Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Dan Walters
September 2, 2019
One of the more curious anomalies about California is that while labor unions’ political power has increased to virtual hegemony, especially in the last decade, union membership has declined just as sharply.
By Jonathan Lansner | jlansner@scng.com | Orange County Register
Published: February 12, 2019 at 2:00 pm | Updated: February 12, 2019 at 4:54 pm
California’s labor movement didn’t have a swell 2018 and shrinking membership could be bad for your wealth, union fan or not.
Friday, May 11, 2018
A rebellion is taking place at the heart of the San Bernardino County Public Attorneys Association (SBCPAA), the group that includes about 300 County Deputy District Attorneys, Public Defenders and Child Advocate Attorneys over the union leadership’s decision to support embattled district attorney Mike Ramos for re-election.
Sunday, April 29, 2018 – 10:15 a.m.
The union representing San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies has launched a website targeting Second District Supervisor Janice Rutherford.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018 – 09:30 a.m.
Members of the union representing San Bernardino County prosecutors, public defenders and child support lawyers have filed a petition to remove the group’s leadership from office over the endorsement and financial support given to incumbent District Attorney Mike Ramos.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018 – 02:30 p.m.
Allegations of shady dealings have erupted over an endorsement, plus money, benefiting embattled San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos.
Monday, April 2, 2018 – 08:00 a.m.
The San Bernardino County Public Attorney’s Association (SBCPAA) has been hijacked by rogue leadership and the rank and file members are furious according to multiple sources inside the union. It is well known in local political circles that the public defenders that make up slightly less than half of the population of the SBCPAA loath District Attorney Mike Ramos and that a vast majority of the rank and file deputy district attorneys also feel very negatively about Mike Ramos, so it came as a surprise when it was announced that the union had endorsed Mike Ramos for reelection. Recent investigative reporting has uncovered why. The membership was never asked who they wished to endorse, if at all, in the district attorney race.
Joe Turner
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 – 4:24 p.m.
Assemblyman Marc Steinorth (R-Rancho Cucamonga) announced that he has earned the endorsement of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit Association (SEBA) in his bid to unseat incumbent Janice Rutherford.
Tuesday, February 6, 2018 – 12:00 p.m.
How does the saying go? Time heals all wounds.
Apparently that’s the case with the relationship between the San Bernardino County Public Attorney’s Association (SBCPAA), and both County Supervisor Janice Rutherford and District Attorney Mike Ramos.
By Patrick McGreevy
Jan. 19, 2018 – 3:32 p.m.
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra filed a friend-of-the-court brief Friday to support mandatory union fees for public employees.
By Adam Ashton
aashton@sacbee.com
January 12, 2018 12:25 PM
Gov. Jerry Brown this week predicted that his 2012 pension law will survive union challenges in court and blow a hole in the so-called “California rule” that has restricted changes to public employee retirement plans for half a century.
Sunday, January 7, 2018 – 1:00 a.m.
A Great Recession give-back forced upon San Bernardino County employees will no longer apply to the county’s highest paid management employees, if county supervisors approve revisions to what is known as the exempt compensation plan on Tuesday.
The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
By Adam Ashton
aashton@sacbee.com
November 22, 2017 – 09:48 AM
Gov. Jerry Brown got most of what he wanted when he carried a proposal to shore up the state’s underfunded public employee pension plans by trimming benefits for new workers.
The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
By Adam Ashton
aashton@sacbee.com
April 25, 2017 – 7:00 AM
Public employee unions presented a united front on Monday against a bill by Sen. John Moorlach that aimed to close California’s pension funding gap by eliminating cost-of-living increases and asking local governments to chip in a greater share of their revenue toward retirements.
By Laren Leichliter
Posted: 04/14/17 – 1:40 PM PDT |
The Southern California News Group should take note of four glaring facts that were flatly ignored in Sal Rodriguez’s commentary (“Troubling ties between public officials, unions”) printed April 2, and a subsequent editorial (“Deputies get benefit of favoritism by DA”) printed April 9.
Posted: 04/07/17 – 6:07 PM PDT |
The assault of Francis Pusok in 2015 by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies was televised for the entire country to see. Unlike some cases in recent years in which one could plausibly explain away and even justify use of force by officers, the beating of Pusok was indisputably excessive.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 03/30/17 – 8:08 PM PDT |
A senior prosecutor’s assertion that the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department fosters a “culture of violence” outraged a local law enforcement labor union, prompting a swift apology from the supervising deputy district attorney and a public statement from the district attorney himself.
By Louis Casiano Jr. / Staff Writer
March 17, 2017
SANTA ANA – A private detective who admitted he tried to set up a Costa Mesa councilman for a false DUI and tailed the city’s former mayor using a tracking device was sentenced by an Orange County Superior Court judge Friday to one year in jail.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
February 6, 2017 – 2:53 PM
Whenever the U.S. Senate confirms Neil Gorsuch – or some other Donald Trump nominee – to the U.S. Supreme Court, it will face a plethora of issues, and those involving California will be among the most controversial.
By Jeff Horseman / Staff Writer
Published: Dec. 7, 2016
Updated: Dec. 8, 2016 – 4:47 p.m.
Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley wants his peers to defer the automatic pay raises they received over the summer to show empathy with union employees, who also are being asked to forgo raises.
The State Worker
By Adam Ashton
aashton@sacbee.com
December 3, 2016 – 12:07 PM
A day after halting plans for a strike, state government’s largest employee union announced that it had reached a tentative agreement for a new contract.
The State Worker
By Alexei Koseff
akoseff@sacbee.com
December 2, 2016 – 2:47 PM
A one-day strike by California’s largest state employee union, set for Monday, has been called off.
By Bob Egelko
Published: November 26, 2016
Updated: November 26, 2016 – 6:00am
With his first Supreme Court appointment, President-elect Donald Trump will be in a position to deal a severe blow to unions representing government workers, the stronghold of organized labor in the United States.
The State Worker
By Jim Miller
jmiller@sacbee.com
November 22, 2016 – 5:53 PM
California’s largest state-employee union announced Tuesday that it will go on strike Dec. 5 in response to what union leaders complain is “unlawful conduct and egregious unfair labor practices” during negotiations for a new contract.
By Paul Rogers | progers@bayareanewsgroup.com
Published: October 18, 2016 at 1:56 pm |
Updated: October 19, 2016 at 6:36 am
With less than three weeks until Election Day, Gov. Jerry Brown and his political allies are suddenly pumping money into the campaign to defeat Proposition 53, a previously low-profile measure that could be the death knell of Brown’s high-speed rail and Delta tunnels projects.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016 – 09:30 a.m.
The runoff election to decide who will hold the First District seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has heated up.
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.