Is Los Angeles Losing Its Middle Class?

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Southern California-s grocery strike is dragging into its third month and it's not likely to be settled until well into next year. Talks broke off Monday without significant movement by either the grocery chains or the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. One observer says there's more at stake than health benefits and wages for 70,000 workers. Organized labor claims that low-wage discounters like Wal-Mart threaten the standard of living of an entire class. Others contend there-s an overall increase in high-salaried, non-union jobs, with the real threat coming from immigration. We discuss the evolving nature of this region-s economy with Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect and Joel Kotkin of Pepperdine University's Public Policy Institute. Making News: San Francisco Has New Mayor, New District Attorney After yesterday-s election, 36-year old Gavin Newsom is San Francisco-s youngest mayor in 100 years. Kamala Harris is California-s first African-American district attorney. But local pundits say both elections were really about a man whose name wasn-t on the ballot-outgoing Mayor Willie Brown. Phil Matier, columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, has a follow-up on Tuesday's election victories. Reporter's Notebook: The LA Weekly Turns 25 It-s grown into one of the biggest -alternatives- in the US, surviving on advertising even more than mainstream newspapers do, and it survived charges of anti-trust violations after last year's multimillion-dollar deal that closed down the competing New Times Los Angeles. Editor Laurie Ochoa explains how the LA Weekly, which is celebrating its 25th year of publication, can be commercially successful and unconventional at the same time.
Southern California-s grocery strike is dragging into its third month and it's not likely to be settled until well into next year. Talks broke off Monday without significant movement by either the grocery chains or the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. One observer says there's more at stake than health benefits and wages for 70,000 workers. Organized labor claims that low-wage discounters like Wal-Mart threaten the standard of living of an entire class. Others contend there-s an overall increase in high-salaried, non-union jobs, with the real threat coming from immigration. We discuss the evolving nature of this region-s economy with Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect and Joel Kotkin of Pepperdine University's Public Policy Institute.
  • Making News: San Francisco Has New Mayor, New District Attorney
    After yesterday-s election, 36-year old Gavin Newsom is San Francisco-s youngest mayor in 100 years. Kamala Harris is California-s first African-American district attorney. But local pundits say both elections were really about a man whose name wasn-t on the ballot-outgoing Mayor Willie Brown. Phil Matier, columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, has a follow-up on Tuesday's election victories.
  • Reporter's Notebook: The LA Weekly Turns 25
    It-s grown into one of the biggest -alternatives- in the US, surviving on advertising even more than mainstream newspapers do, and it survived charges of anti-trust violations after last year's multimillion-dollar deal that closed down the competing New Times Los Angeles. Editor Laurie Ochoa explains how the LA Weekly, which is celebrating its 25th year of publication, can be commercially successful and unconventional at the same time.

Mayor-elect Gavin Newsom

Rival mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez

District Attorney-elect Kamala Harris

Incumbent DA Terrance Halinan

Matier's article on Mayor-elect Newsom's challenge

California Employment Development Department (EDD)

LA Times' 3-part series on 'The Wal-Mart Effect'

Teamsters Joint Council 42

United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW)

Wal-Mart

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Frances Anderton