Labor
One question lost in the heat of this school year’s example of the annual opening-day labor dispute is: Why should school children pay more for janitorial services than anybody else would? The practical answer is that parents are very sensitive to the treatment of their children, and that’s just one of the points of leverage…
In June, the North Kingstown School Committee voted to privatize the union jobs of 26 custodians. Twenty of the twenty-six were re-hired by the private company–GCA–that was brought in to take over. The committee voted to award a bid to GCA to privatize the district’s custodial department and will plan to award the contract at…
630AM/99.7FM WPRO has posted my appearance on the Dan Yorke show, Tuesday, in two segments. The first is the initial half hour introducing the research from the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity and touching on some conclusions. For the second hour, Economic Development Corp. board member and VIBCO President Karl Wadensten joined us in…
While watching the 11 pm news tonight on Channel 10, I saw a story about the 67 former employees of the Department of Labor and Training (DLT) protesting their layoff. I get it, layoffs are bad, I wish everyone who wants a job could be employed. I also get what they’re saying about the irony…
Did you catch the article this week by Tim White on pension averages and this other great nugget called “Option IV”? Of course we all remember a few months back when the Cranston firefighters’ union President Paul Valletta accused Treasurer Gina Raimondo of “creating this problem.” Valetta charged that there is no pension problem as…
The Providence Journal has a story today by Randal Edgar about a “bug” on the Secretary of State’s envelopes. For those unaware, a bug is a little icon that is placed on an item or a screen, sort of like advertising. You’re probably familiar with the television network bugs during their programming. On NBC, they’ll…
In the video below, WJAR’s Jim Taricani dug up a provision in Rhode Island Local 580’s contract that says they may attend college full time to obtain a master’s degree in social work while being paid their full time salary. I am familiar with businesses that offer a tuition reimbursement plan, but I’m not familiar…
Fresh on the heels of Governor Chafee’s declaration of the Year of the Cities and Towns, Reps. Scott Guthrie (D, Coventry), Roberto DaSilva (D, East Prov., Pawtucket), and John Savage (R, East Prov.) have introduced legislation (H7317) that may win the sure-to-be-tough contest for union-loving lunacy: 28-7-7.1. Representation of towns and cities – maximum legal…
Two aspects of this Monday editorial in the Providence Journal, lauding Central Falls Superintendent Fran Gallo for progress in her school district are interesting. For one, multiple Projo columnists have compared Democrat General Treasurer Gina Raimondo favorable with Republican reformers in other states, like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Ohio Governor John Kasick, on the…
That was the answer given by SEIU Local 580 President Phillip Keefe about his union’s response to the fact that Crossroads RI decided to back Engage RI in the recent pension reform discussions. In today’s Providence Journal, Crossroads’ president said they’re getting some of their donation cards back with a different response from the past.…
