Comments on: Blackmail Goes Green

By: D BISHTON

D BISHTON — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00:48 +0000

Any group that uses the bully pulpit to foster their aims , are not necessarily in the wrong, but the examples shown, only seem to reflect a bias against unions. These unions only exist to foster good working conditions, craft knowledge, and benefits for their members. You don’t seem to like their tactics, because they work. But on the other hand, putting so much pressure on a good project, that the project moves to Arizona, seems, excessive. So many things are done with shoddy and an inexperienced work force these days, it seems to me that unions with apprenticeship programs, or just craft proficiency testing , would work out better. A job done once is always cheaper [even with union labor] then doing it twice.

By: mac heebey

mac heebey — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:00:15 +0000

7. The Gaylord Hotel was about to begin the construction phase on a two Billion dollar 76 acre waterfront resort in Chula Vista when the united brotherhood of carpenters filed a CEQA lawsuit because the developer didn’t sign a project labor agreement. After the lawsuit was filed, the developer moved the entire operation to Arizona.

Green mail is another thug tactic in a long list of thug tactics unions use to bullie the public and hide behind government mandates. It’s the only way the dieing dinosaur continues to survive–cheating and manipulating the government corruption system.

By: CEQA Abuse Examples

CEQA Abuse Examples — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:25:44 +0000

Someday someone will put together a complete list of the hundreds of major construction projects blocked by unions using CEQA for purposes unrelated to environmental protection. Here are a few specific examples:

1. The Teamsters union filed a CEQA lawsuit in 2011 against VWR International, a distributor of laboratory supplies. In an attempt to intimidate VWR International into signing a union agreement at a proposed new facility in Visalia, the Teamsters allege that trucks entering and exiting the facility will harm the environment. The case – Coalition for Clean Air et al. v. City of Visalia et al. – will next be heard at the Fifth District State Appellate Court. (The Teamsters lost in Tulare County Superior Court.)

2. In 2009, the California Nurses Association sued Alameda County under the pretense that the county did not comply with CEQA in approving a project to demolish the seismically-deficient Eden Medical Center Hospital and other buildings and replace them with a new hospital and medical office complex. The nurses’ union did not want Sutter Health to close the San Leandro Hospital and reduce the number of beds at the Eden Medical Center.

3. The Service Employees International Union (or SEIU) filed a CEQA lawsuit in 2007 to stop construction of Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and a CEQA lawsuit in 2006 to stop construction of Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento. Both of these lawsuits occurred in the context of SEIU organizing campaigns.

4. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (or UFCW) has been behind numerous CEQA lawsuits filed by a Davis lawyer against proposed Wal-Mart projects in Northern California. These lawsuits are related to unions concerns over non-union competition for grocery sales.

5. UNITE-HERE (a coalition of hotel and restaurant worker unions) filed a CEQA lawsuit against the United Port of San Diego in 2009 to stop construction of a hotel at Lane Field in the City of San Diego. UNITE-HERE wanted an agreement with future hotel operators to allow easy organization of their employees.

6. In 2011, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) used CEQA as a basis for challenging the approval of the Kramer Junction solar project by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.

That’s just a start…

By: Grimes: Blackmail Goes Green in CA

Grimes: Blackmail Goes Green in CA — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:00:55 +0000

[…] Blackmail Goes Green By KATY GRIMES, Cal Watchdog, 1/10/12 Anyone who tries to change the sacred texts of the California Environmental Equality Act will find out just how sacred they are and lose. Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, found that out Monday. CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of building, construction or development projects by private businesses or public agencies. But according to the Public Policy Institute of California, one lawsuit is filed for every 354 projects reviewed under CEQA. Grove is pushing for the judicial review by the California Attorney General of these lawsuits in order to assure that CEQA’s requirements are followed appropriately, and that private sector, non-union businesses are not a constant target. CEQA was enacted in 1970, and signed into law by then Gov. Ronald Reagan. It requires elected officials to analyze and consider environmental impacts of proposed development and construction projects, and limit those impacts before approval could be given. But the reports can take months to prepare, and often are thousands of pages long. Many say that CEQA was created to protect the environment, but has instead become an instrument to stop all development. […]

By: Bruce Ross

Bruce Ross — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:04:36 +0000

CEQA is widely abused and needs reform, yet Grove’s bill would dramatically roll back Californians’ rights and concentrate enormous power in the attorney general’s office. It is an obvious non-starter.

Was she actually interested in promoting legislation?

By: queeg

queeg — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:35:49 +0000

CEQA is the full employment act for attornies…

Stop worrying about unions. Days are numbered…

By: PJ

PJ — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:07:40 +0000

I encountered my first Stupid New Law today. Can’t use self checkout for wine. Pushback against stores using self checkout instead of union workers?

Lots of people buy alcohol at grocery stores; therefore, more (union) workers are now needed to check out shoppers.

By: CalWatchdog

CalWatchdog — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:19:39 +0000

This is another reason why anyone who does business in California should have his head examined.

— John Seiler