Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
By Jeff Horseman / Staff Writer
Published: Sept. 15, 2016 – 9:41 a.m.
Riverside County Supervisor Chuck Washington is getting a boost from his colleagues and a public safety union in his bid for a full four-year term on the Board of Supervisors.
By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 09/08/16 – 8:09 PM PDT |
COLTON >> Former employees at the Ashley Furniture plant in Colton say they want justice and an apology over a recent mass layoff they see as a betrayal and retaliation for their failed attempt at unionization last year.
Howard Blume and Joy Resmovits
August 23, 2016
Monday was the end of the line for a landmark California case challenging tenure and other traditional job protections for teachers — and the teachers won.
The State Worker
By Rachel Cohrs
rcohrs@sacbee.com
July 29, 2016 – 10:17 AM
The state has offered a nearly 12 percent general salary increase for SEIU Local 1000 employees spread out over four years, or a 9 percent increase over three years.
John Myers
July 14, 2016 – 4:20 P.M.
Backers of the effort to extend the lifespan of California’s tax rates on the most wealthy boosted their campaign coffers Thursday, with a $10-million contribution from the California Teachers Assn.
Tuesday, June 21, 2106 – 10:30 a.m.
A long-running and costly legal battle between San Bernardino County, it’s Office of the Public Defender, and the San Bernardino County Public Attorney’s Association just ended with the county getting slammed by a state agency.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
June 14, 2016 – 3:44 PM
Prepare for another round of infighting if you’re in SEIU Local 1000.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 06/03/16 – 9:17 PM PDT |
Officials with the labor union representing San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies said Friday that prison realignment and a shortage of deputies has prompted a safety campaign that has delayed the transport of inmates to court.
Mark Gutglueck
Posted on May 28, 2016
In recent weeks SEBA, the union representing San Bernardino County’s sheriff’s deputies, has stepped up activity aimed at persuading top county officials to accede to its demands for compensation increases.
Thursday, May 26, 2016 – 02:30 p.m.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies have fallen into the ranks of some of the lowest compensated in Southern California.
Published: May 26, 2016 – 12:09 p.m.
The Riverside Sheriffs’ Association has not endorsed anyone in the race for the Third District seat on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. But it’s pretty clear who they don’t like.
To read article by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 05/24/16 – 11:30 AM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> Dozens of San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies rallied outside the County Government Center on Tuesday, pushing for higher pay after more than a year of stalled contract negotiations.
By Ed Mendel
May 23, 2016
Annual rates paid by employers to CalPERS and CalSTRS are going up, pension funding levels haven’t recovered from a big drop during the recession, and Gov. Brown’s pension reform put a lid on pension increases.
Sunday, May 15, 2016 – 10:00 a.m.
I routinely get myriad emails over issues in San Bernardino County, the local government’s operations in general
The latest one, arriving Friday evening, caught my attention and is deserving of short commentary.
John Myers
May 11, 2016 – 2:07 P.M.
When Gov. Jerry Brown asked California voters to raise taxes in 2012 , he made clear that it was temporary, revenues needed to balance the books for only a few years.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
May 11, 2016 – 11:58 AM
California’s correctional officers will see a raise on their July paychecks under terms of a new contract they overwhelmingly ratified, the union announced this week.
Published: May 9, 2016
Updated: May 11, 2016 – 6:45 a.m.
Critics of San Bernardino Democrat Cheryl Brown have a new nickname for the Inland assemblywoman – “Chevron Cheryl.”
Luke Money
April 29, 2016
Two private investigators can be tried on charges of false imprisonment and conspiracy in connection with a fake DUI report against a Costa Mesa city councilman in 2012, an Orange County judge ruled Friday.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
April 11, 2016 – 12:19 PM
The latest tentative labor agreement with California’s correctional officers proves that there’s more than one way to boost employee compensation without calling it a “raise.”
Capitol Alert
By Alexei Koseff
akoseff@sacbee.com
April 8, 2016 – 10:00 AM
Just days before California State University professors were expected to walk out on the job, Chancellor Timothy White and the California Faculty Association jointly announced Friday a tentative contract agreement far more expansive than the 5 percent raise teaching staff sought for nearly a year.
David G. Savage
March 29, 2016
A well-planned legal assault on public unions collapsed Tuesday when the Supreme Court deadlocked over a California woman’s lawsuit to strike down mandatory fees, the strongest evidence yet that Justice Antonin Scalia’s death has stymied the court’s conservatives.
John Myers and Liam Dillon
March 26, 2016
Lawmakers and labor unions have struck a tentative deal to raise the statewide minimum wage to $10.50 an hour next year and then gradually to $15, averting a costly political campaign this fall and possibly putting California at the forefront of a national movement.
By Don Thompson
Mar. 16, 2016 4:41 PM ET
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The union representing most California state prison guards says it has agreed to a new labor contract that includes a 9 percent salary increase over three years.
Christine Mai-Duc
March 12, 2016
What happens when a Democratic lawmaker strays from party leaders on a key piece of Gov. Jerry Brown’s policy agenda? One assemblywoman who held back support for a sweeping climate-change bill last year is starting to find out.
Carla Rivera
March 8, 2016
California State University faculty members appealed to trustees Tuesday to do more to avert a strike at the nation’s largest university system, but the two sides remain at odds over salaries for about 26,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches.
Saturday, February 27, 2016 – 04:00 p.m.
The union representing public attorneys employed by San Bernardino County has secured a new collective bargaining agreement through August 2019.
Howard Blume
February 14, 2016
The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia could deal a major blow to a California lawsuit that had been widely expected to weaken the financial muscle of teachers unions across the country.
Published: Feb. 5, 2016 Updated: 1:49 p.m.
After her rival won the Democratic Party’s pre-endorsement, state Assembly candidate Eloise Reyes is striking back with the AFL-CIO’s help.
To read post by Jeff Horseman in The P-E Political Empire Blog, click here.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
February 2, 2016 – 5:38 PM
At 11,459 pages, the political action committee finance statement filed by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association Monday night is a hefty tome and quite possible a record-setter for the largest disclosure ever filed by a PAC.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 02/01/16 – 9:26 PM PST |
SAN BERNARDINO >> An agreement between the city and its firefighter union that ends more than $40 million worth of disputes is now final, with approval from both sides.
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By Brian Mahoney and Josh Gerstein
Published: 01/11/16 – 11:54 AM EST
Updated: 01/11/16 – 02:26 PM EST
The Supreme Court appeared ready Monday to bar public-sector unions from collecting “fair-share” fees from non-members, a move that could deal a political blow to Democrats by reducing union membership drastically and draining union coffers.
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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
January 11, 2016 3:57 PM
By Michael Doyle
mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com
January 8, 2016 – 2:40 PM
Washington, D.C. —
The Supreme Court on Monday will hear oral argument in a case called Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. It’s one of the most hotly contested disputes of the court’s 2015-16 term, with serious stakes for law, politics and business.
It raises lots of questions; here are some of them.
By Jessica Kwong / Staff Writer
Dec. 24, 2015 – Updated 9:25 a.m.
SANTA ANA – Employees with Orange County’s largest union are heading into the holidays assured of their biggest salary raise since the recession, under a three-year contract the Board of Supervisors approved Wednesday morning.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 12/22/15 – 7:39 PM PST |
An appeals court once again ruled against the San Bernardino City Professional Firefighters and in favor of the city Tuesday, affirming U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury’s conclusion that nothing in the city charter or state law prevents the city from outsourcing its Fire Department.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 12/15/15, 7:36 PM PST |
The Safety Employees Benefit Association, San Bernardino County’s labor union representing sheriff’s deputies, detectives and district attorney investigators, has declared an impasse with the county in its labor negotiations.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
December 10, 2015
California moved one step closer to a public retirement fight after the state issued official summaries for two pension-change ballot proposals on Thursday – and for the first time neither labor unions nor the measures’ proponents griped that the language was politically slanted or inaccurate.
Cathleen Decker
December 6, 2015
Two things were evident amid the fusillades of confetti and extended glad-handing at last week’s endorsement of gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom by the politically powerful California Nurses Assn.
Sunday, November 29, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
With neighboring Los Angeles County handing 36-month contracts containing 10-percent across-the-board salary increases for employees, certain San Bernardino County employee unions find themselves in an uncomfortable situation to say the least.
Abby Sewell
November 20, 2015
Workers represented by Los Angeles County’s largest employee union voted to approve a tentative agreement with county management that would give them a 10% raise over three years.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015 – 08:30 a.m.
The largest union representing San Bernardino County workers, Teamsters Local 1932, has set a contract ratification vote in motion.
Thursday, November 5, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
If San Bernardino County leaders want a reason to push back at union demands for salary and benefit increases they now have it.
Capitol Alert
By Alexei Koseff
akoseff@sacbee.com
November 4, 2015
Amid a contract dispute, the California State University faculty union announced Wednesday that it has overwhelmingly authorized a strike for the fourth time in eight years.
Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
September 21, 2015
A group of health and youth advocates on Monday introduced a ballot initiative to expand and make permanent the Proposition 30 income tax increases on the state’s highest earners.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 09/17/15 – 11:00 PM PDT |
RIVERSIDE >> In a decision she acknowledged “puts a bunch of marbles on the road to reorganization” for San Bernardino, Judge Meredith Jury ruled Thursday the city hadn’t met its legal obligation to bargain with the fire union before outsourcing the Fire Department.
Capitol Alert
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
September 14, 2015
With California’s Proposition 30 income tax hikes expiring in 2018, a coalition of education and other groups on Monday filed an initiative for next year’s ballot to temporarily extend those taxes on some of the wealthiest residents.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
September 13, 2015
What’s in a word? How about billions of dollars?
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 09/08/15 – 4:08 PM PDT |
RIVERSIDE >> San Bernardino has a tentative contract agreement with its largest employee group, the so-called general unit, the city’s bankruptcy attorney announced in court Tuesday.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
September 6, 2015
Only a sixth of California’s 15 million wage and salary workers belong to labor unions, most of them government workers.
Published: Aug. 30, 2015 – Updated: 11:14 p.m.
Members of a union representing Riverside County prosecutors and other county lawyers have been working since the end of June without a new contract and the county is taking a firm line on pay raises, according to the union’s president.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Published: Aug. 14, 2015 – Updated: 8:52 p.m.
The union representing Riverside County sheriff’s deputies has pulled its support from Sheriff Stan Sniff and accused him of a dictatorial approach that shunned union input on the deployment of body-mounted cameras and other matters.
To read article by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
August 13, 2015
Kamala Harris is not only California’s attorney general, but a very ambitious politician who hopes to become a U.S. senator.
Judy Lin, Associated Press
Tuesday, August 11, 2015 – Updated 11:14 pm
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Proponents of a California pension initiative said Tuesday that state Attorney General Kamala Harris is once again favoring labor unions by using the same words she used to describe their previous failed bid to limit taxpayer spending on public pensions.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
August 2, 2015
There may not be a bounty on his head, but David Crane sits atop the enemies list for California’s public employee unions.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 07/29/15 – 5:42 PM PDT |
After more than two years of police leaving San Bernardino, saying the lack of a contract robbed them of a sense of stability in a city where many residents say crime is their top concern, the police union and city negotiators both say they’ve agreed on a new contract.
By Daniel Borenstein, Staff Columnist
Posted: 07/24/2015 – 04:00:00 PM PDT
Although public employee pension plans across California are badly underfunded, union leaders have expressed little concern about the security of workers’ retirement pay.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 20, 2015
Only a sixth of California’s wage earners are members of labor unions, but they carry a very big stick in politics.
By Daniel Borenstein, Staff Columnist
Posted: 07/17/2015 – 04:00:00 PM PDT
Organized labor has lined up behind legislation purporting to promote government contract transparency. It’s a sham.
By Dan Morain
dmorain@sacbee.com
July 18, 2015
For decades, organized labor, particularly the union that represents public school teachers, has been checking off boxes in California.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 07/15/15 – 9:22 PM PDT |
RIVERSIDE >> Nothing in the city charter prevents San Bernardino from outsourcing its Fire Department, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled Wednesday in a blow to the fire union that its attorneys immediately said they would appeal.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
June 30, 2015
California figured prominently, albeit indirectly, in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent high-profile decisions on Obamacare, same-sex marriages and congressional redistricting.
By Sam Hananel, Associated Press
Posted: 06/30/15 – 8:12 AM PDT |
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will consider limiting the power of government employee unions to collect fees from non-members in a case that labor officials say could threaten membership and further weaken union clout.
Politics
June 24, 2015
By Sam Hananel, Associated Press
Washington — Powerful public-sector unions are facing another high-profile legal challenge that they say could wipe away millions from their bank accounts and make it tougher for them to survive.
By Geoffrey Mohan
June 3, 2015
The drought is on track to dry up $2.7 billion in revenue and erase more than 18,600 jobs from the California economy this year, according to a preliminary report.
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
June 1, 2015
Even as Gov. Jerry Brown bargains changes to retiree health benefits with four state-employee unions, his administration has drawn up some unnumbered bills that reveal the governor’s thinking on how to cut those costs long-term.
By Chris Megerian
May 25, 2015
When it comes to California’s roller-coaster finances, Gov. Jerry Brown has bent lawmakers and voters to his will, rejecting new spending programs, passing a temporary tax hike and strengthening the state’s rainy-day fund.
Sunday, May 24, 2015 – 01:00 p.m.
California water agencies are at it big time
Using the drought as a driving force. Water suppliers are hammering away at rate increases in every shape or form possible.
By Jeffrey Scott Shapiro
The Washington Times
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
The Teamsters have begun informing retirees and current workers that their pension benefits may soon be cut, the final ironic twist to a lobbying campaign that saw the union spend its own members’ dollars to win the right to shrink their retirement pay.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 05/20/15 – 7:53 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> The city might become the first in the state to rely on a for-profit firm for firefighting and emergency medical services, but to do so it will have to overcome opposition that’s already mounting up and down the state.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 05/14/15, 4:49 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> The proposed bankruptcy exit plan released to the public for the first time Thursday would pay 1 percent of the $50 million owed to pension obligation bondholders, slash retirees’ healthcare coverage, and contract out for services, including fire and waste disposal, among other changes.
Capitol Alert
May 12, 2015
By Jim Miller
jmiller@sacbee.com
Local governments, businesses, unions and other special interests reported spending more than $48.5 million on direct state lobbying expenses from January through March, according to first-quarter reports filed earlier this month.
Dan Walters
Observations on California and its politics
dwalters@sacbee.com
May 7, 2015
A political war over taxes that’s been brewing for nearly four decades finally erupted Thursday – maybe.
May 7, 2015
Capitol Alert
The go-to source for news on California policy and politics
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
A coalition of public employee unions and other liberal groups, including many churches, launched a campaign Thursday to alter Proposition 13, California’s iconic property tax limit, and raise billions of dollars by hiking taxes on commercial property.
Dan Walters
May 4, 2015
Observations on California and its politics
dwalters@sacbee.com
The Capitol’s big guns came out last week – and they were aimed at a 66-year-old grandmother who dared to buck two of California’s most powerful political interests – teacher and cop unions.
Thursday, April 23, 2015 – 10:00 p.m.
All sides of a contract dispute affecting San Bernardino County Nurses and Per Diem Nurses have given their blessing to a new contract that will run through July 2017.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 04/15/15, 7:07 PM PDT |
The San Bernardino Public Employees Association, which for more than 75 years has independently represented county, city and state employees across the Inland Empire, is now a chapter affiliate of Teamsters Local 1932.
By Beau Yarbrough, The Sun
Posted: 04/10/15, 6:55 PM PDT | Updated: 2 hrs ago
SAN BERNARDINO >> The union representing San Bernardino’s firefighters sued the city in a pair of lawsuits on Thursday and Friday, alleging city officials are violating San Bernardino’s charter in an ongoing pay dispute.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 04/08/15, 7:38 PM PDT
Service Employees International Union Local 721 dealt another blow to San Bernardino County’s largest labor union when it announced Wednesday that 671 Superior Court employees would be leaving the San Bernardino Public Employees Association and joining the SEIU.
By Jack Fitzpatrick
March 19, 2015
Last week, pension-reform advocates in California announced plans to again push a 2016 ballot measure that would pave the way for cuts to public employees’ pension plans. The move sets the stage for a clash between organized labor and fiscal conservatives whose price tag could rival even the most expensive of Senate races.
By Josh Hicks
March 19, 2015 at 8:16 PM
A correction to the House Republican budget released this week could mean far deeper cuts for federal employees than the original document suggested, further alarming government workers and their unions already upset about hits they have taken in recent years.
Thursday, March 19, 2015 – 11:00 a.m.
The union representing the largest block of San Bernardino County employees is dying a death by a thousand cuts.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 03/17/15, 2:59 PM PDT
RIVERSIDE >> A federal judge in San Bernardino’s bankruptcy case ruled Tuesday that the city can reject its bargaining agreement with the city’s police union.
The State Worker
Jon Ortiz chronicles civil-service life for California state workers
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
03/18/2015 – 4:27 PM
Unions lined up Wednesday to oppose Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to offer high-deductible medical coverage to state employees, suggesting it could hurt workers’ health instead of improving it.
By Daniel Borenstein, Staff Columnist
Posted: 03/15/2015 – 04:00:00 PM PDT
Public employee unions repeatedly insist that workers’ pension funds need not be fully funded, that a target of 80 percent is fine.
By Tiffany Hsu
March 12, 2015
The United Steelworkers reached a tentative contract with Shell Oil Co. on Thursday after more than a month of contentious talks and strikes, union officials said.