by rondelord | Jul 25, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
Last time around, Chuck Reed seized the third rail of California politics – launching the Hugest! Pension! Battle! Ever! – and suffered the inevitable burn. This time around, he’s more circumspect, but perhaps no less menacing to the status quo. Reed, a low-key...
by rondelord | Jul 13, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Pensions, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
When Jim Palermo was serving as a trustee of the village of La Grange, Ill., he noticed something peculiar about the local police officers and firefighters. They were not going to live as long as might be expected, at least according to pension tables. After Mr....
by rondelord | Jul 13, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
State Right-to-Work laws generally allow any employee to opt out of paying union dues completely. As we have previously covered, such laws, which traditionally have been popular in the South, more recently have been adopted by the state legislatures in “rust belt”...
by rondelord | Jul 6, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Health Insurance, Labor, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate increases of 20 percent to 40 percent or more, saying their new customers under the Affordable Care Act turned out to be sicker than expected. Federal officials say they are determined to see...
by rondelord | Jul 6, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
The failure to prioritize funding of core services was on prominent display at the June 16 Pima County budget adoption meeting. The board majority once again voted to raise your primary and secondary property tax rates following an emotional call to the public....
by rondelord | Jul 6, 2015 | Collective Bargaining, Fire, Labor, Police, Politics, Public Employees (Non-Sworn), Unions
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court signaled Tuesday that it may be prepared to strike down laws forcing public employees to pay union dues, posing a major threat to organized labor. The justices agreed to hear a California case in the term beginning next fall challenging...
