Electoral reforms are necessary but insufficient. The deeper problem is not the ballot — it is the collapse of the organized civic life that once connected voters to the institutions that govern them. Rebuilding that infrastructure is not a workaround. It is the most important work we can be doing today, not just for California but for America.
Archiv: (wertlose oder tatsächliche) Gewerkschaften / (worthless or actual) labor unions
The Case for California’s Billionaire Wealth Tax
(May 26, 2026)
A California ballot initiative that will be put to voters in November would tax just 5 percent of billionaires’ fortunes over five years. This trailblazing wealth tax would be a small (for the ultrawealthy) but important (for everyone else) step toward raising needed tax revenue and curbing the state’s runaway inequality.
The billionaire class in California includes roughly 250 households, a mere 0.001 percent of the state’s families. Yet its wealth now amounts to more than half of California’s entire annual economic output.
This means that if these billionaires spent all of their wealth, they could buy more than half of the goods and services produced in a year in the entire state.
AP PHOTOS: Across the globe, workers observe May Day
The holiday, also known as International Workers’ Day or Labor Day, marks the struggles and achievements of workers and the labor movement around the world. Thousands of people are expected to attend rallies and demonstrations calling for stronger protections for workers, higher wages, greater equality and more.
Britain must end all participation in the US-Israel war on Iran
MPs, trade unionists, celebrities and other public figures sign open letter calling on British government to end participation in Iran war
Tax billionaires. Stop the healthcare collapse.
How it Works
Paid only by Californians worth more than $1 billion—about 200 people who together hold $2 trillion in wealth, most of which will never be taxed in their lifetimes due to loopholes in state and federal tax laws.
Raises about $100 billion to replace lost federal dollars and protect essential services. Directs 90% of funds to healthcare and 10% to public K-14 education and state food assistance programs.
No new taxes on the middle class, small businesses, or homeowners.
What it does for Californians
Keeps hospital ERs, clinics, nursing homes, and home care open and staffed in every community.
Stabilizes premiums and coverage, so families can see a doctor when they need one.
Protects healthcare jobs and the middle-class economy they support.
Funds public K-14 education to keep classrooms staffed, protect programs, and ensure every child gets a quality education.
Funds state food assistance programs to keep millions of Californians from losing access to food and support school nutrition programs.
What we want is simple
Protect our fragile healthcare system from collapse so our families can get the care we need.
Billionaires doing their part to support California and contribute to the social safety nets and public infrastructure that enabled their wealth accumulation.
A state with a strong middle class where everyone can thrive.
California Billionaire Tax Act
California Billionaire Tax Act
A statewide ballot initiative to enact an emergency tax on billionaires to save California’s healthcare system from collapse
Massive cuts to federal healthcare funding are driving California towards a healthcare collapse. The federal funding cuts will strip roughly $100 billion from California healthcare over the next five years, leading to:
Short-staffed shifts: Skeleton crews left on the front lines as 145,000 healthcare jobs disappear
Higher costs and lost coverage: Insurance premiums go up for everyone, and millions of Californians lose coverage altogether.
Facility closures and reduced services: Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home care will be forced to reduce services or close down.
Our solution: The California Billionaire Tax Act
Should billionaires pay more? California unions want voters to decide
(October 24, 2025)
The proposed initiative would tax the 2025 net worth of billionaires residing in California, allowing them to pay off the obligation over five years. The revenue would go into a special fund with 90% reserved for health care spending and 10% reserved for K-12 education spending.
It needs 874,641 signatures to be placed before voters on the 2026 ballot, a number that the groups are confident they can reach. Getting voters to ultimately approve the tax, however, could be a hard sell.
Gavin Newsom moves to neutralize tax on billionaires
(January 12, 2026)
The conversations, reported here for the first time, have occurred intermittently for months as SEIU-UHW’s ballot initiative targeting billionaires migrated from the backrooms of California politics to the center of a raging debate about Silicon Valley and income inequality, sparking tech titans’ wrath and vows to move out of state.
“We’ve been at this for four months,” Newsom said in an interview with POLITICO, describing an “all-hands” effort that has included him meeting one-on-one with SEIU-UHW’s leader, Dave Regan.
A compromise does not appear imminent. A union official cast doubt on the possibility of a deal, saying the two sides do not currently have another meeting scheduled and framing a ballot fight as an inevitability.
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2 Million People Paralyze Italy in a General Strike for Gaza and the Flotilla
Italian dockworkers and the Union of Base Trade Unions (USB) vowed that they would respond with strikes and class struggle in the event of an attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla, and they delivered. On October 3, Italy exploded in a day of “wildcat” strike actions across many sectors.
Despite intimidation from the authorities, who declared the strike illegal and deployed heavy repressive operations, the USB and the dockworkers managed to get Italian workers across sectors to stop and take to the streets, forcing the bureaucracy of the main labor union (CGIL) to call for a strike and demonstrations. Following the important day of struggle on September 22, over two million workers demonstrated and walked off the streets on Friday, especially in the metalworking, logistics, and education sectors.
2 million rally in Italy for Gaza as general strike halts key services
According to the CGIL union, 300,000 people marched through the streets of Rome alone, while the national average participation in the general strike stood at around 60%, halting all the main services in key sectors including transportation and schools.
Italien macht ernst
Als Reaktion auf die gewaltsame Kaperung der Gaza-Hilfsflotte »Global Sumud Flotilla« durch das israelische Militär sind am Freitag überall in Italien Hunderttausende auf die Straßen gegangen. Allein in der Hauptstadt Rom waren es nach Angaben der Organisatoren 300.000 Menschen. In mehreren Städten blockierten Demonstranten Bahnhöfe und Autobahnen – und stießen dabei auf Zustimmung. So etwa in Brescia, wo Autofahrer in Solidarität hupten und applaudierten.
Protests Grip Italy: Ports Blocked, Clashes in Milan as Dockworkers Strike Against Arms to Israel
Massive protests erupted across Italy as unions and dockworkers launched a nationwide strike against Israel’s war in Gaza. Demonstrators blocked major ports in Genoa, Livorno, and Trieste to stop arms shipments to Israel, while violent clashes broke out with police at Milan’s central station and Naples’ railway hub. Tear gas, riot police, and arrests marked a tense day of unrest as thousands marched in solidarity with Palestinians.
LIVE: Italians Strike in Solidarity with Gaza, Protest Arms Shipments
DRM News provides live coverage of Italy‘s general strike on September 22, 2025, as thousands rally in solidarity with Gaza and demand an end to arms shipments to Israel. Witness disruptions in Rome, Genoa, and beyond, with union leaders calling for sanctions and humanitarian corridors.
LIVE: Strike in Italy to Protest Arm Shipments to Israel | Geo News English
(video)
‚Choose your side‘: Italian unions launch nationwide strike over genocide in Gaza
Unions and pro-Palestine activists in Italy are holding a nationwide strike to protest Israel‘s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Organisers of the day of action on Monday condemned the Italian government and European Union‘s complicity in the atrocities carried out by Israel against Palestinians in the besieged Strip.
They also voiced support for the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is attempting to break Israel‘s blockade on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the territory.
The strike was called for by the Autonomous Dockworkers Collective (CALP) and the Basic Union (USB) – a national grassroots trade union confederation known for its militant platform – as well as the Global Movement to Gaza Italy, a solidarity network backing the flotilla‘s mission
Trabalhadores portuários italianos ameaçam bloquear cargas para Israel se algo acontecer com Global Sumud Flotilla.
Em fala emocionante no evento do lançamento dos barcos italianos no Porto de Gênova, representante de estivadores afirma que se perderem contato com a flotilla, “mesmo que por apenas 20 minutos”, paralisarão toda a Europa.
A cidade italiana é conhecida pelo ativismo político à esquerda e por um forte movimento anti-fascista. Este mês uma campanha de arrecadação de alimentos coletou mais de 300 toneladas de ajuda humanitária para Gaza. No sábado, mais de 40.000 pessoas participaram de uma marcha com tochas pelas ruas em apoio à missão.
Palestina livre do rio ao mar!
“If They Block the Flotilla, We Block Everything!”: Italian Dockworkers Prepared to Strike for the Global Sumud Flotilla
(September 2, 2025)
The Global Samud Flotilla has set sail to break the siege on Gaza, under threat of interception and repression by the Israeli state. In response, Italian dockworkers have announced that they are prepared to shut down the dock of Genoa, should Israel stop the flotilla from delivering aid to Gaza.
Italian Dockworkers Threaten to ‘Shut Down All of Europe’ If Gaza Aid Flotilla Is Blocked
(September 2, 2025)
Speaking at a procession in the port of Genoa – one of Italy’s two largest commercial ports – on behalf of the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), a syndicate of various grassroots unions in Italy and thought to be the largest of its kind, the dockworker said: “If we lose contact with our boats, with our comrades – even for just 20 minutes – we will shut down all of Europe.”
“Our young women and men must come back without a scratch, and all this cargo, which belongs to the people and is going to the people, must reach its destination, down to the very last box.”
Histadrut labor union won’t join Aug. 17 general strike; tech firms, Bar Association will
The Histadrut, the country’s main labor federation, said Monday that it would not join a general strike called for August 17 to protest the continuation of the war and the government’s approval of a plan for a military takeover of Gaza City. However, the labor union said it would support workers planning to participate in a protest rally that day.
Meanwhile, much of Israel’s private tech sector declared that it would back the general strike action next week, as did the Israel Bar Association.
Black Lives Matter Grassroots Vehemently Condemns Israel’s Kidnapping of Chris Smalls
Black Lives Matter Grassroots demands:
– The immediate release of Chris Smalls and all captured activists.
– The immediate end to the engineered famine and deliberate starving of the people in Gaza.
– An end to labor complicity with genocide.
We are asking all workers and people who believe in working class power to:
– Call the state department and demand the release of all those captured on the Freedom Flotilla.
– Email your Congressmembers asking them to demand the release of our people.
– Actively boycott pro-Israel companies.
– Pass resolutions and make official statements calling for an end to the genocide in Palestine.
– Raise awareness to the deliberate mass starvation, engineered famine, and genocide by making posts, engaging in political education, and disrupting spaces of complicity.
Israel Detains, Chokes, and Beats Up Amazon Union Leader Chris Smalls
Meanwhile, there’s not a peep from mainstream media in the U.S.
Amazon Union Leader Chris Smalls Boards Boat to Gaza
(July 21, 2025)
Amazon Labor Union leader Chris Smalls is on the ‚Handala‘, the 37th ship to challenge Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza. Amazon has invested billions in intelligence like the Nimbus project, used for the surveillance and targeting of Palestinians.
Chris shares that “…an injury to one is injury to all,” calling on labor unions worldwide to fulfill their responsibility: to be the shield for the working class, which includes protecting Palestinian people, and urges unions to stop their shipments of arms to Israel, fuelling their genocide in Gaza.
“We come with baby food, toys, medicine, and hope — not just for Gaza, but for the future of our children in America back at home. The world is watching.”