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Archives for the ‘Employment’ Category

Out-of-control, unsustainable union pensions are costing average Californians

Sunday, August 31, 2025, 6:22 pm | Randy Thomasson

Have you noticed how California cities and counties are incrementally costing you more in higher taxes, fees, and bonds, while providing fewer or slower services?

The dirty little secret of California local governments is how their budgets are being eaten up by pension liabilities created by police unions, firefighter unions, and other government unions.

And they’re deceptively passing off the costs to you — telling voters they can’t have a library, or sewer lines, or a functional police or fire department without “increases.” And they do this with without disclosing to voters that these “higher costs” are all due to overly-generous and ever-growing pension contracts with local government unions.

And meanwhile, your local government tax bill keeps going up, and local government services keep decreasing. Does this concern you enough stop “feeding the beast” however you can?

Read these eye-opening California Policy Center articles to understand. Then learn how to resign your union but keep your job and money:

Is California doomed to repeat pension history? (4/30/25)
Pension costs are still eating government budgets (12/1/22)
Are government pension funds in crisis again? (10/7/22)
Why are we not talking about California’s pension problems? (5/14/21)
California is not creating jobs fast enough to support tax increases for pensions (8/27/18)
How to restore financial sustainability to public pensions (2/14/18)
Government cut services, staff to afford pension costs (6/27/17)
“Unsustainable” pension costs are the driving force behind local tax increases (10/17/16)
Average Costa Mesa firefighter makes nearly $250,000 per year. Why? Pensions. (9/20/16)
The pension monster and how much it’s costing you to keep it fed (8/1/16)

The American public at large, and unionized workers in particular, want a free choice when it comes to affiliating with a union. Around eight in 10 Americans consistently express agreement with the Right to Work principle, and polls of unionized workers show similar sentiment. The truth is, American workers by and large want to make a living free from coercive union power: Most say that they have “no interest at all” in joining a labor union. American workers thrive on freedom, and policymakers who claim to care about them should be prepared to defend workers’ freedoms.
Mark Mix, National Right to Work Committee, August 31, 2025


Union membership = worse government

Saturday, August 30, 2025, 9:27 am | Randy Thomasson

UPDATE August 30, 2025: We’ve added several new links at the end of this post to inform and equip you to leave your union behind for good!

UPDATE August 31, 2025: And see how bloated government union pensions are harming average citizens.

Original September 2, 2024 post:

Have you considered why California has such bad government? There are powerful forces supporting the New Communist Democrats, who are now three-fourths of both houses of the State Legislature, and who control all the statewide constitutional offices.

Yet the evil forces leading here aren’t the “useful idiots” (foolish voters dumbed down by the “public” schools, illegal aliens, self-centered government employees, etc.).

No, the wealthy, influential entities sustaining the iron-fisted rule of New Communist Democrats in California are both government unions and private unions. Don’t believe it? See how unions fund the Democrat Party Machine:

  • As reported in late 2023: “Democrats and their causes receive 95.7% of the cash from unions’ political action committees. In 2021-22 the Big Four gave more than $29 million to the SEIU’s United We Can super PAC and the NEA Advocacy Fund super PAC which support federal candidates for office. Another $16 million went to wealthy climate crusader Tom Steyer’s leftwing For Our Future Pac. Some $3 million went to Fair Share Massachusetts which supports a state wealth tax.

“Big money also flows at the state level, where public unions all but run many state capitals. In 2021-2022, the four largest government unions spent $27.9 million in Illinois, $24.9 million in California, $13.2 million in Minnesota and $12.1 million in Pennsylvania.

“Nearly 60% of unions’ annual political spending, or some $400 million, came from membership dues and about 40% came from unions’ political action committees for which workers make voluntary contributions for politics. While unions can’t send dues money directly to candidates, workers might be surprised to see their paycheck deductions funneled to outside groups that spend money on politics (including those that deploy the money out of state).”

  • As reported in 2021 after Gavin Newsom “won” his recall election, “Organized labor donated at least $25.7 million — or more than one-third of the total the governor raised to keep his job. Unions, of course, have deep ties to the Democratic Party and a stake in nearly every aspect of state government.”

Because of how unions and their “owned politicians” put deceptive tax hikes on the ballot, and since union bosses regularly spend union dues to elect and re-elect corrupt Democrat Party politicians, if you’re a union member, please resign from your union.

You have the legal right to do so, while keeping your job, benefits, and more of your own money. Here’s how government employees can get out and how private sector employees can stop funding the beast.

Remember, you have strong, fundamental free-speech rights to not be coerced into supporting objectionable union politics. Now that you’ve unpeeled the onion and found the rotten core, will you stop “feeding” the beast?

See how to resign from the union and still keep your job and benefits:

Sample union resignation letter for private sector employees
Sample union resignation letter
How to resign your union membership in California

More links, added August 30, 2025:

Your right to work rights – in three minutes
Resign from any government union in any U.S. state
Government employee: How can I resign my union membership and stop paying union dues?
About your legal rights: private sector employee
Private sector employee: How do I cut off the use of my dues for politics and other nonbargaining activities?
An employee’s guide to union dues and religious do nots
For teachers: Opt-out of the union

The biblical view of man is work-oriented. It affirms that man was placed on the earth to subdue it to the glory of God (Gen. 1:28; 9:1-7). It is not each man’s right to work. It is his duty to work. What is his lawful right is his right to compete for the job he wants, his right to compete for the labor services he wishes to pur­chase. No one has a right to my job, including me. Anyone should have the right to compete for my job, including me. And I have the right to compete for his.
“A Christian view of labor unions,” Gary North, July 1, 1978

Proof your money is being wasted by Democrat Party politicians

Sunday, April 13, 2025, 5:47 pm | Randy Thomasson

As the April 15 tax return deadline approaches, be glad that DOGE is exposing waste and fraud in California! This is much-needed proof that the ruling Democrat Party politicians led by Newsom & Co. are OK with fraud.

This latest discovery about the waste and fraud within Newsom’s EDD (Employment Development Department) should convince every reasonable Californian to:

1) Never again think government needs more of your money
2) Always vote NO on tax increases, tax extensions, and bonds (all deceptive money grabs by wasteful state and local governments)

As Fox News first reported on 4/11/25:

After finding $382 million in fraudulent unemployment payments since 2020, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) identified California, New York and Massachusetts as the primary culprits. 

The three Democrat-led states accounted for $305 million in improper claim payments, DOGE said Thursday.

The group added that California also accounted for 68% of the benefits that were dispensed under former President Joe Biden to parolees identified by federal authorities as being on the government’s terrorist watchlist, or who had criminal records.

California, New York and Massachusetts all have a Democratic trifecta — meaning Democrats control the state House, Senate and the governor’s office. They also have a Democratic triplex, which includes party control of the Attorney General, Secretary of State and governorship.

The above new story was based on a DOGE post on X on 4/10/25

An initial survey of Unemployment Insurance claims since 2020 revealed the following:

– 24.5k people over 115 years old claimed $59M in benefits

– 28k people between 1 and 5 years old claimed $254M in benefits

– 9.7k people with birth dates over 15 years in the future claimed $69M in benefits

In one case, someone with a birthday in 2154 claimed $41k.

California, New York, and Massachusetts accounted for most of these improper claims, totaling $305M in unemployment benefits.

Additionally, California accounted for 68% of the unemployment benefits paid to parolees identified by CBP on the terrorist watchlist or with criminal records.

And like DOGE, SaveCalifornia.com has been working here in 2025 to expose the THEFT committed by Democrat Party politicians and their allies (union bosses, establishment bureaucrats, and RINOs).

Thank you for your support and for sharing our information with more people who need to know! Below are some of SaveCalifornia.com’s popular social media posts (click the images to see the full posts):

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”
Attributed to Scottish judge/professor/historian Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813)