San Jose, CA – On Monday, March 10, around 1500 bus and light rail operators and mechanics for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), walked off the job. The workers are represented by Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265. This is the first strike at the VTA since its founding in 1973.
Around 9 a.m. upwards of 70 ATU rank-and-file members could be seen picketing in front of the VTA headquarters as the strike began. Pickets were held at four other light rail and bus yards beginning at 4 a.m.
San José, CA – On Monday, March 10, U.S. stock markets fell. The S&P 500, which includes 500 of the largest U.S. corporations, dropped 2.7% for the worst trading day of the new Trump administration. The NASDAQ, which is over-weighted in technology stocks, fell even more, dropping 4% as high-flying technology stocks continued their descent to earth. Both the broader market and the technology sector were led down by a 15% drop in Tesla share prices, bringing that stock down about 50% from its high just months ago.
San José, CA – On Friday, March 7, the Department of Labor released its report on the job market in February. This is the first report based on the labor market in the first weeks of the new Trump administration. Overall, the job market looked a little softer; job creation was a bit less, at 151,000 rather than economists’ expectations of 170,000 net new jobs. The unemployment rate also ticked up to 4.1% from 4.0% in January.
San José, CA – At the stroke of midnight on Tuesday morning, President Trump’s trade war was launched against the three largest trading partners of the United States. Canada and Mexico were hit with across the board 25% tariffs, with the exception of Canadian energy products: oil and electricity, which were given 10% tariffs. China was hit with an additional 10% tariff, bringing the total rate to 20% with the initial 10% tariffs back in February.
San José, CA – In February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual report on major strikes in the previous year. In 2024, there were 31 major strikes, involving 271,500 workers. A major strike is one involving at least 1000 workers and lasting at least one shift. A total of more than 3 million days’ work didn’t happen because of major strikes.
San José, CA – Consumers cut back on purchases in January 2025, the largest decline since February 2021. The Bureau of Economic Analysis report on Personal Income and Outlays released February 28 said that household spending fell by 0.5%, adjusted for inflation. This is much greater than the 0.2% drop expected.
San José, CA – On Thursday, February 27, the Department of Labor reported that new claims for unemployment insurance jumped by 22,000, or 10% in the week ending February 22. New claims for UI have risen substantially in the first weeks of the new Trump administration. The total increase in new claims has been 34,000 or 15%.
San José, CA – El domingo 9 de febrero, el Comité de Inmigración de Silicon Valley, junto con más de 200 miembros de la comunidad, realizó una protesta y una marcha en contra de la agenda del presidente Trump y el reciente aumento de actividad de ICE en Eastside San José.
San José, CA – On Monday, February 24, Denny’s, one of the three largest breakfast chains in the United States, announced that it would be rolling out an extra surcharge on eggs. Denny’s followed Waffle House, another large breakfast chain. Both are trying to pass along the rising costs of eggs, which are up almost 20% just since December. This is mainly because of the spreading bird flu, where quarantine measures have meant the killing more than 100 million poultry, including 20 million of chickens, just in the last three months of 2024.
San Jose, CA – 30 community members gathered at the San Jose Peace and Justice center, February 22, to celebrate the release of Leonard Peltier from prison and his return home.
San José, CA – On Friday, February 21, all the major U.S. stock indices fell. The broadest measure, the S&P 500, dropped more than 100 points. What scared the stock markets were a pair of indicators showing signs of rising inflation and a slowdown in the economy, which is commonly called stagflation.
San Jose, CA – On Thursday, February 20, the family of Antonio Guzman Lopez, Students for a Democratic Society, Justice for Josiah, the Aztec Dancers and several other organizations and community members held a vigil honoring the memory of Lopez, an undocumented man killed by San Jose State’s on-campus police 11 years ago, on February 21, 2014.
San Jose, CA – On Sunday, February 9, the Silicon Valley Immigration Committee along with over 200 community members held a protest and march against President Trump's agenda and the recent escalation of ICE activity in the Eastside of San Jose.
The action – held in Eastside San Jose (ESSJ), which is a community made up of Chicanos and Latinos – was part of the Legalization for All Network's Week of Action.
San José, CA – On Thursday, February 13, President Trump signed another executive order, this time to study implementing his plan for “reciprocal tariffs.” While many businesses and financial investors breathed a sigh of relief that these would not go into effect until April, the Trump administration will use this time to try to define many policies of other countries as tariffs – even when they are not.
San Jose, CA – On February 16, around 350 people gathered at San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin to commemorate the signing of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese-Americans in U.S. concentration camps during World War II.
San José, CA – On Friday, February 14, the Department of Commerce released its report on Retail Sales for January 2025. For those hoping for a strong report on Valentine’s Day, there was no love as retail sales fell 0.9%. While this report was seasonally adjusted for the fact that sales in January are typically lower than December, it is not adjusted for inflation. With inflation up 0.5% in January according to the Department of Labor’s report earlier in the week, it is likely the real, or inflation adjusted sales fell more than 1% in one month, a very weak report.
San José, CA – On Monday, February 10, President Trump signed an executive order raising tariffs, or taxes on imports, to 25% on steel and aluminum. The tariffs are to start on March 4. While his first round of tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China was based on a “national emergency” of refugees and drugs coming into the country, the latest tariff order used a “national security” rationale. They are seen as less likely to be suspended as the first round was.
San José, CA – On Wednesday, February 12, the Department of Labor said that inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, rose in January as compared to December of 2024. The monthly increase in prices was one half of one percent, as compared to 0.3% in December. This was the highest monthly increase in prices in over a year. Compared to a year ago, prices were up 3%, but if January’s increase continued for the rest of the year, the inflation rate would be 8%.
San Jose, CA – On February 2, over 1000 San Jose residents took to the streets to demand no ICE in San Jose and no deportations following the presence of ICE agents in East Side San Jose. The Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, along with endorsers, called to action to mobilize against ICE operations in the East Side, a community with a high immigrant population.
San Jose, CA – Cientos de personas se manifestaron en el este de San José este lunes, 28 de enero, contra las recientes detenciones realizadas por ICE en un vecindario predominantemente chicano. La manifestación comenzó cuando cientos de estudiantes organizaron un paro estudiantil en la preparatoria Overfelt y marcharon hacia la intersección de King y Story Road. King y Story es un lugar histórico en el movimiento chicano y de derechos de los inmigrantes, y fue el punto de partida de las mega-marchas del pasado.
