ILWU 10 "Bloody Thursday" Commemoration on July 5, 2026 & Growing Threats To Union & Membership
Jim Crow 2 , Fascism & The General Strike UFCLP Class
https://youtu.be/-eQaeTJ29B0
This panel is about the rise of Jim Crow 2, Fascism and the need for a general strike was held by United Front Committee For A Labor Party
This panel was on 5/27/26
www.ufclp.org
This panel is about the rise of Jim Crow 2, Fascism and the need fo…
youtu.beOn July 4th 2026: Fight Against Ellison's Fascist Control of The Media & Defense Of KPFA & Pacifica
https://youtu.be/06cN29Oivb8
On July 4, 2026 the 250th anniversary of the US a rally was held outside the offices of fascist Larry Ellison's Oracle offices in Redwood City.… Ellison and his son David through Oracle is financing the corporate capture of major parts of the US media including CBS, Warner, TikTok, CNN and Paramount.
Tens of thousands of Paramount workers will lose their jobs if they take over Paramount since they have borrowed $49 billion to complete the purchase.
Part of his take-over plans is also to support the Israeli genocidal war on Palestinians. He has personally contributed millions of dollars to the IDF.
The rally was also called to launch the campaign to defend the democratic control of the Pacifica network which has been threatened by a corporate centralization of the network and the elimination of local community programming and control.
Speakers running for Pacifica and KFPA spoke at the Oracle rally and talked about the struggle for democratic media and the fascist take-over of CBS, Warner, TikTok, Paramount, CNN by Larry Ellison and his son
David who owns Skydance Media.
For More Information:
Pacifica Mission Coalition
https://pacificamissioncoalition.com
Rescue Pacifica
https://rescuepacifica.net
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
On July 4, 2026 the 250th anniversary of the US a rally was held ou…
youtu.beOn July 4th 2026: Fight Against Ellison's Fascist Control of The Media & Defense Of KPFA & Pacifica
ILWU10 Workers Protest Unloading At Levin Terminal Of Ship Of Sugar To Bust ILWU6 C&H Strikers
https://youtu.be/QEkB5QUAQG8
The C&H Sugar refinery in Crockett owned by ASR could not unload ship of sugar cane from the Philippines at the C&H docks because ILWU Local 10 members …refused to work since their fellow ILWU Local 6 members were on strike at the sugar refinery.
The company then moved the sugar ship to the industrial Levin Terminal in Richmond and was working to unload the sugar at this terminal with oil, steel and coal.
Local 10 longshore workers talked about the work along with the issues and Harvey Schwarz, the ILWU historian and author talked about the history of the ILWU Local 6 longshore workers at Crocket which was organizing in 1937.
This interview was done on July 23, 2026
Additional Media:
ILWU 6 Workers Strike At Crockett C&H ASR Sugar Plant To Protect Their Contract & Conditions
https://youtu.be/PY6Rj82n_cs
ILWU Struggles 1984-2010, The Struggle Continues
https://youtu.be/ABosvjawnj4
The Sugar Babies Amy Serrano 2005 2006
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyVcyRjy52Q
Juneteenth & The Fight Today Against Resegregation & A Fascist Government-Time For Mass Action
https://youtu.be/3fTLkPEEu34
On Juneteenth, ILWU Local 10 VP Trent Willis Talks About History & Struggle For General Strike Today
https://youtu.be/-dqrEQHYzqI
Kill Tariffs Not Workers! Teamsters & ILWU Members Protest Tariffs & Trade War At The Port Of Oakland
https://youtu.be/DdIzrM2B-9w
ILWU 10 Solidarity Meeting On Palestine: An Injury To One Is An Injury To All
https://youtu.be/XiPs6lccJM0
Zim Line Hit With Pickets-ILWU 10 & 34 Workers Stand Against Israeli Apartheid
https://youtu.be/2Gp503j9WSk
Mass March & Picket At Oakland Port To Stop Israel's Zim Line Ship Piraeus To Protest Crimes In Gaza
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcJHlnq4YIo
Danny Glover Joins ILWU 10 In Supporting Freedom For Mumia on February 16, 2023
https://youtu.be/j0qJX4zDf9s
ILUW 1984 San Francisco Local 10 & 34 Anti-Apartheid Action Against Racist South African
For More Information
ILWU 6 Crockett C&G Strike Fund
https://square.link/u/ifFpgkRO
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
The C&H Sugar refinery in Crockett owned by ASR could not unload sh…
youtu.beILWU10 Longshore Workers Protest At Levin Terminal Against Ship Of Sugar To Bust ILWU6 Strikers
U.S. to Overhaul Radiation Safety Rules to Spur Nuclear Expansion
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to end longstanding guidance that radiation exposure be “as low as reasonably achievable.”
…https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/climate/nrc-radiation-regulation-nuclear-overhaul.html?searchResultPosition=1
White steam pours out of four cooling towers at a nuclear plant in Georgia.
The proposed rule changes could make it cheaper and easier to build and operate new nuclear power plants in the United States.Credit…Audra Melton for The New York Times
By Brad Plumer
Published July 1, 2026
Updated July 2, 2026
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday proposed overhauling its safety rules for radiation exposure from nuclear power plants, saying that the current regulations are too costly and go beyond what is needed to protect human health.
The N.R.C. would keep its existing limits on the maximum amount of radiation that workers and the public can receive each year. But it is proposing to eliminate a principle in place for decades that said nuclear-plant operators should keep radiation exposure “as low as reasonably achievable.” In some cases, that meant regulators could order plants to install additional equipment to drive radiation exposure far below the legal limits.
The agency said that this often led to additional costs “without a measurable safety benefit.” It added that the maximum dose limits were already set “well below levels associated with known health effects.”
The N.R.C. also proposed on Wednesday a sweeping package of changes aimed at simplifying the process for choosing locations for and licensing new nuclear reactors.
Taken together, the rule changes could make it cheaper and easier to build and operate new nuclear power plants in the United States. The Trump administration has urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the nation’s safety regulator, to streamline its rules in order to greatly expand the use of nuclear power.
“N.R.C.’s regulations have not kept pace with new technologies and our energy needs,” said Ho Nieh, the chairman of the commission. The proposed rules, he said, would “strip out rigid frameworks and unnecessary conservatism to accelerate the safe deployment of new reactors and expand existing capacity across America.”
The new rules wade into a longstanding and often fierce debate over how much protection against low levels of radiation is worthwhile.
Experts agree that high doses of radiation are dangerous and can cause various types of cancer. But there’s much more disagreement about the effects of lower doses of radiation, such as the amounts that workers at nuclear power plants might receive in the course of their jobs.
Different studies have found that low doses can be harmful, neutral or even beneficial. Many researchers say the science is inconclusive, particularly since people are naturally exposed to varying amounts of background radiation in day-to-day life.
For decades, many researchers and regulators have tried to simplify things by adopting what’s known as the “linear no-threshold model,” which says that the effects of radiation scale down linearly with the dose, and that even tiny amounts of radiation can have small negative effects. While researchers say it’s extremely difficult to prove or disprove this model, some say it’s a reasonable precaution.
Since the 1970s, regulators have in turn adopted the principle that radiation exposure from nuclear power plants should be kept “as low as reasonably achievable.” That might mean installing additional shielding and equipment at plants or hiring more workers so that they could be rotated more often in order to keep radiation exposure to each individual as low as possible. And it means operators should always be looking for ways to limit exposure further.
Yet supporters of nuclear power have argued that shifting targets for safety make it more difficult and expensive to build and operate nuclear plants — which produce far less air pollution than coal- or gas-burning power plants — with little detectable safety benefit.
In its proposed rule, the N.R.C. said that instead of requiring radiation exposure be “as low as reasonably achievable,” it would allow more flexibility for plant operators to manage exposure and adopt new methods for evaluating radiation doses. The agency is also proposing to allow certain medical workers who work with radioactive materials to voluntarily receive higher doses.
“Our radiation dose limits remain unchanged. What we’re eliminating is unnecessary ambiguity,” Mr. Nieh said.
Some experts said the new rules were unlikely to cause major changes at existing plants, since many plant operators already keep radiation exposure far below the maximum legal limits.
Image
Steam pipes snake from turbines inside the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia.
Since the 1970s, federal regulators have held a standard saying that nuclear power plants should keep the amount of radiation that workers and the public are exposed to “as low as reasonably achievable.”Credit…Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times
Current U.S. nuclear plants “already operate far below what the regulatory limits are because they recognize it’s the best practice for the operations of the plant and the workers,” said Patrick White, an expert on nuclear power at the Clean Air Task Force, an environmental group. “It’s hard to imagine operators changing that just because the regulations are changing.”
Others have suggested that the new rules could make it easier for companies to develop new plants. The Breakthrough Institute, a pronuclear group, published research suggesting that moving away from the “as low as reasonably achievable” standard could cut the cost of building reactors by as much as 20 percent because developers might need to use less steel, concrete, shielding and labor.
Opponents of nuclear power criticized the new rules. The changes “would allow nuclear facility workers and the general public to be exposed to higher levels of cancer-causing radiation just to save the nuclear industry money,” said Edwin Lyman, the director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a frequent critic of the industry.
Separately, the agency said it was streamlining an array of rules that developers of nuclear power plants have to follow for siting, building and licensing plants. Traditionally, for instance, companies have to receive an N.R.C. license before they can begin construction. The new rules could allow companies to conduct more types of early site work while they wait for N.R.C. approval, allowing them to speed up project timelines.
The agency will solicit public comment on both proposed rules for 45 days and is expected to finalize them later this year.
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was established by Congress as an independent agency responsible for overseeing the safety of the nation’s nuclear power plants and approving plans for new reactors. The agency’s safety rules, which have become more stringent since the 1970s, have sometimes been blamed for the slowdown in construction of U.S. nuclear plants. Only three new reactors have come online since 1996.
Since taking office, President Trump has sought to exert greater authority over the agency, including breaking precedent by firing one of its Democratic commissioners last year. (The five-member board traditionally has commissioners appointed by both parties who serve for fixed terms. It currently has three Republican appointees and two Democratic appointees.)
Last May, Mr. Trump issued a series of executive orders telling the N.R.C. to overhaul its rules and take no more than 18 months to approve new reactors. Mr. Trump has also ordered the agency to clear all major regulatory decisions with the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, creating a new level of political oversight.
Mr. Nieh, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, has said that the agency will continue to make its own decisions. “There’s no political pressure on our safety decisions,” he said on Wednesday.
Nuclear power has attracted bipartisan interest in the United States in recent years, particularly as demand for electricity rises. Nuclear reactors don’t emit planet-warming greenhouse gases, unlike coal and gas plants, and they can produce electricity around the clock, unlike wind turbines and solar panels. While some Democrats remain opposed because of concerns over safety and the disposal of nuclear waste, others have come to see it as a tool to fight climate change.
In 2024, Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill aimed at speeding up the development of a new generation of nuclear plants. Since then, the N.R.C. has taken several steps to streamline its regulatory processes, including issuing permits for new reactors in Wyoming and Tennessee within 18 months, a quick pace for the agency.
Still, some Democrats who support nuclear energy are concerned that the Trump administration may be moving too fast.
The Energy Department, for instance, is encouraging start-ups to build a new generation of small demonstration reactors on federal land under an accelerated approval process that does not involve the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Those reactors could then apply for N.R.C. approval under a new streamlined pathway, a process that some Democrats have criticized as lacking transparency.
Brad Plumer is a Times reporter who covers technology and policy efforts to address global warming.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to end longstanding guidance that radiation exposure be “as low as reasonably achievable.”
www.nytimes.comTime, Place & Manner: Scott Wiener, Gavin Newsom & The Attack On Democratic Rights In Education
https://youtu.be/6wuFS4FfeAI
SJSU Professor Dr. Sang Kil at a victory press conference returning her to her job at San Jose Sate University
reported that California Governor Gavin …Newsom and Congressional candidate Scott Wiener were involved in
targeting Palestinian student, faculty and union supporters at CSU, UC and K-12 with rules such as Time, Place
and Manner as well as SB 715 which says criticism of Israel's genocide is anti-Semitism and coerces teachers
not to have any discussion of Palestine and the genocide.
The attack on democratic rights by Democratic Party politicians according to Professor Kil is helping to set up a
repressive state.
The leadership of UAW 4811 and UAW Region 6 are supporting the candidacy of Scott Wiener for Congress to
replace former House leader Nancy Pelosi.
This press conference was in front of the MLK Library at San Jose State University on June 30, 2026.
Additional Media:
UAW Members Demand that UAW Rescind Endorsement of Zionist & Billionaire Shill Scott Wiener
https://youtu.be/JPfO9KV31Vk
Zionist CA State Senator Scott Wiener Protested At KQED Congressional Debate
https://youtu.be/YkqNzPKNSpc
No Genocide By Israel In Gaza According to SF Demo Party Politician Scott Weiner
https://youtu.be/upXMZeEomzY
UCSF Dr. Rupa Marya Targeted By Zionist Scott Weiner & Fired For Opposing Genocide In Palestine
https://youtu.be/Yr1DDEphSQE
Weiner Supporters Go Crazy At Jane Kim Rally In SF-There Is No Working Class Housing Crisis In SF?
https://youtu.be/o_1xxLF35fw
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
$12B science bond to offset Trump research cuts misses California ballot deadline
University of California leaders, UAW 4811, UAW Region6 and scientists had supported the bill, which they called critical to securing the future of science in the state.
…https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/06/29/12b-science-bond-to-offset-trump-research-cuts-misses-california-ballot-deadline
By Felicia Mello
June 29, 2026, 2:19 p.m.
California Assembly Member Pilar Schiavo listens to Caltech Ph.D. student Isaac Aguilar explain his research on metals found in the ash following the Los Angeles fires during a science fair for threatened and cancelled research held in Sacramento on Jan. 26. Credit: Fred Greaves for Berkeleyside
A proposed $12 billion bond measure to fund scientific research missed a deadline last week to qualify for the November ballot, dimming the hopes of scholars and University of California leaders who had aimed to use the funds to backfill losses in federal grants.
Are you a UC researcher whose work has been affected by federal grant cancellations?
Send me an email to reporter Felicia Mello at felicia@berkeleyside.org, or message her on Signal at Felicia.97.
State Sen. Scott Wiener urged state legislative leaders on Friday to extend the deadline and place the measure on the ballot in a joint statement with two other authors of the bill and a union leader, saying the Trump administration’s slashing of federal science funding “calls for real urgency.” (Any deal would likely need to happen before July 2, when the Legislature is set to adjourn for the summer.)
The bond proposal came as the administration has canceled thousands of grants to scientists nationwide that it said didn’t align with its priorities and is proposing rules that would further politicize federal grantmaking. UC Berkeley alone has lost tens of millions in funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies.
“The University of California is facing the most significant disruption to our research enterprise in our history,” UC President James Milliken said at a May rally in support of the bond.
The bill would have given Californians the opportunity to vote in November on whether to set up a state fund to support research in curing deadly diseases, preventing wildfires, tackling climate change and other scientific quests. In addition to raising $12 billion through a bond measure, the state would also have collected private donations, and would have received a portion of the revenue from inventions developed with money from the fund.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, who has proposed the multi-billion-dollar scientific research fund, talks at the science fair in January. Credit: Fred Greaves for Berkeleyside
Originally designed to raise $23 billion, the proposal was scaled down during the legislative process and passed the state Senate with bipartisan support. But it failed to make it to the Assembly floor before Thursday’s deadline for measures to qualify for the November ballot.
Nick Miller, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, said legislative leaders — who typically come to an agreement with the governor before placing bonds on the ballot — faced painful choices as they tried to plan for Medicaid cuts and other federal policy changes that were likely to impact the state in the near future.
“Trump’s full-scale assault on California touches nearly every public service and program,” Miller wrote in an email. “California simply cannot backfill all these draconian cuts — and the economic chaos Trump has unleashed forces the state to prepare for even more uncertainty ahead, severely constraining bonding capacity.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office did not respond to messages seeking comment.
As California’s leading public research university, UC Berkeley would have likely benefited significantly from the state fund, along with other UC campuses, private universities and labs.
“Scientific discoveries are absolutely critical to working families across California,” Mike Miller, president of United Auto Workers Region 6, a union that represents UC scientists, said in a joint statement Friday with Wiener and Assembly coauthor José Luis Solache. They urged the Assembly, Senate and Governor Gavin Newsom to place the bond on the ballot, saying it would “secure the future of science in California.”
Researchers say their jobs have become more unstable as Trump administration has pulled back on funding
The campaign for SB 895 marked a rare moment of collaboration between the leadership of the UC and unions representing the university’s scientists, both of which sponsored the bill. Early-career scientists in particular emerged from their labs to hold a mock science fair, gather signatures from the public, and otherwise try to convince legislators that their work is critical to the state’s future.
large-science-saves-lives_2026_01_26_FG23488.jpeg
Christopher Rae, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher who is investigating potential new treatments for tuberculosis, at the January science fair. Credit: Fred Greaves for Berkeleyside
Lara Schwarz, a UC Berkeley postdoc who studies how heat waves and wildfire affect human health, said job opportunities in her field were far more scarce than they had been just two years ago, as the National Institutes of Health pulled back on funding.
“California is experiencing more and more heat waves and wildfire smoke events and that’s not going away anytime soon,” she said. “The fact that we won’t have the funding to research this and understand how to respond is going to lead to drastic consequences on the health of Californians.”
The science bond, she hoped, could prevent researchers like her from needing to go abroad to pursue their work — or leaving the field altogether.
Housing bond may have crowded science bond off the ballot
Science bond supporters also faced competition from another pressing California challenge: the state’s housing crisis. Last week, Newsom struck an agreement with legislative leaders to place an $11 billion bond measure on the ballot that would fund the building and preservation of affordable housing.
Because bonds are essentially large loans the state takes out, with taxpayers paying the interest, their supporters often worry that having more than one such big-ticket measure on the ballot can weaken voter buy-in. State leaders, too, fear taking on too much debt. Voters are also set to decide in November on a more narrowly focused $8 billion bond measure, backed by billionaire philanthropist Gary Michelson and some patient advocacy groups, that would fund research into immunotherapy for serious diseases.
While court rulings have restored many of the grants to UC researchers that the Trump administration had sought to cancel, deep uncertainty remains about the future of federal science funding. Rules proposed by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget last month would require political appointees to review all new grants to ensure they serve the president’s priorities.
And in April, the National Science Foundation suspended another $21 million in research grants to UC Berkeley, saying the university failed to report foreign funding received by the projects’ principal investigators, a charge some of those researchers denied.
University of California leaders and scientists had supported the bill, which they called critical to securing the future of science in the state.
www.berkeleyside.org$12B science bond to offset Trump research cuts misses California ballot deadline
University of California leaders, UAW 4811, UAW Region6 and scientists had supported the bill, which they called critical to securing the future of science in the state.
…https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/06/29/12b-science-bond-to-offset-trump-research-cuts-misses-california-ballot-deadline
By Felicia Mello
June 29, 2026, 2:19 p.m.
California Assembly Member Pilar Schiavo listens to Caltech Ph.D. student Isaac Aguilar explain his research on metals found in the ash following the Los Angeles fires during a science fair for threatened and cancelled research held in Sacramento on Jan. 26. Credit: Fred Greaves for Berkeleyside
A proposed $12 billion bond measure to fund scientific research missed a deadline last week to qualify for the November ballot, dimming the hopes of scholars and University of California leaders who had aimed to use the funds to backfill losses in federal grants.
Are you a UC researcher whose work has been affected by federal grant cancellations?
Send me an email to reporter Felicia Mello at felicia@berkeleyside.org, or message her on Signal at Felicia.97.
State Sen. Scott Wiener urged state legislative leaders on Friday to extend the deadline and place the measure on the ballot in a joint statement with two other authors of the bill and a union leader, saying the Trump administration’s slashing of federal science funding “calls for real urgency.” (Any deal would likely need to happen before July 2, when the Legislature is set to adjourn for the summer.)
The bond proposal came as the administration has canceled thousands of grants to scientists nationwide that it said didn’t align with its priorities and is proposing rules that would further politicize federal grantmaking. UC Berkeley alone has lost tens of millions in funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies.
“The University of California is facing the most significant disruption to our research enterprise in our history,” UC President James Milliken said at a May rally in support of the bond.
The bill would have given Californians the opportunity to vote in November on whether to set up a state fund to support research in curing deadly diseases, preventing wildfires, tackling climate change and other scientific quests. In addition to raising $12 billion through a bond measure, the state would also have collected private donations, and would have received a portion of the revenue from inventions developed with money from the fund.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, who has proposed the multi-billion-dollar scientific research fund, talks at the science fair in January. Credit: Fred Greaves for Berkeleyside
Originally designed to raise $23 billion, the proposal was scaled down during the legislative process and passed the state Senate with bipartisan support. But it failed to make it to the Assembly floor before Thursday’s deadline for measures to qualify for the November ballot.
Nick Miller, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, said legislative leaders — who typically come to an agreement with the governor before placing bonds on the ballot — faced painful choices as they tried to plan for Medicaid cuts and other federal policy changes that were likely to impact the state in the near future.
“Trump’s full-scale assault on California touches nearly every public service and program,” Miller wrote in an email. “California simply cannot backfill all these draconian cuts — and the economic chaos Trump has unleashed forces the state to prepare for even more uncertainty ahead, severely constraining bonding capacity.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office did not respond to messages seeking comment.
As California’s leading public research university, UC Berkeley would have likely benefited significantly from the state fund, along with other UC campuses, private universities and labs.
“Scientific discoveries are absolutely critical to working families across California,” Mike Miller, president of United Auto Workers Region 6, a union that represents UC scientists, said in a joint statement Friday with Wiener and Assembly coauthor José Luis Solache. They urged the Assembly, Senate and Governor Gavin Newsom to place the bond on the ballot, saying it would “secure the future of science in California.”
Researchers say their jobs have become more unstable as Trump administration has pulled back on funding
The campaign for SB 895 marked a rare moment of collaboration between the leadership of the UC and unions representing the university’s scientists, both of which sponsored the bill. Early-career scientists in particular emerged from their labs to hold a mock science fair, gather signatures from the public, and otherwise try to convince legislators that their work is critical to the state’s future.
large-science-saves-lives_2026_01_26_FG23488.jpeg
Christopher Rae, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher who is investigating potential new treatments for tuberculosis, at the January science fair. Credit: Fred Greaves for Berkeleyside
Lara Schwarz, a UC Berkeley postdoc who studies how heat waves and wildfire affect human health, said job opportunities in her field were far more scarce than they had been just two years ago, as the National Institutes of Health pulled back on funding.
“California is experiencing more and more heat waves and wildfire smoke events and that’s not going away anytime soon,” she said. “The fact that we won’t have the funding to research this and understand how to respond is going to lead to drastic consequences on the health of Californians.”
The science bond, she hoped, could prevent researchers like her from needing to go abroad to pursue their work — or leaving the field altogether.
Housing bond may have crowded science bond off the ballot
Science bond supporters also faced competition from another pressing California challenge: the state’s housing crisis. Last week, Newsom struck an agreement with legislative leaders to place an $11 billion bond measure on the ballot that would fund the building and preservation of affordable housing.
Because bonds are essentially large loans the state takes out, with taxpayers paying the interest, their supporters often worry that having more than one such big-ticket measure on the ballot can weaken voter buy-in. State leaders, too, fear taking on too much debt. Voters are also set to decide in November on a more narrowly focused $8 billion bond measure, backed by billionaire philanthropist Gary Michelson and some patient advocacy groups, that would fund research into immunotherapy for serious diseases.
While court rulings have restored many of the grants to UC researchers that the Trump administration had sought to cancel, deep uncertainty remains about the future of federal science funding. Rules proposed by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget last month would require political appointees to review all new grants to ensure they serve the president’s priorities.
And in April, the National Science Foundation suspended another $21 million in research grants to UC Berkeley, saying the university failed to report foreign funding received by the projects’ principal investigators, a charge some of those researchers denied.
University of California leaders and scientists had supported the bill, which they called critical to securing the future of science in the state.
www.berkeleyside.orgSJSU professor fired for pro-Palestinian activism sues university
Sang Hea Kil, who was fired in 2025, has sued San Jose State University for discrimination
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2026/06/30/sjsu-professor-fired-for-pro-palestinian-activism-sues-university/
Sang Hea Kil, the San …Jose State University justice studies professor who was terminated for her pro-Palestinian activism and then later reinstated, speaks during a press conference outside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. Kil announced Monday that she has sued the California State University Board of Trustees and SJSU for violating her rights under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the First Amendment.
Sang Hea Kil, the San Jose State University justice studies professor who was terminated for her pro-Palestinian activism and then later reinstated, speaks during a press conference outside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. Kil announced Monday that she has sued the California State University Board of Trustees and SJSU for violating her rights under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the First Amendment. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Molly Gibbs is a Bay Area News Group reporter.webp
By MOLLY GIBBS | mgibbs@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: June 30, 2026 at 3:45 PM PDT | UPDATED: July 1, 2026 at 4:37 AM PDT
Sang Hea Kil, the San José State University professor who was fired for her pro-Palestinian activism in 2025, is suing the college, alleging the school discriminated and retaliated against her, subjected her to a “hostile work environment,” and violated her First Amendment rights.
The civil rights lawsuit, which was filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court in late May, but not announced until Monday, follows an arbitrator’s ruling last week that overturned Kil’s termination, deeming it an “excessive” punishment for a professor of more than 17 years with no prior disciplinary action. The arbitrator said it should be reduced to a one-month unpaid suspension and awarded her back pay.
The lawsuit seeks $10 million in damages and names as defendants the California State University board of trustees, SJSU president Cynthia Teniente-Matson, SJSU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vincent Del Casino and former SJSU Interim Senior Associate Vice President for University Personnel, Jeanne Durr.
“This is an incredible victory for free speech, academic freedom, student protest, freedom of assembly and pro-Palestine speech on campus and beyond,” Kil said at a press conference Tuesday outside SJSU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Library to announce her lawsuit and celebrate her reinstatement. “This is our victory. Let’s use this as a watershed moment to turn the tide against targeted repression on our campus and in this nation.”
In a statement Tuesday, San José State University said the campus is aware of Kil’s lawsuit and “strongly disputes the allegations and will respond and defend itself through the judicial process.”
On the arbitrator’s findings, the university said SJSU has consistently maintained that no employee “has been or would be subject to disciplinary action for lawfully exercising their First Amendment Rights, including protected speech or expression.”
The school said the arbitrator “made no finding that Dr. Kil was disciplined because of their viewpoints or protected speech,” but rather, “found that discipline was warranted based on their actions, which were substantiated as unprofessional conduct, and reduced only the level of discipline imposed.”
“Specifically, the arbitrator found that Dr. Kil engaged in unprofessional misconduct for, among other things, participating in efforts to intentionally disrupt a colleague’s classroom lecture and taking actions that clearly violated the University’s time, place, and manner policy. The report noted the “unprofessionalism of such conduct cannot reasonably be disputed,” the university said.
A tenured professor of justice studies and former faculty adviser for Students for Justice in Palestine, Kil was placed on administrative leave in May 2024 and subsequently fired for “repeated violations of university policies” including directing and encouraging students to violate university policies, engaging in harassing and offensive conduct and comments directed toward colleagues, and targeting at least one colleague for engaging in their work duties by publicly identifying them and posting inflammatory comments and creating a risk of harm to them, according to the university.
She is widely considered one of the first full-time, tenured professors to be fired from a public U.S. university in connection with the student protests over the war in Gaza that have spread across college campuses nationwide.
In her lawsuit, Kil said she first came under fire from the university in April 2024. The school informed her she was being investigated for allegedly “disrupting the university’s business operations and encouraging students to do the same” during a February 19, 2024 campus protest she attended that opposed the appearance of Jewish studies professor, Jeffrey Blutinger, who was speaking about the Israel-Hamas war. An altercation broke out and a another San Jose State professor, Johnathan Roth, was put on administrative leave for allegedly placing a hand on a student protestor during the confrontation.
“Undeterred” by the school’s “discriminatory attempt to intimidate her,” Kil said in her suit, she later attended a May 8, 2024 sit-in protest held at the university where she criticized the school’s “Time, Place and Manner Policy” — which sets rules on free speech activities on campus to “ensure the safety and wellbeing” of the school community — for infringing on free speech.
The lawsuit said Kil also told students “it’s not too late” to do “an encampment” and later served as the spokesperson for the student’s encampment that began on May 13, 2024. Kil spent three nights at the ten-day student encampment, according to the suit.
Kil was placed on administrative leave on May 24, 2024 for disrupting the school’s business operations and inciting students to violate university policies, the lawsuit said. She was terminated on June 30, 2025 for her alleged “disregard for university policies” including the school’s time, place and manner policy, according to the suit.
The arbitrator’s June 2026 report said her grounds for termination were “unprofessional conduct” and “failure or refusal to perform the normal and reasonable duties of (her) position.’”
Kil appealed the decision to a faculty hearing committee, which ultimately determined that the school’s decision to fire Kil was not justified but the university upheld her termination anyway, according to Kil’s lawsuit and the California Faculty Association.
She subsequently sought arbitration, which was held in March, with the arbitrator overturning the university’s decision last week.
Kil’s lawsuit also alleges that during the hearing, “SJSU personnel made Islamophobic comments” which she filed a federal Title VI Civil Rights complaint over in November 2025. She said she also found “racist graffiti threatening a mass shooting and referencing Asian, Jewish and Muslim people” on her office building that same month, which she reported to the school and perceived as a threat directed at her, according to the lawsuit.
In her suit, Kil alleges the university discriminated against her and subjected her to “adverse employment actions” by suspending her, “conducting a sham investigation,” making false statements about her, failing to meaningfully address the racist graffiti directed at her, disregarding the faculty hearing’s findings and terminating her due to her “association with Palestinian, Middle Eastern, Arab, and Muslim individuals and her own gender, race and sexual orientation.”
Kil also alleges that the university “knew and should have known” of the discrimination, harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation she suffered, but says the school failed to take action.
Kil’s discrimination allegations center around the university’s treatment of SJSU professor Roth, who was placed on administrative leave and whom Kil alleges was not fired and instead was allowed to return to his teaching position before quietly retiring.
“SJSU’s extreme treatment of Dr. Kil stands in sharp and alarming contrast to its treatment of other faculty who do not share her political views, identity, or association with Arab, Muslim and Palestinian individuals,” Kil’s lawsuit alleges. “For example, Dr. Johnathan Roth — a white, heterosexual, male professor at SJSU who publicly supports Israel and expresses anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim sentiment.”
Several local community organizations spoke in support of Kil’s reinstatement and expressed concern over her “excessive” termination and its implications for freedom of speech.
“When people who support Palestinian rights or who are Muslim or of the Islamic faith speak out, they face extreme punishments,” said Sean Allen, president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP. “And when those same individuals are victims of harm, the response from our institutions is too often slow, dismissive, or absent altogether. We saw that double standard play out on this very campus.”
The lawsuit follows an arbitrator’s ruling last week that overturned Kil’s termination, deeming it an “excessive” punishment for a professor…
www.eastbaytimes.comSJSU professor fired for pro-Palestinian activism sues university
Sang Hea Kil, who was fired in 2025, has sued San Jose State University for discrimination
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2026/06/30/sjsu-professor-fired-for-pro-palestinian-activism-sues-university/
Sang Hea Kil, the San …Jose State University justice studies professor who was terminated for her pro-Palestinian activism and then later reinstated, speaks during a press conference outside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. Kil announced Monday that she has sued the California State University Board of Trustees and SJSU for violating her rights under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the First Amendment.
Sang Hea Kil, the San Jose State University justice studies professor who was terminated for her pro-Palestinian activism and then later reinstated, speaks during a press conference outside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. Kil announced Monday that she has sued the California State University Board of Trustees and SJSU for violating her rights under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the First Amendment. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Molly Gibbs is a Bay Area News Group reporter.webp
By MOLLY GIBBS | mgibbs@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: June 30, 2026 at 3:45 PM PDT | UPDATED: July 1, 2026 at 4:37 AM PDT
Sang Hea Kil, the San José State University professor who was fired for her pro-Palestinian activism in 2025, is suing the college, alleging the school discriminated and retaliated against her, subjected her to a “hostile work environment,” and violated her First Amendment rights.
The civil rights lawsuit, which was filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court in late May, but not announced until Monday, follows an arbitrator’s ruling last week that overturned Kil’s termination, deeming it an “excessive” punishment for a professor of more than 17 years with no prior disciplinary action. The arbitrator said it should be reduced to a one-month unpaid suspension and awarded her back pay.
The lawsuit seeks $10 million in damages and names as defendants the California State University board of trustees, SJSU president Cynthia Teniente-Matson, SJSU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vincent Del Casino and former SJSU Interim Senior Associate Vice President for University Personnel, Jeanne Durr.
“This is an incredible victory for free speech, academic freedom, student protest, freedom of assembly and pro-Palestine speech on campus and beyond,” Kil said at a press conference Tuesday outside SJSU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Library to announce her lawsuit and celebrate her reinstatement. “This is our victory. Let’s use this as a watershed moment to turn the tide against targeted repression on our campus and in this nation.”
In a statement Tuesday, San José State University said the campus is aware of Kil’s lawsuit and “strongly disputes the allegations and will respond and defend itself through the judicial process.”
On the arbitrator’s findings, the university said SJSU has consistently maintained that no employee “has been or would be subject to disciplinary action for lawfully exercising their First Amendment Rights, including protected speech or expression.”
The school said the arbitrator “made no finding that Dr. Kil was disciplined because of their viewpoints or protected speech,” but rather, “found that discipline was warranted based on their actions, which were substantiated as unprofessional conduct, and reduced only the level of discipline imposed.”
“Specifically, the arbitrator found that Dr. Kil engaged in unprofessional misconduct for, among other things, participating in efforts to intentionally disrupt a colleague’s classroom lecture and taking actions that clearly violated the University’s time, place, and manner policy. The report noted the “unprofessionalism of such conduct cannot reasonably be disputed,” the university said.
A tenured professor of justice studies and former faculty adviser for Students for Justice in Palestine, Kil was placed on administrative leave in May 2024 and subsequently fired for “repeated violations of university policies” including directing and encouraging students to violate university policies, engaging in harassing and offensive conduct and comments directed toward colleagues, and targeting at least one colleague for engaging in their work duties by publicly identifying them and posting inflammatory comments and creating a risk of harm to them, according to the university.
She is widely considered one of the first full-time, tenured professors to be fired from a public U.S. university in connection with the student protests over the war in Gaza that have spread across college campuses nationwide.
In her lawsuit, Kil said she first came under fire from the university in April 2024. The school informed her she was being investigated for allegedly “disrupting the university’s business operations and encouraging students to do the same” during a February 19, 2024 campus protest she attended that opposed the appearance of Jewish studies professor, Jeffrey Blutinger, who was speaking about the Israel-Hamas war. An altercation broke out and a another San Jose State professor, Johnathan Roth, was put on administrative leave for allegedly placing a hand on a student protestor during the confrontation.
“Undeterred” by the school’s “discriminatory attempt to intimidate her,” Kil said in her suit, she later attended a May 8, 2024 sit-in protest held at the university where she criticized the school’s “Time, Place and Manner Policy” — which sets rules on free speech activities on campus to “ensure the safety and wellbeing” of the school community — for infringing on free speech.
The lawsuit said Kil also told students “it’s not too late” to do “an encampment” and later served as the spokesperson for the student’s encampment that began on May 13, 2024. Kil spent three nights at the ten-day student encampment, according to the suit.
Kil was placed on administrative leave on May 24, 2024 for disrupting the school’s business operations and inciting students to violate university policies, the lawsuit said. She was terminated on June 30, 2025 for her alleged “disregard for university policies” including the school’s time, place and manner policy, according to the suit.
The arbitrator’s June 2026 report said her grounds for termination were “unprofessional conduct” and “failure or refusal to perform the normal and reasonable duties of (her) position.’”
Kil appealed the decision to a faculty hearing committee, which ultimately determined that the school’s decision to fire Kil was not justified but the university upheld her termination anyway, according to Kil’s lawsuit and the California Faculty Association.
She subsequently sought arbitration, which was held in March, with the arbitrator overturning the university’s decision last week.
Kil’s lawsuit also alleges that during the hearing, “SJSU personnel made Islamophobic comments” which she filed a federal Title VI Civil Rights complaint over in November 2025. She said she also found “racist graffiti threatening a mass shooting and referencing Asian, Jewish and Muslim people” on her office building that same month, which she reported to the school and perceived as a threat directed at her, according to the lawsuit.
In her suit, Kil alleges the university discriminated against her and subjected her to “adverse employment actions” by suspending her, “conducting a sham investigation,” making false statements about her, failing to meaningfully address the racist graffiti directed at her, disregarding the faculty hearing’s findings and terminating her due to her “association with Palestinian, Middle Eastern, Arab, and Muslim individuals and her own gender, race and sexual orientation.”
Kil also alleges that the university “knew and should have known” of the discrimination, harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation she suffered, but says the school failed to take action.
Kil’s discrimination allegations center around the university’s treatment of SJSU professor Roth, who was placed on administrative leave and whom Kil alleges was not fired and instead was allowed to return to his teaching position before quietly retiring.
“SJSU’s extreme treatment of Dr. Kil stands in sharp and alarming contrast to its treatment of other faculty who do not share her political views, identity, or association with Arab, Muslim and Palestinian individuals,” Kil’s lawsuit alleges. “For example, Dr. Johnathan Roth — a white, heterosexual, male professor at SJSU who publicly supports Israel and expresses anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim sentiment.”
Several local community organizations spoke in support of Kil’s reinstatement and expressed concern over her “excessive” termination and its implications for freedom of speech.
“When people who support Palestinian rights or who are Muslim or of the Islamic faith speak out, they face extreme punishments,” said Sean Allen, president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP. “And when those same individuals are victims of harm, the response from our institutions is too often slow, dismissive, or absent altogether. We saw that double standard play out on this very campus.”
The lawsuit follows an arbitrator’s ruling last week that overturned Kil’s termination, deeming it an “excessive” punishment for a professor…
www.eastbaytimes.comCA UAW Local 1115 State Scientists Left Out Of The Budget By Newsom & State Democrats
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article316365313.html#storylink=cpy
State scientist raises were cut from CA budget at the last minute. No one can say why By William …Melhado Updated July 2, 2026 5:10 PM
Wednesday, July 1, 2026. RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com California state scientists ended last month anticipating a pay bump at the start of the new fiscal year in July. The union, which represents roughly 4,500 environmental scientists, toxicologists and other state scientists, was one of the only unions expecting salary increases this summer. But on Tuesday evening, the union received notice from the California Department of Human Resources informing labor leaders that the Legislature did not appropriate funding for the raises employees were scheduled to receive the following day, said Jacqueline Tkac, the president of the California Association Professional Scientists, UAW Local 1115. “I genuinely believe that it’s a mistake,” Tkac said. “I would like to think that members of the Legislature would not have intentionally left our contract out of the budget.”
California’s state scientists union secured July 2026 raises, but the state did not allocate funding for those pay increases in its most recent…
www.sacbee.comFIFA, Capitalism, Fascism, Commodification Of Sports & Trumpism With George Wright
https://youtu.be/76iAhH_tfew
The FIFA World Cup has been more and more driven by the need to increase profits and privatization. Professor George Wright has spent his life following and being involved …in sports and giving a class analysis to the role of the Olympics, Super Bowl and World Cup. He talks about the history of the World Cup and how it has been organized to increase profiteering and breaking up the games for more ads.
Additional Media:
The Olympics, Fukushima, Capitalism & Creative Destruction With Professor George Wright
https://youtu.be/q–d2iW4hic
Olympics For Whom? Global Depression, the New Cold War, and the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPAok-8koS0&t=162s
The Super Bowl, NFL, Capitalism and Sports: The Cost, The Politics, Privatization & The Game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDrxSLm1heI&t=58s
JPN Abe Gov Pushes 2020 Olympics To Contaminated Fukushima To Continue Cover-up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNPlstyFvmY&t=137s
Fukushima Never Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU-Z4VLDGxU&t=1776s
For additional information:
No Nukes Action
http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/
Appeal To Stop Olympics in Japan
http://www.radioactive-olympics.org/information-in-english/appeal.html
Nuclear Olympics
https://globalethics.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/ippnw-2018-07-11-tokyo-2020-the-radioactive-olympics-en.pdf
WorkWeek
https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
FIFA, Capitalism, Fascism, Commodification Of Sports & Trumpism With George Wright
Time, Place & Manner: Scott Wiener, Gavin Newsom & The Attack On Democratic Rights In Education
https://youtu.be/6wuFS4FfeAI
SJSU Professor Dr. Sang Kil at a victory press conference returning her to her job at San Jose Sate University reported that California Governor Gavin Newsom… and Congressional candidate Scott Wiener were involved in targeting Palestinian student, faculty and union supporters at CSU, UC and K-12 with rules such as Time, Place and Manner as well as SB 715 which says criticism of Israel's genocide is anti-Semitism and coerces teachers not to have any discussion of Palestine and the genocide.
The attack on democratic rights by Democratic Party politicians according to Professor Kil is helping to set up a repressive state.
The leadership of UAW 4811 and UAW Region 6 are supporting the candidacy of Scott Wiener for Congress to replace former House leader Nancy Pelosi.
This press conference was in front of the MLK Library at San Jose State University on June 30, 2026.
Additional Media:
UAW Members Demand that UAW Rescind Endorsement of Zionist & Billionaire Shill Scott Wiener
https://youtu.be/JPfO9KV31Vk
Zionist CA State Senator Scott Wiener Protested At KQED Congressional Debate
https://youtu.be/YkqNzPKNSpc
No Genocide By Israel In Gaza According to SF Demo Party Politician Scott Weiner
https://youtu.be/upXMZeEomzY
UCSF Dr. Rupa Marya Targeted By Zionist Scott Weiner & Fired For Opposing Genocide In Palestine
https://youtu.be/Yr1DDEphSQE
Weiner Supporters Go Crazy At Jane Kim Rally In SF-There Is No Working Class Housing Crisis In SF?
https://youtu.be/o_1xxLF35fw
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
Support Ryan: Fired for Union Organizing at UFCW 2013…
www.labormedia.netTime, Place & Manner: Scott Wiener, Gavin Newsom & The Attack On Democratic Rights In Education
https://youtu.be/6wuFS4FfeAI
SJSU Professor Dr. Sang Kil at a victory press conference returning her to her job at San Jose Sate University reported that California Governor Gavin Newsom… and Congressional candidate Scott Wiener were involved in targeting Palestinian student, faculty and union supporters at CSU, UC and K-12 with rules such as Time, Place and Manner as well as SB 715 which says criticism of Israel's genocide is anti-Semitism. The attack on
democratic rights by Democratic Party politicians according to Professor Kil is helping to set up a repressive state.
The leadership of UAW 4811 and UAW Region 6 are supporting the candidacy of Scott Wiener for Congress to replace former House leader Nancy Pelosi.
This press conference was in front of the MLK Library at San Jose State University on June 30, 2026.
Additional Media:
UAW Members Demand that UAW Rescind Endorsement of Zionist & Billionaire Shill Scott Wiener
https://youtu.be/JPfO9KV31Vk
Zionist CA State Senator Scott Wiener Protested At KQED Congressional Debate
https://youtu.be/YkqNzPKNSpc
No Genocide By Israel In Gaza According to SF Demo Party Politician Scott Weiner
https://youtu.be/upXMZeEomzY
UCSF Dr. Rupa Marya Targeted By Zionist Scott Weiner & Fired For Opposing Genocide In Palestine
https://youtu.be/Yr1DDEphSQE
Weiner Supporters Go Crazy At Jane Kim Rally In SF-There Is No Working Class Housing Crisis In SF?
https://youtu.be/o_1xxLF35fw
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
SJSU Professor Dr. Sang Kil at a victory press conference returning…
youtu.beTime, Place & Manner: Scott Wiener, Gavin Newsom & The Attack On Democratic Rights In Education
ILWU Stages Second Picket in Port Townsend, Reviving a 1940s Labor Dispute
Informational Union pickets are building momentum along the West Coast.
…https://www.jeffcobeacon.com/ilwu-stages-second-picket-in-port-townsend-reviving-a-1940s-labor-dispute/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSzdLRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETE3WXNRUUR1cVZRa2s5UWpEc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHrIXx2o4YsHbwy_mhCJkbR2N_F4zqOkKaj4JiayCwvek6f-j__s9Rhhvta3R_aem_fyotBJveHS37hihaR3rm3A
Rachael Nutting
30 Jun 2026
International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union members picketing on the Union Wharf dock, whale skeleton and cruise ship in background.
International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union members picketing on the Union Wharf dock in Port Townsend. Photo by Rachael Nutting
PORT TOWNSEND, WA — More than 30 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) gathered at Union Wharf on June 25, 2026, for their second informational picket, escalating pressure on American Cruise Lines (ACL) to use union longshore labor.
The action drew ILWU members from Bellingham, Olympia, Tacoma, Port Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, along with local Inland Boatmen's Union (IBU) members from the Puget Sound region, marking a significant show of regional solidarity.
"We had a great showing," Alek Freitas, a fourth generation ILWU member, told the Beacon. "One of those Port Angeles guys was there today, and they're being confronted with the same thing at the city pier in Port Angeles, and so we're going to be sharing some manpower."
Port maintains Teamsters agreement
The Port of Port Townsend has responded to the demonstrations by affirming its existing labor relationship with Teamsters Local 589. The Teamsters Union represents both private and public-sector workers, including county and city public works staff, public utility employees, 911 dispatchers, sheriff's office support staff and central service workers.
In an email to the Beacon, Port Executive Director Eron Berg stated:
"The port has a collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters, and unless port employees change their union, the port will continue to recognize and work with the Teamsters Union.
I believe these demonstrations are more directed at ACL and not the Teamsters members who work for the port or the port. With that in mind, the port enjoys its close working relationship with Teamsters Local 589 and is fully committed to following applicable labor laws."
The Beacon contacted Richard Stone, President and Senior Representative of Teamsters Local 589, whom Berg referred via email. Stone did not respond before publication.
The ILWU, however, disputes the notion that the port is merely a bystander. Union representatives point out that the Port of Port Townsend owns Union Wharf and controls access to the dock, making the port a key player in determining who performs work there.
“Port employees receive no call out pay, no benefit to themselves, no safety equipment and no job descriptions that indicate longshore or stevedore jobs in their contract.” Matson stated to the Beacon. “Being offered by their employer as a courtesy to ACL is, in itself, an anti-labor act.”
Historical precedent: The 1940 Restraining Order
This isn't the first time ILWU members have picketed at Port Townsend's Union Wharf. In 1940, Puget Sound Navigation Company obtained a temporary restraining order against the union, barring them from picketing the passenger vessel IROQUOIS. The court order, issued on September 5, 1940, by Judge John M. Ralston, prohibited union members from establishing picket lines at Union Dock or from interfering with the company's business operations.
The 1940 dispute centered on whether longshore work was being performed at the dock—the same issue at the heart of today's conflict. Union members currently argue that ACL is using non-union workers to perform tasks that rightfully fall within ILWU jurisdiction, including loading and unloading cargo, gangway setup and maintenance and dockside safety operations.
The 1940 temporary restraining order against ILWU by Puget Sound Navigation Company.
"Today, just in response to the idea that there is no longshore work occurring, we know that there were four pallets unloaded, all moved across the dock by a truck driver," Vice President of ILWU Local 51, Nick Matson, explained. "Moving that cargo across the dock is longshore work. Bringing it to the dock is Teamster work. Across the dock is longshore work."
Historical documentation and jurisdictional claims
Union members have obtained historical documentation from ILWU archives showing that ILWU members have worked at Port Townsend docks for decades. "We have minutes talking about gangs working in the Port of Port Townsend," Matson said. "That's in the 1940s or 50s, specifically talking about gangs working at the Port of Port Townsend."
Handwritten ILWU meeting minutes from 1963. Photo submitted by ILWU members
Union representatives claim the port has stated there has never been a relationship between ILWU and the Port of Port Townsend, a statement they dispute with archival evidence.
Safety concerns
The union also raised safety concerns, noting that ACL crew members lacked proper cargo nets covering gaps between the dock and the vessel, creating fall hazards. Observing ILWU picketers stated that they witnessed ACL employees standing too close to the edge of the dock to throw grocery goods into the vessel, noting that one ACL worker almost tripped and fell into the hole.
Union members showed the Beacon that ACL's gangway has been digging grooves into the historic dock's timbers.
ACL workers tossing goods onto the ship in a port door under the gang plank. .jpeg
ACL workers tossing goods onto the ship, a duty that ILWU members affirm is longshoremen's work. Grooves worn into the dock are visible under the gangway in the bottom left. Photo submitted by ILWU members
Broader coast-wide campaign
The current dispute is part of a broader coast-wide campaign against ACL, which has seen nearly 20 informational pickets in Tacoma alone. Union members report ACL has refused to come to the bargaining table, instead referring the union to legal counsel.
"They've pretty much come out of the gate aggressive, not wanting to talk," Matson said. "They don't want to come to the table. They would rather be tied up in the cost of litigation than deal with [us]."
Union representatives also note that ACL has attempted to move away from union suppliers entirely, with a Teamster 117 representative from US Foods confirming that ACL wanted to switch to a non-union food service company.
Informational Union pickets are building momentum along the West Coast.
www.jeffcobeacon.comTeamsters: The Ghost of Jackie Presser
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/06/30/teamsters-the-ghost-of-jackie-presser/
JUNE 30, 2026
JOE ALLEN
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. Photo: Ted Merriman. CC BY-SA 4.0
The big news coming out of the Teamsters’ recent convention …in Las Vegas is that for the first time in 35 years, there will be no rank-and-file democratic elections for the top officers of the union. The Fearless slate, led by Richard Hooker, failed to get the 5% of the delegates necessary to make it onto the ballot. The Incumbent Sean O’Brien and Fred Zuckerman, “Teamsters United Slate” were elected to office by delegates to the convention.
Popularly known as the “OZ” slate, they secured 96% of the vote. They are the first leaders of Teamsters to be elected without a popular mandate since the 1989 voluntary consent decree between the union and the federal government. The court order mandated changes in the union’s highly undemocratic constitution to provide for one-member-one-vote for convention delegates and International officers. The last Teamster leader elected by convention delegates was Jackie Presser in 1986. He was notoriously corrupt, mobbed-up, and an FBI informant and led the union until his death in 1988. It looks like Teamsters have come full circle.
The Teamsters’ General President Sean O’Brien cast the OZ slate’s reelection as a victory for the union’s rank and file. “This victory belongs to rank-and-file Teamsters. When we were sworn into office four years ago, our leadership team committed to building a bigger, faster, stronger union, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” O’Brien declared in an official union statement. Yet, convention delegates are disproportionately union officers, staff, and close allies—with bloated and multi-salaries—where rank-and-file workers are few and far between.
Bloviating claims such as, “The Teamsters is now the most aggressive, effective, and respected labor union on Earth,” according to O’Brien, are in sharp contrast to a union deep in crisis. It must be a great relief for O’Brien and Zuckerman to avoid campaigning, especially at UPS, which has been ravaged by tens of thousands of layoffs and building closures across the country. Adding insult to injury, the Teamsters’ approved buyout program for UPS drivers has been implemented so incompetently that has infuriated many more people than those who took it in order to get out of the hell-hole of UPS.
Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA), inadvertently captured the new reality of the Teamster “democracy,” according to the New York Times:
He received a standing ovation in Las Vegas and opened with a joke about Mr. O’Brien’s resounding victory. “Ninety percent! Those are Putin numbers!” There was some halting laughter. In fact, Mr. O’Brien secured 96 percent of the vote.
The most important reason that the Fearless slate wasn’t able to reach the 5% of the delegates necessary was due to the Teamsters for a Democratic Union’s (TDU) dirty alliance with the O’Brien leadership. The Teamsters is the most pro-Trump of all of the major unions. TDU, since its founding in 1978 heroically supported long-shot candidates in the bleakest of times. This is especially true in the two decades following the federal government’s purge of Ron Carey, the first rank-and-file, democratically elected leader of the Teamsters. Carey led the Great UPS Strike of 1997.
TDU, for example, supported Tom Leedham’s three reform campaigns against the old-guard candidate James Hoffa Jr., the son of the infamous and long-dead leader of the Teamsters. It supported Sandy Pope’s 2011 campaign, the first woman to run for the top spot in the union. She ran as a single candidate for General President in a three-way race. In 2016, TDU supported Fred Zuckerman and Tim Sylvester and the first “Teamsters United” slate; it nearly defeated the incumbent Hoffa. In the 2021 elections, it flipped the other way and made a deal with some of the worst elements of the old guard that split from Hoffa and endorsed a slate led by Sean O’Brien.
O’Brien’s long record of threatening members and the racism and misogyny of his home Local 25, based in Boston, were well documented. TDU claims they have a “coalition” with O’Brien, but the effect has been that there is no independent organization of rank-and-file Teamsters to oppose the union’s alliance with the fascist-aligned Trump administration, along with long list of other vital issues. There was no open discussion or debate of this detrimental alliance between TDU, O’Brien, and Trump at the recent Labor Notes conference, which doesn’t reflect well on the state of the left and the trade unions.
The Fearless slate campaign always faced long odds in its challenge to O’Brien. The death of Fearless slate member, New York Teamster Chris Silvera, the former head of the Teamsters National Black Caucus (TNBC), on his way to the convention, threw a shadow over the convention for his slate. Promises made to the Fearless slate that local union delegates would vote for them didn’t materialize, whether by subtle or not-so-subtle methods. But, TDU’s unrelenting hostility to Fearless played an important role, acting as O’Brien’s whip on any dissent in the union membership.
I spoke to Richard Hooker, the Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 623 based in Philadelphia, who challenged O’Brien for the top spot in the union, a week after the close of the convention. Richard is the first African-American candidate for the top spot in the Teamsters. He faced the jeers and boos of hostile convention delegates while accepting his nomination. I asked him how he was doing. “Boos don’t bother me. You have to go through it. It doesn’t bother me at all.” Richard told me that the convention had “too many officers.” I asked him what the consequences of such an overwhelming victory for the incumbents. “Unfortunately, our members are going to face the hard truth with this administration.”
Other Teamster convention business included providing speaking opportunities to far-right and pro-Israel politicians. In sharp contrast to the UAW convention that voted to divest the union of Israeli Bonds, the Teamsters had two prominent supporters of the State of Israel speak at their convention: Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Cory Booker (D-NJ). Hawley is also a prominent far-right politician. Sean O’Brien also announced that the union had reached a deal with the Trump administration to end the government oversight of the union, one of the last methods for rooting out corruption, despite its notorious role in ousting Carey from the union, who was later found not guilty in federal court.
Meanwhile, the disgraced former Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer attended the convention and appears to have become part of O’Brien’s entourage. Finally, and most bizarrely, the Teamsters passed a resolution recognizing February 14 as “James R. Hoffa Day” as a paid holiday, the man most responsible for bringing the Mafia into the highest levels of the union, further consolidating the cult-like internal life of the union.
The Long Counterrevolution
Back in 1996, Steve Greenhouse, the New York Times labor reporter, wrote an article called “Teamster Counterrevolution: Why It Nearly Won Election.” Ron Carey won the 1996 election with a majority of the vote against a well-funded campaign led by James P. Hoffa, Jr. Greenhouse saw a lot of the appeal of Hoffa, Jr. in his famous name, a nostalgia for the mythical Teamsters union. He also ran a sophisticated campaign that played on the shortcomings of Carey’s few years in office. Despite the horrid reputation of many of Hoffa’s key supporters, he didn’t promise a restoration of the old order; he promised to “Restore the Power.”
Ken Paff, the director of TDU in 1996 and still a leading figure today, told Greenhouse: ‘’Why is it that in countries that are new to democracy, dictators always try to make a comeback? The people in the counterrevolution don’t like someone trying to take away their power. They control armies; they control people and pensions. They mustered a lot of power and resources to defeat Carey.” The two decades of Hoffa Jr. chipped away at many of the reforms that Carey implemented, but he couldn’t do away with all of them. The Counterrevolution took a lot longer to triumph, but this time around, it was with the vital support of the ex-reformers of TDU.
A full restoration, hopefully, is still not in the cards. While another rank-and-file election is not possible for another five years—and any efforts to abolish them is in all likelihood to fail—but, making it more difficult to run for office is not out of the question. It will certainly be more difficult to challenge the leadership over the next few years. The Teamsters are looking more like the old Teamsters. Jackie Presser would be pleased.
Joe Allen is the author of Teamsterland: Reports on America’s Most Iconic Unionand The Package King: A Rank and File History of UPS. He lives in Chicago.
The big news coming out of the Teamsters’ recent convention in Las Vegas is that for the first time in 35 years, there will be no rank-and-file…
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