Posts tagged labor unions
THE DEMOCRATIC MACHINE IN NEVADA MIGHT BE FALTERING
October 20, 2022 // Clearly it was an unhappy development, especially for a Democratic incumbent governor in the final weeks of a close reelection race, but it didn’t appear debilitating: The state’s largest teachers’ union announced last week that it would be withholding an endorsement. For connoisseurs of Nevada politics, though, the news was closer to the rumble of an approaching earthquake. “This would never have happened,” one Nevada Democratic insider says, “if Senator Reid were still alive.”
Santa Clara County CALIF: In the sheriff’s race, unions back Jensen while elected officials are in Jonsen’s corner
October 17, 2022 // One of the candidates for Santa Clara County Sheriff is backed by labor unions, and the other is getting more support from elected officials. Retired Capt. Kevin Jensen has received $200,000 from the union for jail guards and the union for sheriff’s deputies. He has raised $692,298 this year, according to campaign finance documents. Former Palo Alto Chief Bob Jonsen has raised $77,949 and loaned his campaign $30,000. Jonsen is supported by Rep. Anna Eshoo, Assemblyman March Berman, Supervisor Joe Simitian, Assessor Larry Stone and the majority of Palo Alto City Council. Jensen’s union support doesn’t end with the deputies and jail guards that he would oversee. He is also supported by unions in San Jose, Los Altos, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Los Gatos, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz County and San Mateo County.
Labor unions, including AFSCME, rally for Biden at NEA
September 28, 2022 // He talked about the American Rescue Plan, which passed Congress with help from AFSCME members and brought the economy back from the brink, and about the Inflation Reduction Act, which will lower prescription drug costs, reduce the deficit and do so much more. He got big cheers from the crowd when he mentioned his plan for student debt relief, which will lower loan balances for millions of borrowers – “a game changer” for many Americans, he said. Biden praised his administration’s track record on the economy, pointing out that 10 million jobs have been created since he became president. He also said more than 220 million Americans have been vaccinated against COVID-19 since he took office.
Union members rally for Democrats in Dorchester ahead of midterm elections
September 27, 2022 // On Saturday, hundreds of unionized workers gathered in Dorchester to show their support for gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey and attorney general candidate Andrea Campbell, two Democratic women who, if elected, will make history at the polls. The event was held in the parking lot of IBEW Local 103, where Healey and Campbell addressed the crowd while standing on a flatbed trailer. After the rally, some in the crowd planned to canvas door-to-door and ask voters to cast ballots for Democrats running for statewide office. Republican, Geoff Diehl, Donald J. Trump
And Now the Union Would Like a Word in Private-Under Janus, government workers don’t have to join or pay. But behind closed doors it’s hard to say no
September 13, 2022 // Four years after Janus, plenty of government employers haven’t explained to workers that union membership is not a condition of employment. Some employee handbooks still say workers must pay the union to keep their jobs. And many—if not most—public employees don’t know that a contract negotiated by the union applies to them whether they pay dues or not. Government-worker unions enjoy outsize influence over government. Governors, mayors, county executives and school superintendents facing demands for private access to their employees must remember how the unions wound up with the privileges that make them so powerful.
Surging Support For Union Work? Workers Seek Out Freelance Options More
September 7, 2022 // The same survey found a majority of non-unionized workers have no intention of joining a union, despite their alleged touted benefits. 58% of non-union respondents said they’re “not interested at all” in joining a union, compared to 11% that said they’re “extremely interested.” Moreover, the survey also found that union workers (27%) are “less engaged” in the workplace compared to their non-unionized counterparts (33%).
California lawmakers kill bill that would have let legislative staff unionize
September 5, 2022 // California legislative staff will not have the option to unionize after a bill allowing them to organize was killed by lawmakers Wednesday evening. Lawmakers in the Assembly Committee on Public Employment and Retirement ultimately rejected Assembly Bill 1577 on Wednesday, a measure that would have provided collective bargaining rights to legislative staff starting in July 2024. The measure was a step away from a hearing on the Assembly floor, where lawmakers would have decided whether or not to send the bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Jim Cooper, Lorena Gonzalez, Mark Stone, Tina McKinnor
No worker is a victim
September 5, 2022 // Good workers should never ‘play the victim’ and blame their boss for not making enough money. Working for a company isn’t the priesthood -- you can leave. A worker is worth fair wages. An employer who takes advantage of willing, loyal, honest workers by not paying them what they are worth isn’t worthy of having eager, reliable, forthright employees.
Teachers’ union abandons Connecticut children in backroom deal
July 21, 2022 // In a stunning rebuke, the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) is raising the alarm about legislation altered before passage as the result of backroom negotiations between teacher’s union leaders and General Assembly leadership. They state, “Superintendents were blindsided as this piece of legislation was hidden from view. There was no transparency.” Ellington Board of Education, Ellington Superintendent Scott Nicol, Gifted and talented students, dual instruction, behavioral issues, Connecticut’s new law Public Act 22-80, “Concerning Mental and Physical Health Services in Schools”
Biden’s Recordkeeping Rule is Another Flawed Obama-era Rerun
June 30, 2022 // “The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) should abandon this proposed rule because it completely ignores worker privacy concerns and adds burdensome new requirements with little value in keeping workers safe. With this proposed rule, the administration seemingly intends to reward its Big Labor allies and to continue its crusade against job creators and their employees without improving workplace safety.” “Among the egregious provisions this proposed rule revives from the 2016 rule is the requirement that certain establishments submit detailed injury and illness data that contain confidential and personally identifiable worker information. These forms contain sensitive employee information such as employee names, date of hire, job titles, gender, descriptions of injuries and body parts affected, employee’s home address, date of birth, and treatment for each recorded injury. This is sensitive employee information which the government is obligated to protect.”