http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/unionthugs/ en-us Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:56:32 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048793/posts Two years ago, newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed to put 1,000 more cops on the city's dangerous streets and proposed to raise trash collection fees to provide the money. "Every new dollar residents pay for trash pickup," the mayor promised in a city news release, "will be used to put more officers on the streets." Residential trash collection was boosted from $11 a month to $26. The new fees generated $137 million, but the city hired only about 400 more cops, according to a recent report from City Controller Laura Chick, and they cost about $42 million.... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048793/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:56:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045264/posts BERKELEY - As they promised, members of a large University of California service workers union went on strike this morning, throwing up picket lines at the Berkeley campus and other UC facilities. The scene was peaceful in Berkeley. Union members carrying signs are handing out leaflets about their dispute with university management; people driving by are honking constantly in support. The union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, represents nearly 20,000 workers, including bus drivers, cooks, custodians, gardeners and parking attendants at the university's 10 campuses and hospitals. The strikers are ignoring a restraining order issued Friday by... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045264/posts#comment Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:19:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027271/posts Vallejo, Calif., took the extreme step of filing for bankruptcy to get out of generous obligations to public employees. Other cities and states are watchingThe jig is up. For years, politicians have been playing what amounts to a multi-trillion-dollar shell game with state and local pensions. They've doled out lush retiree benefits to their heavily unionized workforces, knowing that they could shove the cost for those benefits onto future generations of taxpayers. But a recent financial bombshell dropped by a San Francisco suburb shows why that shell game is now starting to unravel in a nasty way. And it's a... Money Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027271/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 20:16:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027054/posts Union members shout demand for 'living wage' at meeting campus meeting - Campus police escorted UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau out of the back of a building Thursday after angry union members took over a meeting, yelling and screaming about living wages.About 350 people showed up to a meeting where Birgeneau was supposed to answer questions from the Berkeley Staff Assembly, a campus group open to all employees.About 90 percent of the protesters wore green shirts, designating their affiliation with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.The union, which represents about 900 campus employees in service and medical... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027054/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 14:33:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026118/posts Sacramento, CA (AP) -- A state appeals court says California can continue sending thousands of inmates to other states to ease prison crowding. The Third District Appellate Court overruled a Sacramento County Superior Court judge's February 2007 decision that the transfers to out-of-state private prisons was illegal. The transfers are a key part of the state's effort to control prison violence. The state is also counting on the transfers to help dissuade a special panel of three federal judges from ordering the early release of tens of thousands of inmates AP via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026118/posts#comment Wed, 4 Jun 2008 23:17:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024805/posts San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will unveil a record $6.5 billion budget today that includes threatened layoffs of 250 to 350 city workers to help erase a projected $338 million deficit, City Hall sources say. The layoffs, along with the elimination of hundreds of unfilled positions, would be among the most extensive that City Hall has seen in years - affecting everything from the Public Health Department and Human Services to the Recreation and Park Department.Whether workers actually lose their jobs, however, may depend in part on whether Newsom gets what he wants from city employee unions - namely, $29... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024805/posts#comment Mon, 2 Jun 2008 14:51:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020397/posts VALLEJO, Calif.—The city of Vallejo has filed for bankruptcy protection to deal with a ballooning budget deficit caused soaring employee costs and declining tax revenue. The San Francisco Bay area suburb of about 120,000 residents is the largest California city to declare bankruptcy. Mayor Osby Davis says the city's attorneys filed papers seeking Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Sacramento on Friday. The City Council voted to authorize the city manager to file for bankruptcy on May 6 after months of failed negotiations with its public safety unions. Some officials blame the financial crisis on labor contracts they... AP via CoCoTimes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020397/posts#comment Fri, 23 May 2008 20:11:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015415/posts Peter Scheer, who heads the California First Amendment Coalition, has a novel idea: End the secrecy surrounding local government labor contract negotiations. You can understand the logic and the urgency behind his idea when you consider the situation in Vallejo. That city is filing for bankruptcy. Why? Local officials approved salary and benefits costs for current employees and retirees that are more than the city can afford. Scheer's point is that California law allows local government officials "to avoid public discussion of the true cost and fiscal impact of the pay deals that they have approved." By the time the... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015415/posts#comment Tue, 13 May 2008 19:47:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015336/posts The Senate has given critical approval to legislation to give all police, firefighters and other first responders the right to collective bargaining. The 69-29 procedural vote proves the bill would survive any possible filibuster attempt. The Senate will vote to send the bill to President Bush later this week. . . . Cabinet secretaries say they will suggest he veto the bill. . . .The bill would guarantee public safety officers the right to join unions and bargain over wages, hours and conditions of employment. It also would ban them from going on strike. AP via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015336/posts#comment Tue, 13 May 2008 17:33:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015253/posts Hoping to prevent a city bankruptcy that would suspend their union contracts, Vallejo's police, firefighters and rank-and-file employees went public Monday with an offer to cut their salaries and give up raises. Capping months of fiscal agonizing, the City Council voted last week to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy following dire predictions by city staff of imminent insolvency. The petition for bankruptcy is expected to be filed sometime this week, said city spokeswoman Joann West. Only one other city in California - Desert Hot Springs (Riverside County) in 2001 - has gone into bankruptcy. Orange County took the same step... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015253/posts#comment Tue, 13 May 2008 14:50:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014521/posts Anyone who enjoys cagey politicking should doff his or her cap to California's Republican legislators. That's because the Reeps have been very impressive lately in maneuvering their Democratic counterparts into a corner in this year's dance over the state budget. As we all know, Republicans make up just 39.1 percent of the Legislature, and have no illusions of increasing that percentage anytime soon. Moreover, they've been a minority for more than a decade. Traditionally, the Reeps have been content to just say no when it comes to the budget. As one of the very few substantive legislative processes in which... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014521/posts#comment Sun, 11 May 2008 21:21:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014485/posts By declaring bankruptcy, Vallejo has thrust itself into the national spotlight as a test case for thousands of floundering cities desperate to unload their extravagant public employee contracts. "There's a wave of this coming across the U.S.," said Sajan George, an adviser to struggling public entities who worked on restructuring Orange County after it declared bankruptcy in 1994. "What happens in Vallejo could definitely set a precedent." Battered by the plummeting housing market and skyrocketing public employee contracts, Vallejo made dubious history Tuesday night by becoming the largest California city to declare bankruptcy. The North Bay city of 117,000 was... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014485/posts#comment Sun, 11 May 2008 19:58:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013581/posts The question you have to ask about the officially bankrupt city of Vallejo, and other California cities with similar financial profiles, is this: Didn't you know something was wrong when you realized you were spending 75 cents of every dollar in the general fund on public safety costs? In a broader sense, how can any city anywhere make a legitimate claim of vibrancy when so many essential social services are shortchanged? It seems we're about to find out in Vallejo, a city with a population of 117,000 whose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to file Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013581/posts#comment Fri, 9 May 2008 14:54:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013263/posts Unions should be required to make public more details of their internal finances, the Labor Department said Thursday as it proposed new changes to union disclosure forms. Unions are required every year to file financial disclosure forms with the Labor Department. But federal officials are proposing a more detailed form, and penalizing small unions who get into trouble with the law by banning them from filing a simple form. The proposed changes will be printed on Monday in the federal register. "This proposed rule provides union members with more complete information about union finances and will better protect their legal... AP via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013263/posts#comment Thu, 8 May 2008 22:05:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013069/posts Vallejo has become the first city in California to file for bankruptcy because it didn't have enough money to provide basic services. This is dreadful news for Vallejo - and its citizens - but it's also an ominous report for the rest of us. The city council's unanimous decision Tuesday night, which came after hours of impassioned public comment, represents a failure of Vallejo's police and firefighter unions to understand basic economic realities. The unions - whose members are among the highest-paid in the state - refused to allow the city to cut their pay. Perhaps they didn't believe that... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013069/posts#comment Thu, 8 May 2008 15:51:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012461/posts VALLEJO — With hundreds of concerned residents looking on, the Vallejo City Council voted unanimously late Tuesday to file for bankruptcy, making the city the first of its size to seek protection due to unaffordable labor contracts. The dramatic vote came despite a last-minute appeal by state Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, and an aide for Assemblywoman Noreen Evans for the city to avoid bankruptcy. Four council members — Michael Wilson, Tom Bartee, Hermie Sunga and Erin Hannigan — joined Mayor Osby Davis in switching in favor of filing for bankruptcy. In the past they had been part of a... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012461/posts#comment Wed, 7 May 2008 14:32:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2010721/posts Vallejo's city manager advised the City Council on Friday to declare bankruptcy next week after weeks of negotiations with police and fire unions failed to turn around the city's economic tailspin. If the council votes Tuesday to file for Chapter 9 protection, the city of 117,000 people would be the largest in California to declare bankruptcy - and the first to do so because of long-term economic woes. City Manager Joseph Tanner made the recommendation after city officials scrambled for two months to fix the budget before the fiscal year ends on June 30, when the city faces a projected... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2010721/posts#comment Sat, 3 May 2008 16:04:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009528/posts PORTAGE, IN - Hillary Clinton's campaign has worked hard of late to portray her as the fighter in the race, someone with the determination to see her plans through no matter what the obstacles. In North Carolina yesterday, Gov. Mike Easley raised some eyebrows when he said Clinton was so determined she made "Rocky Balboa look like a pansy." Well, this afternoon, a local labor leader introducing Clinton pushed the envelope further, saying the nation needed a leader "that has testicular fortitude." While defending Bill Clinton's role in the passage of NAFTA, Paul Gipson, president of a steelworkers local, said... Hotline/National Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009528/posts#comment Thu, 1 May 2008 03:52:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009360/posts Bay Area longshore workers are planning to gather Thursday to protest the U.S. war in Iraq and Afghanistan, potentially thwarting activity at the region's ports, according to members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Brandon Taylor, an operations manager for GSC Logistics, a warehousing, distribution and transportation company at the Port of Oakland, said today that the company had known about the protests for a few weeks and is planning to get all containers out of the port today and Wednesday in order to prevent halting production. He said the good news is that it is a slow time... The Alameda Times-Star http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009360/posts#comment Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:58:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009241/posts The ILWU: Back to its Marxist Roots March 12, 2008 At a time when even Russia and China are rejecting their Marxist past, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union still plans on celebrating the birth of communism by taking “May Day” off. These are people, by the way, who earn six-figure incomes, generous benefits, and pensions for putting in fewer hours on the job than their dock-working comrades anywhere in the world. That measure of failed solidarity notwithstanding, the ILWU is also asking the AFL-CIO to join them in the work stoppage. Is it any wonder why many shippers are... Logistics Management http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009241/posts#comment Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:19:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009214/posts http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com ***** By Jennifer Skalka The AFL-CIO is dropping a tough mailer in PA today noting that while John McCain's war service is admirable, his political views -- on the Bush tax cuts, NAFTA and overtime pay, in particular -- are out of sync with the needs and values of working Americans. " Hotline Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009214/posts#comment Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:32:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2007109/posts You're a member of the MSM, and you're a Barack Obama supporter. But I repeat myself. More specifically, you're Chris Matthews. What better way to promote your guy's candidacy than to claim that Republicans would really rather run against Hillary? That's just what the Hardball host did on this afternoon's show. Here's his exchange with the–in my opinion–very impressive Republican strategist Todd Harris, who worked for McCain in 2000, and with Dem strategist Michael Feldman. View video here. NewsBusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2007109/posts#comment Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:06:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004722/posts Vallejo will inch closer to financial ruin Tuesday when the City Council lets pass its do-or-die date to avert bankruptcy. City staff members have been unable to come up with a detailed, long-term financial plan because negotiations with the police and fire unions are still ongoing. The city is asking for steep concessions from the unions, whose members are among the highest paid in the Bay Area and whose salaries comprise about 74 percent of the city's budget. "We had hoped to have an agreement by April 22 to give to the council," said Mayor Osby Davis, who has sat... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004722/posts#comment Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:46:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2002914/posts A deepening divide between two of the nation's largest labor groups – prompted by a maverick California nurses union – has labor leaders worried the rift could "devastate" the movement's election-year priorities. Service Employees International Union, with 1.7 million members, has instructed local chapters across America to withhold funding from state and local labor federations to protest what they call union-poaching activity by the California Nurses Association. The move could cost labor central committees – the backbone of labor's sophisticated political and get-out-the-vote operation – millions of dollars on the eve of June 3 legislative primaries in California and the... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2002914/posts#comment Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:13:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998061/posts Should government workers be forced to pay for political activities with which they disagree to keep their jobs? That was the fundamental question underlying the case federal court Judge Morrison England decided last week. In a ruling that relied on simple fairness and federal law, Judge England said no. In the case before the court, the Services Employees International Union Local 1000 had imposed a special assessment on state workers it represented to bankroll its "Political Fight-Back Fund." The fund was established in 2005 to finance the union's campaign against Propositions 75 and 76, two measures on the November ballot... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998061/posts#comment Mon, 7 Apr 2008 19:48:45 GMT