Labor Issues

It was December of 2009.  I had been leading the way, pushing for pension reform while speaking out against the local firefighters’ union.  It’s probably not the best idea when your wife is a union organizer and you walk in union circles.

What happened next would be a huge wakeup call, at least for me.  My former boss, when I worked in Sacramento, asked me if I would meet with some representatives from the California Labor Federation, as they had some concerns with my writing.  My policy was and is that I’ll talk to anyone, and so across the street from the Capitol Building, I met with what turned out to be two representatives from the California Labor Federation.

On Tuesday night, city council anonymously moved forward by asking the city staff to draft an ordinance that would bring contracted workers up to $11 per hour or $12.50 per hour should health benefits not be included.

Councilmember Lamar Heystek pushed for the city to move towards a fifty percent of Yolo County median over a period of time. The council direction came on a 3-2 vote with Councilmembers Sue Greenwald and Stephen Souza joining Mr. Heystek.

Mayor Pro Tem Don Saylor cynically asked staff about the absence of affected employees at this meeting.

“In all of the conversations we’ve had on this, I’ve not seen any of the affected employees in the room, and we’ve not heard from them, that’s unusual, why is that?”