Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Alvarez and Commissioner Natacha Seijas were ousted in recall votes. Both voted for huge tax hikes that will saddle county taxpayers for years to come. This should serve as a warning shot to union sympathizers that taxpayers have had enough. Please consider Alvarez, Seijas trounced in Miami-Dade recall election With almost all...
John, Ken and two powerful Republicans battle Jerry Brown on spending By Anthony York and Shane Goldmacher, March 13, 2011, Los Angeles Times It’s drive-time in Los Angeles, and that means radio hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou are riffing about state politicians. Within a matter of moments, they refer to various lawmakers as “traitorous...
UnionWatch has completed another survey of California voters to measure attitudes towards special interest politics, with an emphasis on the influence of big corporations and public employee unions. Here are the principal findings and conclusions. Interviews with 605 randomly selected individuals were conducted between February 27th and March 3rd, 2011. The margin of error associated...
Union Myths By Thomas Sowell, March 8, 2011, Townhall.com The biggest myth about labor unions is that unions are for the workers. Unions are for unions, just as corporations are for corporations and politicians are for politicians. Nothing shows the utter cynicism of the unions and the politicians who do their bidding like the so-called...
If a real union reform battle can take place in Wisconsin and spread to other liberal rust-belt, union-dominated states, then it could perhaps happen in California —- although it might take some time, given the political dynamic here and the Golden State’s “follows its own drummer” ethic. Wisconsin, and Madison in particular, is a surprisingly...
Recent polls indicate Americans are fed up with big labor’s schoolyard bully tactics and utilization of taxpayer money to support political candidates and union agendas. Additionally, Americans are tired of government deficits driven by public sector pay, overblown benefits, and restrictive work rules. Americans, including union rank and file members, are tired of big labor’s...
Collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty By Robert Barro, February 28, 2011, Wall Street Journal Labor unions like to portray collective bargaining as a basic civil liberty, akin to the freedoms of speech, press, assembly and religion. For a teachers union, collective bargaining...
Protesters in Madison, Wis., and Columbus, Ohio, are defending the “right to collective bargaining.” Guess what? There is no right to collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is a legislated privilege given to unions by friendly lawmakers. The federal courts have been very clear on this. A federal district court in North Carolina put it quite eloquently...
The Showdown in Wisconsin Over Public Union Power By Steven Malanga, February 22, 2011, Wall Street Journal Government workers have taken to the streets in Madison, Wis., to battle a series of reforms proposed by Gov. Scott Walker that include allowing workers to opt out of paying dues to unions. Everywhere that this “opt out”...
For too long now the tail has been wagging the dog instead of the other way around. Now the day of reckoning is upon us. Unions who now represent less than 12 % of the work force and less than 7 % of the private work force, based on last year’s statistics, have used union...
Public unions objecting to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s plan that will save 6,000 jobs flooded the state capitol in protest. 40% of Madison area teachers called in sick. Those teachers should all be fired. Unfortunately they cannot be fired because their union protects them. Time Magazine reports Public Workers Protest in Wisconsin Thousands of Wisconsin’s...
California unions stand in the way of a Texas-sized success By Mark Hemingway, February 11, 2011, Washington Examiner In the first half of 2010, Texas saw more small business growth than any other state in the country. During that period, it also added 178,000 jobs — twice as many as any other state. Texas was...
UnionWatch recently commissioned a second survey of 800 voters in California to further explore public support for measures to rein in the power of public employee unions. Here are the principle findings and conclusions. The interviews were conducted between December 12th and December 16th, 2010. The margin of error associated with the results is +/-...
Idaho lawmakers target union leverage with bills By Jessie L. Bonner, February 7, 2011, Bloomberg Legislation introduced by Republican Reps. Bob Nonini and Reed DeMordaunt last week would ban taxpayer money from going toward a labor organization for dues or to train workers, while also prohibiting school districts from including union activities in job descriptions...