http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/unionthugs/ en-us Fri, 3 Jul 2009 18:02:11 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284965/posts Remember the Arnold Schwarzenegger who, exactly five years ago, denounced state legislators as "girlie men" beholden to unions because they failed to pass a state budget? He's back, sensing that time is running out on his 2003 campaign promise to stop "crazy deficit spending." "I was sent to Sacramento to fix the broken system," Schwarzenegger said Thursday, demanding that the Legislature close a budget deficit without new taxes. The Republican governor accused lawmakers – implicitly the Legislature's dominant Democrats – of ignoring "waste, fraud and abuse," adding a phrase reminiscent of his famous "girlie man" epithet: "They're just beholden to... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284965/posts#comment Fri, 3 Jul 2009 18:02:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282416/posts California public employee unions already reeling from pay cuts have been dealt a new blow by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – a push to lower pension and retiree health care benefits for state workers hired after today. Schwarzenegger's call for creation of a two-tier system of retiree benefits was part of a package of proposals submitted to Democratic leaders Saturday in tense negotiations over the state's $24.3 billion shortfall. The plan would not affect existing state employees. The governor previously had imposed about a 9 percent pay cut on state workers by requiring two unpaid furlough days per month. Last week... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282416/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:31:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281604/posts Union thug Andy Stern brags about his access to the White House. Why not? It’s good to be the king’s friend. Stern’s friendship with the king is really paying off. Obama has made few cuts in his 2010 budget, but took an axe to the funding for the agency charged with enforcing laws broken by union thugs. The Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards’ (OLMS) budget was cut 9%. At a time when all of us are tightening our belts and bracing for more budget cuts, the United States government is the only large employer still hiring. The... The Collins Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281604/posts#comment Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:06:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2278595/posts The Service Employees International Union has just dropped another wad of cash for another television commercial, this time lambasting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for calling for "sacrifice" by cutting social services but refusing to tax cigarettes and oil extraction. SacBee: Capitol Alert http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2278595/posts#comment Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:45:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277531/posts As far as the leaders of public employee unions in California are concerned, Marcia Fritz is public enemy No. 1. A certified public accountant who specializes in government work, Fritz is an expert on pensions.A diminutive woman with pale blond hair and perfectly manicured nails, she is the numbers cruncher behind the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, an advocacy group that seeks to reform California's runaway public pension system.Last month, the group launched its $100,000 Pension Club, a Web site that posts the names, former employers and annual pension amounts received by retired state and local government workers in California... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277531/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:47:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277320/posts As the Obama administration pushes for more charter schools, a teachers' union is pushing for a bigger role in them. It's a new development for the charter school movement, a small but growing — and controversial — effort to create new, more autonomous public schools, usually in cities where traditional schools have failed. On Tuesday in New York, the United Federation of Teachers expects to formalize a contract with teachers at Green Dot New York Charter School in the Bronx, a high school run by Green Dot, a nonprofit group that operates charter schools. Ten other New York charter schools... AP via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277320/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:01:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277315/posts A milestone on California's meandering journey toward fiscal insolvency occurred exactly a decade ago when the Legislature enacted a massive increase in state employee pensions on the expedient assumption that it would cost taxpayers nothing. Although the new pensions would generate almost countless billions of dollars in extra income for retirees in the years ahead, the CalPERS board, dominated by union representatives, told legislators that taxpayers wouldn't have to bear the load because investment income, which was flowing into the pension trust fund from high-tech stocks, would continue indefinitely. "They (CalPERS) anticipate that the state's contribution to CalPERS will remain... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277315/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:50:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275318/posts The California Republican Party seemed to hit political paydirt in a YouTube ad that pilloried the Service Employees International Union for "bullying state leaders in the budget process." The ad featured footage of an angry woman telling lawmakers that union members would work to defeat lawmakers who didn't vote their way. It turns out that the woman portrayed as an SEIU union leader in the commercial is a home health care worker from Fresno named Lisa Brown, who works for the state by caring for her son who has Down syndrome. Now Brown is calling on Republicans to pull the... SacBee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275318/posts#comment Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:40:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2271475/posts After listening to the debate at last week's Los Angeles school board meeting, business leader Carol Schatz said she was appalled. She had attended to support a resolution to speed the firing of teachers accused of serious crimes. But even this proposal -- tiptoeing on the margins of improving teacher quality -- generated heated objections from the teachers union and its supporters. With some last-minute amendments and sniping among board members, the resolution passed by a single vote. "I came away depressed," said Schatz, who heads the 500-member Central City Assn. of Los Angeles. "If they can barely pass something... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2271475/posts#comment Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:28:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2269444/posts In covering California’s endless budget woes, the media are always quick to trot out tired clichés about the Golden State’s being ungovernable because its clueless residents want costly programs but balk at paying the taxes needed to cover them. Over the past month, writers for the New York Times have weighed in five times with veiled or direct condemnations of California’s constitutional requirement that tax increases be approved by two-thirds of state legislators. In a May 25 column, Paul Krugman endorsed this conventional wisdom and added a pot shot at the landmark 1978 California ballot initiative that capped the rate... National Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2269444/posts#comment Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:58:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2269197/posts Exposing Public Sector Unions Several years ago a consummate Sacramento insider told me “unions run this town,” and subsequent research and observations have confirmed to me the truth of this statement. Slowly, very slowly, this reality, and the disastrous fiscal consequences of this reality, are being recognized. Criticizing unions is still something responsible people do with some reservations, after all, in the 19th and through much of the 20th century, unions played a vital role in securing basic worker’s rights. These contributions should not be dismissed. But unions today, especially in the public sector, are a different beast entirely. In... PensionTsunami.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2269197/posts#comment Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:39:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2267408/posts Lawmakers are considering new proposals from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to allow community college districts flexibility to use more part-time instructors as part of the state's massive budget-cutting efforts. The options, if adopted by districts, are meant to help campuses maintain a quality education program with less money, said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for Schwarzenegger's Finance Department. "(We want to) give community college districts greater flexibility to manage with fewer resources and try to weather this fiscal crisis as best they can," Palmer said. Schwarzenegger has targeted community colleges for about $800 million in budget cuts as the state wrestles with a... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2267408/posts#comment Mon, 8 Jun 2009 19:38:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2264638/posts State workers, you're the face of California government – and for many outside of it, you're also the hired help.What really ticks off the "boss" is that their money pays your wages, but they feel powerless to dictate what you do or what you earn doing it.The complaints surface on The State Worker blog, in phone calls and e-mails. Here are a few, with numbers: • State workers make more than the "boss." California state employees' average base pay in 2008 was $63,815, according to a Bee analysis of state wage data that excluded the university systems. The median, the... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2264638/posts#comment Thu, 4 Jun 2009 15:00:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2264383/posts The Assembly today approved a union-backed bill that would prohibit cities and counties from filing for bankruptcy without state approval. ... Unions want the state to weigh in on bankruptcies because the filings could void union contracts cities and counties have with workers. Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2264383/posts#comment Thu, 4 Jun 2009 04:32:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2262937/posts What started as a municipal bankruptcy in the city of Vallejo has morphed into an all-out fight between California's local governments and unions over the sanctity of labor contracts vs. the autonomy of cities and counties. Next battle zone: the floor of the state Assembly, where legislation requiring local governments to get state approval to file for bankruptcy protection is headed for a vote later this week. This won't be the last imbroglio spawned by the state's fiscal turmoil. But it is likely to be among the hottest. The bill by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, is sponsored by the California... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2262937/posts#comment Tue, 2 Jun 2009 15:08:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2259503/posts The Law: Sure as the sun rises, the U.S. government's manhandling of GM and Chrysler bondholders will ripple outward, striking not only companies and their creditors but the very basis for U.S. power and prosperity.Historians pinpoint the beginnings of U.S. power at 1811, with the liquidation of the First Bank of the United States, founded by Alexander Hamilton. Amid the winds of the War of 1812, First Bank ignored political pressure and insisted that even British bondholders, from the nation the U.S. was preparing to fight, be paid in full. The debt was paid because that was the law. This... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2259503/posts#comment Thu, 28 May 2009 02:30:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255875/posts The Legislative Analyst's Office has just released its overview of the 2009-10 state budget May Revision. On page 18, it suggests that the Legislature veto the SEIU contract and add a third furlough day each month: The Legislature could direct the administration to score budgetary savings if it chooses not to approve the labor agreements proposed by the Governor with the state employee units . . . Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255875/posts#comment Thu, 21 May 2009 23:08:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255599/posts DETROIT (AP) -- The United Auto Workers union has reached a tentative deal with the government and General Motors Corp. that offers to cut labor costs and fund a union-run trust that will take over retiree health care costs next year. The union announced the deal in a short statement issued Thursday that gave no details, which were withheld pending meetings with members to explain the terms. The move is a key step toward GM's efforts to restructure outside of bankruptcy court. The company, which has received $15.4 billion in federal loans, faces a June 1 government-imposed deadline to restructure... AP via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255599/posts#comment Thu, 21 May 2009 16:57:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255260/posts Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today said the federal government has ruled that the state did not violate the law by cutting pay for home healthcare workers earlier this year. Schwarzenegger made the announcement in Washington after meeting privately with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In a letter to Schwarzenegger, the department said the state remains eligible to receive another $8 billion in stimulus money. Last month, the Obama administration said the state may have violated the new federal stimulus law by cutting the state's contribution of pay for unionized home healthcare workers from a maximum of $12.10 to $10.10... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255260/posts#comment Thu, 21 May 2009 04:24:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254059/posts Sacramento County officials are hoping to extract more than $42 million in concessions from labor groups in an effort to shrink a projected $180 million general fund shortfall for the fiscal year starting July 1. Time, however, is running out, and the negotiations don't appear to be going well. Today was supposed to be the date the county and its unions reached an agreement on concessions, labor leaders said. None, however, appear ready to sign off on such an accord. One union is threatening a lawsuit. "With the county it seems like a game of chicken – who's the first... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254059/posts#comment Tue, 19 May 2009 17:48:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2251872/posts About 45 Los Angeles teachers and union leaders were arrested and booked for unlawful assembly outside school district headquarters today after they sat in the middle of the street and refused to move in an act of civil disobedience meant to protest possible layoffs. Among those detained outside Los Angeles Unified District offices on Beaudry Street, between Third and Fourth streets, was L.A. teachers union leader A.J. Duffy. The protesters were warned four times by police via bullhorn to move out of the street before they were handcuffed. They were then led to a waiting Los Angeles Police Department bus.... LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2251872/posts#comment Fri, 15 May 2009 22:05:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2251014/posts Anyone, said T.S. Eliot, could carve a goose, were it not for the bones. And anyone could govern as boldly as their whims decreed, were it not for the skeletal structure that keeps civil society civil – the rule of law. The Obama administration is bold. It also is careless regarding constitutional values and is acquiring a tincture of lawlessness. In February, California's Democratic-controlled Legislature, faced with a $42 billion budget deficit, trimmed $74 million (1.4 percent) from one of the state's fastest-growing programs, which provides home care for low-income and incapacitated elderly people and cost the state $5.42 billion... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2251014/posts#comment Thu, 14 May 2009 19:41:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2249609/posts The relationship among federal, state and the myriad local governments is a complex one, to say the least, and very often resembles a barnyard pecking order. Those higher in the order of things – the feds are at the top – have their way with their cousins in lower strata and, of course, those compelled to do things they don't want to do complain loudly about their victimization. When times are tough and public treasuries are strained, the relationships grow even testier. And California's state budget crisis is pushing these conflicts into the open. California politicians are looking to Washington... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2249609/posts#comment Tue, 12 May 2009 22:50:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2245354/posts How many BART workers does it take to fix a broken train seat? Two - and that's no joke. One to replace the bottom of the seat, and another to replace the back. It also takes two types of janitors, at $28 an hour apiece, to clean one of the open-air BART stations.One sweeps up indoors, and another works outdoors - the boundary between the two defined by "the drip line" where rainwater falls from the station's roof.Management is holding up those rules as examples of the type of featherbedding that the transit system's unions must surrender if BART is... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2245354/posts#comment Wed, 6 May 2009 14:57:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2244502/posts Ever since the noisy demonstration at the Democratic Party's Unity Luncheon two weeks ago, everyone keeps saying the tiff between labor and the far left is much ado about nothing. But that's not how it seems. There will be a City Hall rally today at noon organized by the Building Construction and Trades Council, which opposes to a proposal that could make it harder to renovate or raze buildings in neighborhoods deemed historic. Union spokesman Mike Theriault said he expects a crowd total "in four figures." The proposed planning code changes are being pushed by former Board of Supervisors President... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2244502/posts#comment Tue, 5 May 2009 14:49:38 GMT