Labor

Thomas C. Wigand: Bob Walsh’s Risky Scheme

By Engaged Citizen | June 9, 2008 |

According to the Providence Journal, Bob Walsh of NEARI has been prowling the halls of the General Assembly peddling a “plan” to solve this year’s budget deficit. His protégé Pat Crowley has posted a version of it on the left-leaning RI Future blog. Though his proposal is coated in sugary language, should the General Assembly…

Thank You, Erin Blackman!

By Justin Katz | June 8, 2008 |

Much of the criticism (and all of the hatemail) related to my op-ed regarding Lt. Michael Morse and unionization in RI has only served to exacerbate my reservations. Namely, when I say “unionization,” they hear “firefighters.” When I say, “I’ve concluded that public-sector unionization is among the villains in Rhode Island,” they hear, “you get…

The Enemy’s Org Chart

By Justin Katz | June 8, 2008 |

Today’s Providence Journal article on organized labor in the state is must-reading. This passage is particularly telling: But organized labor also has a strong voice in discussions about over health-care cuts for the poor, reduced benefits for foster children, environmental causes like such as recycling, and even gay marriage. Rhode Island unions have formed unique…

Exhibit #473 for the Prosecution’s Case That the NEA Has Less to Do with Education than Left-Wing Politics

By Justin Katz | June 3, 2008 |

Yes, that’s an organization composed mainly of teachers offering up unimaginative slogans that promote left-wing clichés:

Across the Union Divide

By Justin Katz | June 2, 2008 |

My piece in today’s Providence Journal dwells on the collision of my affection and admiration for Providence Firefighter/EMT Lt. Michael Morse and his book and my opposition to public-sector unions.

The Injury Lottery

By Justin Katz | May 27, 2008 |

The Projo headline should have been “Murder case could threaten ex-officers’ pensions,” because it shouldn’t take the manifest ability of killing another human being to correct this clear fleecing of the public: Gianquitti has been collecting an accidental disability pension since 1993, retiring at 24 after six months as a patrolman for the Providence Police…

Promises Bought and Futures Sold

By Justin Katz | May 25, 2008 |

Julia Steiny is must-reading today: After collecting my thoughts and temper, I wrote back. It seemed to me that teaching a child to read was the principal mission of any school and was, therefore, funded. Rhode Island has one of the highest per-pupil expenditures in the nation. If not to teach reading, what is it…

More Unionist than Professional

By Justin Katz | May 20, 2008 |

West Warwick teacher Paul Bovenzi appears to have attended a few too many union prep and pump sessions: Teachers drive education, and know what’s best for children in their schools. Contrary to popular belief, administrators (or managers to use his misnomer) are no more educators than a hospital administrator is a doctor! Do you want…

Yes, You Bear Some Responsibility

By Justin Katz | May 16, 2008 |

In the obviously titled “State workers protest any pension cuts,” one protester said the following: Others, including social worker Michael Fallon, said they felt state workers had been unfairly made the “scapegoats” for both the ballooning unfunded liability in the state pension fund and the “poor management” that landed Rhode Island in its current fiscal…

Changing the scope of what is subject to union contract bargaining for RI public employees

By Donald B. Hawthorne | May 14, 2008 |

On the Tuesday evening Matt Allen WPRO show, Matt interviewed State Representative and House Minority Whip Nick Gorham about Gorham’s bill H-7664, which would redefine the scope of issues subject to bargaining for RI public employees. During the interview, Gorham noted that there are very different approaches across the 50 states as to what issues…