Texas Touts Lighter Regulations in Wooing California Firms By Aman Batheja, April 29, 2014, The Texas Tribune Monday’s news that Toyota is moving 3,000 jobs from California to Texas is drawing fresh attention to the competing business climates of the two states. Gov. Rick Perry has waged a lengthy campaign for California businesses to move...
Think rich conservatives rule the world? Think again. “To see what is in front of one’s nose,” George Orwell famously wrote, “needs a constant struggle.” In front of my nose as I write this is a copy of last Sunday’s New York Times. I have opened it to the business section. Below the fold isone of many Times articles on Thomas...
Editor’s Note: This commentary by Jarret Skorup of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy should make for interesting reading here in California. In particular, Skorup references Michigan’s pending “House Bill 4641,” that will prohibit government agencies “from imposing occupational licensure without proof of valid public health and safety concerns, and when licensing is beneficial, requires...
Obama administration to change rules so unions never lose another election By Michael Dorstewitz, April 22, 2014, BizPac Review After Tennessee Volkswagen plant employees handed the United Auto Workers a huge defeat in voting against unionization in February, the Obama administration has decided to change the rules to make sure that never happens again. Two...
Despite being one of the biggest strongholds of Democratic power in the United States, there are almost no unions representing private sector workers in the Silicon Valley. But a new NLRB ruling that takes effect next month is going to make it much easier to organize workers. Here, quoting from a March 26th Inside Counsel...
Activity by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Department of Labor (DOL) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as several of the largest labor unions, over the past two weeks evidences the Obama Administration’s growing anxiety as the mid-term election approaches. The Administration, facing loss of the Senate and ultimate control in...
The Rise of Corporate Democrats in California By Gary Cohn, April 15, 2014, Huffington Post Marin County is one of California’s most liberal regions and, with its iconic redwoods and stunning coastline, it is also a power center for environmental activism. And so, when a bill to give the state Coastal Commission authority to levy...
I have repeatedly stressed the fact that today’s big labor bosses care little about the rank and file membership and are only interested in the dues money they can collect to line their own pockets and use for political persuasion. This has surfaced more the past several weeks and is worth highlighting as we approach...
San Francisco could have competing minimum wage hikes on November ballot By Chris Roberts, April 8, 2014, San Francisco Examiner Labor groups, led by San Francisco’s largest public employee union, took the first step Monday toward raising The City’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. But by filing paperwork to put the wage increase in...
There are many in our society–particularly those who’ve come to the conclusion they’re smarter than the rest of us–who rejoice in one-party rule. They therefore must delight in our current state of our Golden State, because it’s simple to determine who does and doesn’t belong in our government. After all, why be “Rational, Tough and...
Why ‘Harris v. Quinn’ Has Labor Very, Very Nervous By Joel Rogers, April 14, 2014 Edition, The Nation Sometime soon, certainly by the late-June conclusion of its present term, the Supreme Court will tell us its decision in Harris v. Quinn, arguably the most important labor law case the Court has considered in decades. Harris...
SEIU uses federal inspections to target Houston small business By Jillian Kay Melchior, March 25, 2014, National Review Union organizers are showing up at Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections of an open-shop business that has been targeted by the country’s second-largest union. Professional Janitorial Service, the largest non-union janitorial company in Houston, and the...
Summary: Two current cases offer the U.S. Supreme Court opportunities to stop abuse. The National Labor Relations Act declares that “encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining” is “the policy of the United States.” Federal courts have often treated that declaration as if it authorized union officials to do whatever they deem necessary to bring...
Gov. Brown takes swipes at GOP, praises labor unions By Phil Willon, March 17, 2014, Los Angeles Times Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown gave a rousing pro-worker speech to a ballroom filled with union representatives Monday night, thanking organized labor for helping pass his vote-approved tax hike in 2012 and worker’s compensation reform and vowing to...