Unions - Page 7

Facing a coming Supreme Court decision that may permanently end all compulsory union dues collections in California, Sacramento Democrats are trying to slip in new rules that will require an ‘orientation’ on taxpayer-funded time for unions to confront employees about the wisdom of continuing to pay dues.

(Ferenstein Wire)—The taxi industry has launched yet another high-profile attempt to conquer their arch nemesis Uber. The upcoming Arro, like many of its predecessors, is an app for hailing and paying for a taxi, much like other ride-hailing companies out of Silicon Valley. Every similar app, so far, has either completely shut down shortly after launch or failed to slow the rise of Uber.

The Writer’s Guild of America, East (WGAE) filed comments Thursday with the IRS and the Treasury Department, calling for an exemption from a hefty excise tax on health plans that the union is mandated to pay by the Affordable Care Act.

Going into 2016, conservatives need to highlight and defend the efforts of governors and legislators who are making positive efforts to get their states on the right track.

A city ordinance banning the use of horses to pull the traditional carriages around Rome went into effect Thursday, in response to a wave of 100+ degree weather that is said to threaten the horses’s lives.

In a blatant attempt at protectionism for the Big Apple’s taxi companies, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced plans to put the breaks on the growth of the Uber on-demand car service. Uber’s response was immediate and clever.

Tube drivers are some of the best-paid low skilled workers in the country. So many Londoners were furious when they brought the entire city to a standstill this week because they don’t want to work just a few night shifts

The California Labor Comission just ruled that Uber must treat its drivers like normal employees, rather than independent contractors, potentially forcing the company to pay benefits and cover expenses. The decision is being hailed as a victory for worker rights and a major blow to the growing billion-dollar transportation startup.

With the strike ban that was a pre-condition of the GM and Fiat Chrysler federal bailouts expiring, United Auto Workers (UAW) locals are collecting food and encouraging union members to save for a potential strike when the Big Three four-year labor agreement expires on September 14.

The California State Senate voted on party lines Monday to raise the minimum wage to $13 per hour by 2017–a 44% increase from where it stands today, at $9 per hour. Just two years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that increased the minimum from $8 per hour in 2013 to $10 per hour by 2016. The new bill, introduced by State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) as a measure to reduce poverty and inequality, would amount to a staggering and unprecedented 62.5% increase in four years.

Now that the California Assembly has approved AB 641, which would enable home-based childcare providers to unionize, a joint budget-writing committee will consider it, according to the Sacramento Bee. If approved, the resultant collective bargaining expansion would add thousands of child-care slots and trigger a rise in reimbursement rates.

Labor leaders, who insisted for most of the last year that no exemptions should be allowed when instituting a minimum wage hike for the City of Los Angeles, have changed their tune now that the Los Angeles City Council approved the hike to $15 last week, asserting that companies whose employees are unionized should be exempted from the forced wage hike.

In a huge victory for farmers and their workers, California’s 5th District Court of Appeal ruled last week that the state’s “Mandatory Mediation and Conciliation” process, which allows a mediator to impose a binding contract on farm companies and agricultural unions when the negotiation process breaks down, is unconstitutional.

California’s powerful unions lost a key special election this week in an all-Democrat race for State Senate in the East Bay that pitted a reformist candidate, Orinda Mayor Steve Glazer, against a reliable Big Labor vote, Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla. The race took place on what was nominally Republican turf, after State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier resigned. Heavy spending by independent groups on both sides–and the state’s new “jungle” primary–helped Glazer win 55%-45%.

Uber is systematically wiping out taxis in San Francisco. As of last year, average taxi trips per month had reportedly plummeted 65 percent in just 2 years. In an effort to save the industry, a new startup, FlyWheel, has begun outfitting taxis with the Uber-like convenience of smartphone hailing and payments.

Now that the final fate of this whole investigation is being decided by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, it sounds an awful lot like Chisholm and Schmitz are trying to goad Walker into unsealing information the court might rule was gathered improperly, or at least score a few last points against Walker by making him look furtive by refusing to play their game.

Uber’s popularity overtook traditional taxi service for San Francisco and Dallas business reimbursements in the first three months of 2015, reflecting an overall nationwide trend toward the innovative transportation company, according to analysis of millions of receipts processed through expense management software provider Certify.

Production of SyFy’s Sharknado 3 was disrupted Wednesday in front the White House by members of the IATSE labor union, who are demanding a union contract with standardized working conditions, in addition to pension and health benefits.

As West Coast union dockworkers celebrate a tentative agreement for a five-year contract featuring even higher wages and benefits than the current $1,200-per-day, shipping companies intend to introduce new mega-container-ships and port handling equipment that will help automate away many union jobs.

As Breitbart reported last week in “Teamsters Win Big in Silicon Valley, Target Tech Companies”, after the Teamsters Local 853 organized Facebook contract shuttle bus drivers a week ago, over the weekend they won elections organizing drivers for Yahoo, Apple, Genentech, eBay and Zynga.

Right-to-work legislation speeds toward Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s desk, and reporters don’t have much to say about that.

With tech workers still expected to log 70-hour work weeks, shuttle drivers for Facebook voted to become a union affiliate of the Teamsters. After getting a leg in the tech industry door, the Teamsters intend to unionize Silicon Valley and have already scheduled union elections for workers at Apple, Yahoo, eBay, and others.

With the West Coast ports labor dispute involving 13,600 unionized dockworkers inflicting pain on 318 million Americans by causing billions of dollars a day in losses to the U.S. economy settling yesterday, now 30,000 unionized refinery workers across America intend to play the same leverage game by cutting off two-thirds of all U.S. diesel and gasoline supplies.

Gerardo Hernandez, a spy for Communist Cuba and the man responsible for the murder of four humanitarian workers (three of whom were American citizens) over international waters, was freed from prison last year by the Obama administration, due in part to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Wisconsin’s Republican Governor Scott Walker has beaten the state’s unions three times in elections, recalls, and more elections. But the union thugs aren’t done attacking yet. They are now going so far as to harass Governor Walker’s elderly parents by unloading a bus of union toughs to protest outside the home in which they live.

America’s best-paid union members caused another four day shut-down of the 29 West Coast ports that move 43% of U.S. imports and exports. About 80% of heavy crane operators have been calling in sick in an apparent scheme to delay port activity until the union can force employers to pay double-time for work on the four union contract holidays for “Lincoln’s Birthday” and “President’s Day.”

Union membership in America continues to dwindle, according to new data released on Friday by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

One group of “Black Lives Matter” protesters in the San Francisco Bay area has summarily dismissed efforts by three regional police unions to initiate “constructive dialogue.” Responding to Wednesday’s call from the Oakland Police Officers Association and police unions in

Big Labor says it has big plans for recruiting into its ranks the millions of illegal immigrants affected by President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty action.

Three more members of Ironworkers Local 401 in Philadelphia pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of conspiracy, extortion, and racketeering in an ongoing RICO case against the labor union. They join eight others who have pleaded guilty in recent months to

Professor and political activist Noam Chomsky argued that “Ronald Reagan was an extreme racist” on GRITtv’s “The Laura Flanders Show” broadcast on Tuesday. “this is a very racist society, I mean it’s pretty shocking” he declared, before launching into a

The police chief of Richmond, CA, Chris Magnus, joined a protest against alleged police brutality in Ferguson, MO and Staten Island, NY on Tuesday while holding a sign reading “#blacklivesmatter.” Roughly 100 fellow protesters held signs while they listened to

Although ballots are still being counted in a handful of 2014 midterm elections, at least one Democrat super PAC is getting a jump on the 2016 presidential contest. On Monday, the left-wing American Bridge released what it calls a “media

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) used the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA) to out maneuver Japanese light rail manufacturer Kinkisharyo to secure a card-check provision to organize employees. Kinkisharyo won a $900 million dollar contract from the Metropolitan Transportation

The Catholic Church in Northern Ireland is pulling the plug on a long-standing relationship with the Family Care Society, a Catholic adoption agency, after a judge ruled that all adoption services must be willing to place children with same-sex couples

With the dust from the November election now settling, Republicans managed to pick up a handful of legislative seats, but head into the coming session almost hopelessly outnumbered by their Democrat colleagues. This year finds a large number of newly