Jack Dean is editor of PensionTsunami.org, formed to monitor developments in all three pension spheres nationwide — public employees, corporations and social security. PensionTsunami, like UnionWatch, is a project of the California Public Policy Center. Dean is a former newspaper editor and a past executive director of the Reason Foundation. He has been active in politics for more than three decades and currently serves as president of the Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers.
Unions Fend Off Right-to-Work Bill in New Hampshire By Kris Maher, June 24, 2011, Wall Street Journal Amid a year of relentless challenges to their power around the country, unions notched a victory this week when New Hampshire Republicans failed to muster enough votes to override the governor’s veto of a right-to-work bill. Republican House...
By Jack Dean
Sacramento police union president lambastes City Council By Ryan Lillis, June 21, 2011, Sacramento Bee Sacramento police union president Brent Meyer went off on City Hall and the City Council in a strongly worded letter to his members last week. Meyer wrote that “being a hypocrite seems to be woven deep into the fabric of...
By Jack Dean
Divided Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds anti-union law By Jeff Mayers, June 14, 2011, Reuters A sharply divided Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a controversial measure that curbs the collective bargaining rights of public workers in the state can go into effect. In what was essentially a 4-3 decision, the high court overturned a...
By Jack Dean
AFL-CIO chief amplifies warning to Democrats By Kevin Bogardus, June 7, 2011, The Hill AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka amplified his call for a politically independent labor movement Tuesday and said unions too often are holding “a canceled check” after Election Day. Trumka rallied hundreds of nurses at a conference hosted by the National Nurses United....
By Jack Dean
California Pension Reform: Bargaining Table or Ballot Box? By Ed Mendel, May 31, 2011, Calpensions California’s four largest cities all have public pension problems, but their mayors are split on the solution — two negotiating changes in the existing system, and two planning to ask voters to overhaul the system. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee...
By Jack Dean
Issue of Federal Pay and Pensions Finding Its Way on to the 2012 Presidential Campaign Trail By Ed O’Keefe, May 24, 2011, Washington Post As Congress and the White House continue negotiating the future of federal pay and pensions, the issue is also finding its way on to the 2012 presidential campaign trail. Former Minnesota...
By Jack Dean
Illinois pension fight: In one corner, unions; in the other, business By Brian Brueggemann, May 17, 2011, News-Democrat The two sides in the debate over Illinois government pensions are taking the fight to the public. In one corner is a coalition of labor unions, which is running a public-relations campaign called “We Are One Illinois.”...
By Jack Dean
Legislator Seeks To Add Collective Bargaining To Wisconsin State Constitution May 7, 2011, Ashland Current State Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) has drafted a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution that would affect the rights of workers to collectively bargain wages, benefits, hours, and work conditions. “The recent passage of a bill in Wisconsin that effectively...
By Jack Dean
Republicans Blakeslee, Cannella Side With Public Employee Unions Over California’s Taxpayers By Jon Fleischman, May 3, 2011, FlashReport It was not particularly surprising to see Democrats in the State Senate yesterday vote to ratify six more State of California public employee union contracts. After all, to say that these unions are the largest special interest...
By Jack Dean
Wisconsin and Illinois showdown: handling state unions By Mary J. Cristobal, April 21, 2011, Illinois Statehouse News The two states share a border, but that’s about all that Illinois and Wisconsin have in common these days. How the two states deal with their respective public sector unions and state employees is as different as night...
By Jack Dean
Costa Mesa ‘Feet to the Fire’ forum gets feisty on outsourcing, pensions By Jon Cassidy, April 19, 2011, Orange County Register It didn’t take long for the first heckler to be shown the door. A debate on outsourcing, pensions and balancing Costa Mesa’s budget Monday night drew TV news cameras and about 250 people, some...
By Jack Dean
Union workers are above middle class Letter, April 12, 2011, Daily Herald So the public employee unions say they are the middle class. That’s funny, most people don’t get the large pensions of union members, particularly when you consider what they contribute to their pension. Most people also don’t just refuse to go to work...
By Jack Dean
Rahm Emanuel warns two Chicago unions about changes By Fran Spielman, April 5, 2011, Chicago Sun-times Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel is laying down the law to two unions whose cooperation he needs to turn Chicago around: teachers he wants to work a longer school day and laborers he wants to simply show up at work in...
By Jack Dean
Florida state workers flock to Capitol for ‘death-match’ over pensions, privatization By Bill Cotterell, March 29, 2011, Florida Today Hundreds of green-clad government employees converged on the Capitol today for a “death match” lobbying effort to protect their pensions, maintain payroll deduction of union dues and fight privatization of state services. Members of the American...
By Jack Dean
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