Court: NLRB is Acting Like a Union Subsidiary By Bill McMorris, September 9, 2014, Washington Free Beacon A Pennsylvania judge accused a federal labor arbiter of acting as an extension of a powerful labor union in a dispute with a local hospital. Federal Judge Arthur J. Schwab said that the National Labor Relations Board overstepped...
“What a salesman,” he said, mockingly. “I guess that’s what you learned … selling that stock that went south.” – California Governor Brown, to challenger Kashkari, during televised debate Sept. 4th, 2014 (ref. SF Gate) If anyone wants to know what the theme of Governor Brown’s attacks on GOP candidate Neel Kashkari is going to...
Raising minimum wage will only be beneficial to Big Labor interests By Fred Wszolek, September 2, 2014, San Francisco Examiner This November, San Francisco could become the next city on the West Coast to enact a dramatic hike in its minimum wage, despite a report by the city controller that states that the proposal would...
Critics have suggested that leaders of the labor movement suffer from economic illiteracy that has made them the architects of their own demise. The unwillingness of unions to make concessions in the face of global competition starting in the 1960’s was a major factor in Americans losing millions of union jobs. In the present day,...
1. Even pro-union politicians used to think public sector unionism was too radical. Long after the pro-union monopoly National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was adopted in 1935, even strong supporters of this statute rejected the appropriateness of attempting anything analogous in federal, state, or local government. For example, in 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who...
Summary: it’s been a long, slow slide for the United Auto Workers, which hit its peak in the early 1950s. Defeated in a critical unionization election in the South and facing a critical change in state law in its home base in Michigan, the UAW has responded to the challenge by raising dues and by...
Minnesota Home-Care Workers Say Yes to Union By Kris Maher, August 26, 2014, Wall Street Journal The Service Employees International Union scored a victory Tuesday as home health-care workers in Minnesota voted to be represented by the labor group, even as it faces a legal challenge from opponents who say the 27,000 workers involved shouldn’t...
Whenever discussing politically viable policy proposals to improve the quality of life in California, the imperative is to come up with ideas that strongly appeal to moderate centrists, since that is how most Californians would describe themselves. And there are two compelling issues that offer that appeal: making California’s system of K-12 education the best...
Just last month, this column noted that the professional political class harbors great hostility toward the tools of direct democracy — the powers of initiative, referendum and recall. These are effective tools to control an indolent or corrupt legislature. From the perspective of politicians, direct democracy allows the great unwashed and unsophisticated to deal with...
Teachers union talking strategy for combatting teacher jail By Vanessa Romo, August 19, 2014, LA School Report While officials from the teachers union, UTLA, are contemplating salary demands in a new labor contract with the district, they have not lost sight of another key issue, how to deal with teachers housed in what union officials...
“In an era when we aren’t going to have tax increases, figure out how to be more efficient spending the money we’ve got, and the Republicans can help you do that if they’ll get off the philosophical cant about stuff and help you make things more efficient. They actually culturally know more and occupationally know...
Echoing the union party line, the recently termed-out president of the National Education Association, Dennis Van Roekel, insists that all workers in a unionized industry should be required to pay union dues, their so-called “fair share.” Speaking about the nation’s 3 million teachers, he says: “Fair share simply makes sure that all educators share the...
This week is National Employee Freedom Week, a nationwide effort of 81 groups in 45 states to raise awareness among public union employees that they can opt out of membership in their unions. Groups also provide members with the necessary help and resources to do so. Victor Joecks, executive vice president at the Nevada Policy Research...
California Supreme Court Rejects Anti “Citizens United” Ballot Measure By William Bigelow, August 12, 2014, Breitbart California On Monday, the California Supreme Court blocked an “advisory” ballot measure that Democrats had hoped to include on the November ballot, with a view to increasing turnout among apathetic voters. The non-binding measure, Proposition 49, asked voters if...