Unions Defy CEQA Reformers with Taunting Resolution
Unions Defy CEQA Reformers with Taunting Resolution
Despite their reputation as effective and extensive abusers of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to pursue economic objectives unrelated to environmental protection, California union leaders are strategically choosing to be vocal activists against CEQA reform. Union leaders are obviously quite confident that corporate executives and the news media will hesitate to make them accountable for...
By Kevin Dayton
California’s Unionized Construction Workforce: Surprisingly Low Rates…and Dropping
California’s Unionized Construction Workforce: Surprisingly Low Rates…and Dropping
On January 23, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its annual Economic News Release: Union Members Summary. It announced that the overall union membership rate – the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of a union – dropped from 11.8 percent in 2011 to 11.3 percent in 2012. The...
By Kevin Dayton
Calling for Public Sector Union Reform is Not Anti-Union
Calling for Public Sector Union Reform is Not Anti-Union
Last week an article written by UnionWatch contributor Kevin Dayton was republished in its entirety by the State Building and Construction Trades Council. While we are pleased that the SBCTC is sharing our material with their members, we object to their characterization of UnionWatch as an “anti-union website.” We also invite them to consider the...
By Edward Ring
Charter Proposals for California Cities Continue Provoking Union Opposition
Charter Proposals for California Cities Continue Provoking Union Opposition
California Governor Jerry Brown claimed in his State of the State address that California now has “a solid and enduring budget.” His Finance Department even predicts state budget surpluses. Despite the jubilation at the state capitol inspired by tax increases and one-party rule, California cities seem skeptical, as shown by their continued efforts to exercise their state constitutional rights to govern their own municipal affairs,...
By Kevin Dayton
Unions Await Fantastic Return on High-Speed Rail Political Investments
Unions Await Fantastic Return on High-Speed Rail Political Investments
It’s a heady time to be a top construction union official in California, as the California High-Speed Rail Authority presumably now holds proposals from as many as five design-build consortiums to build the first segment of the $68 billion project. If this project moves forward, it will become part of the pantheon of huge American infrastructure projects...
By Kevin Dayton
Watch Union Official’s Rude Antics at California High-Speed Rail Conference
Watch Union Official’s Rude Antics at California High-Speed Rail Conference
On January 11, 2013, a video camera recorded a stunning public tirade by Fresno’s top construction union official at a conference about supposed local contracting opportunities for the first segment of California’s High Speed Rail. Below is video footage of the beginning of a panel discussion about Project Labor Agreements, and below that is the...
By Kevin Dayton
California’s “Prevailing Wage” – Floor Vacuuming at $45.93/Hour
California’s “Prevailing Wage” – Floor Vacuuming at $45.93/Hour
California State Assemblyman Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills) is introducing a bill to address one of the numerous absurdities in California’s prevailing wage law: the $38-46 per hour wage paid to laborers who clean up construction sites after taxpayer-funded construction is finished. As revealed in a 2009 state wage enforcement action against a construction company working...
By Kevin Dayton