Skip to contentA massive strike by Kaiser Permanente workers, including 23,000 in the Bay Area, is part of a surge in union activity this year from Detroit to Hollywood and likely will bring greater bargaining power to workers in health care and other industries, experts say.Kaiser’s strike followed the Sept. 30 expiration of the union contract for tens of thousands of workers. Other high-profile strikes, including a successful labor action by Hollywood writers and an ongoing strike among auto workers — and even a threatened strike by UPS employees that was a key tactic in negotiating a...…Skip to contentA massive strike by Kaiser Permanente workers, including 23,000 in the Bay Area, is part of a surge in union activity this year from Detroit to Hollywood and likely will bring greater bargaining power to workers in health care and other industries, experts say.Kaiser’s strike followed the Sept. 30 expiration of the union contract for tens of thousands of workers. Other high-profile strikes, including a successful labor action by Hollywood writers and an ongoing strike among auto workers — and even a threatened strike by UPS employees that was a key tactic in negotiating a...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupHalf of Bay Area residents believe working in an office is still risky, according a new poll from a prominent business group, reflecting the difficulties big employers may have in bringing workers back after more than a year of social distancing.About one in five of those surveyed said working in the office was “very unsafe,” while a third described it as “somewhat unsafe” in a poll of 1,000 registered voters for the Bay Area Council.But other experiences — from dining inside to attending sports events — were deemed even riskier by respondents, the poll...…By | | Bay Area News GroupHalf of Bay Area residents believe working in an office is still risky, according a new poll from a prominent business group, reflecting the difficulties big employers may have in bringing workers back after more than a year of social distancing.About one in five of those surveyed said working in the office was “very unsafe,” while a third described it as “somewhat unsafe” in a poll of 1,000 registered voters for the Bay Area Council.But other experiences — from dining inside to attending sports events — were deemed even riskier by respondents, the poll...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupTesla broke labor law that protects union organizing, and CEO Elon Musk must delete an “unlawful” 2018 tweet that “coercively threatened” workers with loss of stock options if they unionized, an order this week from the National Labor Relations Board said.The decision from the federal workplace regulator came down Thursday. As of noon Friday, — “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?” — remained live.Tesla and Musk did not immediately respond to...…By | | Bay Area News GroupTesla broke labor law that protects union organizing, and CEO Elon Musk must delete an “unlawful” 2018 tweet that “coercively threatened” workers with loss of stock options if they unionized, an order this week from the National Labor Relations Board said.The decision from the federal workplace regulator came down Thursday. As of noon Friday, — “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?” — remained live.Tesla and Musk did not immediately respond to...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupFacebook, which in 2019 paid advertisers a $40 million settlement over inflated video-viewing metrics and is fighting a lawsuit over its “reach” to users, is now taking flak over its revelation this week that it took down 1.3 billion fake accounts during just three months last year.“How much money was spent advertising to these fake accounts?” said Angelo Carusone, CEO of progressive watchdog group Media Matters for America.Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.Carusone noted that U.S. taxpayers bankroll ads on Facebook via government agencies...…By | | Bay Area News GroupFacebook, which in 2019 paid advertisers a $40 million settlement over inflated video-viewing metrics and is fighting a lawsuit over its “reach” to users, is now taking flak over its revelation this week that it took down 1.3 billion fake accounts during just three months last year.“How much money was spent advertising to these fake accounts?” said Angelo Carusone, CEO of progressive watchdog group Media Matters for America.Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.Carusone noted that U.S. taxpayers bankroll ads on Facebook via government agencies...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupThe deadline for California taxpayers to file their 2020 personal income tax returns and pay their taxes to the federal and state governments has been extended to May 17 from April 15, after the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday announced the delay and California followed suit.Both the IRS and the state tax agency said the deadline extension does not apply to estimated tax payments made quarterly by people whose income isn’t subject to income tax withholding. Those are still due April 15.The state and federal agencies both said they would provide more...…By | | Bay Area News GroupThe deadline for California taxpayers to file their 2020 personal income tax returns and pay their taxes to the federal and state governments has been extended to May 17 from April 15, after the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday announced the delay and California followed suit.Both the IRS and the state tax agency said the deadline extension does not apply to estimated tax payments made quarterly by people whose income isn’t subject to income tax withholding. Those are still due April 15.The state and federal agencies both said they would provide more...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupBay Area ride-hailing giant Lyft is accused in a series of new lawsuits of failing to protect female passengers from rape by drivers. One plaintiff claims she was 15 when her driver raped her and then forced her to take an anti-pregnancy pill.The December legal actions are part of a “mass tort” lawsuit initiated in August 2019 by 20 women alleging sexual assault by Lyft drivers. Several dozen women joined the case soon after, and lawyers for the plaintiffs plan to add hundreds more alleged victims. A trial is scheduled for January 2022.“Since 2015, sexual predators...…By | | Bay Area News GroupBay Area ride-hailing giant Lyft is accused in a series of new lawsuits of failing to protect female passengers from rape by drivers. One plaintiff claims she was 15 when her driver raped her and then forced her to take an anti-pregnancy pill.The December legal actions are part of a “mass tort” lawsuit initiated in August 2019 by 20 women alleging sexual assault by Lyft drivers. Several dozen women joined the case soon after, and lawyers for the plaintiffs plan to add hundreds more alleged victims. A trial is scheduled for January 2022.“Since 2015, sexual predators...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupBay Area restaurant-delivery firm DoorDash has agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a government lawsuit alleging it stole drivers’ tips and deceived customers into thinking their tip money was going to drivers.Washington, D.C. attorney general Karl Racine filed the civil suit last year, and in a accused the San Francisco company of “lowering labor costs by swiping tips left for workers.”Racine claimed “DoorDash led consumers to believe that any tips would go directly to food delivery workers, while instead effectively treating this money as extra profit for the...…By | | Bay Area News GroupBay Area restaurant-delivery firm DoorDash has agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a government lawsuit alleging it stole drivers’ tips and deceived customers into thinking their tip money was going to drivers.Washington, D.C. attorney general Karl Racine filed the civil suit last year, and in a accused the San Francisco company of “lowering labor costs by swiping tips left for workers.”Racine claimed “DoorDash led consumers to believe that any tips would go directly to food delivery workers, while instead effectively treating this money as extra profit for the...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupTheranos founder Elizabeth Holmes threw her criminal indictments and charges against the wall to see if she could get any to fall away, but they all stuck.The Stanford University dropout, charged with a dozen felony counts of fraud over her defunct Palo Alto blood-testing startup, filed six motions in U.S. District Court in San Jose in late August, seeking to have indictments and charges thrown out.On Tuesday, Judge Edward Davila denied all of them, paving the way for a trial scheduled to begin in March.To Holmes’ claim that her right to a speedy trial had been...…By | | Bay Area News GroupTheranos founder Elizabeth Holmes threw her criminal indictments and charges against the wall to see if she could get any to fall away, but they all stuck.The Stanford University dropout, charged with a dozen felony counts of fraud over her defunct Palo Alto blood-testing startup, filed six motions in U.S. District Court in San Jose in late August, seeking to have indictments and charges thrown out.On Tuesday, Judge Edward Davila denied all of them, paving the way for a trial scheduled to begin in March.To Holmes’ claim that her right to a speedy trial had been...WW…

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 14: From left, co-workers Paul Carlisle, Frank Tuzzolino, and Casey Golliher, sit for lunch in a nearly empty Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2020. Castro Street has been closed to traffic for outdoor dining. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)It’s a warm Friday afternoon at a Mountain View sports pub just a stone’s throw from several Google offices, and tables inside and out should be filled with people celebrating the end of the workweek. But the long barroom with seating for 80 is closed by coronavirus regulations, and on the...…MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 14: From left, co-workers Paul Carlisle, Frank Tuzzolino, and Casey Golliher, sit for lunch in a nearly empty Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2020. Castro Street has been closed to traffic for outdoor dining. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)It’s a warm Friday afternoon at a Mountain View sports pub just a stone’s throw from several Google offices, and tables inside and out should be filled with people celebrating the end of the workweek. But the long barroom with seating for 80 is closed by coronavirus regulations, and on the...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupTheranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, charged with a dozen felony fraud counts over her defunct Palo Alto blood-testing startup, plans to introduce evidence of a mental condition that affects the issue of guilt, a blockbuster judge’s order has revealed.Federal prosecutors will be allowed to subject the Stanford University dropout to 14 hours of psychiatric testing and examination over two days, Judge Edward Davila said in a ruling this week.Holmes in December notified prosecutors of her intent “to introduce expert evidence relating to a mental disease or defect or any...…By | | Bay Area News GroupTheranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, charged with a dozen felony fraud counts over her defunct Palo Alto blood-testing startup, plans to introduce evidence of a mental condition that affects the issue of guilt, a blockbuster judge’s order has revealed.Federal prosecutors will be allowed to subject the Stanford University dropout to 14 hours of psychiatric testing and examination over two days, Judge Edward Davila said in a ruling this week.Holmes in December notified prosecutors of her intent “to introduce expert evidence relating to a mental disease or defect or any...WW…