Sequim City Council Nixes Anti-Union Initiatives
The Sequim City Council has voted unanimously to not act on two anti-union initiatives that were presented to the Council in late July. Personally I wouldn't have a problem with placing these two ALEC-financed “We're taking our country back! To 1850” initiatives on the ballot. Presumably, a majority of Sequim residents would be smart enough not to be conned into voting against their own interests. And if not, well, like they say, we get the government we deserve.
But according to the City Council and the Sequim City Attorney, these initiatives would be in violation of certain state laws and court rulings and would open up the city to unfair-labor-practice lawsuits. Councilman Ted Miller said:
“It would be hard for any proponents to come up with initiatives that violate more statutes and more court decisions than this one. It's a total waste of taxpayer money to vote on a totally meaningless election.”
City Attorney Craig Ritchie said:
“These initiatives, if passed, would put the city at some risk of being forced to commit unfair labor practices if they were complied with or not committing unfair labor practices and then not complying with them.”
But according to the City Council and the Sequim City Attorney, these initiatives would be in violation of certain state laws and court rulings and would open up the city to unfair-labor-practice lawsuits. Councilman Ted Miller said:
“It would be hard for any proponents to come up with initiatives that violate more statutes and more court decisions than this one. It's a total waste of taxpayer money to vote on a totally meaningless election.”
City Attorney Craig Ritchie said:
“These initiatives, if passed, would put the city at some risk of being forced to commit unfair labor practices if they were complied with or not committing unfair labor practices and then not complying with them.”
posted by Tom Harper at 10:44 AM
21 Comments:
City Attorney Craig Ritchie said:
“These initiatives, if passed, would put the city at some risk of being forced to commit unfair labor practices if they were complied with or not committing unfair labor practices and then not complying with them.”
what a chicken shit! bottom line, the current union environment is unsustainable.
"11 Aug 2014 ... The U.S. has regained the 8.7 million jobs lost in the recession, but the average wage has dropped 23 percent, according to a U.S. Conference.."
And: " U.S. Stocks Set New Records - Wall Street Journal"
And: "Five years after the official end of the Great Recession, corporate profits are high, and the stock market is booming. Yet most Americans are not sharing in the recovery." (From Harvard Business Review)
It is easy to see that the unions are the problem here.
Obviously, businesses are having a hard time with the costs of doing business, as we hear so often. Clearly, we need to cut taxes and get rid of employee benefits that are hurting businesses.
Right?
So, let's vote for politicians who promise to cut taxes even more. Who needs the police to be paid, or the streets paved? Pay teachers? Keep water coming to our houses?
No worries, private industry knows how to do everything better.
the economy bounces like a ball, Obama lost 9 million jobs and gained them back regardless of his policies. But Obama has sure screwed the pooch when is comes to international affairs just like Bush except in Obama's case ISIS is running a muck threatening peoples freedom.
ISIS? Really?
So, what weapons are these people using? US weapons, sent there by the US to fight, um, who was it last time?
Now, the solution is to send even more US weapons to the group-in-favor-today?! Whose hands do you think they will end up in?
Where did this violent jihadist mindset come from, one might ask? (Maybe not in Port Angeles, but elsewhere)
In the 80s, "The CIA, concerned about the factionalism of Afghanistan … created and distributed to Afghan school children textbooks filled with violent images, anti west rhetoric and militant Islamic teachings. This to undermine Soviet.."
Ooops.
Now that we've created them, it looks like we can't control them. Unintended consequences, it looks like.
But, "Keep 'em afraid", here at home.
While NATO asks members to spend even more on weapons. Lockheed Martin and friends (you know that revolving door from their corporate leadership offices into the US government) are happy.
Are you?
Fuck it, go camping...
Please, ISIS=SUNI=SAUDI=BUSH-BUDDY=TEA BAG PIECE OF SHIT
...and good for the city council in Sequim.
"running a muck."
The problem with the US/West aspproach in the Middle East is that we think we can kill ideas with guns, bombs and drones.
You know, like the Romans tried to get rid of Christianity by killing believers, way back when.
The West just compounds the problems by intervening on behalf of who ever they think will be controlling the oil. That results in these groups being able to say they are defending their country from "outsiders" and their collaborators.
Obama says they will bomb Syria. 60% of the oil in IS control is in Syria.
The news speaks of people from the US, Canada, England and other countries going to the area to fight with ISIS. Why, if not because of ideology? After all these years, nothing has been done to address the reasons these people do what they do.
So, we can expect this to go on for quite awhile.
You might find this-disturbing:
"As President Obama laid out his “strategy” last night for dealing with ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and as bipartisan leadership in Congress push to approve as much as $4 billion to arm the Syrian “rebels,” it should be noted that the keystone to his anti-Assad policy — the “vetted moderate” Free Syrian Army (FSA) — is now admitting that they, too, are working with the Islamic State."
I'm all for open government, but maybe these folks should start with getting an initiative to change RCW 42.30.140 (4)(a) which exempts collective bargaining from requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act. This law states: Collective bargaining sessions with employee organizations, including contract negotiations, grievance meetings, and discussions relating to the interpretation or application of a labor agreement; or (b) that portion of a meeting during which the governing body is planning or adopting the strategy or position to be taken by the governing body during the course of any collective bargaining, professional negotiations, or grievance or mediation proceedings, or reviewing the proposals made in the negotiations or proceedings while in progress.
down with unions, they serve NO purpose
Other than the Peninsula Daily News article, which I can't read, there is very little info about the current fire danger online. Any info anyone? I just double-checked, nothing, nowhere.
"there is very little info about the current fire danger online. Any info anyone?"
Yes, be careful with fire, random events produce random results.
Wow, most teabaggerish question EVER by the daily teabag. Do I feel that the US has a clearer strategy towards ISIS after President Obama's speech? Well, no. We had an excellent strategy, slaughter as few innocents as possible, try and involve the countries around Syria and Iraq, why make it worse? So, if you think we had a good strategy, you don't get to play. It's actually quite despicable....playing teabag games like this, with American lives.
"It's actually quite despicable....playing teabag games like this, with American lives."
Of course, the hundreds of thousands and millions of innocent civilians in those areas who are getting killed and injured don't really matter while Obama and the other outsiders decide their fate, right?
Sanctions for Russia for alledgedly funding and arming "rebel forces" in the Ukraine, but Obama and allies can fund and arm "rebel forces" in Syria and Iraq, and that is not to be seen by anyone as hypocritical?
The CIA says people are coming from 80 different countries to fight for ISIS, according to a CNN clip.
There are 196 countries in the world.
The US says 40 countries have said they will join US efforts to counter ISIS.
Think about that for awhile.
Now the US and allies talk about restricting access to the Middle East?!
So, people in almost half the countries in the world are pissed off enough to travel to another country to fight (for ??), and our solution is to try to restrict their travel?
You think that will make them less pissed off? You think that will solve this problem?
All these years after 9-11, and the "War on Terror". How many billions spent in this war?
How many laws passed, surveillance increased, and people injured and killed across the world?
As of today, as the US embarks on yet another war, you might ask "Are we making any headway?"
Do you get the impression that the threat levels are less these days, after all that has been done?
I remember that bumper sticker from a few years ago : " We're making new terrorists faster than we can kill them". Sadly, that seems to be the case.
Anonymous at 4:48 PM -- Unions brought us the weekend, paid sick days, vacation pay, decent working conditions. All of us benefited from their activism.
Saying that unions have served their purpose and we don't need them anymore is EXACTLY like saying the antibiotics worked, I feel better, so I don't need to bother taking the rest of the prescription. Your doctor will tell you that doing that will make you SICKER.
Likewise, if we let the unions go and start losing our benefits (which we WILL, you can COUNT on that) pretty soon we will be back to pre-union conditions, and we will never get those benefits back. They will be gone forever.
What your personal feelings are about unions -- and I'm guess you are not a union worker -- most of us have so much to thank labor unions for. My dad was union, and we had great health and dental benefits, owned our own home, had a good life. My dad grew up during the Depression and made 50 cents a day working after school to help support his family -- no unions then. So I speak with knowledge when I say you are mistaken.
All bureaucracies (including unions) have problems, but that doesn't mean you throw the baby away with the bathwater!
Anon 12:42pm
You are not thinking clearly, unions are over. We can not go back, because it's the law now. Tell you daddy thanks, tell the union no thanks , they are a business stealing from its members
Anon 6:57 Can you say "Race to the Bottom"?
Understand the concept?
It's okay down here at the bottom if you are wise in how you get here.
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