This week, Belabored talks to San Francisco-based journalist Julia Carrie Wong bout the ugly side of Silicon Valley and how tech giants have unleashed a wave of gentrification across the Bay Area. It seems that, despite their cool, youthful brand image, Google and Twitter are exploiting workers and aggravating inequality much the same way the robber barons of yore did before them. In addition, we hear from Jobs with Justice organizer Kung Feng about the response of community and labor groups to the tech sector’s growing presence in the city.

We also talk about an insultingly low pay raise offer for federal employees and the health fallout facing Fukushima workers, along with updates on critical education labor struggles in Oregon and Minnesota, and a community-labor coalition working to save a local hospital. We end with a nod to some much-needed coverage of gender inequities in “house work” versus the formal workplace, and the massive lack of basic labor and safety protections for temp workers.

News:

Labor unions disappointed at 1 percent pay raise Obama to propose for federal workers

Judge OK’s Deal for Long Island College Hospital

2,000 Fukushima plant workers to be checked for thyroid cancer

Plummeting morale at Fukushima Daiichi as nuclear cleanup takes its toll

Portland Teachers Prove the Value of Solidarity

St. Paul Teachers Contract: Smaller Class Sizes, 8.6% Compensation Increase

Medford Teachers Back in Classrooms

Conversation with Julia Carrie Wong about Silicon Valley gentrification:

Julia Carrie Wong

Tech’s “feel-good” promises: Why Silicon Valley’s charity isn’t enough

San Francisco Protesters Take Aim at Twitter’s Tax Breaks

Argh, I Wish I’d Written That!:

Sarah: Bryce Covert, Men Are Much More Likely to Work At Home Than Women

Michelle: Michael Grabell, ProPublica, “U.S. Lags Behind World in Temp Worker Protections”