Workers strike picket against poverty wages

After months of deadlock over poverty wages with University of California executives, 85,00 service workers from ten UC campuses and five medical centers have begun strike picketing.

“UC wages are dramatically lower than other hospitals and California’s community colleges, which pay 25% higher wages on average. In addition, UC insist on passing on benefit costs, pushing families deeper into poverty.”

The employees are represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union, against which the Public Employment Relations Board issued a complaint for bad-faith bargaining. The Superior Court of San Francisco declared the strike illegal on July 11.

• More from SFist

New technology to ease parking pains in Cit

New technology to ease parking pains in City

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) will test a new technology in the Fall using wireless sensors to announce open parking spots on smartphones or street displays.

“The same sensors will be capable of monitoring the speed of traffic past the spaces, and that data will be transmitted as well.”

The SFMTA intends to use the data to create a dynamic server-to-meter price system that adjusts to demand.

• SF Weekly discusses the high costs of parking in San Francisco

Honduras runway fiasco tied to San Francisc

Responsibility for a recent airline incident in Honduras may be traced back to SFO Enterprises, formed by San Francisco International Airport, according to SF Weekly’s Matt Smith.

”This shady private company, set up nearly a decade ago by current airport director John Martin and his deputy, Leo Fermin, won a bid to privatize and manage Honduras’ airports based on a boast that SFO International Airport officials’ knowledge, prestige, and financial clout would bring this dangerous airport up to first-world standards.”

Despite the transfer of San Francisco city funds into Honduras, there was not enough to improve safety on its runway.

• Mark Pritchard gives his briefing

Board to vote on set-asides

The City board will vote July 22 to place a proposal to eliminate set-asides in the November ballot.

“Supervisor Chris Daly has asked the city attorney to draft an amendment to a charter amendment that would provide voters with the opportunity to eliminate all The City’s set-asides.”

Daly also proposed a new set-aside for affordable housing.

Set-asides, a way to allocate funding for specific programs each year, included “$200.9 million for a mandated staffing level at the Police Department, $137.4 million for children services, $75.5 million for public libraries and $1.6 million for the San Francisco Symphony” last year.

• More on set-asides from icallbs

Homeowners insurance surcharge may increase

Due to the high costs of fighting California’s wildfires, a plan to double the insurance surcharge for homeowners was approved by a joint legislative budget committee.

“Under the new proposal, homeowners in “high-risk areas” – which, between fires, floods and earthquakes, covers about 95 percent of the state – would have a 2.8 percent surcharge added to their policies.”

The plan would generate $280 million a year to cover the cost of disasters, most of them wildfires.

• More from Robert Cruickshank about the debate on who should pay for the costs of wildfires