Is Right-To-Work Key To Job Growth? West Virginia, Other States Tackle A Heated Question By Cole Stangler, January 26, 2016, International Business Times West Virginia — a former union bastion whose embattled coal mines once hosted some of the most fabled labor battles in American history — could soon become the latest state in the...
California was once the State that everyone looked up to. With the best weather and natural resources, we were full of hope and innovation. We had the best public schools, a world class system of higher education, the best freeways, infrastructure to provide fresh water to our growing population, which also doubled as a source...
Summary: From a lift truck driver for a cold storage warehouse, to a worker at a peach farm, to an autoworker turned activist, to a teacher who helped create a local only union—in workplaces across the country—Americans are waking up and taking power into their own hands, no longer standing idly by while unions abuse...
Regional labor groups will join CSU faculty in potential strike By Alexei Koseff, January 19, 2016, The Sacramento Bee Ratcheting up the pressure in an ongoing dispute over raises, the California State University faculty union announced Tuesday that it has secured the support of more than a dozen regional labor councils for a strike that...
Sarah has worked for a major grocery store chain for the past 25 years. Adjusting for inflation, she makes less now than she did over a decade ago, especially since her hours were cut in order for her employer to avoid being required to offer her health insurance. Even more difficult, she is “on call”...
California labor unions react to Supreme Court dues debate By Jon Ortiz, January 12, 2016, The Sacramento Bee State and local public union officials plowed through a 100-page U.S. Supreme Court transcript on Monday, trying to divine how the nine justices are leaning in a case with the potential to tie a knot in the...
High Stakes in Union-Fee Case Before Supreme Court By Mark Walsh, January 5, 2016, Education Week The face of the movement seeking to upend the public-employee labor sector has had a back-and-forth relationship with her own local teachers’ union. Rebecca Friedrichs, the lead plaintiff among a small group of California teachers whose case goes before the...
SEIU puts $3M into ballot fight with California hospitals By Kathy Robertson, December 22, 2015, Sacramento Business Journal In another sign that a 2014 truce is in danger, a powerful union for health care workers has launched a $3 million fund that could fund a new ballot battle with hospitals. Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers...
Lincolnshire creates right-to-work zone that unions oppose By Russell Lissau, December 15, 2015, Daily Herald Lincolnshire has become the first town in the Chicago area to establish itself as a right-to-work zone, a move critics have assailed as anti-union. It’s also a move experts say is sure to face a legal challenge. To create the zone, the...
“There are some lunatics out there and for $200 we encourage them.” – Senator Mark Leno, speaking in favor of AB 1100, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times, August 17, 2015 Filing an initiative in California is about to get harder, thanks to a law taking effect on January 1st, 2016, that will increase...
Summary: Unions and other advocates of Big Government defend policies—license requirements, for example, and other “barriers to entry”—that make it difficult if not impossible to create new businesses and new jobs. Existing businesses are also often backers of laws and regulations that limit competition, stifling innovation and growth. But real reforms—policies that might be called...
Coca-Cola, union agree to federal mediation as strike continues By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, December 8, 2015, Chicago Tribune The union representing striking Coca-Cola workers accepted the company’s offer for federal mediation, even as it shot back at a letter the beverage giant mailed to employees defending the company’s behavior during contract negotiations. Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Refreshments said it...
City Council to consider labor contracts for city employees By Felicia Alvarez, December 01, 2015, Davis Enterprise The Davis City Council has a full agenda Tuesday evening, with labor contracts for city employees, an update on the Measure O open-space tax and a $4 million pavement budget coming up for consideration. Following months of labor negotiations,...
“It’s generating real returns for our members, which is exactly what it’s supposed to do,” said Joe DeAnda, a CalPERS spokesman. “It’s real value that we don’t feel there’s another way to achieve.” – “Are private equity investments worth the risk?,” Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2015 The alliance between government unions and America’s overbuilt...