Labor
So the contract proposal that some public sector unions recently voted to reject was apparently not a real offer. According to the NEA’s Bob Walsh, it wasn’t the result of “negotiations,” but of a “process by which a memorandum of settlement was reached.” (Note the passive voice.) Presumably, Bob would have been just fine with…
Jessica Knapp’s astonishing comment deserves a bit more attention: As pointed out in the Providence Journal on Saturday, the talks between the governor’s people and union reps were not official negotiations. To claim that they were is a blatant lie. Instead of taking the proper, legal channels, King Don has issued another “executive order.” Utterly…
There’s a lesson in empathy available in this: And several thousand other state workers are caught in the middle of a war between leaders of the largest employees union, Council 94, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that has put that union’s executive director — and lead negotiator — Dennis Grilli on the…
In the midst of a story about Rhode Island government’s hard financial times, one finds the following nugget: … local officials say they need more. They want state legislators to change the pension rules for municipal employees, requiring them to work longer before they can retire. They are also pushing for the repeal of a…
Paul Bovenzi’s response to an excellent op-ed by Bill Wilson raises an interesting question. On the one hand: Also, there are jobs (teaching and otherwise) that are not Union. People have a choice. They can work for a private school if they are completely opposed to being in a Union. Maybe the reason they don’t…
As one who flirts often with the edge of burnout, I hear the hum of truth in this: Burnout has been long associated with being overworked and underpaid, but psychologists Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter found that these were not the crucial factors. The single biggest difference between employees who suffered burnout and those who…
I have to admit that NEA head Bob Walsh’s proposal to give the public sector pension system “equity” from the state lottery instead of this year’s cash contribution confused me. Most prominently, I don’t see how a government that habitually spends hundreds of millions of dollars over its revenue can be presumed to need a…
An interesting passage from Steve Peoples’s second part to the Projo’s series on local unions: LABOR UNIONS and their allies walk a fine line when it comes to influencing elections. State and federal campaign finance laws have strict limits on what is, and isn’t, permissible. That may be why Ocean State Action is actually made…
According to the Providence Journal, Bob Walsh of NEARI has been prowling the halls of the General Assembly peddling a “plan” to solve this year’s budget deficit. His protégé Pat Crowley has posted a version of it on the left-leaning RI Future blog. Though his proposal is coated in sugary language, should the General Assembly…
Much of the criticism (and all of the hatemail) related to my op-ed regarding Lt. Michael Morse and unionization in RI has only served to exacerbate my reservations. Namely, when I say “unionization,” they hear “firefighters.” When I say, “I’ve concluded that public-sector unionization is among the villains in Rhode Island,” they hear, “you get…