Economics prof pushing ballot measure to end collective bargaining for CA public unions

Economics prof pushing ballot measure to end collective bargaining for CA public unions. Prof. Lanny Ebenstein doesn’t believe unions should be able to negotiate with bosses they’ve likely campaigned to elect. Well, FDR was opposed to it, too. Obama is definitely no FDR.

This post was last modified on January 26, 2021

Bonfire of the Absurdities: After 35 year career writing software for IBM mainframes, am now self-employed contractor thinking of joining a union and striking for higher wages. Cured morbid fear of heights when I learned to look at them as lengths standing on end. Uncompromising in refusal to accept browser cookies. Amateur investor who has accumulated a small fortune in the market after starting out years ago with a large one. For recreation, I run, hike, kayak and play tennis but will not consider synchronized swimming under any circumstances.

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  • It... I... You guys maybe all just say this stuff to express what I think but sometimes can't find the thread to say it. Sometimes when the thread shows itself the process escapes me. Who know? Point is here there is nothing more for me to say. You guys said it all! This IHTM place should have a bar.

  • My lady and I walked by a newspaper machine tonight. I refuse to buy the liberal rag, but I often stop to read the headline. "Cap and Trade passed in California" I guess it's time to pull up the stakes and start looking elsewhere for somewhere to park the RV, honey.

      • I took my rocking horse business to Florida once, and was promptly chased out by over-regulation. I won't be back. Besides, I hate humidity.

        • I'd offer my state, but winter is about a month away at the most now. I dont know why anyone would want to move to a colder climate from a warmer one. I wouldnt atleast.

          But summers are nice here, the whole three months worth! :)

    • Most likely, Fweetness, our silent troll. You must have insulted Olivia or Mitch to have gotten the attention of Fweetness.

  • I'm so glad i found IHTM. and it was purely by accident. But I am getting a real education on this site, from people who've been there, done that, and intelligently converse about it. So thanks so much y'all!

  • Hey gang, another day in the law factory surrounded by Creatures From the Red Lagoon. Just enduring another day cheering on Sock Puppet. Just listened to this pile of sh1t and wanted to share, this thread happened to be here. Ya know the REAL reason for all the anti-union hostility these days? Hold on folks-- JEALOUSY! YUP, that's right. Non-union workers are JEALOUS of Union Superiority. Arrrgghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!1

  • Let me give you a little insight to this. I was in a Union (had to-no choice) because I worked in the public sector. The unions like the prison guards (they call themselves correctional peace officers-fancy name so they get paid more), the teachers unions etc all call the shots. The politicians do as they are told, and when it comes to voting your strongly encouraged to vote for the "correct" candidate. To me that borders on intimidation. I never voted for a liberal because they either were full of shit, wacko to the max or just plain dirty.

    I also upset the apple cart because I chose to fill out a form that my union dues COULD NOT be used for political purposes. That really pisses off the liberals. and when a large group of us did that we were considered the great unwashed because we were not thinking about the "greater good".

    I stayed out of union business, voted against them in our little secret ballots and spent a lot of time with people just like me who hated what unions have done.

    I learned early on that for the most part unions suck. When I was younger I got a job at a place that was run by the teamsters. I had to pay $300 JUST TO JOIN there little group. That's extortion plain and simple but its legal in Kalifornia.

    I saved for my retirement, got out and got a non union job in the same field and love it.

    In Kalifornia, unions control the major cities, and they in turn control the vote. If you were to nuke L.A. and the Bay Area, Kalifornia would be conservative, but the liberals control all of that and feel it is their divine intelligence that must guide Kalifornia.

    How have they done so far? 7 years running we are broke, they can't pay all the bills which means they can not pay the voters they bought and paid for. Our roads suck, it takes an act of God to get anything done because some liberal group is always protesting, yet our air is dirty, water in short supply, law enforcement gets cut, firefighting gets cut and the cities and states build arenas, mass transit programs that have no riders, pay for art in public places (that's mandated by the state) buy goods under bloated limited option contracts. I learned long ago just how much bullshit that "lowest bidder" business is. The lowest bidder always seems to turn out to be a crony of some politician.

    The politicians jump from one office to another. We voted for term limits, so a liberal attorney general now becomes the mayor of Oakland (highest murder rate in the country) then gets elected governor. Its musical political chairs. we vote to change, the politicians figure out a way to scam the system. I can not think of one liberal politician that ever held a job somewhere for any length of time. Some of the old farts have been bouncing around for decades, and if they can't get elected, they get appointed to various boards and commissions around the state to pad their retirement.

    Kalifornia is the place to watch because it is going to become the American version of Greece. It will go (pardon the expression) tits up in the near future and then the voters who got a bag of money promised to them are going to get handed a bag of bullshit and they will start one of those home shopping riots to get some new shoes and a color tv and whatever else they can steal. The politicians are at fault since they always promise more than they can deliver.

    People and businesses are already leaving the state in droves, the housing market collapsed, there is nothing here in the way of jobs, and people are fed up. The smart ones leave. Several major companies (you'll love this) including Heinz are leaving due to high costs of doing business here..Wonder of Long Chin Kerry had a say in that...A liberal bitchslap..ouch.

    I hope this guy is successful, but remember along with public sector unions there are the radial violence prone people like SEIU, and the Teamsters. This guy is going to be attacked, investigated and pummeled by unions and politicians. They are not going to give up their gravy train and will get violent to keep it. and the decent folks will, as always, be caught in the middle.

    I am sure the Obungles courts (The 9th CIRCUS Court of Appeasement-15 azzclowns-no waiting) will slap this down in a heartbeat, and like 80 percent of the 9ths decisions it will have to go to the supreme court to get overturned.
    Kalifornia is FUBAR, I doubt anyone can control it, or fix what is wrong since so many people get free Gooberment cheese and handouts to always vote liberal.

    • I will say this about Unions.
      I was a member of IBEW (Electricians Union). The trades unions are useful in some ways. They have an apprenticeship program where they teach proper procedure, methods, and safety related to the specific job, and they have a testing program that is a quality control for members. I have seen plenty of shoddy work out there done by non-union electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc. This is important because when you are dealing with these trades, there are serious safety issues involved.
      That said, their politics leave much to be desired and I was usually on the wrong side of the leadership, but so were most of the guys in my local.

      • Precisely, Poppa. I could replace IBEW in your post with IUOE, and the post fits perfectly. I went through the Operating Engineers Apprentice Program, and it led me to a good and productive life. Only got seriously injured once in my career, but it was a doozey. The Apprentice Program's administration had me go and give safety talks to all the incoming apprentices about how it actually CAN happen to you. I too disagree with my union's politics, but nobody does the job better than it's members.

    • A concise summary of California and its problems. It's no coincidence that the states and cities that are economic basket cases are governed by Democrats.

      I live in Wiscsonsin where we have been taking steps to curb the power of public employee unions. The unions have reacted savagely with mass protests, threats, vandalism, recall elections and attempts to make the state ungovernable. They're are now trying to gather enough signatures to force a recall of the Governor. Public employee unions with collective bargaining rights are an economic cancer. Professor Ebenstein is a brave man, he'll be under ceaseless verbal and, perhaps, physical attack by the unions, the MSM and leftist goons.

    • Well said, indeed!!!
      I moved out of California a little over a year ago after having lived there all my life (I'll be 50 soon). I look back at what's going on just since I left and thank God he led me to where I am now in AZ.
      I agree that California is headed the way of Greece, that those in charge are delusional, and that it ain't going to be pretty when the s**t really hits the fan. I fear for my family and friends still stuck in the state. Good luck to all. Get out now while you can.

        • What I don't understand is how things went downhill so quickly. When Ronald Reagan was Governor of California the state could have stood on its own as the 6th richest COUNTRY in the world. What the hell happened?

          • 33 Ronald Reagan
            34 Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. <<<<<<<<<
            35 George Deukmejian
            36 Pete Wilson
            37 Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis <<<<<<<<<<
            38 Arnold Schwarzenegger<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
            39 Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. <<<<<<<<<<<

            Need I say more?

          • Yea like a toilet that won't flush, we just keep circling the drain and watching the same old turds float by...And I am talking about Jerry Brown.

          • Sadly, I don't see any Ronald Reagan type people waiting in the wings to drag this state's sorry butt out of the fire this time.

  • The kalifornia socialist-democrat party will be going all out to stop this as it would cut off the major campaign cash spigot here. I would love that this gets on the ballot and passed and it just might but it will be struck down in the courts here.

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