of the birds made it to release.
You can help give these birds a fighting chance. Your support provides critical medications, personal protective equipment, and other essential supplies needed to care for sick and injured birds. Right now, IBR donations are not enough to even cover the overtime of its staff amid these double wildlife crises.
If you see a bird in distress, call IBR’s bird helpline or your local animal control immediately: 866-SOS-BIRD or 866-767-2473. Your quick action can make all the difference.
April 5 could be a day that changes history. As Trump and Musk have taken a wrecking ball to American democracy — illegally firing workers, closing agencies, canceling contracts, deporting green card holders and other innocents, and extorting tens of millions of dollars from perceived enemies — elite institutions (Congress, media outlets, universities, law firms, etc.) have been betraying their democratic commitments at breakneck speed. Which leaves mass resistance as democracy’s last line of defense.
It’s been spreading like wildfire, with protests happening at double the level of 2017, yet the corporate media’s more subservient posture has significantly obscured the depth and breadth of the resistance.
But that could change dramatically on April 5, when “Hands Off!” demonstrations are planned in more than 600 locations across the country, with Downtown LA as one of six anchor city protests. The Pershing Square rally starts at 4 p.m., with a march to City Hall at 5, where the main rally lasts until 8.
Earlier local events in Torrance and Lakewood start at noon — two of 20+ such events in the Southern California region. It’s the fourth nationwide protest mounted or backed by the 50501 movement, which began on Reddit in late January and has seen each successive protest grow substantially larger. There are more than 120 partner organizations this time, most notably Indivisible, which is organizing both local events.
“The rationale behind this ‘Hands-off’ umbrella is really smart because there are so many areas that are being attacked,” said Melanie Jones, of Indivisible San Pedro, which is working with Torrance. “People respond according to their own experience and their own vulnerability. So this allows for a lot of people with different primary issues to come together.”
“The Trump administration and Elon and DOGE are putting their hands into everything … everything from Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid, and trans and LGBTQ rights, and it runs the gambit. So the hands-off theme, I think appeals to a lot of people,” said Kenny Johnson, lead organizer in Torrance, with Indivisible South Bay. “But I think democracy and what it means for us to be America is just a universal concern.”
“Hands-off our democracy, hands-off healthcare, hands-off woman’s rights, hands-off our future … hands-off — there’s a whole list,” said Hunter Dunn, 50501’s Southern California spokesman, a lead organizer of the Downtown LA march and protest.
“The thing that’s most concerning and motivating for people is just the legality of what’s happening,” Ashley Craig, with Long Beach Indivisible, stressed. “It’s the overreach and the illegality. Because the vast majority of what the Trump Administration is doing is not allowable. It’s not constitutional. That’s why the courts are ruling against him very consistently. And then he’s choosing to ignore the courts.”
There are specific concerns, Craig noted — trans rights, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, voting rights, immigration, the climate crisis — but, “The thing that’s gotten everyone so incredibly concerned and fired up and motivated is the fact that this administration is doing things — this is a constitutional crisis — they’re doing things that have never, never been done before and they’re breaking everything.”
Heather Rodriguez, with Lakewood Indivisible, cited attacks on the vulnerable — deportations of innocents, defunding education, threats to Social Security, etc. Deportations were her greatest concern. “He [Trump] tried to claim that people [deported] would be only criminals. Like the worst of the worst would be deported. And I knew that that’s not going to be right,” she said. Nobody objects to deporting dangerous convicted criminals, she noted, but we know that won’t be who’s targeted. “What’s the easier target?” she asked. “Is the easier target going to be somebody who’s part of a gang that might be armed or underground, hidden? Or was the easy target going to be, you know that the mom with a bunch of kids who works at your local store and takes the kids to school and goes to church and has a solid address?” The answer has been obvious and unsurprising.
And then there’s Social Security.
“Lakewood has a lot of seniors that live here. A lot of them rely on Social Security,” Rodriguez noted. “I think it’s offensive that the Social Security head that Trump has selected was talking about how people wouldn’t miss it — how the only people who complain are going to be the fraudsters and scammers. That’s insane to me,” she said. “It’s just so important that we are treating the people that are the most vulnerable as best as we can. That’s how you define a society.”
“We have to stand up for the things we care about about this country and we have to fight for them harder than they’re being attacked because we have less power, less institutional power right now,” said Dunn.
The “Cutting Waste” Big Lie
The idea that the federal workforce is wasteful and bloated may be rhetorically popular with the right, but it can’t stand up to scrutiny. The federal workforce is about the same size it was in 1970 when the U.S. population was only about 60% of what it is today. It was about the same size a decade later, when Ronald Reagan appointed the waste-cutting Grace Commission — which Paul Krugman noted in December, “assembled a staff of nearly 2,000 business executives divided into 36 task forces, who spent 18 months on the job” but “mostly came up empty” in finding anything to cut.
So it’s no surprise that Musk and DOGE are cutting flesh and bone, not fat and that millions are suffering as a result.
But more than that, the chaos Musk has caused at the IRS could result in the loss of a staggering $500 billion in tax revenue this year, according to a March 22 report by the Washington Post. That’s almost five times more than what he’s claimed to save and almost 60 times more than what’s been verified. The initial plan is to cut 20% of IRS staff, with the largest cuts to tax compliance, resulting in far more fraudulent tax evasion by wealthy individuals and corporations. In short, DOGE is dramatically increasing “waste, fraud, and abuse” at the highest levels of private wealth.
One reason it might seem that the government can be cut without consequence is that much of what the government does is invisible to most people — even those who directly benefit from many programs have no idea that they do. This was revealed more than a decade ago in Suzanne Mettler’s 2011 book, The Submerged State, which sheds an illuminating light on what’s happening now.
“For decades, Americans have been relying on the federal government more than ever in their daily lives but appreciating it less and less,” Mettler told Random Lengths. “This ‘government-citizen disconnect,’ as I call it, is paradoxical. In part, it flows from the anti-government ethos of our times, and the way conservatives have been framing issues since the 1980s,” she said, but, “It also emanates from the hidden nature of many government benefits. Some are part of what I call the ‘submerged state,’ channeled through the tax code or private organizations, such that Americans don’t actually realize that the government helped them out. And then there are the myriad ways that government improves our lives that are easy to take for granted, both because government (unlike businesses) doesn’t advertise its accomplishments, and because the services it provides, activities it encourages, and rules it imposes benefit us collectively rather than on an individual basis.”
Classic examples are things Musk is cutting, she noted, “the NIH funding for scientific research, that has led to great improvements in our abilities to prevent or treat diseases. Or our ability to count on the National Weather Service for reliable weather reports. Or the role of the Department of Education in tracking how well American students in different parts of the country are learning.”
So, Mettler concluded, “When Americans tell pollsters that they don’t trust government, my guess is that they don’t really mean that they want all of those services and many others to be eviscerated. And yet, that’s exactly what’s happening.”
Indivisible Groups including Resistance Northridge gathered at Senator Alex Padilla’s office in downtown LA to demand he actively work against nominee Russell Vought who now heads the Office of Management and Budget and expel Musk from the federal government in February 2025. Photo courtesy of Indivisible Northridge.
Fighting Back
Three months ago, before DOGE began eviscerating the government, this was all very abstract. It was mostly people like Mettler who understood this. But now a substantial majority of ordinary Americans understand as well. They understand it viscerally when everything from National Parks to the Post Office to the National Weather Service to Social Security is suffering from slash-and-burn mass firings wreaking havoc with their ability to function.
There’s been a massive wave of organizing in response, with more than 250 Tesla Takedown demonstrations the weekend before April 5 as the latest example. All the leaders we spoke to were either already organizing with Indivisible or joined up in response to Trump’s re-election. But they’ve seen dramatic growth ever since.
Johnson was originally involved with Indivisible in 2020, but “was not super active” and “kind of got complacent” after Joe Biden’s election but “with Trump winning reelection it got me back into being involved.”
Rodriguez reacted similarly. “When Trump was reelected back in November, I felt very strongly that I needed to get more involved,” citing parallels to what happened in 1930s Germany. She did research into different groups and was most impressed with Indivisible’s guide. “I marched with Black Lives Matter, but I’ve never led an organization like this before. So starting from scratch was a little bit intimidating and it was nice to know that we had that support nationally,” she explained.
In Long Beach, “We started as a group of like three or four people and now were well over 200. … That was in the end of November,” Craig said. “I think it is growing exponentially,” she added. “I’ve been involved in activism my whole life, so you know having me be involved, that doesn’t mean much. … What’s unique and where the ball is rolling faster, the snowball is getting bigger, is the number of people who’ve never been engaged before getting engaged and that’s increasing by the day.”
While Musk spent a quarter billion dollars to help elect Trump, he and other Trump supporters still try to dismiss mass opposition as being funded by George Soros — the right’s favorite Jewish boogie-man figure. But when I asked Rodriguez about money from Soros, she said she hadn’t seen any.
“We have to pay for our meeting space, and so I asked everybody for donations if they feel like it,” she said. “Indivisible does provide some grants, fairly small,” for specific purposes. “But no, we don’t have any corporate sponsors. We don’t have any shadowy figures paying us.”
Quite the opposite. “None of us are paid,” she said. “A lot of us are contributing money out of our own pockets just to try to do something, to fund these meeting locations, to get people to locations who don’t have rides. Even just like making signs costs money.”
And — as befits any anti-authoritarian movement — they’re fighting the Trump/Musk agenda in multiple ways. A lot of the Lakewood chapter’s energy goes into supporting other groups and initiatives. On March 19, for example, they turned out at local schools in support of the National Educators Association national walk-in day. “We had a couple of people stand out front of the schools with signs just saying support spending for schools, and we need IEP [individualized education programs], we need dual immersion, we need diversity. … And we walked into the school offices and gave them goodies like cookies and flowers and a thank-you card just to show our support.”
More broadly, “We’re trying to support each other’s groups as a whole,” she said.
Building a broad local support base is crucial for long-term movement building, which is why local demonstrations provide a vital complement to the national anchor city events. Pre-event signups have Torrance organizers concerned about space. “A lot of the people who have signed up are not on our mailing list,” Johnson said, which affirms their decision. South Bay people, “need to know that they’re in a community that agrees with them,” he said. “People who are paying attention need to see it, and if it happened in downtown LA and they’re only seeing it on the 6 o’clock news … that feels distant. So that’s why we really want to do something local.”
Indivisible groups also have a long history of electoral involvement. Nationally, Democrats had run 10 points ahead of November in special elections through March 15, when they pulled an upset in a Pennsylvania Senate in Lancaster County, a county that has voted Democrat at the presidential level just once since 1856. That result spooked Trump so badly that he withdrew his nomination of New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik to be UN ambassador, fearing that her seat could be lost in a special election, even though she won re-election in November by 24 points.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April 1 is another key race — which Musk has spent more than $20 million on. Democrat Susan Crawford won decisively by 10 points.And there are two Florida special elections for the House on the same day, which swung 6 and 22 points away from the GOP since November. Those elections have been a focus of attention for Long Beach Indivisible, Craig said. “We have been phone banking, we’ve been sending tons of postcards to Wisconsin, into the two Florida races. And I think that we’re all kind of looking at that with bated breath because I think what happens on April 1 is really going to be indicative.”
While winning elections is vital to block an authoritarian take-over — and Trump is already trying to orchestrate sweeping voter-suppression measures ahead of the 2026 mid-terms — they are clearly not enough.
A positive vision is needed as well — a fact reflected in the massive crowds attending Bernie Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” where he’s recently been joined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“This moment, this movement is bigger than these next four years. It’s bigger than Congress, hell, it’s even bigger than the Oval Office. Right here, around the country, we can start a great American renewal today,” Dunn said. “It’s not just about saying we’re against this, it’s also trying to provide a constitutive positive vision for the future. Because there are reasons why the country is here right now and if we can reclaim our democracy we can do things about it so that this never happens again,” he said. “We can establish universal healthcare and economic protections and union protection so that the average American worker isn’t being stepped on enough by the big corporations that they will fall to a populist right-leaning candidate who is lying to them and promising things they won’t deliver.”
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have ordered county departments to explore creating a registry to aid in evacuating people with disabilities and older adults with mobility issues during an emergency. Supervisors Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger—who represents Altadena—brought the motion forward in the wake of the Eaton and Palisades wildfires in January, during which people with disabilities and older adults faced particular difficulties in safely evacuating.
“When the next disaster hits, we need to be better prepared to evacuate people who cannot evacuate themselves,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who authored the motion “In an emergency, our first responders should know who our most vulnerable residents are, where they are, and how to reach them when minutes matter and lives are on the line.”
The board approved a motion yesterday directing the LA County Department of Aging and Disabilities in collaboration with the CEO, the Office of Emergency Management, the LA County Fire Chief, and the Sheriff to conduct an unbiased study on a potential registry that could help emergency responders locate and assist older adults and people with disabilities in future emergency evacuation and response efforts. The study will include engaging stakeholders to better understand the needs of older adults and people with mobility challenges, medical conditions, or cognitive impairments during an emergency as well as assessing any legal, technological and privacy concerns.
The Department of Aging and Disabilities will report back to the board in 120 days with the results of their assessment and options for a registry or other potential solutions, including recommendations for a proactive emergency notification program and improved data-sharing protocols across relevant agencies to help identify and support individuals who may need evacuation assistance during emergencies.
Speculations about who’s “the GOAT” — greatest of all time — are a bit silly even when it comes to sports, never mind in the far more subjective realm of arts. But no remotely rational debate about the GOAT of musical theatre could fail to include Stephen Sondheim, so layered are his creations, so smartly does he mine the work of the greats that came before him, so clever are his conceits, so witty and wry are both his lyrics and music.
Into the Woods is top-shelf Sondheim, so by simply choosing it to be part of their season, Musical Theatre West were halfway home. Now all they had to do was not screw it up — easier said than done, as Sondheim’s work can be some of the technically densest in the entire musical theatre canon.
But Musical Theatre West aren’t in the habit of screwing things up, and with Into the Woods they do far better than just get by.
Once upon a time there was a baker and his wife, and they were willing to do most anything to get a child of their own.. There was an impoverished mother and son who wished for better fortune. There was a downtrodden beauty who wished to go to the royal festival. And there was a girl who simply wished to safely navigate the woods to deliver food to her ailing grandma, woods where a long-haired maiden locked away in a tower wished to see more of the world.
If Into the Woods were nothing but Act One, which resourcefully brings the plots and dramatis personae of several classic fairy tales together in the deep, dark woods (à la Dante, a metaphor for life as a journey on which you can lose your way) before delivering an ostensible happily-ever-after, it would be an impressive achievement. But all that is just the set-up for what Into the Woods is really about, with 70% of its brilliance, not to mention the better part of its great music, saved for Act Two. This is musical theatre for thinking people — and no less entertaining for that.
No part of Act One is more entertaining than Antwone Barnes and Richard Bermudez as two princes in the “Agony” of their infatuations. Yes, it’s a funny number on paper, but perhaps more than any other in the entire show these yuks come down to the delivery, which is delightful here not only because of the singers’ efforts but also Christine Negherbon’s understated choreography.
Overall, the show’s brightest star is Daebreon Poiema as Rapunzel’s witching mother. Although she gets some big laughs in Act One, it’s after intermission that she truly shines, injecting an arresting intensity into the proceedings when things take a darker turn; and delivering the show’s most powerful solo with “Last Midnight”.
But Into the Woods is a true ensemble piece, where characters, songs, and themes are intercalated into a structure that ultimately reaches far greater heights than the sum of its building blocks. The construction touches the sky in “Your Fault”, where Poiema is joined by Derek Manson (as the Baker), Davide Costa (Jack), Amanda Angeles (Little Red Riding Hood), and Madison Claire Parks (Cinderella) in a scintillating rondo of recrimination. And the finale, “Children Will Listen”, has all the oomph it needs to serve as the capstone of such a magnificent edifice.
The cast’s only weakness shows itself in songs where soloists have to handle Sondheim’s quicker melodic passages. Into the Woods is crammed with vocal lines that rise and fall in such short, quick steps that even the smallest lack of tonal precision can cause things to sound a bit washed-out. But across the board the cast sings well enough together that such passages are generally great when delivered by two or more voices; and because the entire cast is so good with Sondheim’s staccato rhythms (generally more important in these numbers than their melodies), the overall effect is satisfying.
Although Kari Hayter’s direction is generally fine, she punted on how to show the tar-covered staircase that grabs Cinderella’s shoe by simply never showing the staircase, which makes the later reference to what happened there confusing for anyone who hasn’t already seen Into the Woods. And the Act Two death of a major character is, quite simply, weak. Then there are pesky details. For example, if the dialog is, “The silky hair of the corn, pull it from the ear and feed it to the cow quickly” — and much to-do is made about following these instructions exactly — why put the entire ear in the cow’s mouth? And why have a prop for a bag of gold pieces but only mime the magic beans?
Both Tom Buderwitz’s set and Brandon Baruch’s lighting do more with less, coupling functionality with atmospherics you might not even notice were it not for some nifty scrim work you might mistake for a video monitor and a striking moon against new colors in the sky in the darker second act.
*
No matter how attentively the little girl next to me sat through the 2.5+ hours in her glittery shoes and fabulous little red cape, she had zero chance of truly comprehending the intellectual side of Into the Woods, including its moral, a warning that filling kids’ heads with euphemisms and blanket optimism can be detrimental to their navigating the anfractuous journey of life. Even a teenager exiting the theater could be overheard complaining that “Act Two is so completely unnecessary!” But I hope these kids — and kids of all ages, from 1 to 92 — keep being exposed to smart entertainment, even when it’s too smart of them to understand just then. That’s part of how they/we get smarter. Filling our heads with pablum makes for a dumber world — and isn’t ours dumb enough already?
Careful the spell you cast Not just on children Sometimes the spell may last Past what you can see And turn against you… Careful the tale you tell That is the spell Children will listen…
Into the Woods at Musical Theatre West Times: Fri 8 pm, Sat 2 pm & 8 pm, Sun 1 pm; plus Thurs Apr 3, 8 pm and Sun Apr 6, 6 pm The show runs through April 13. Cost: starting at $20 ($15 for student rush tix) Details: (562) 856-1999,musical.org Venue: Carpenter Performing Arts Center (6200 W. Atherton, Long Beach)
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom April 2 unveiled the master plan for career education to strengthen career pathways, prioritize hands-on learning and real-life skills, and advance educational access and affordability. In a meeting at Modesto Junior College, Gov. Newsom received the master plan, which provides a framework to respond to the complex challenges facing California’s labor market and education landscape and prepare all learners for the ever-changing workforce.
The plan, supported by proposed budget investments, will make it easier for Californians to receive college credit for their real-world experience — including veterans.
With input from agencies and community members, two central themes emerged to guide the creation of the master plan: enhance coordination and address structural barriers that make it difficult for Californians to navigate education, workforce training, and public benefit systems. By designing systems so they are accessible to all learners regardless of their varied needs and circumstances, California can simultaneously expand access for a wide variety of learners and free up resources to provide more customized support for specific populations. The Governor’s January Budget includes several proposals that stem from the master plan.
Career Passports and Credit for Prior Learning
To help Californians better showcase their skills, the state will launch career passports – a digital tool that combines academic records with verified experience from work, military service, training programs, and more. This skills-based record will help shift hiring away from degree-only requirements and open up more good jobs for workers of all backgrounds. The plan also invests in expanding credit for prior learning or CPL, allowing veterans and working Californians to turn real-world experience into college credit. This statewide push is expected to benefit 250,000 people — including 30,000 veterans — and generate billions in long-term economic gains by speeding up time to degree and cutting costs.
To make career pathways more effective, the master plan calls for a new statewide collaborative to align education, training, and hiring needs. This body will help track labor market trends, reduce duplication, and build smarter workforce strategies. Locally, the plan supports stronger regional partnerships — expanding paid internships, streamlining funding, and engaging employers to identify in-demand skills. The goal: create seamless, real-world pathways from the classroom to the job site. Details:HERE
As the Clean Truck Fund Rate program enters its fourth year, the Port of Long Beach plans to spend up to 70% of the fund’s annual budget on incentives for purchasing zero-emissions trucks. The move shifts the port’s focus back to fleet turnover now that numerous ZE charging and fueling projects are moving forward or already open.
“Over the past two years, numerous charging stations have opened in and around our Port and in the Inland Empire,” said Port CEO Mario Cordero. “Our trucking partners can now invest in more zero-emission trucks with greater confidence.”
The CTF Rate Program
Under the CTF Rate program, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles collect $10 for each loaded twenty-foot-equivalent-unit container hauled by truck through their marine terminals. Cargo owners pay the rate; ZE trucks are permanently exempt. Each port has its own rules giving temporary exemptions for cargo hauled by low-emission trucks.
The ports began collecting the rate on April 1, 2022, to fund incentives that help pay for ZE trucks and the infrastructure needed to charge and fuel them. The incentives were developed to lower the high upfront cost of a ZE truck to that of a new diesel model in order to accelerate transitioning the drayage fleet to ZE trucks by 2035. CTF revenue also supports technology demonstrations and pilots.
For the first year, the Port of Long Beach allocated 65% of its CTF spending budget for ZE truck purchases. But prospective buyers were hesitant to purchase new trucks without more fueling and charging stations to power them.
In response, the Port of Long Beach allocated 75% of its CTF spending budget for infrastructure projects during the program’s second and third years. Since then, 102 electric charging units have opened in the Long Beach harbor district, construction is underway for another 118 units, and the port is negotiating with other developers to build additional charging depots. Another 147 charging units are either operational or under construction at six locations near the Port or in San Bernardino County.
As of January 2025, the Port of Long Beach alone has collected $110 million in CTF revenues and distributed about 46% of the funding. More than $31 million has paid for new ZE truck vouchers, $18 million has helped fund charging and fueling infrastructure, and $1.5 million has supported technology demonstrations and pilots. An additional $20 million is allocated for additional charging infrastructure, pending contract approvals.
Pooling Resources and Getting Results
Where possible, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have leveraged their resources by joining with other public agencies and private partners to put more ZE trucks in service and build more charging and fueling infrastructure. Successful initiatives include combining the two ports’ incentive dollars with those available through the California Air Resources Board’s hybrid and zero-emission voucher incentive program.
Pooling resources has allowed the ports and CARB to offer vouchers that pay for up to 90% of a new battery-electric Class 8 truck, which averages more than $400,000, or a new hydrogen fueled Class 8 truck, which averages $750,000, funding 800 ZE trucks. A new diesel model costs about $180,000. Thanks to HVIP and other grant programs, more than 500 ZE drayage trucks are now in service and more are on the way. As of December, CARB had allocated all its HVIP funds.
The ports’ other public partners include Southern California Edison and the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reductions Review Committee. MSRC is made up of CARB, the South Coast Air Quality Management District and South Coast Air Basin transportation agencies.
In partnership with the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach continues to aggressively pursue its ZE truck goals despite regulatory and policy uncertainties changing the market for Class 8 ZE trucks. Although California’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year includes $45 million for drayage truck incentives, CARB’s advanced clean fleet regulation requiring all new trucks entering drayage service in California to be ZE models by 2035 is now on hold. Also, two hydrogen truck manufacturers have filed for bankruptcy.
Such challenges aren’t new to the San Pedro Bay ports, whose track record on cutting pollution from ships, trucks, trains, harbor craft and cargo handling equipment speaks for itself, Port CEO Cordero said. Under the clean air action plan, the Port of Long Beach has cut emissions of diesel particulate matter 92%, nitrogen oxides 71% and sulfur oxides 98% from all port-related sources while moving 20% more containerized cargo since 2005. The Port of Los Angeles has had similar success.
By Mark Friedman, member, International Association of Machinists #1484
Delano, CA― Five thousand unionists representing 50 unions and organizations marched three miles under the slogan of “Con Estas Manos/With These Hands” in the birthplace of the United Farmworkers Union. to exemplify work in all areas of society― from agriculture to service industries and health care. of these essential workers.
The march and rally represented the united labor response to Washington’s attacks on immigrant workers and free speech.
The action commemorated UFW founder Cesar Chavez and called for the defense of immigrant workers against Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement raids and labor solidarity regardless of color or national origin. Four hundred thousand farmworkers live and work in California alone. Most lack “legal” status and are undocumented immigrants.
The multi-generational crowd carried banners from scores of unions, and hundreds of red UFW flags were waved to the bilingual delivered speeches. The rally was chaired by California AFL-CIO president Lorena Gonzalez, who also comes from a family of immigrant workers.
UFW leader Carolina Sanchez opened the speakers’ list by describing the day’s march today in commemoration of earlier Delano marches that founded the United Farm Workers. She described a recent three-day strike for a contract containing clauses for fewer hours at higher pay and no forced weekend work.
Another UFW leader Alejandro explained, “Our work is hard but with the union, we have won more rights with the union; we have a voice. We need the unions now more than ever in these times.”
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) had the largest delegation of over 1,000 workers from San Diego to Sacramento and San Francisco representing all service areas: hospitals, home care, daycare, and healthcare. The march also drew several hundred participants from Los Angeles, organized into buses by the LA Federation of Labor.
David Huerta, SEIU Local 1000 president told the crowd “We have political power; we have economic power. It is in our hands and we need to fight for our country; all workers without any difference in country of origin.
“When any worker is afraid of deportation, it pushes down wages and working conditions for all workers. We reject the Trump administration’s campaign of terror, hate, and division — and we will (defend) every worker in America, whether against a boss who seeks to exploit them, or a President who seeks to deport them,” Romero said in a statement. “Farm workers feed America — and we will claim our rightful share of the bounty our hands harvest.”
Natasha Williams, Kaiser Permanente healthcare worker and SEIU activist discussed the need for the 110,000 healthcare workers in California, “To stand in solidarity with immigrant brothers and sisters. Nationally, millions of immigrants are healthcare workers and we will not stand by when ice raids hospitals and clinics.”
Airport worker Nestor Tope from San Francisco called on the crowd to carry on, “With the tradition of immigrant workers’ solidarity of Mexicans, Filipinos, indigenous people. Trump is attacking not only immigrant workers but all workers, so our answer has to be to organize. When we fight, we win!
Several industrial, construction, and building trades unions were in attendance including the United Auto Workers, International Association of Machinists, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, and Allied Workers as well as teachers’ unions.
Rodrigo Flores representing the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, IBEW who works at a hydroelectric plant whose father worked in the fields told the crowd, “At the end of the day we are all workers it is not right to bash immigrants who are doing the hardest jobs.”
A delegation of nurses from the California Nurses Association, representing 184,000 California nurses was represented by Sandy Redding a working nurse in Bakersfield who told the crowd “Our nurses will protect our patients if you are ice or a cop don’t get between the nurse and her patient.”
United Domestic Workers was formed as part of the organizing efforts of the United Farm Workers and represents home and child care workers “We live in fear of ICE we are locked into detention centers where you disappear; no one should be illegal in this land that was stolen from Indigenous peoples. Fear will not break us; we will rise for human rights.”
A contingent of Justice for Janitors also participated with leader Teresa Barrios saying, “We come for dignity and respect not only survival. We must unite and march shoulder to shoulder to defend each other in the battles against the big companies, like Google, that recently offered us an insulting $0.25 an hour pay increase.”
Gloria Arrieta from the Pilipino Workers Center, tells this reporter of the importance of supporting Filipino farmworkers. Susan Garcia, a former migrant farmworker, expressed pride in returning to the fields where she once worked. “We still picked until I was 18. So, I have always worked for and supported the migrant farmworkers and wherever they are, I am with them.”
National president of the UFW, Teresa Romero, closed the rally by talking about the historic Delano Farm Workers’ battles for unionization where they were beaten and killed for standing up for their rights. “ Everyone here needs to show the courage to show solidarity with all workers no matter where they work or where they come from. We have also filed multiple lawsuits against the US border patrol to stop harassing farm workers in central California and we will continue mobilizing and marching and standing together till we win.”
Supporters of LA Hands-Off Cuba Committee, Building Relations with Cuban Labor and LAHOC member union, Roofers Local 36, distributed 1500 bilingual flyers, demanding an end to the US blockade and inviting workers to visit Cuba for Mayday.
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors April 2 approved a motion authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell to explore the feasibility of increasing employment opportunities for individuals with neurodiversity. The county’s Department of Human Resources will work with the Departments of Aging and Disabilities, Economic Opportunity, Library, County Counsel, the Chief Executive Office as well as other relevant county departments and the Los Angeles County Commission on Disabilities to present a feasibility report on a potential Neurodiversity Hiring Pilot Program. The pilot program will align candidate skills with job requirements to help county departments appropriately match situations and solutions.
“If we want LA County to really be a place of equal opportunity for all, we have to close this gap for people with neurodiversity. Many of them have immense potential and valuable skills to offer but have simply been overlooked in the hiring process,” said Supervisor Hahn, who authored the motion. “This program is going to help us better put the county jobs they are qualified for within their reach.”
Neurodiversity describes the concept that people have different ways of thinking, learning, and behaving. It includes a broad range of conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD, Dyslexia, Cerebral Palsy, Tourette Syndrome, Down Syndrome, speech or language impairment, and hearing loss, among others.
This motion directs the county departments to present a report to the board in 180 days that will include five categories:
Findings related to the development of a pilot program, including best practices for implementing programs targeted at increasing employment opportunities for individuals with neurodiversity and with intellectual or developmental disabilities
Assessment of reasonable accommodations needed to support neurodivergent individuals in county jobs, and conduct a cost analysis
Identification of necessary resources, including internal county resources (e.g., staff and budget) and external support from partner organizations
Sourcing and Recruitment of Job Applicants: In addition to collaboration between the county departments named in the motion, the supervisors are calling on them to work with external partners including community-based organizations, colleges, and vocational programs that work with individuals with neurodiversity to identify and inform potential applicants about job opportunities within the county
Development of success metrics
By including a requirement for county departments to assess the effectiveness of reasonable accommodations for people with neurodiversity and disabilities of different kinds, the program is expected to also identify how they can make county employment more inclusive of people with physical disabilities.
