Posted on 04/21/2006 6:49:18 PM PDT by calcowgirl
Sacramento -- On the day before Roderick Hickman quit his job as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrections czar, he bumped into the lead lobbyist for the state's prison guards union, who was walking out of a meeting with Schwarzenegger's chief of staff [Susan Kennedy].
Hickman became incensed, and the next day he fired off an angry e-mail to Cabinet Secretary Fred Aguiar announcing his resignation and suggesting the governor's office had lost the political will to make big changes in the state's dysfunctional prison system. Hickman, several sources close to him say, was concerned that the union was beginning to have more clout than he had among the governor's top aides.
After two years of frosty relations, the Schwarzenegger administration has reached out to the politically powerful prison guards union as the governor faces a difficult re-election bid and as negotiations begin on a new labor contract to replace a lucrative deal the union struck with former Gov. Gray Davis.
The closer relationship has been one reason behind the resignation of Hickman in February and the announcement this week that acting corrections secretary Jeanne Woodford also will quit, according to multiple sources familiar with the corrections system.
(snip)
Woodford was upset because she believed that the union had persuaded the administration to side against her recommendations regarding who should be appointed a warden, according to a corrections employee who asked not to be named.
Administration officials denied that the union was influencing any decision but acknowledged that they have extended an olive branch to a union with which they have clashed previously. But they said holding more meetings was simply a way to communicate with a group that represents much of the prison workforce.
(Excerpt) Read more at shns.com ...
The Unions won the election, and they've come to collect their prize.
California: Deal Gives Guards Millions in Benefits. Schwarzenegger ceded powers to union
Los Angeles Times ^ | July 13, 2004 | Dan Morain
Posted on 07/13/2004 6:19:05 AM PDT by John Jorsett
Roll roll, roll the Gub
gently down the stream
Merrily merrily
yada yada sumthin sumthin
gorfff snurtt!
Hooyaaa!
Just cuz it hops from lily pad to lily pad
don't mean it's a frog.
A respectfully submitted alternative view: The Wilsonegger gang lost a poorly conceived and conducted political campaign. Some aspects of the campaign ran afoul of the entire political spectrum.
The current circumstances are not a result of the election but a choosing of the administration which reportedly undermined the efforts of the last two CDC administrators who were trying to correct the system.
The Schwarzenegger administration is not bowing before a victor but joining a partner in pursuit of naked political gain at the expense of California's productive class.
** THE UNITED FARM WORKERS JUST ENDORSED WESTLY AND ANGELIDES BUT THEY LIKE ARNOLD, TOO.
Here is what the union leadership said about the Republican governor when I asked:
"Gov. Schwarzenegger’s willingness to seriously and honestly consider the concerns of farm workers stands in sharp contrast to his two Republican predecessors, Govs. Deukmejian and Wilson. We have differing philosophies and we have disagreed on some issues, but we have found some common ground in advancing the cause of justice for farm workers. We have found areas to work together. For example: He issued the first-in-the-nation state regulation preventing heat deaths and illnesses of farm workers in response to appeals from the UFW. He signed a UFW-sponsored pesticide protection bill (SB 391, by state Sen. Dean Florez, in 2004). Among other actions, the Schwarzenegger administration banned most forms of hand weeding, which causes crippling injuries to farm workers."We have had disagreements with the Governor on immigration reform. But the Governor’s recent statements make us hopeful we may be able to find common ground on a critical issue for farm workers and our nation."
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