Republicans in Indiana to Seek Law Limiting Unions
By MONICA DAVEY November 21, 2011
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Republican leaders
in Indiana on Monday declared as their top legislative priority making Indiana
a “right to work” state, setting the stage for a new battle over union rights
that has already consumed many states.
The proposal would
prevent unions from negotiating contracts that would require workers to pay
union dues.
The notion
instantly set off objections from the state’s union leaders, who said the true
aim was to weaken labor unions, and from Democratic lawmakers, some of whom had
left the state for more than a month early this year in an effort to block
similar provisions.
With an election
year approaching, the Republican leaders’ decision to revisit the question
places Indiana
squarely in the center of a volatile political debate already playing out
elsewhere. In Ohio, voters this month overwhelmingly repealed a law limiting
collective bargaining for public sector workers, and in Wisconsin, a fight over
bargaining rights has led critics of the state’s Republican governor to begin
collecting signatures in the hope of recalling him from office.
“We must remove
the last barrier to job creation in Indiana,”
said Representative Brian C. Bosma, the Republican
speaker of the Indiana
House, who said the legislation would probably be considered when lawmakers met
in January. “Time and again, those charged with bringing new jobs to Indiana have given us very specific evidence that at
least a third to a half of businesses looking for where to move take Indiana off the table
because we’re not a right-to-work state.”
Mr. Bosma said he was undeterred by indications from states
like Ohio and Wisconsin that public opposition might
follow new limits to unions. He said the circumstances were different: the
other states were focusing on those in the public sector, while Indiana, which already
ended collective bargaining for state employees by executive order in 2005,
would deal with private-sector businesses and whether to join 22 other states that already limit union
shops.
“I wouldn’t
undertake it if I wasn’t confident we will succeed,” Mr. Bosma
said.
In 2010,
Republicans won control of Indiana’s
House, giving them majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly and the
governor’s office. Gov. Mitch Daniels, who is nearing the last of eight years
in office, did not comment on the proposal on Monday. He said this month that
he was still examining the matter but believed that the union issue was indeed
costing the state jobs.
But opponents of
the proposal said there was no evidence that unions in Indiana had driven anyone away.
“It’s the kind of
a rerun argument you’ve heard in other states,” said Jeff Harris, a spokesman
for the Indiana State
A.F.L.-C.I.O., who said that 11.8 percent of workers in Indiana were in unions. “I think it’s a
little bit of tone deafness out there amongst the legislators.”
Some union members
were being encouraged to appear at the Statehouse in Indianapolis on Tuesday, when lawmakers will
hold a brief organizational meeting in preparation for next year.
This year, faced
with similar proposals, thousands of union supporters held protests there, and
House Democrats fled to Illinois
to prevent passage of what they viewed as anti-union legislation. Tougher rules
penalizing legislators who do not show up have since been instituted, and it
seemed uncertain on Monday whether another walkout might occur.
“There’s already a
huge disparity between the rich and the poor, and this would only exacerbate
it,” Representative B. Patrick Bauer, the Democratic leader in the House, said
of the Republicans’ plan. He said the Republican majorities would surely be
hearing from the public, then added, “Maybe they just
feel comfortable that they can absorb the blow.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/us/indiana-gop-to-seek-law-limiting-unions.html?_r=1
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Obama's Labor Department Approves Deal Giving Ex-Solyndra
Staff $13,000 Each In Federal Aid
By Sean Higgins, Investors.com Nov 21, 2011
The Labor Department today announced that it had approved
Trade Adjustment Assistance for the former employees of the bankrupt solar
panel maker Solyndra.
That means all of the firm’s 1,100 ex-employees are eligible for federal aid
packages, including job retraining and income assistance. The department has
valued packages at about $13,000 a head.
Taxpayers will have to cough up yet another $14.3 million as a result of Solyndra’s bankruptcy. They are already on the hook for
$528 million in federal loan guarantees to the company that are unlikely to
ever be paid back.
http://nation.foxnews.com/solyndra/2011/11/21/obamas-labor-department-approves-deal-giving-ex-solyndra-staff-13000-each-federal-aid?cmpid=NL_FiredUpFoxNation_20111122
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Top pensioner at Oregon Public Employee
Retirement System: Mike Bellotti at $41,000 a month
November 22, 2011, 8:58 AM By The Oregonian The Oregonian
The top 10 people who get benefits from the Oregon Public Employee
Retirement Systems were made public this afternoon, along with the complete
list of pensioners' compensation.
A Marion County
judge dismissed a last-ditch effort by Oregon's
public employees to block the release of individual pension information for
105,000 retirees by the state pension system.
Among the data released: mean monthly allowance: $2,363.25; and 837 get more
than $100,000 a year.
According to PERS documents, the top of the list and their monthly checks:
1. Mike Bellotti
$41,341.67
Mike Bellotti, 60, is former athletic director of the
University of Oregon,
and former head football coach for the Oregon
Ducks. He resigned last year to become a college football analyst for
television.
Reached at his home Monday evening, Bellotti said he
didn't make the PERS rules, and simply lived by the package he was offered when
he signed on at the University
of Oregon in 1989. He
said his pension was a fraction of his final annual compensation from the
University, which he said was between $1.9 million to $2 million, and that he'd
passed up several offers to leave for more money.
"Put in all the taxes I've paid to the state of Oregon," he said.
2. Frederick Keller
$31,459.45
More
The Oregonian’s continuing coverage of the
Oregon Public Employee Retirement System
Dr. Frederick S. Keller is an interventional radiologist with Oregon Health & Science
University. He became
director of OHSU’s Dotter Institute in 1993. He is
the Cook Professor of Interventional Therapy, professor of surgery, and chair
of the department of diagnostic radiology at OHSU. He's been a licensed
physician in Oregon
since 1974.
3. Lesley Hallick
$23,917.22
Lesley Hallick spent 32 years at Oregon Health &
Science University, starting as an assistant professor in microbiology in 1977.
She went on to become vice president for academic affairs and the University's
first provost. She left OHSU in 2009 to become president of Pacific University.
4. Steven Goldschmidt
$21,517.24
Steve Goldschmidt, 67, is former director of human resources for Portland
Public Schools (he was fired in 2005 by new Portland Public School
superintendent Vicki Phillips). That same year an arbitrator ruled that
Phillips wrongfully fired and damaged the reputation of Goldschmidt, brother of
former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt was
awarded $620,000 an amount that includes $250,000 for the tarnished reputation.
Before being hired by Ben Canada as the HR directory, Goldschmidt represented
the Eugene School District during a 22-day strike
in 1987 — the longest teachers strike in state history.
5. David Frohnmayer
$21,027.21
David Frohnmayer, 71, is former Oregon Attorney
General, former dean at the University
of Oregon School of Law,
and former president of the university. His last day as president was June 30,
2009. In September 2009 he became "of counsel" to the Harrang Long Gary Rudnick law firm, accepting select
projects in legal, public policy and other matters. His prior public service
also includes three terms in the Oregon
House of Representatives.
6. Peter Kohler
$20,252.33
Dr. Peter O. Kohler was president of Oregon Health & Science
University for 18
years. His name is stamped on the 11-story patient-care building that
OHSU opened in 2006. Kohler retired in September
2007. Later that year he became vice chancellor at the University
of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Fayetteville.
7. Frank W. Anderson
$20,209.13
Frank W. Anderson is an 83-year-old University of Oregon mathematics professor from 1957, but
retired in the past decade. He's currently listed as a professor emeritus. The Anderson Award, endowed by
Frank W. Anderson, honors an advanced graduate student with the department’s
(math) most outstanding teaching record.
8. William A. Korach
$20,068.81
Lake Oswego Superintendent of Schools, William A. Korach,
65, is the longest-tenured superintendent of any school district in Oregon. Earlier this year Korach announced his plans to retire
while continuing to work part-time.
9. Peter Von Hippel
$19,677.95
A longtime University
of Oregon professor of
biophysical chemistry and molecular biology, Peter von Hippel,
a prominent cancer researcher, retired in 1999 after 32 years. He has continued
to head the University's Institute on
Molecular Biology, a laboratory funded by the National Institutes of Health. He
is an American Cancer Society Research Professor of Chemistry, and
continues to work full time with post-doctorate students and others. "I'm
not getting paid; I'm doing this because I like to," he says. "I put
in a lot of 12 hour days."
He said it's not fair to focus on pensions, because university researchers in Oregon have historically
been paid less than counterparts in other states-- and accepted
pension increases in lieu of negotiating better salary. "Several
times while we were working they asked us to take an increase in our pension
rather than salary. That's one of the reasons why our pensions are high."
10. Anthony Montanaro
$19,477.82
Montanaro retired as vice chair of OHSU's
Department of Medicine with a final-year salary and bonuses of $460,000. He now
works part-time as head of OHSU's Division of Allergy
& Clinical Immunology.
"I've worked hard for a long time. The Oregonian
didn't come to me when I was making $12,000 a year as a young faculty
member. Obviously when you work at a place for a long time you start at the
bottom and obviously I was asked to be in a position of responsibility the
last few years. I didn't seek that out, I was asked.
I totally am aware that there are a lot of people that are
going to find this objectionable, but basically I played by the rules and
worked hard for a long time. I'm probably not helping myeslf
by talking to you, but I'm just being honest. I didn't write the rules."
Upon being told it was a top 10 list, "Why
couldn't I have been 11th" he quipped.
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