California’s teachers unions have been described as the most powerful force affecting state government. Recently, however, threats to the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers have arisen on a number of fronts, yet over the last couple of weeks those threats seemed to be minimized by political pressure, apparent sympathetic judges, and...

Karen Cuen has more than a casual interest in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in January. She is one of the parties to a case whose future course became unclear following the Feb. 13 death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Cuen is a music, band, and choir teacher...

On June 7, 2016, voters in nine California counties in the San Francisco Bay Area will vote on a proposal (Measure AA) to annually assess a $12 tax on every property parcel. This tax would apply equally to each parcel, ranging in assessed property value from Google headquarters in Mountain View to a $30,000 trailer...

California Public Employment Relations Board issues complaints against university, alleging unfair labor practices By Suhuana Hussain, February 23, Daily Californian The California Public Employment Relations Board, or PERB, issued its second complaint this year against the university Feb. 12, alleging unfair labor practices. The charges — filed by the American Federation State, County and Municipal Employees...

The successes of anti-establishment presidential candidates are a powerful reminder that mainstream politicians are not managing America’s political economy or cultural evolution in a way that satisfies most of the electorate. That’s no surprise – it’s a tough job these days, with few historical precedents to offer guidance. Earlier this week an essay published in the...

Educating students is far from the #1 priority of the school board and the teachers union in LA. On February 11th, LA School Report released an internal Los Angeles Unified School District document which stated that just 54 percent of seniors in LA are on track to graduate. The drop off from 74 percent last...

An unexpected burst of plain speaking recently swerved the race for the Democratic presidential nomination off the customary narrative. Howard Dean, the former head of the Democratic National Committee and candidate for the party’s 2004 nomination, not only admitted but asserted that labor unions are super PACs. While on the campaign trail, Dean — a...

The unfortunate and untimely passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has Big Labor bosses and their liberal political allies cheering. Scalia would have been the decisive vote in a major Supreme Court decision affecting labor unions scheduled for this June (see Why Antonin Scalia was a jurist of colossal consequence). Justice Scalia’s influence would...

The Labor Prospect: What Scalia’s Death Means for Unions By Justin Miller, February 16, 2016, The American Prospect It’s nearly impossible to overstate what conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death over the weekend means for the labor movement. The loss of a conservative majority in the high court thwarts a sophisticated, multi-pronged conservative legal...