THE BUZZ — LORENA TALKS ‘STRIKETOBER,’ ELON AND LABOR: “Striketober” isn’t over yet, but there are already political lessons to be learned from a month that has generated big labor headlines from Hollywood to Silicon Valley. Among them, Democratic Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego says, is just how much Covid has reshaped labor’s priorities and its power — and how some billionaires are still trying to push their workers to the limit.

“We’re coming out of a pandemic where people learned a lot about their jobs — and their employers,’’ Gonzalez said in an interview this week. “There were workers during the pandemic, especially undocumented workers … who didn't have any leverage.’’ But increasingly, in both industries where workers have long been unionized and in previously non-union sectors, “we’re seeing transformational change,” she said. “Workers have realized their strengths.”

Those observations come amid plenty of labor unrest. In California’s health care industry, “almost a third of California hospitals report insufficient numbers of critical workers, including nurses, technicians and janitors,” with thousands walking off the job, CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang reported earlier this week. Gig workers complaining of “sweat factory” conditions at companies like San Francisco-based Instacart, are threatening to strike, the Guardian‘s Gloria Oladipo reports. Meanwhile, unionized University of California lecturers are holding rallies and threatening to walk off the job, following a near-unanimous vote to authorize a strike in June.

And the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union representing the makeup artists, camera operators, lighting technicians and script coordinators that keep Hollywood churning out content, appeared to reach a tentative agreement for a new three-year contract with film and television studios — even if there’s still dissent brewing, as ABC’s Jaysha Patel reported.

Still, “Striketober” — a name and hashtag coined by the AFL-CIO, the labor federation with which IATSE is affiliated, as our colleague Eleanor Mueller reports from D.C. — is both a statewide and national trend, as a competitive labor market and supply chain complications give employees more say over their working conditions.

The San Diego assemblywoman, the chair of the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee, is one to watch on the labor front, as the legislator whose high-profile bills, recently signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, have upended “Big Tech.” Those included a bill that targets Amazon warehouse quotas and another that requires food delivery apps to disclose fees and pay tips to employees.

ON ELON: Gonzalez made big news on the labor and tech front recently when she took Tesla CEO Elon Musk — now officially the world’s richest man — to task on Twitter for heading a “highly subsidized company that has always disregarded worker safety & well-being, has engaged in union busting & bullies public servants.” Musk suggested he was pulling Tesla’s Palo Alto headquarters from California because of her tossed-off tweet that said, “F*ck Elon Musk.” (Newsom joked he is the object of that sentiment on Twitter almost hourly.)

Gonzalez told POLITICO that Musk’s outrage is more about acting out than actualities of Tesla’s business — which she noted is going gangbusters, thanks to California. “This is him trying to avoid tax liability. … I get that,’’ she said. But the recent developments should also be “a lesson” for the California state legislature. “If we're going to subsidize billionaires, and we're gonna allow people to earn billions’’ through state policies and subsidies, “maybe we demand a little bit more’’ up front from those companies, to protect both taxpayers and workers, she said.

“There is no accountability for our tax subsidies; there is no follow-through for what we’re actually getting out of it,’’ she says. “These are taxpayer dollars. We made Elon Musk … and we’re not allowed to criticize him?”

BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. Secretary of State Shirley Weber reminds: “WEDNESDAY @ 11AM PT. Don't forget to tune in LIVE to our election cybersecurity Twitter Chat! Hear directly from our counties on how they secure the vote in CA. Follow along with: #CACyberSecure”

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit [email protected] or [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @cmarinucci and @jeremybwhite.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Jon should be 100% held accountable for his actions. Sexual assault is a serious criminal action and we rightly should have zero tolerance for this. In that light it was a mistake for Jon to attend the Rose Pak Community Fund dinner and I take ownership for his attendance.” — Former SF Supervisor Jane Kim apologizes for bringing Jon Jacobo, a former aide accused of rape, to a political event last month, via the SF Chronicle’s Sam Whiting.

TWEET OF THE DAY: Former San Diego Mayor @Kevin_Faulconer on the former secretary of State’s death: “Colin Powell accomplished so much in one lifetime. He served his country for decades and broke longstanding barriers. He truly was a national treasure. My prayers are with his family.”

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

RECALL FEVER — Covid anger drives recall targeting three SF School Board leaders, by POLITICO’s Carla Marinucci and Victoria Colliver: Voters with "recall fever" will decide next year whether to remove three San Francisco school board members in one of the nation's most significant ouster attempts, fueled by parental anger over pandemic shutdowns and controversial school renamings where even Sen. Dianne Feinstein was deemed unworthy.

The city's Department of Elections Monday certified a Feb. 15 recall for three San Francisco Board of Education officials — President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and Commissioner Alison Collins. Recall backers submitted 80,000 signatures to remove each commissioner, far in excess of the 50,000 required.

NEW BOUNDARIES — “California is about to set its political boundaries for the next decade. Here's what's at stake,” by the SF Chronicle’s Tal Kopan and Dustin Gardiner: “The redistricting process has entered crunch time, as the first drafts of maps are due Nov. 15 and the final version before the end of the year. And while the drawing commission is being careful to not tip its hand on its plans, some key dynamics have emerged as it holds public meetings.”

RICH GETTING RICHER — “U.S. Billionaire Wealth Surged by 70 Percent, or $2.1 Trillion, During Pandemic. They’re Now Worth a Combined $5 Trillion,” by the Institute for Policy Studies’s Chuck Collins: “Sen. Wyden’s billionaires income tax tapping those huge returns could raise big revenue to fund President Biden’s Build Back Better investment plan.”

THAT’S A LOT OF POT — California DOJ has seized 1.2M illegal pot plants in 2021, by POLITICO’s Alexander Nieves: Law enforcement agencies have destroyed nearly 1.2 million marijuana plants illegally grown in California this year through a state Department of Justice program, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday. The 13-week operation involving a range of state, federal and local departments comes as the illicit cannabis market continues to flourish in California, generating more than $8 billion in annual sales, according to industry estimates.

— "California Officials Have Failed To Seal Thousands Of Marijuana Conviction Records," by Filter's Alexander Lekhtman for Marijuana Moment: "Nearly five years after California voters legalized marijuana, potentially hundreds of thousands of residents still have publicly available cannabis-related criminal records that the law requires to be sealed—even though the state passed a bill to address this three years ago. While this continues, people’s cannabis convictions can still be searched by employers and police, leaving them vulnerable to discrimination and targeting."

PIPELINE UPDATE — “Coast Guard: 1,200-foot ship dragged California oil pipeline,” by the AP’s Matthew Brown: “Investigators believe a 1,200-foot (366-meter) cargo ship dragging anchor in rough seas caught an underwater oil pipeline and pulled it across the seafloor, months before a leak from the line fouled the Southern California coastline with crude.”

ANOTHER RECORD — “California records driest year in a century,” by the LA Times’ Laura Anaya-Morga.

— "Satellites reveal the secrets of water-guzzling farms in California," by NPR's Dan Charles.

— “Nearly 40% of California state workers are unvaccinated against COVID despite Newsom order,” by The Sac Bee’s Wes Venteicher: “The COVID-19 vaccination rate is lower among California state workers than among the state’s general population, according to data from the state Human Resources Department.”

— “California faces 'existential' dilemma in tackling climate change, housing crisis,” by NBC’s Alicia Victoria Lozano: “As home prices soar and wildfires rage across California, the state is increasingly confronted with the herculean task of addressing climate change while creating more affordable housing.”

PROTESTING PARENTS — “Parents, teachers protest against student vaccine mandate across Southern California,” by ABC7’s Marc Cota-Robles: “Parents, teachers and some children took part in a series of protests across Southern California Monday as part of a statewide pushback against California's vaccine mandate for students. Organizers called for parents to keep their children home or pull them from class as a form of protest against Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID vaccine mandate.”

COVID COUNT — “L.A. County Reports 4 New Covid-19 Deaths And 898 New Positive Cases,” by Deadline Hollywood’s Matt Grobar and Brandon Choe.

WILDFIRE POLITICS — “As California continues to burn, politicians must have their feet held to the fire,” opines the LA Times’ George Skelton: “Don’t look for dramatic progress by the next fire season, although there should be incremental improvements. Given how far behind California is in addressing the wildfire challenge, and the natural snail’s pace of government — an agonizing trait of virtually any government — this will take many years of consistent effort and tanker loads of tax dollars.”

‘POWER STRUGGLE’ — “California union moves to strip Local 1000 president of powers. He calls vote illegitimate,” by The Sac Bee’s Wes Venteicher: “A group of SEIU Local 1000 board members voted Sunday to strip the union’s elected president, Richard Louis Brown, of most of his leadership powers, introducing a major structural change at California’s largest state employee union and setting up what could be a messy fight over its control.”

GOOD FOR HIM! — “‘Whole new chapter’: S.F. Supervisor Aaron Peskin calls sobriety gratifying as colleagues report improved behavior,” by the SF Chronicle’s Mallory Moench: “Four months after San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin announced he was entering alcohol treatment and apologized for his tenor amid complaints about his behavior, he told The Chronicle he has stayed sober, saying he has entered a ‘new chapter.’”

— "Post-pandemic California: Comeback or decline?" opines CalMatters' Dan Walters: "Is California making a big comeback from pandemic, as Gov. Gavin Newsom insists, or is it facing decline? New studies frame the issue."

— “Colin Powell’s greatest legacy is in the people he inspired,” opines the Hoover Institution at Stanford University’s Condoleezza Rice for The Washington Post: “Tributes to Colin will rightly cite his impact as a statesman and a soldier. They will note that he changed how we think about the use of military force. The Powell Doctrine holds that if you use military force, use it overwhelmingly to get the job done.”

CLIMATE PLEAD — “Harris makes the case for Biden's climate priorities in visit to rapidly draining Lake Mead,” by CNN’s Jasmine Wright: “Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday made a forceful plea for Congress to pass both parts of President Joe Biden's two-pronged economic agenda because of the climate components as she spoke in front of Nevada's rapidly draining Lake Mead.”

SPOTTED — “Vice President visits Santa Monica,” by the Santa Monica Daily Press’ Matthew Hall.

MORAIN’S TAKE — “John Eastman isn’t going away quietly,” opines Dan Morain for The Washington Post: “Today, Eastman is notorious as the author of a legal memo asserting that Vice President Mike Pence could delay election results from seven states, potentially creating a pathway for President Donald Trump to ‘win’ the 2020 election… And tempting as it is to dismiss him as a threat neutralized with Trump’s removal from office, it would be an even bigger error to write him off now.”

MANDATES OR MICROMANAGEMENT? — “What Greg Abbott and Gavin Newsom Sadly Have in Common,” opines Bloomberg’s Michael R. Strain: “Both governors are telling business what to do, but the Texas ban on vaccine mandates is a lot scarier than California’s order on gender-neutral toys.”

— “Mark Ridley-Thomas will ‘step back’ from council duties, but not resign,” by the LA Times’ Julia Wick, David Zahniser and Dakota Smith: “Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who was indicted last week on federal charges, said Monday that he will ‘immediately step back’ from participation in City Council meetings and committees but will not resign.”

THE BILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION — “Is Mark Zuckerberg a Man Without Principles?” by Sway’s Kara Swisher for The NYT: “The veteran tech journalist Walt Mossberg unpacks the Facebook Files with historical context and personal anecdotes.”

— “Facebook’s policing of vitriol is even more lackluster outside the US, critics say,” by the Guardian’s Aisha Gani: “Digital activists around the world are urging Facebook to take seriously how its algorithm incites misinformation and ethnic violence.”

— “‘The Last Duel’ Box Office Debacle: Hollywood’s Battle for Older Moviegoers,” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Pamela McClintock: “The period drama is among a number of fall/winter films counting on consumers 35 years old and up. As one studio executive says, ‘The business can’t rely on Marvel characters alone.’"

— “How Liz Flynt, widow of Hustler’s founder, is embracing the title ‘pornographer,’” by the LA Times’ Hugo Martín.

DISNEY SLOWDOWN — “Disney stock downgraded for first time in 3 years amid streaming worries,” via Reuters: “Walt Disney’s stock received a rare Wall Street downgrade on Monday, as Barclays called for bold changes from the media giant to reverse slowing growth at its Disney+ streaming service.”

SQUID GAME — “The seedy world of private lending in ‘Squid Game’ is a real temptation in South Korea,” by the LA Times’ Victoria Kim.

— “City of Napa may soon allow adult-use retail sales of cannabis products,” by the Napa Valley Register’s Edward Booth: “A draft update to the city’s cannabis ordinance that would allow for adult-use storefront sales of the drug is headed to the Napa City Council on Tuesday. City staff is recommending the council give the go-ahead on preparing a final update; ultimate approval for the amendment would need to be approved by the city's planning commission, and then go to the Napa City Council at a later date.”

— “One dead, two injured during Phish concert at S.F.'s Chase Center,” by the SF Chronicle’s Annie Vainshtein.

MISSING — “3 years ago, Karlie Lain Gusé walked out of her California home. She's never been seen again,” by SFGATE’s Katie Dowd.

— “A California Construction Worker Asked a Speeding Motorist to Slow Down. He Was Shot Seven Times In Response,” by Atlanta Black Star’s Atahabih Germain.

PICASSO’S PROFIL — “UCLA is selling a Picasso. Why that’s a good thing,” opines the LA Times’ Christopher Knight.

‘SLITHERING GUESTS’ — “Why did more than 90 rattlesnakes move into a California home?” by Live Science’s Stephanie Pappas.

— “Mountain lion sighting puts 2 Bay Area schools under lockdown,” by SFGATE’s Amy Graff.

Belated — Fox11’s Elex Michaelson on Monday!

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