Union In The News – Weekly Highlights
The state government pension crisis: You will be made to care
By Chuck Devore, October 11, 2016, Washington Examiner
California Gov. Jerry Brown just signed SB 1234, a bill that establishes the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust, a state-run retirement fund for 7.5 million Californians. All firms with more than four employees will be forced to participate unless they already offer a retirement plan. Unless they opt out, private sector employees will see 3 percent of their salaries automatically deducted from their paychecks to be held in trust by a panel of politicians and political appointees. What could go wrong? (read article)
California Today: Should You Have More Say Over Megaprojects?
By Mike McPhate, October 11, 2016, New York Times
In most cases, California’s Constitution requires a thumbs-up from voters before issuing bonds for projects like freeway repairs and school gymnasiums. (See, for example, hundreds of revenue initiatives on the Nov. 8 ballot). One type of bond, however, is spared from that test. State law requires no voter approval to issue so-called revenue bonds. Those are bonds supported with revenue generated by the project itself — for example, tolls that help pay off bonds used to build a bridge. That’s where Proposition 53 comes in. The measure, backed by the state Republican Party and numerous groups focused on lowering taxes, proposes extending the voter requirement to revenue bonds for projects that cost more than $2 billion. (read article)
Berkeley nonprofit fails to resolve new contract with labor union
By Ashley Wong, October 11, 2016, Daily Californian
Contract negotiations between the California Professional Employees Union and one of their employers — Berkeley nonprofit Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, or BOSS — remained unresolved after the union refused to sign the new fiscal year contract during an unsuccessful mediation Sept. 27. These discussions have been ongoing since June, though the process began in March. The union’s field representative and campus alumni Christopher Graeber said during the mediation the union was unsatisfied with the negotiations because they wanted the contract to include a request for quarter-year financial reports from BOSS. (read article)
Nevada’s Largest Labor Union Comes Out in Support of Legal Marijuana
By Mike Adams, October 11, 2016, MerryJane.com
The largest labor union in Nevada has come out in support of a proposed ballot measure aimed at legalizing a statewide cannabis industry in a manner similar to what is currently underway in Colorado. On Monday, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, an organization that looks after the labor interests of around 57,000 workers across the state, announced its support for Ballot Question 2 – a proposal that would allow adults 21 and over to purchase marijuana from retail outlets across the state. The union said it was endorsing the initiative because legal weed would take money out of the black market, create new jobs, and put more wages into pockets of regular, tax paying citizens. (read article)
Former labor union leader says every American aged 18 to 64 should get $1,000 a month from the government
By Kiri Blakely, October 10, 2016, Daily Mail
A former leader for one of the most influential labor unions in the country is speaking out to drum up support for a controversial idea that is beginning to gain ground once again – universal basic income (UBI). Andy Stern, the former head of the Service Employees International Union and author of ‘Lifting the Floor,’ gave a speech on Thursday in Denver in which he advocated giving every American citizen ages 18-64 a $1,000 a month supplemental income. He argues this would be cheaper for the government overall and would give people more discretion with how they spend their money while simultaneously lifting them above the poverty line. (read article)
Proposition 55: Should California extend ‘temporary’ income taxes on top earners?
By Jessica Calefati, October 8, 2016, The Mercury News
Four years after threats of teacher layoffs and massive cuts to social service programs followed Californians to the voting booth, the tax hikes on the wealthy they approved to bail out the state are back on the ballot. But gone is the fierce battle that pitted Gov. Jerry Brown against Republicans, business groups and even a national right-wing fundraising network that funneled millions of dollars in “dark money” into California. This year, the people fighting a 12-year extension of the tax hikes have raised only $3,000 — and the campaign is being run by an obscure public policy professor with no political expertise. (read article)
Teachers union meets with its bargaining unit as talks with CPS continue
By Juan Perez Jr., October 8, 2016, Chicago Tribune
Negotiators for the Chicago Teachers Union and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration met for several hours Saturday at the downtown offices of a top school district labor attorney after the union had sat down with the bargaining unit that will play a key role in determining if a deal can get done before a threatened strike deadline. The CTU met with its 40-member big bargaining unit earlier Saturday at the Lower West Side headquarters of Service Employees International Union Healthcare. CTU officials said the meeting was to review its position on a potential contract. (read article)
Labor unions unleash attack on North Carolina senator
By Greg Gordon, October 7, 2016, Miami Herald
Two of the nation’s biggest labor unions unleashed a $1.8 million ad blitz attacking Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina Friday, assailing his support for tax breaks for the natural gas industry while he and his wife owned more than $100,000 in energy company shares. In sponsoring the ad, the 2-million-member Service Employees International Union and AFSCME, with 1.6 million members, sought to boost the campaign of Burr’s Democratic rival, former North Carolina state Rep. Deborah Ross, who has led the two-term senator in some polls. (read article)
Labor union fund trustees allege El Camino Paving Inc. refused audit
By Jenie Mallari-Torres, Ooctober 7, 2016, Northern Californian Record
The boards of trustees for several labor union funds allege a California employer has refused to submit to an audit per their bargaining agreement. The Board of Trustees, as trustees of the Laborers Health and Welfare Trust Fund for Northern California, Laborers Vacation-Holiday Trust Fund for Northern California, Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Northern California and Laborers Training and Retraining Trust Fund for Northern California filed a complaint on Sept. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against El Camino Paving Inc. alleging breach of contract. (read article)
Labor unions backing some Republicans in fight over right-to-work
By Kurt Erickson, October 7, 2016, STLtoday.com
Gearing up for another fight with Republican majorities in the Legislature, the Missouri AFL-CIO unveiled a list of lawmakers it is endorsing in the Nov. 8 election. It includes 13 Republicans in the House and two Republicans in the Senate. The state’s largest labor organization also has sent out nearly 100,000 mailers seeking to boost Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jason Kander and Democratic candidate for governor Chris Koster, as well as remind voters of its opposition to right-to-work. The push by the AFL-CIO won’t help Democrats come anywhere close to recapturing power in either the House or the Senate. But, it could provide enough support to offset business groups and individuals who have pumped millions of dollars into the campaigns of candidates who support making Missouri a right-to-work state. (read article)
Labor Department ‘Blacklisting Rule’ Weaponizes Frivolous Union Allegations
By Mark Mix, October 6, 2016, Investor’s Business Daily
An internal Labor Department memo leaked to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation demonstrates the extremes to which the Obama administration is willing to go in its final months to assist Big Labor in forcing millions of American workers into union ranks. In August, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council released the final rule implementing E.O. 13673, Obama’s cynically mislabeled Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order. Concocted by Obama bureaucrats seemingly working in consultation with union lawyers, the rule puts intense pressure on federal agencies to blacklist federal contractors for resisting efforts to corral their employees into unions. (read article)
Charter school settles labor complaint, will pay $106,000
By Associated Press, October 6, 2016, Albany Times Union
A Detroit-area charter school operator has agreed to settle an unfair labor complaint by paying $106,000 to seven of eight teachers who were fired. The settlement closes a complaint at the National Labor Relations Board against Hamadeh Educational Services, which runs four schools. The eight teachers worked at Universal Academy in Detroit. They were not members of a union, but acted together to speak out about conditions at the school during the 2015-16 year. They were subsequently fired. The settlement document says Hamadeh will post a notice that says teachers won’t be disciplined for exercising their rights. The eight are being offered their former jobs, but decided not to return. (read article)
Labor unions talk about Right to Work vote
By Duke Carter, October 6, 2016, WSLS
Virginia is currently a right-to-work state and has been since 1947. This November, voters will have to decide if they would like to make Virginia an anti-union state. Members in unions like Volvo or Hubbel in Southwest Virginia said they like having protection against employers. “The union has supported me financially, which giving very little back,” Robert Patterson a union member said. Union leaders said having that protection is vital, it helps them fight employers for better pay. In November that could change, due to state leaders asking voters if Article 1 one of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to prohibit any agreement or combination between an employer and a labor union or labor organization. Supporters said voting yes would encourage future businesses to come to the area. (read article)
The Southern California Laborers’ Union Provides $207,500 in College Scholarships
By Chad Wright, October 5, 2016, Business Wire
he Southern California District Council of Laborers (SCDCL) awards scholarship money to the dependent children of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) members in Southern California. Now in its 21st year, the Mike Quevedo, Sr. Scholarship Fund provided $207,500 in scholarship monies to 81 students for the 2016 academic year. The grand total in scholarships awarded for the 2016 year was the highest amount ever awarded in a single year. (read article)