SEIU Faces Steep Declines in Membership and Revenue
SEIU Faces Steep Declines in Membership and Revenue
SEIU Local 99’s massive strike in LA Unified ended last week with union leaders bragging that the strike showcased the union’s strength. But the reality is more stark for the union: SEIU is facing steep declines in membership and revenue, and the strike appears more like an act of desperation. According to internal LAUSD documents,...
By Jackson Reese
SEIU’s dirty little secrets
SEIU’s dirty little secrets
California’s largest union has two names it doesn’t want members to know about. The first is Alma Hernandez. The second is Mark Janus. Hernandez is the now-former top boss at California’s largest labor union, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). In a truly let-them-eat-cake-moment, she’s been charged on multiple counts of embezzlement and tax fraud...
By Jackson Reese
Newsletter: A new day for school choice in California
Newsletter: A new day for school choice in California
United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz has been talking for months about the “transformational change” she wants to bring to California schools through the COVID-19 pandemic. Golden State voters, according to a new poll commissioned by the California Policy Center, want changes, too. Unfortunately for Myart-Cruz, the changes voters want could dismantle the government...
By Jackson Reese
Newsletter (4/9): School Reopenings Are Just Okay
Newsletter (4/9): School Reopenings Are Just Okay
As a communications professional, I spend a lot of time thinking about advertisements and commercials. Whether it’s the reminder of the best part of waking up, the recognition that there are some things money can’t buy, or the predictably similar COVID-era commercials, ad campaigns often play in the background of my mind. So, I wasn’t...
By Jackson Reese
Newsletter (4/2): Spring Broke
Newsletter (4/2): Spring Broke
Most of California is experiencing weather people the world over dream of. It’s spring time and a lot of people are on some sort of break, including our illustrious presidente, Will Swaim. For good or ill, he turned the reins over to me until our new Communications Director gets access to the email distribution list....
By Jackson Reese
Michigan v. DeVos Amicus Brief
Michigan v. DeVos Amicus Brief
The California Policy Center (CPC) has joined as local counsel on litigation over CARES Act relief for private schools. CPC joins a coalition of around 40 state and national groups led by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) advocating for private schools. CPC signed onto an amicus brief Wednesday in Michigan v. DeVos, a legal...
By Jackson Reese
Barke et al. v. Banks et al.
Barke et al. v. Banks et al.
Tustin – February 24, 2020 CPC, CIR FILE CHALLENGE TO CALIFORNIA GAG RULE The Center for Individual Rights and the California Policy Center have filed suit challenging a California law that prohibits public employers (including elected officials) from making statements that might “deter or discourage” public employees or applicants from membership in a public employee union....
By Jackson Reese
Jackson v. Napolitano
Jackson v. Napolitano
San Diego – July 30, 2019 It boils down to two things. Employees can’t be forced to pay a union to work in public service, and the state can’t withhold information from employees about their constitutional rights. That’s what two University of California employees argue in a lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against state officials and Teamsters Local 2010....
By Jackson Reese
Sweet v. CAPT
Sweet v. CAPT
Background Alfred Sweet is a psychiatric technician at Atascadero State Hospital in Paso Robles. Sweet joined the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians when he started working at the hospital in 2011 and began making requests to resign and become an agency fee payer in 2014. Those requests were denied. After the Janus decision, Sweet submitted...
By Jackson Reese
O’Callaghan v. Regents of the University of California
O’Callaghan v. Regents of the University of California
Two University of California workers filed a federal lawsuit alleging union dues were illegally deducted from their paychecks. Cara O’Callaghan has worked as the finance manager of the Sport Club program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, since 2009. Jenée Misraje has worked as an administrative assistant at the University of California, Los Angeles,...
By Jackson Reese
Few v. UTLA
Few v. UTLA
In November 2018, the Liberty Justice Center and California Policy Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of special education teacher Thomas Few against the United Teachers of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District for violating Few’s First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of association. Despite the decisive victory for workers’...
By Jackson Reese