Back in the days before he joined the dark side of “The Force,” Arnold Schwarzenegger was a compelling advocate for taxpayers. He noted that “from the time they get up in the morning and flush the toilet, they’re taxed. Then they go and get the cup of coffee, they’re taxed….This goes on all day long....
Here are links to the top stories available online over the past week reporting on union activity including legislation, financial impact, reform activism, etc., from California and across the USA. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s pep talk for California Editorial, August 28, 2012, Orange County Register While California residents are justly proud of many elements...
During recent travels to Madison and Milwaukee for some research about reform-minded Gov. Scott Walker’s survival of a union-backed recall in June, I found little residual anger among the friendly folks there, despite the campaign’s seemingly endless pitched political battles that divided families and led to angry water-cooler discussions. Perhaps the central issue – Walker’s...
The key to understanding Golden State politics is knowing that the most powerful forces in Sacramento by a wide margin are the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers. Using union dues and benefiting from the bizarrely enduring notion that what is good for teachers is good for students, the CTA and CFT...
More than 55% of voters favor California’s Prop. 32 By Jon Ortiz, August 20, 2012, Sacramento Bee More than half of California voters favor Proposition 32, according to new poll by the California Business Roundtable and Pepperdine University, although the support for the measure has declined in the last two weeks. The decline is probably...
California Lawmakers ready to make another sweet deal for Unions Editorial, August 14, 2012, Fresno Bee Sen. Darrell Steinberg, the president pro tem of the California Senate, says he’s still studying Assembly Bill 2451, Speaker John A. Perez’s multimillion-dollar benefit giveaway to powerful police and firefighter unions. Steinberg is late to the issue. The bill,...
Unions are struggling to be heard By Chris Brennan & Catherine Lucey, August 7, 2012, Philadelphia Daily News It’s being called “Workers Stand for America” — 30,000 union members packed in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Saturday morning to say that any loss of power by organized labor is a danger to...
The role of unions in the United States has historically been to pool the collective power of workers to negotiate an end to exploitative work conditions and elevate rates of compensation. During the late 19th and early 20th century, unions fought courageously and successfully to raise the standard of living for workers and to push...
Over the past two years, during radio programs and on television, through my online blog, and through the publication of two books, I have repeatedly attempted to expose the fact that the Big Labor bosses are desperate and are utilizing much more than political donations to assure election of politicians who will assist in saving...
Michigan ballot measure would enshrine unions’ right to collective bargaining in the state constitution By James B. Kelleher, July 30, 2012, Reuters After suffering a string of political setbacks in the U.S. industrial heartland, organized labor hopes Michigan voters will help turn the tide in a November election by supporting a state constitutional amendment for...
Project labor agreements: Mass. taxpayers lose again Editorial, July 24, 2012, Boston Globe Although it lacks any compelling reasons for doing so, the Patrick administration is continuing to impose project labor agreements on some major state projects. Those agreements restrict work to contractors who agree to use union labor and abide by union work rules,...
Senate Republicans Block Campaign Donor Disclosure Bill By Jonathan D. Salant, July 17, 2012, Bloomberg The U.S. Senate didn’t advance legislation that would require nonprofit groups to reveal who donates the millions of dollars they spend on campaign ads. Yesterday’s vote on the Democratic proposal was 51-44, with 60 required to advance it. The measure,...
Political Spending by Unions Far Exceeds Direct Donations By Tom McGinty and Brody Mullins Organized labor spends about four times as much on politics and lobbying as generally thought, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis, a finding that shines a light on an aspect of labor’s political activity that has often been overlooked. Organized...
At long last unions are on the run and losing battles in multiple places at once. Let’s take a look at some dates and headlines. June 7, 2012 LA Times: 2 big cities OK cuts to worker pension costs Landslide victories on ballot measures to cut pension costs in two major California cities emboldened reform...