Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Labor

Is Solorio trying to sneak a $29M taxpayer giveaway to special interests?

Posted on by Posted in Education, Jose Solorio, Labor, Politics, Santa Ana 1 Comment

construction_workers_004_r620x349(1)

Help Stop Jose Solorio From Illegally Hiding His $29 Million Taxpayer Give-Away To Special Interests

By: Dave Everett, Government Affairs Director, Associated Builders and Contractors, SoCal

Help stop RSCCD Trustee Jose Solorio from illegally hiding his $29 million taxpayer give-away to special interests! It is being voted on TOMORROW, TUESDAY 11/12/2013 at 4pm.

It seems the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) Board of Trustees has been violating California’s open meeting laws (also known as “The Brown Act”) by negotiating a discriminatory union agreement on their nearly $200 million dollar Measure Q bond passed by voters in November 2012. No mention of this wasteful special interest deal was of course ever made when selling this to the citizens – and now the public is being purposefully kept out of the debate. Continue reading→

City’s loaded survey results to be reviewed at public workshops at union halls

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Entertainment, Labor, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Now that the Santa Ana City Council is done conducting their loaded community survey, which reportedly faltered online forcing them to conduct “numerous community meetings” in order to get any answers at all, they are ready to conduct yet another public meeting – a Strategic Planning Community Workshop (that I am sure will barely be attended).

According to a city press release, at this meeting, “staff will inform attendees about the community survey results, solicit additional feedback, and will provide an update on the remainder of the process.”

This one-day workshop will take place at two separate locations: Continue reading→

Janet Nguyen turns on the OCEA

Posted on by Posted in Labor, Orange County, Republican Party, Santa Ana 2 Comments
OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen

OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen

From the OC Politics Blog

Supervisor Janet Nguyen’s campaign consultant, Dave Gilliard, has launched a blistering attack on the Voice of OC, an independent non-profit, non-partisan online media outlet, and the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA).

Gilliard’s attack is quite ironic given that Nguyen and her allies were caught red-handed this week, taking money from the Orange County Employees Association by The Orange County Register.

Could Gilliard’s attack be an attempt to change the issue from the fact that Nguyen and company took OCEA money, despite a county Republican Party ban on endorsing office seekers who accept political contributions from labor groups? Continue reading→

O.C. Labor Day event set for this Saturday, Aug. 31, at the Santa Ana Zoo

Posted on by Posted in Entertainment, Labor, Orange County, Parks and Recreation, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Join your brothers and sisters of the Orange County Labor Federation at the Santa Ana Zoo this Saturday, Aug. 31, from 10 am to 3 pm,  for a Labor Day Celebration, as we celebrate the value and highlight the struggles of everyday working people.

We’ve got hot dogs, goodie bags, jumpers, raffles and tons of fun planned for the day! Bring your family and friends along for the biggest labor day celebration in the county! Continue reading→

Solorio picks up early labor endorsements for his 2014 Senate race

Posted on by Posted in 2014 Elections, Jose Solorio, Labor, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Jose Solorio

For Immediate Release: August 12, 2013
For More Information Contact: Maricela Taylor – mobile: (714) 794-8431

Solorio Receives Early and Important Labor Endorsements for his 2014 Senate Race 

These endorsements, plus a $450,000 campaign warchest, position Solorio as strong candidate in the 34th Senate District

Santa Ana, CA – Community College Trustee Jose Solorio announces he has received an important statewide endorsement from the California Nurses Association and several local endorsements from the Anaheim Firefighters (Local 2899), Carpenters Union (Local 803), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (Local 441), Ironworkers Union (Local 443) and the Laborers’ Union (Local 652). Continue reading→

The OC Labor Fed will host a Town Hall for Immigration Reform on 8/12

Posted on by Posted in Entertainment, immigration, Labor, Latinos Leave a comment

Print

The Orange County Labor Federation is hosting a Town Hall for Immigration Reform on August 12, 2013, at the West Coast Christian Tabernacle, located at 309 N. Main St., on the Second Floor, in Santa Ana, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

They will untangle what the current bill means for our communities. They will discuss reform that includes a pathway to citizenship and keeps families together.

Invited guests include the following Members of Congress: Continue reading→

No more furloughs for Santa Ana’s city employees

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Labor, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Santa-Ana-City-Logo

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County

Community: City Announces End of Furlough Work Schedule

SANTA ANA, CA (June 20, 2013) – The City of Santa Ana is pleased to announce the furlough program will sunset effective June 30, 2013.

Effective July 1, 2013, the City will be on the 9/80 B schedule and all employees will return to the work schedule they had prior to the furlough program. The first Friday open to the public will be July 12th. Continue reading→

RSCCD Trustees vote to waste money with a union-only PLA at Santa Ana College

Posted on by Posted in Education, Jose Solorio, Labor, Larry Labrado, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Solorio jails bill

The Trustees of the Rancho Santiago Community College District have completed voting to rip us off.  How so you ask?  They have voted to enter into a union-only Project Labor Agreement (although they chose to call it something else, that is what it is) with regard to the Bond Measure passed last November, ostensibly for construction projects at Santa Ana College. (It should be noted that Trustees Phil Yarbrough and Arianna Barrios as well as the Student Trustee Ryan Ahari voted against the PLA!).

What this means is that the RSCCD is going to hire only contractors who hire from union halls.  While it is true that Santa Ana College has a number of union-only apprenticeship programs their dirty little secret is that it is very difficult to get into those programs and most of the union workers that will end up working at Santa Ana College will not in fact be apprentices.  And the RSCCD will not allow non-union apprentices to work on these projects.  What all this adds up to is that they are going to waste our tax money to the tune of at least 15%. Continue reading→

Big turnout for Santa Ana’s May Day March

Posted on by Posted in David Benavides, immigration, Labor, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 8 Comments

Santa Ana’s May Day march was a huge success. The theme of the May Day March was immigration reform.  There are only two immigrants left on our City Council today – Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilman Vince Sarmiento.  David Benavides, Michele Martinez and Roman Reyna are however fluent in Pocho.

Kudos to Naui for shooting these videos.  Here is another video shot at the march: Continue reading→

Santa Ana’s Annual May Day March set for May 1 at Sasscer Park

Posted on by Posted in immigration, Labor, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Come out on May 1st at 2 pm, for the annual May Day March in Santa Ana, at Sasscer Park (near 564 W Santa Ana Blvd, in Downtown Santa Ana)! This year’s campaign is around keeping families together.

Stop police cooperation with ICE! No Secure Communities & 287G! Stop the deportations in Santa Ana! Stop the raids!

Santa Ana school employees seek to oust their union president

Posted on by Posted in Education, Labor, Santa Ana, SAUSD 2 Comments

Recall Duane Lundquist

Members of the CSEA, Chapter 41, representing Santa Ana’s Classified School Employees, have launched a recall against their Chapter President, Duane Lundquist.  They are gathering signatures and need to get at least a 2/3 vote in order to oust Lundquist.  Click here to read their petition.

An inside source at the CSEA sent me this message, “Employees are not getting the help them need – HR controls the union. Employees are discouraged with the time it take to investigate a simple complaint. After a year of waiting for the result of a complaint they often are given a made-up a false story from HR! What are employees going to do when the Union that represent us does not answer your call for help!!! This is were HR take advantage of employees.” Continue reading→

The OCTA leads pension reform efforts

Posted on by Posted in Labor, OCTA, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana, Transportation Leave a comment

OCTA Logo

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Joel Zlotnik (714) 560-5713, Laura Scheper (714) 560-5697
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2013

OCTA Leads Pension Reform Efforts

Employees will pay full share of pension costs resulting in $85 million savings over 20 years

ORANGE – Employees of the Orange County Transportation Authority will pay their full share of pension costs under a proactive plan approved today by the agency’s board of directors.

OCTA has been paying an average of 8 percent for each administrative employee’s share of their pension costs. OCTA’s 1,100 union-represented coach operators, maintenance workers, facilities technicians and parts clerks already contributed 100 percent of the employee share. Continue reading→

Leadership training for immigrant candidates set for April 6-7, in Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in Asians, Entertainment, immigration, Labor, Latinos, Politics, Santa Ana 3 Comments

New American Leaders Project

Press Advisory

Contact: Nina Spensley, 917.864.8400, nina@newamericanleaders.org

“Ready to Lead “ Training Prepares Immigrants for Potential Candidacy and Leadership

SANTA ANA, California – The New American Leaders Project (NALP), Engage San Diego, Mobilize the Immigrant Vote, the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA) and the Orange County Labor Federation, in partnership with Wellstone Action will hold its “Ready to Lead” training to prepare first and second generation Americans with immigrant backgrounds for the rigors of running for office this April 6 –7, 2013 in Santa Ana, California. This event marks the first non-partisan program held in Orange County specifically aimed at training immigrant candidates to run for office at the local, state and national level. Continue reading→

How union only project labor agreements rip off the taxpayers

Posted on by Posted in Costa Mesa, Education, Labor, Santa Ana Leave a comment

No PLAs

From the OC Politics Blog

The Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustees have already voted to start negotiating a Union-Only Project Labor Agreement that will affect all construction projects related to last year’s Measure Q bond measure.

The editorial below, by PLA expert Kevin Dayton, sheds light on just how bad a move this was by the RSCCD Trustees.

Construction Unions Seek Monopolies on Taxpayer-Funded Construction at Two Orange County Community College Districts  Continue reading→

The RSCCD Trustees are for a Measure Q union-only PLA tonight

Posted on by Posted in Education, Jose Solorio, Labor, Santa Ana 5 Comments

The Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Trustees are meeting tonight to consider a busy agenda that includes “Approval to Negotiate a Project Labor Agreement Action.”  The administration of the RSCCD is recommending authorization be given to their Chancellor to negotiate a Project Labor Agreement with the Los Angeles/Orange County Building Trades Council.

Some people never learn!  We warned Santa Ana voters last year not to vote for Measure Q – the latest bond measure of the RSCCD, which will increase our property taxes in order to supposedly pay for construction at the Santa Ana College campus.  We already had approved a previous bond measure, Measure E, which the RSCCD wasted on the Santiago Canyon campus in Orange and on the construction of the O.C. Deputy Sheriff Training center (which was not needed with about five such centers within half an hour of Orange County).

In 2003, the RSCCD Trustees placed a union-crafted Project Labor Agreement (PLA) on all Measure E bond work.  Measure E had been passed by voters in 2002 with no hint of a controversial PLA would be used.  Voters were not warned about a PLA regarding Measure Q either!

Continue reading→