Another California Local Government Gives Unions a Contract Monopoly to Get State Funding

By Kevin Dayton
01/02/2017
Numerous California elected officials are condemning President-Elect Donald Trump’s proposal of immigration-related conditions for local governments to obtain federal grants. But at the same time, California elected officials are imposing their own union-related conditions for local governments to obtain state grants. Local control is obviously not the principle at issue. There is now a second case in 2016 of a California local government voting to give unions monopoly...

TAGS: Fresno Bee, Governor Jerry Brown, Jerry Brown

Unions Virtually Alone in Love with California High-Speed Rail

By Kevin Dayton
01/21/2014
Even close observers of the California High-Speed Rail Authority have struggled to track developments for the state’s planned bullet train. The debacle began in November 2008, when 52.7% of California voters approved Proposition 1A and triggered serious planning for what could be the most expensive construction project in human history. With that kind of money...

TAGS: AB 32, California bullet train, California Governor Jerry Brown, California high speed rail, California High-Speed Rail Authority, Community Benefits Agreements, Federal Railroad Administration, Fresno Bee, Governor Jerry Brown, Jerry Brown, Project Labor Agreements, Proposition 1A (November 2008), State Building and Construction Trades Council of California

Unions Creep Closer to Monopolizing California High-Speed Rail Construction

By Kevin Dayton
12/06/2012
UPDATE (December 7, 2012): A article today in the Fresno Bee (‘Needy’ Workers Will Get Jobs on High-Speed Rail) about the “Community Benefits” policy approved on December 6, 2012 by the California High-Speed Rail Authority contains a stunning revelation: Five teams of contractors have been invited to bid on the first major contract for a stretch of the rail route between...

TAGS: Associated Builders and Contractors of California, Bob Balgenorth, California High-Speed Rail Authority, Clark Construction, Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC), Fresno Bee, Project Labor Agreements, San Diego Convention Center Expansion, San Joaquin Valley, State Building and Construction Trades Council of California

Mailers Expose Union CEQA “Greenmail” Against Solar Developers

By Kevin Dayton
09/26/2012
Finally, ordinary citizens in the San Joaquin Valley learn how construction trade unions block solar power plant projects by exploiting the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Residents of Kings County (in the San Joaquin Valley of California) see local opportunities for economic growth and job creation through the construction and operation of proposed solar-powered electrical generation facilities....

TAGS: Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE), Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC), Fresno Bee, Governor Jerry Brown, Greenmail, Project Labor Agreements