It might be surprising to some, but both Italian Fascism and German National Socialism were closely related to and supportive of trade unionism. Historically, both French and Italian fascism emerged out of a major trade union movement known as “revolutionary syndicalism” (syndicat means trade union in French), which first came into prominence in France in...
The 4th Appellate District Court just released a unanimous ruling dismissing the lawsuit brought against the City of San Diego by the union-dominated State Public Employees Relations Board (PERB). The decision upholds Proposition B – the landmark Pension Reform Initiative passed by 2/3rds of San Diego voters in 2012. Former San Diego City Councilmember Carl...
Debunking teacher union talking points about school choice. Okay, so you’re at a cocktail party sipping brandy, and some rabid teacher union supporter starts mouthing off about Trump, DeVos, the evils of vouchers and, at the same time, waxing ecstatic about the glories of our traditional zip-code monopoly education system (Z MES). Now, you might...
Last month, CalPERS removed from its website the controversial “Myths vs. Facts” page, ending one of the agency’s efforts to soothe public anxiety about the cost of rising pension benefits to public employees. Some sources close to CalPERS told California Policy Center that the page was so riddled with errors that there were demands for...
Last month, CalPERS quietly removed from its website the controversial “Myths vs. Facts” page, abruptly ending one of the agency’s efforts to soothe public anxiety about the cost of rising pension benefits to public employees. Some sources close to CalPERS told California Policy Center that the page was so riddled with errors that there were...
Vernon is small industrial city with more city staff than residents. Despite its small population, we were surprised to learn recently that it has a municipal library. While doing research for our forthcoming Civic Profiles update, a CPC researcher found that the library was open zero hours per week and had a mere 1093 books....
Deep State: A body of people, typically influential members of government agencies or the military, believed to be involved in the secret manipulation or control of government policy. – Oxford English Dictionary The term “Deep State” has been around for at least a decade, but it has emerged into common parlance in reference to the alleged opposition...
Over a fourth of El Monte’s residents live in poverty, but, among public-sector workers poverty is unlikely. Retired City Manager James Mundessen told the LA Times that he personally receives $216,000 a year in retirement – an amount that finances a lavish lifestyle that includes golfing trips in Scotland. Mundessen is one of eight city officials collecting over $200,000 per year.
Political observers are now speculating about which executive actions Donald Trump will take after becoming President. One of his actions may reverse federal policy toward government-mandated union Project Labor Agreements on federally-funded projects. President Trump can rescind President Obama’s 2009 executive order encouraging Project Labor Agreements on federally-funded projects. In addition, he can issue his...
Numerous California elected officials are condemning President-Elect Donald Trump’s proposal of immigration-related conditions for local governments to obtain federal grants. But at the same time, California elected officials are imposing their own union-related conditions for local governments to obtain state grants. Local control is obviously not the principle at issue. There is now a second case in 2016 of a California local government voting to give unions monopoly...
In the aftermath of one of the most controversial presidential elections in U.S. history, many analysts are commenting on the sharp divide between how urban areas voted vs. how rural areas voted. In a map of the nation segmented by county, it is clear that at least geographically, Trump won overwhelmingly. Obviously this is misleading, since...
The Commonwealth Foundation, a think tank based in Pennsylvania, has recently released a study entitled “Transforming Labor – A Comprehensive, Nationwide Comparison and Grading of Public Sector Labor Laws.” It ranked every state in terms of the relative power of public sector unions. California, along with tiny Maryland, were the only states that got an...
The usual suspects are digging deep into their pockets to make sure that California’s borrowing binge remains unchecked. Contractors, unions and bond houses that benefit from state debt are contributing millions to defeat Proposition 53, the Stop Blank Checks initiative. This straightforward proposal simply requires voter approval of state issued construction bonds larger than $2...
Outside the headquarters of the University of California in Oakland, researchers Peter Dreier and Megan Bomba sat alongside two officials of Teamsters Local 2010. Behind them: signs that read “UC: Pay Workers Enough to LIVE.” The Teamsters Local is negotiating with the university system over clerical and administrative support salaries. Part of the union’s campaign...