Labor, Business Groups Join Forces to Press for Highway Bill By Melanie Trottman, May 13, 2014, Wall Street Journal Organized labor, business groups and consumer advocacy organizations are making a rare joint plea to Congress this week: Decide how to finance a long-term highway bill, then pass it without delay. Officials from the Laborers’ International...
As reported by investigative journalist John Hrabe, conservative gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly has accepted money from public safety unions in his legislative campaigns. His support from unions wasn’t a momentary lapse in judgement. As cited in Hrabe’s reports, his past candidacies have also benefited from independent expenditure campaigns funded by public sector unions. To not report...
Part One: Tim Donnelly’s anti-union rhetoric doesn’t match his pro-union record: Public employee unions are a reliable target of California’s self-styled “patriot, not politician.” “California’s governor and legislature have shown a complete disregard for the needs of businesses and working families, and have instead caved to unions and special interest supporters,” Assemblyman Tim Donnelly writes...
City Can Change Retiree Health Benefits: CA Supreme Court By Andie Adams, May 6, 2014, NBC San Diego The California Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal over the city of San Diego’s ability to change retiree health benefits. The high court’s denial leaves in place a Court of Appeal ruling that states the benefits...
Wealthy democratic donors met with Big Labor and high interest liberal groups in Chicago this week to plot strategy for the 2014 Mid-Term Elections. The approaching elections, however, may very well be the beginning of the end for these symbiotic partners. The liberal left has already begun to suggest that their pending demise is due to...
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...