Unions in the News – Weekly Highlights

By Editor
10/27/2015
McDonald’s asks judge to toss out U.S. labor board’s “massive” subpoena By Daniel Wiessner, October 27, 2015, Reuters Oct 27 McDonald’s Corp has asked a U.S. judge to reject a subpoena from the National Labor Relations Board in its case claiming the company is a “joint employer” of franchise workers, saying the requests are unfair...

When Will Unions Fight to Lower the Cost of Living?

By Edward Ring
10/27/2015
A report issued earlier this year from California’s Office of Legislative Analyst “California’s High Housing Costs: Causes and Consequences,” cites the following statistics:  “Today, an average California home costs $440,000, about two–and–a–half times the average national home price ($180,000). Also, California’s average monthly rent is about $1,240, 50 percent higher than the rest of the country ($840...

TAGS: California cost of living, cost of living

The Fall of Pacific Grove – The City's Tepid Defense of the Vested Rights Lawsuit

By John Moore
10/27/2015
The Final Chapter, Part 2 of 4 In June of 2010, the City of Pacific Grove (City) received an initiative petition from a citizen’s group containing the requisite number of signatures. Thereafter the city adopted the petition as an ordinance. The ordinance limited the city’s obligation to pay for employee pensions for work not yet...

TAGS: "California Rule", challenges to the "California Rule", John Moore, Pacific Grove and CalPERS, Pacific Grove city council, Pacific Grove financial stress, Pacific Grove insolvency, Pacific Grove pension reform, pension contribution increases, The Fall of Pacific Grove, vested pension rights

Construction Unions Dominate a Marin County Bond Measure Campaign

By Kevin Dayton
10/27/2015
Construction trade unions in California are likely to be celebrating on November 3, 2015 as voters approve another set of local school bond measures and launch another round of taxing, borrowing, and spending. Eight school districts in California are asking voters to approve a total of nine bond measures for school facilities construction on the November ballot....

TAGS: Marin County, Project Labor Agreement

The Unions’ “Accountability” Libel Against Charter Schools

By Larry Sand
10/27/2015
The teacher union war on charter schools ramps up with empty billionaire and accountability accusations. Charter schools are like pesky chewing gum that the teachers unions just can’t quite get off their shoes. They have been persistent in trying to just get rid of the alternative public schools – except for the few they have...

TAGS: accountability, American Federation of Teachers, California Charter School Association, Charter schools, CREDO, Democracy Alliance, Eli Broad, Eric Owens, George Soros, In the Public Interest, John Stocks, LA School Report, Larry Sand, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, National Education Association, Nina Rees, Occupy Wall Street, Randi Weingarten, teachers union, Tom Steyer

Teachers Unions Spend $700 Million per Year Explicitly on Political Advocacy

By RiShawn Biddle
10/22/2015
As readers know by now, Dropout Nation determined in research released last October that National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers spend roughly $700 million per year on advocacy. This report undermined the unions’ preferred narrative that they are scrappy underdogs fighting for public schools. As you would expect, especially on Twitter, NEA’s and...

TAGS: American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten, RiShawn Biddle, teachers unions

Unions in the News – Weekly Highlights

By Editor
10/20/2015
Labor board seeking injunction over Alliance anti-union efforts By Craig Clough, October 20, 2015, LA School Report The California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) will be seeking an injunction in Los Angeles County Superior Court to stop what it says is illegal interference by officials at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools against a unionization effort by...

The Fall of Pacific Grove – A Primer on Vested Rights

By John Moore
10/20/2015
The Final Chapter, Part 1 of 4 Editor’s Note:  In early 2014 we published a eight part series, “The Fall of Pacific Grove,” written by retired attorney and Pacific Grove resident John Moore. It describes in detail how this small coastal city slid inexorably towards insolvency by yielding, again and again, year after year, to pressure...

TAGS: "California Rule", challenges to the "California Rule", John Moore, Pacific Grove and CalPERS, Pacific Grove city council, Pacific Grove financial stress, Pacific Grove insolvency, Pacific Grove pension reform, pension contribution increases, The Fall of Pacific Grove, vested pension rights

The Taxpayer as Bagman

By Larry Sand
10/20/2015
In California, the citizenry pays for the collection of dues for public employee unions. As just about every teacher in California will tell you, union dues are deducted by the local school district from their monthly paycheck just as federal and state withholding taxes are. Then the school district turns the money over to the...

TAGS: A.J. Duffy, AFL-CIO, California Teachers Association, Friedrichs, Larry Sand, Prop. 32, Prop. 75, teachers union, union dues, UTLA