by rondelord | Feb 12, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
Public-sector workers are under fire again — and not just from Republicans. Three years after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker curtailed collective bargaining and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cut pension benefits for public employees in the name of budget austerity,...
by rondelord | Feb 12, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
“If a government can’t provide the core basic services, it’s failed in it’s mission,” says Pete Constant, a former member of the San Jose City Council who advocated for sweeping pension reform. “Our city had been in many years of budget deficits and...
by rondelord | Feb 3, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
The head of the Nevada AFL-CIO proclaimed Tuesday that “working families are under attack” by Republican lawmakers who want to weaken collective bargaining laws and pensions now that they control the Legislature. Danny Thompson, executive-secretary treasurer of the...
by rondelord | Feb 3, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
TALLAHASSEE | Three troubled Jacksonville pensions are among 19 statewide that received “call to action” letters Tuesday informing them their unfunded liabilities are unacceptable and need to be fixed now. The 19 pension plans all are less than 50 percent funded,...
by rondelord | Feb 3, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Health Insurance, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
These are trying times for the American labor movement. Employer backlash; the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which restricted union activities and allowed states to pass “right-to-work” laws; and deindustrialization have led to a decades-long decline in union membership, a...
by rondelord | Feb 3, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
Let’s break out the crystal ball and peer into the future for Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to bargain state-employee and retiree health benefits with unions. Background: California spends about $3 billion on medical benefits for state workers, plus $2 billion for retirees....
