Will California Union Officials Get to Discuss Project Labor Agreements in Closed Session?

By Kevin Dayton
11/26/2013
A September 17, 2013 article in www.UnionWatch.org reported on “the end of public deliberation and votes for Project Labor Agreements in the legislative branch of state and local governments. Instead, backroom deals are made in the executive branch to give unions control of the work.” Now another union strategy has been discovered for evading public scrutiny:...

TAGS: Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council, Project Labor Agreements, Rancho Santiago Community College District, San Diego Unified School District, State Building and Construction Trades Council of California

Election Gains for California Unions in 2012 Drive Push for Project Labor Agreements

By Kevin Dayton
05/07/2013
The explosion of Project Labor Agreements on government projects in California since the November 6 elections is not surprising to long-time observers of labor union initiatives at local governments. In the six months after the November 2008 Presidential Election, emboldened and confident construction trade unions won Project Labor Agreements at eleven local governments in California. It...

TAGS: California high speed rail, California High-Speed Rail Authority, City of San Diego, Coast Community College District, Ohlone Community College District, Rancho Santiago Community College District, San Diego Convention Center Expansion, San Diego Unified School District, Solano Community College District, Sonoma County

Tracking California’s November 2012 Elections Related to Labor Issues

By Kevin Dayton
11/05/2012
California’s Proposition 32 is the country’s most high-profile election in November 2012 directly related to labor unions and labor policy issues. There are also several California local elections – particularly Measure V to enact a charter in the City of Costa Mesa – that will potentially strengthen or weaken union control of government. Here’s a summary of...

TAGS: Charter Cities, City of Costa Mesa - Measure V, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Jon Coupal, Measuring the Cost of Project Labor Agreements on School Construction in California, Project Labor Agreements, Prop. 32, Sacramento City Unified School District, San Diego County Taxpayers Association, San Diego Unified School District, Solano Community College District, West Contra Costa Unified School District

Will California Voters Reelect Supporters of Union Project Labor Agreements?

By Kevin Dayton
09/11/2012
Election results for recent ballot measures in the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, Oceanside, and El Cajon and in the County of San Diego confirm consistent poll results showing that California voters want their local government officials to solicit bids for taxpayer-funded construction contracts under fair and open competition. They don’t want their local governments to require their contractors to sign...

TAGS: Project Labor Agreements, Sacramento City Unified School District, San Diego Unified School District, West Contra Costa Unified School District

San Diego and Sacramento Asking Voters to Approve Over $3.0 Billion in Construction Bonds with Union Mandated Labor Agreements

By Kevin Dayton
07/25/2012
Two California urban school districts notorious for requiring their construction contractors to sign Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) with construction trade unions will be asking voters to approve huge bond measures in the November 6, 2012 election. Voters have overwhelmingly approved two large bond measures during the past 15 years for both the San Diego Unified School District and the...

TAGS: Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, Project Labor Agreements, Sacramento City Unified School District, San Diego Unified School District