January 25, 2013

National/Politics

State-Level Policies Threaten to Further Weaken Unions

By David Madland and Nick Bunker | January 23, 2013, Center for American Progress

…. State-level policy has recently become increasingly important to the fate of unions. States such as Indiana and Michigan passed “right-to-work” laws in 2012 that undermine the strength of unions by requiring them to provide services for which they are not compensated, while Wisconsin passed a law in 2011 that repealed collective bargaining rights for most of the state’s public-sector workers. These policy choices, as well as similar ones made in the past, can significantly impact unionization rates, and they help explain the wide variation in unionization among states. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today, along with data from an online database managed by economists Barry T. Hirsch and David A. Macpherson, we can see how trends in unionization have differed across states in recent years.

 JPMorgan to Block Shareholder Vote on Bank Break-Up
Reuters: Friday, 25 Jan 2013

A federation of U.S. labor unions is looking to force JPMorgan Chase's board to consider breaking up the company after the disastrous "London Whale" affair, but the bank is trying to ensure that its shareholders do not get to vote on the union's proposal.…. Similar proposals have also been filed with Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley, by another union, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, said Lisa Lindsley, AFSCME's director of capital strategies. JPMorgan has become too big to manage, the AFL-CIO proposal said, citing more than $6 billion in losses last year by a trader nicknamed the "London Whale" in the bank's Chief Investment Office in London.

Unions and Income Inequality: Two Charts
—By Kevin Drum| Thu Jan. 24, 2013 8:47 AM PST, Mother Jones

Over at Bloomberg, Kris Warner follows up on yesterday's report on U.S. unionization rates with this chart, comparing us to Canada: …. Why have union membership rates stayed high in Canada, which faces all the same globalization pressures as the United States? Mostly because Canadian labor law is more union-friendly than U.S. law, which has been gutted over the past 60 years by anti-union Republicans: …. In Canada, income inequality has gone up, just as it's gone up in most English-speaking countries. That's no surprise, largely because the Canadian economy really is similar to the U.S. economy, and subject to similar globalization pressures. But it hasn't gone up as much, and part of the reason is probably unionization rates.

Unions Gain Latino Members, Could Be Unions' Saving Grace
Huffington Post: 01/25/2013 3:40 am EST

People of color used to not be allowed to join unions. Now, non-whites could be unions' only hope of survival. While unions are still about 70 percent white, that is beginning to change. Unions lost a record-breaking 547,000 white members in 2012. Meanwhile, membership increased among other races -- particularly Latino. In 2012, unions gained 156,000 new Latino members, 82,000 new black members and 45,000 new Asian members, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data sent to The Huffington Post.

Pensions Bet Big With Private Equity
By MICHAEL CORKERY, The Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2013, 10:31 p.m. ET

…. . Numerous pension funds are still struggling to make up investment losses from the financial crisis. Rather than reduce risks in the wake of those declines, many are getting aggressive. They are loading up on private equity and other nontraditional investments that promise high, steady returns in the face of low interest rates and a volatile stock market. … Not all pension managers are in on the action. Some funds are wary of the high management fees often charged by private-equity and hedge-fund firms. And while a large fund like Texas' may have access to marquee investors, smaller pensions may have trouble getting an audience with the best performing firms. …. If Texas misses its mark, state officials could seek to cut benefits or switch newly hired teachers from traditional pensions to less generous 401(k)-type plans. Similar proposals in other states have met with stiff resistance from labor unions.

Cities Urge Public Pension Funds to Divest From Gun Makers
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH, New York Times, January 24, 2013

Fresh from persuading a $5 billion pension fund in Chicago to divest from companies that make firearms, the city’s mayor, Rahm Emanuel, on Thursday urged the chief executives of two major banks to stop financing companies “that profit from gun violence.” ….. The renewed activism by city officials is reminiscent of the 1990s, when America’s big public pension funds proudly threw their weight around in corporate boardrooms. Trustees said then that they considered it a part of their fiduciary duty to push for corporate reforms, and companies like Disney, General Motors and the New York Stock Exchange had to respond. The funds’ biggest successes were in campaigns to put financial pressure on tobacco companies and those with ties to South Africa. In the last decade, however, pension trustees were battered by huge investment losses and pay-to-play scandals, and turned their focus inward.

Pension Panic Fueled by Anti-Worker Politics?
BY MICHELLE CHEN, In These Times, THURSDAY JAN 24, 2013 5:40 PM

…. The bottom line is that pension reform can be a political Trojan horse. The reaction to pension crunch reflects political priorities that are often hostile to workers. Across the country, governments have opted to protect their financial commitments to bondholders on at the expense of their commitments to future retirees and unions, who have seen benefits frozen or sharply cut.…. Instead of dismantling public sector benefits, local governments might address budget deficits by, say, making the tax system more progressive. As with many of the cries of “crisis” coming from the right, the obsession over public pension “unsustainability” too often takes a real problem of governments failing to uphold public promises and spins it into a false problem of workers supposedly demanding too much.

Governors Push Bigger Reliance on Sales Taxes
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON, New York Times, January 24, 2013

Republican governors are moving aggressively to cut personal and corporate income taxes, including proposals that would increase reliance on state sales taxes, setting up ambitious experiments in tax reform that could shape what is possible on a national level. …. Taxing consumption has the potential to lift economic growth by encouraging more savings and investment. But the shift could also increase inequality by reducing taxes predominantly for the wealthy, who spend a smaller share of their income than middle- and lower-income people. …. But Democrats say the approach would lead to cutbacks in education, health care and other vital services while shifting relatively more of the tax burden to those who can least afford it.

Republicans in Virginia, other states seeking electoral college changes
By Nia-Malika Henderson and Errin Haines, Washington Post: January 24

Republicans in Virginia and a handful of other battleground states are pushing for far-reaching changes to the electoral college in an attempt to counter recent success by Democrats. In the vast majority of states, the presidential candidate who wins receives all of that state’s electoral votes. The proposed changes would instead apportion electoral votes by congressional district, a setup far more favorable to Republicans. Under such a system in Virginia, for instance, President Obama would have claimed four of the state’s 13 electoral votes in the 2012 election, rather than all of them. Other states considering similar changes include Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, which share a common dynamic with Virginia: They went for Obama in the past two elections but are controlled by Republicans at the state level.

Senate Approves Modest Changes To Filibuster Rule
DAVID KURTZ, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, TPM

In two votes Thursday evening, the Senate overwhelmingly approved changes to the rules of the chamber, including the rules governing the filibuster. The final votes were 78-16 and 86-9. The approval of the changes was a disappointing ending for reformers, who had sought to dramatically weaken the filibuster, which has come to be used in recent years by the Republican minority with a frequency unprecedented in Senate history.

Deficit Hawks Down
By PAUL KRUGMAN, New York Times, January 24, 2013

President Obama’s second Inaugural Address offered a lot for progressives to like. There was the spirited defense of gay rights; there was the equally spirited defense of the role of government, and, in particular, of the safety net provided by Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. But arguably the most encouraging thing of all was what he didn’t say: He barely mentioned the budget deficit. ….. With private spending plunging as the housing bubble popped and cash-strapped families cut back, the willingness of the government to keep spending was one of the main reasons we didn’t experience a full replay of the Great Depression. Which brings me to the third reason the deficit scolds have lost influence: the contrary doctrine, the claim that we need to practice fiscal austerity even in a depressed economy, has failed decisively in practice.

Barack Obama’s new ‘grassroots’ group isn't quite
By: Kenneth P. Vogel and Tarini Parti and Byron Tau, Politico, January 25, 2013 04:41 AM EST

…. In its first days, Organizing for Action has closely affiliated itself with insider liberal organizations funded by mega-donors like George Soros and corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Citi and Duke Energy. And it has quietly sought support from the same rich donors who backed Obama’s campaigns, asking for help from Democratic donors and bundlers in town for the Inauguration at a closed-door corporate-sponsored confab that featured Bill Clinton as the keynote speaker. …. At the Newseum, Messina name-checked the Common Purpose Project, a non-profit which convenes weekly meetings of such groups regularly featuring White House officials, as “the model that we’re basing this off.”

Bobby Jindal: GOP needs to 'stop being the stupid party'
By Justin Sink – The Hill, 01/25/13 07:20 AM ET
 
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal warned fellow Republicans they "must stop being the stupid party" during a fiery and sharp critique Thursday night at the Republican National Committee's Winter Meeting. … In the address, Jindal outlined at least seven steps that he believes Republicans need to take in order to remain competitive. In a scathing takedown, he accuses the party of "looking backwards" and having an obsession with "identity politics."

States Save Millions by Helping Veterans Access Federal Benefits
Governing.com | | JANUARY 24, 2013

…. PARIS, a 20-year-old system operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, was originally intended to help states identify Medicaid recipients who were cheating the system by applying for benefits in multiple states. …. Using the system in a way no one had thought to try before, Allman, now the president of PARIS, realized savings for his state and greater benefits for the veterans he was helping. Allman launched the Veterans Benefit Enhancement Project, now a core component of PARIS. He now advises more than 30 states looking to realize the same savings he found for the state of Washington.

Poll: 58% oppose Medicare cuts
By: Jennifer Haberkorn, Politico, January 25, 2013 05:00 AM EST

…. Fifty-eight percent of people oppose any spending cuts to Medicare and 46 percent oppose any cuts in Medicaid, according to the poll, released by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. Medicare received the strongest support, after protecting public education.

State/Local

AZ: Fix for gaps in Phoenix pay stirs up debate
Dustin Gardiner, The Republic |  Thu Jan 24, 2013 8:30 AM

A study that found Phoenix employees in dozens of jobs are being underpaid or overpaid compared with the outside market has sparked a debate among city leaders about how best to remedy wage disparities. …. Luis Schmidt, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2384, said his members were outraged when they first learned of proposed pay decreases. He said the news came about a week after workers learned about Cavazos’ raise. “It was just very thoughtless,” Schmidt said. “You can’t just change the rules in the game.” …. DiCiccio and Councilman Jim Waring, who said he also opposes pay decreases for current employees, have questioned the accuracy of the study, which was conducted by the Segal Co. Both councilmen said Segal did not survey enough private-sector companies and relied on national surveys.

CO: Democrats flex labor muscles in Colo. Legislature
By By Kristen Wyatt on January 24, 2013, AP

A labor question that could test Democratic solidarity in the Colorado Legislature has gone in favor of the unions — for now. A Senate committee voted 3-2 along party lines Wednesday to guarantee collective bargaining rights by professional firefighters, even in areas where local voters have opposed the idea. The Democratic bill sets up a revived dispute over public-service unions versus local ordinances that bar certain bargaining procedures. … Labor groups had an easier time defeating a Republican-based bill to make Colorado a "right to work" state.

CT: New Haven, police union reach new 5-year contract
Register: Thursday, January 24, 2013

Mayor John DeStefano Jr. announced today that the city and AFSCME Police Union Local 530 have reached a tentative five-year contract agreement. “This agreement is fair but competitive. It will allow us to attract the best and the brightest to the New Haven Police Department by compensating them fairly, while saving the taxpayers of the city money,” said DeStefano. “I also want to acknowledge the work of Local 530’s negotiating committee in getting to an agreement.

DE: A taxing solution for shortfall
Jan. 24, 2013 10:57 PM,  |   The News Journal

Gov. Jack Markell, who secured 2009 tax increases on a promise they would be temporary, proposed making most of them permanent Thursday to shore up a $3.7 billion proposed budget that once again does not include pay raises for state employees. Markell’s plan calls for extending the tax increases on corporations and individuals, which were set to begin expiring in July, to help cover a $56 million projected shortfall in the state budget. …. Mike Begatto, president of the Amalgamated Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said he was disappointed but not surprised that Markell did not offer a pay raise. “He’s not proposed a pay raise for state employees during his tenure. Obviously, his priorities are not state employees and the welfare of state employees,” he said.

FL: Latest: Study will determine cost of FRS restrictions
Jan. 24, 2013 11:51 AM,  |  Tallahassee.com

State House Government Operations Subcommittee Chair Jason Brodeur said an actuarial study will determine if it would be worth cutting off new state workers from the pension system currently offered. Brodeur, a Republican from Sanford, held a workshop on Thursday morning, which he said was the first step toward drafting legislation restricting new state employees from entering into the Florida Retirement System pension program.  … The committee heard testimony from a strong showing of state firefighters associations along with the Fraternal Order of Police, the Police Benevolent Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

FL: Analysis: 201,000 in Florida didn't vote because of long lines
January 23, 2013|By Scott Powers and David Damron, Orlando Sentinel

The long Election Day lines around Florida may have turned away more than 200,000 frustrated would-be voters who gave up and went home before they cast ballots — or else saw the lines and elected not to join them. … Around the state, nearly 2 million registered voters live in precincts that stayed open at least 90 minutes past the scheduled 7 p.m. closing time, according to Sentinel analysis of voting data obtained from county elections supervisors. Of those, 561,000 voters live in precincts that stayed open three extra hours or longer.

HI: HGEA, DOE Reach Agreement on Principal Evaluations
Jan 24, 2013, Civil Beat

The Hawaii Department of Education and Hawaii Government Employees Association reached an agreement today on a new multi-tiered evaluation system for public school principals. Months in the works, the system will rate principals half on student outcomes and half on principal leadership practice, which includes five categories ranging from school culture to planning.

IA: State GOP lawmakers propose $750 tax give-back to every Iowa family
Jan 24, 2013  |   Des Moines Register

Iowa House and Senate Republican leaders today proposed to give a flat $750 to every Iowa household in an effort to return to taxpayers the state’s $800 million budget surplus. …. He declined to speculate whether a distribution of the state’s surplus would lead to state employee layoffs if union labor contracts now being negotiated would provide pay increases for state workers.

IL: State unions propose pension summit
Jan. 24, 2013, 10:40, Daily Journal

Public employee unions have invited Gov. Pat Quinn and the four legislative leaders to a "summit" next month to try to reach a negotiated agreement on pension changes.  We Are One Illinois, a coalition of public employee unions, said it will have the meeting in Burr Ridge Feb. 11.

Kansas House panel endorses union fundraising bill
By JOHN HANNA, AP: January 24, 2013 7:54pm

A Kansas House committee endorsed legislation Thursday to restrict political fundraising by public employee unions, a day after a business lobbyist created a Statehouse stir by remarking during a hearing, "I need this bill passed so we can get rid of public sector unions." … Critics' belief that the bill is part of a larger campaign against unions was reinforced by the comment a day earlier from Eric Stafford of the powerful Kansas Chamber of Commerce during the House committee's hearing on the bill. Stafford made the remark while being questioned by Rep. Annie Tietze, a Topeka Democrat who opposes the measure. Stafford later apologized privately to committee members for becoming frustrated when Tietze pressed him about what the Kansas Chamber needs from lawmakers. As for getting rid of public employee unions, he said, "That's not the goal."

LA: Judge strikes down retirement law pushed by Jindal last year
By Jeff Adelson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, January 24, 2013 at 9:10 PM

A Baton Rouge judge struck down one of Gov. Bobby Jindal's key initiatives Thursday, ruling the state House violated the constitution last year by passing a 401(k)-style plan for future state workers with too few votes. The proposal, known as a cash-balance plan, was the only controversial element of Jindal's retirement overhaul package to be signed into law, but Judge William Morvant said it did not garner enough votes to be sent to the governor's desk. … The Retired State Employees Association was a vocal opponent Jindal's retirement package last year, which also included proposals to raise the retirement age for some current employees, require larger contributions from workers and change how retirement benefits were calculated.

MI: Union head: Detroit used pay, benefit cuts to pay for consultants
January 25, 2013 |  Detroit Free Press

A top union leader accused Mayor Dave Bing's administration Thursday of spending revenue from last year's bond sale while proposing pay and benefits cuts as a means to pay for state-required consultants called for under Detroit's restructuring plan. Bing's office said the claim was "apparently grossly exaggerated." Ed McNeil, special assistant to the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 25, said he was in negotiations with Bing's labor relations director, Lamont Satchel, and a representative of a the city's financial consultant, Ernst & Young, earlier this week when it appeared, at least to him, that the city let something slip.

MI: GEO weighs impact of right-to-work law
STEPHEN YAROS, Daily, January 24, 2013

Although Wednesday night was only their first meeting of the year, the Graduate Employees’ Organization was already focused on what will define their group for 2013: figuring out how to function under Michigan’s new right-to-work legislation. Right-to work legislation, which has been passed in 23 other states, allows employees in union represented workplaces to not automatically have dues deducted from his or her pay. The law's moves through Michigan's legislature at the end of the 2012 session drew headlines nationwide.

MI: Report: Michigan failed to collect $15.3M in Medicaid reimbursements
BY KAREN BOUFFARD THE DETROIT NEWS, JANUARY 24, 2013 AT 7:15 PM

The Michigan Department of Community Health failed to claim $15.3 million that could have been returned by the federal government to cover prescription costs for Medicaid patients, according to a state Auditor General's report. The Office of the Auditor General determined that the cost of the prescriptions should have been covered by the federal Medicare program, but the state never asked Medicare to reimburse the funds. The report was released last week.

NH: Custodian will no longer shred confidential documents in district office
By DANIELLE CURTIS, Telegraph, Friday, January 25, 2013

– Add shredding confidential documents to the list of things the district’s custodians won’t be required to do. The Board of Education sided with AFSCME 365, the district’s custodial union, during a public grievance hearing last week, ruling that although a custodian has been shredding in the district office for several years, the practice should stop.

NM: Pensions Front and Center at Capitol
By Dan Boyd / Journal Staff, Thu, Jan 24, 2013

New Mexico’s ailing public retirement systems took center stage at the state Capitol on Wednesday, with union leaders and top lawmakers calling for solvency legislation to be passed during the current 60-day legislative session.  Bills to shore up the state’s two public retirement systems – the Public Employees Retirement Association and the Educational Retirement Board – have been introduced at the Roundhouse, and House and Senate members received a primer on the proposals Wednesday. …. Union leaders spoke in favor of both plans Wednesday, saying public employees are willing to pay more to preserve their retirement benefit packages.

NM: Arbitrator hears hospital's complaint that union violated contract Phaedra Haywood | The New Mexican
New Mexian: Thursday, January 24, 2013

A rabbi, two priests and a city councilor were among those shut out of an arbitration hearing Thursday between Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center executives and representatives of the hospital workers’ union, District 1199. About 30 other people, including hospital employees, citizen advocates and the media, also were asked to the leave the room by arbitrator T. Zane Reeves, who said Christus officials had made that request. Reeves was overseeing a hearing on a grievance the hospital filed last summer against the local branch of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, in which the hospital accuses the union of violating the terms of its contract.

NJ/NY: Towns’ Next Hit From Hurricane Is to Tax Revenue
By ALISON LEIGH COWAN, New York Times, January 24, 2013

….The storm damaged tens of billions of dollars’ worth of real estate, especially in coastal areas of Long Island and New Jersey. As a result, localities can no longer expect to reap the same taxes from properties that have lost much of their value — in some cases, permanently. … The Division of Local Government Services in New Jersey estimated this month that more than a dozen municipalities in the state could lose at least 10 percent of their tax bases. ….. New York City and county governments in New York are far less reliant on property taxes than localities, so they are expected to have an easier time weathering a drop in the value of the tax base caused by storm damage.

NY: Massapequa Park, village workers reach deal
January 24, 2013 9:54 PM By EMILY NGO  newsday.com

Unionized Massapequa Park employees are to receive the equivalent of a 3.5 percent salary boost for each year of a three-year deal reached with village officials. …. The village board last week voted 5-0 unanimously to approve a three-year Civil Service Employees Association pact for the period June 1, 2011, to May 31, 2014. … It includes a 1 percent raise in the first and second years, a 1.5 percent raise in the third year with a step increase each year, officials said.

NY: BOE approves retirement incentives
JAN 24, 2013 AT 4:05 PM, The Photo News

The Monroe-Woodbury School Board approved retirement incentives Wednesday night in the district’s ongoing effort to reduce staff and costs without layoffs through attrition. ….  While qualifying thresholds - things such as length of service and age - may vary somewhat for each group, the incentives are: Civil Service Employees Association: $15,000 incentive to retire.

NY: Binding arbitration leads to higher taxes
ALFONSE D'AMATO, LI Herald, January 24, 2013 |

 …. Over the past several years, Martin Scheinman, a largely unknown power broker, has made quite a career as an arbitrator for thousands of public employees. The deals he has helped hammer out between public employee unions and county officials have impacted millions of taxpayers. His latest deal, however, has raised more than a few eyebrows and will prove to be another nail in the coffin of the Nassau County taxpayer. ….. Why the dramatic increase? Scheinman and his panel decided that these investigators, who were formerly part of the Civil Service Employees Association, should instead receive the salaries and benefits of the county’s Detectives Association.

OH: City Negotiating Settlement Over Pension-Funding Lawsuit
City Beat, Jan 25, 2013

The city of Cincinnati and a union representing city workers are currently negotiating an out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit involving the city's pension program. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) claimed in a 2011 lawsuit that the city government isn’t meeting funding requirements. A Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas motion filed Jan. 4 and accepted Jan. 23 gives the city and AFSCME until April to settle the case out of court.

OR: Settlement requires PEBB to cover gender reassignment surgeries, therapy / State will pay employee $36,000, cover procedure
Jan 24, 2013  |   Statesman Journal

The state of Oregon must provide health insurance coverage for all operations, prescription drugs and other treatments related to medically necessary gender reassignment surgeries, as provided by a settlement with state employee Alec Esquival.

Pa. treasurer says he might not pay lottery contract even if attorney general approves
Mark Shade, PhillyBurbs.com, 1/24/2013 10:46:32 PM ET

Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord on Thursday said his concern is increasing about the controversial 20-year contract with a British company to privately manage its $3.4 billion lottery system. Even if newly elected Attorney General Kathleen Kane approves the contract with Camelot Global Services, McCord said he still might block payment because state lawmakers have not been a part of the conversation. …. Since the November announcement, McCord, Democrats and the union representing lottery employees, AFSCME, have criticized the governor for embarking on a secret deal that could bring Keno and online gaming to Pennsylvania without legislative approval.

R.I. House votes 51-19 to legalize same-sex marriage; bill now goes to Senate
January 24, 2013 5:52 pm By Randal Edgar, THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL /

With more than 100 supporters watching from the gallery, the Rhode Island House voted 51 to 19 Thursday to pass a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage.

TN: Organized labor registered gains in Tennessee in 2012, bucking national trend
By Wayne Risher, Commercial Appeal,  January 24, 2013 at 9:30 a.m.

Organized labor registered slight gains in Tennessee last year, bucking a downward national trend for not-so-Big Labor. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said 4.8 percent of Tennessee's wage and salary workers were union members, up from 4.6 percent in 2011. Unions represented 152,000 public and private sector workers in the state, a 13,000 gain year over year.

WI: Budget surplus grows to $484M
Jan. 24, 2013 8:58 PM,  |   Associated Press

Wisconsin’s budget picture brightened Thursday, with new estimates that show a surplus will grow to $484 million, giving Republicans and Gov. Scott Walker even more room to pursue their tax cutting agenda. The estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau was almost $137 million better than one Walker’s administration released in November.