October 10, 2007

Council Ends February 2008 Peace Labor Ballot Measure

Statement by Randy Gordon, President and CEO, Long Beach Chamber

The Chamber asked the City Council last night to cancel the big box and peace labor propositions scheduled for the February 2008 ballot.

At a time when our city is struggling to find extra money in the budget to hire more needed police officers and make long-overdue improvements to our city's infrastructure, how can you consider spending over a half million dollars for this election?

The Chamber believes these two ordinances interfere with the freedom of the consumer to purchase and the freedom of the worker to choose. By rescinding one and not the other the city saves only $20,000. Rescinding both of the ordinances will save the city $510,000. $510,000 can go a long way towards police, fire, fighting graffiti and gang violence and even pot holes.

According to the City’s Superintendent of Street Maintenance the city’s cost to repair a pothole is $18. Canceling the two ballot propositions will save the city over $500,000. That savings could pay for 27,778 potholes to be filled in our city.

The Council agreed with the Chamber and rescinded the peace labor proposition. A decision on the big box proposition was postponed until the November 6th city council meeting.

Finally, yesterday, we sent an eALERT to our member yesterday urging them to contact their Councilmembers.

February 22, 2007

Business Community Shines Light on Labor's Efforts to Discourage Direct Democracy

Chamber President and Councilmember DeLong Calls Upon Chamber Membership to Act

The Long Beach business community is relieved to hear that Councilmember Gary DeLong has come to the rescue of Long Beach workers. Councilmember DeLong has recorded a phone message urging voters to support direct democracy. The Councilmember’s efforts couldn’t have come at a better time. In perhaps one of the most blatant displays of dirty politics, union-organizers have sunk to “alternative methods” in their quest to prevent the people from having their say on the so-called Labor Peace Agreement. The Chamber has obtained pictures of union-organizers bedeviling the signature-gathering efforts of the Hotel Alliance to get the measure in front of the citizens of Long Beach for an up or down vote. The Ordinance, enacted by the City Council, imposes a union on hotels on city property in the name of "labor peace" even though operations at non-Union hotels in Long Beach have not been disrupted for more than 30 years.

“DeLong’s efforts are in response to Union-organizers, who have been joined in their fight to keep the people from weighing in by State Senator Alan Lowenthal. Mr. Lowenthal has recorded telephone messages urging Long Beach voters not to sign petitions. In fact, Mr. Lowenthal calls the Council-passed ordinance a good measure and urges the telephone message recipient not to sign petitions. The Chamber is disappointed to learn that an otherwise good and decent public-servant like Mr. Lowenthal has aligned himself with these rogue tactics. Business and job-creation aside, elections are a hallmark of our democracy. The Senator should welcome this opportunity for his constituents to weigh-in on this important topic, not align himself with union-organizers from San Francisco that don’t trust the judgment of the people of Long Beach to decide what’s best for Long Beach.”

A Message from Councilmember Gary DeLong:

I am opposed to the recently passed "Labor Peace Agreement" ordinance. Contrary to what you may have heard, this ordinance does not provide any revenue to the City of Long Beach.

Recently, several Long Beach hotels decided to initiate a petition process to request that the ordinance be placed for a vote of the people at the next regularly scheduled election. I urge every Chamber member that is a Long Beach resident to sign a petition (if you haven’t already) and deliver it to the Chamber. Together we can send a message that our City should not be in the labor organizing business.
 

February 14, 2007

Chamber CEO Releases Statement on Pending Labor Ordinance Referendum

President and CEO Randy Gordon released the following statement this morning on the pending labor ordinance referendum:

"The Labor Ordinance recently passed by the Long Beach City Council is not good for Long Beach businesses, the taxpayers or the working people of the City. The Ordinance is a ploy to impose a union on the hotels on city property in the name of "labor peace" even though hotel operations at non-Union hotels in Long Beach have not been disrupted for more than 30 years. The Ordinance is certain to discourage further hotel development in Long Beach and is an infringement on the existing hotel contracts between the City of Long Beach and the current hotel owners. In fact, the City will likely be forced to defend the Ordinance in court at a substantial cost to the taxpayers that could be better spent on vital city services or economic development of Long Beach. The Ordinance gives unions the power to limit free speech rights and the power to deprive hotel workers of the protection of an election under the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act to choose whether they want to be in a union."

For more information on the referendum process call 562-596-5835. You can find signature gatherers at Lowe's, Wal-Mart, in Belmont Shore and other locations throughout Long Beach.

December 27, 2006

Chamber Praises Mayor Foster's Veto of Labor Peace Agreement

Business community hails dynamic move as Mayor casts his first veto against Labor Peace Agreement

The Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce issued the following statement today in response to the Mayor of Long Beach vetoing the Labor Peace Agreement:

“The Chamber is very pleased to learn that, after considering the negative effects, Mayor Bob Foster has vetoed the City Council’s passage of the Labor Peace Agreement. This law violated federal labor laws and accordingly would have cost the city of Long Beach millions of dollars defending the measure. In casting his first veto, Mayor Foster showed that he is not afraid to make tough decisions when others shirk their responsibility to protect the public good.

“We know that the Mayor does not take lightly his decision to use the power of the veto. To that end, the Mayor showed that he is serious about keeping the Long Beach economy strong and healthy with his veto of the Chamber-opposed Labor Peace Agreement. We concur with the Mayor, that this measure is flawed in its construction, application, and failure to protect city-revenue under any circumstance. As the voice of business in Long Beach, the Chamber now looks to the future—we look forward to holding a dialogue with all parties involved, in order to seek a resolution that will protect the City's scarce resources and provide a more appropriate path to future contractual agreements.”
 

December 15, 2006

Chamber Condemns City Council's Passage of Labor Peace Agreement as Waste of Taxpayer Money

Business community applauds Council members DeLong, Gabelich, and Lerch for voting against wasting taxpayer money on litigation, rather than investing in schools, infrastructure.

The Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce issued the following statement today in response to the City Council of Long Beach voted in favor of the Peace Labor Agreement:

“The Chamber is very disappointed to learn that, after considering the negative effects, the City Council voted to pass the Labor Peace Agreement. This law violates federal labor laws and will cost the city of Long Beach millions of dollars defending the measure. Furthermore, it is disheartening to see that the Council rejected the sound advice of City Attorney Bob Shannon, even as the Hyatt Regency and Long Beach Marriott sent separate letters stating that a lawsuit was imminent, should the ordinance pass on the second reading.

We, like many others, have reviewed the facts, and the law does not make sense. The National Labor Relations Act already grants workers the option to unionize for the purpose of bargaining for compensation and working conditions. Not only does the Labor Peace Agreement bypass the fundamental right of every employee to privately cast a vote either for or against unionizing, it also violates their constitutional right to strike.

Moreover, despite the Council’s efforts to protect the city’s revenue by reducing the ability of hotel workers to strike, the Labor Peace Agreement will cost the city millions to defend this poorly crafted piece of public policy. To that end, we applaud Council members DeLong, Gabelich, and Lerch for voting against this ordinance. We agree with these responsible public stewards—taxpayer funds are best spent investing in city services, such as our schools and infrastructure, rather than wasting taxpayer money on litigation. While this is a set back for economic development, we are confident that this law will be rescinded.”
 

November 29, 2006

Chamber Chief Responds to City Council Vote to Support Chamber-Opposed "Labor Peace Agreement" Ordinance

Long Beach Business Community Cringes as City Council accepts “Trojan-Horse”

Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Randy Gordon issued the following statement in response to the City Council of Long Beach adopting the Labor Peace Agreement job killing measure:

“There are two things you don’t want to ever watch being made: sausage and public policy. The City Council of Long Beach has recently confirmed this old adage with the passage of what might be the most anti-job creation measure I have witnessed in my twenty-five years in the chamber business. Simply put, the so-called Labor Peace Agreement sponsored by Assemblymember-elect Laura Richardson was passed without any regard for the most basic tenants of economics. Arriving just in time for Thanksgiving, the PLA is a “Trojan-Horse” that will discourage new hotels from locating in Long Beach. This gift that keeps on giving seems to be a festive way for many on the Council to say “thanks” to the unions for “giving” to their last political campaign. The Long Beach business community urges the Council to repeal this ordinance for two reasons.

First, to quote the late Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, when City Councils pass bad ordinances and programs, you have an unholy coalition of the do-gooders on the one hand and the special interests on the other. The Labor Peace Agreement is as clear a case as you could want. To that end, we applaud Councilmembers DeLong and Lerch who had the good sense to see through this ploy, and vote against the ordinance. Still, unfortunately, notwithstanding Councilmembers Schipske and Gabelich who weren’t at the meeting to vote, even the most well-intentioned members of the City Council have fallen into this trap.

What’s most troubling is that the PLA is a “Trojan-Horse,” meaning it’s packaged as a “revenue-saver” that will in reality cost the city in new revenue, while giving the unions new members. Councilman Lerch was correct in noting that supporters (bussed in from Los Angeles) billed the agreement as a method of stopping strikes before they start; in essence, protecting city-revenue in the event of a strike at non-union hotels on city-owned land. In reality, there has not been a strike in Long Beach in 30 years! Finally, as Lerch pointed out, this ordinance ignores the fact that non-union hotel workers already have the choice to unionize at any time; additionally, it is every worker’s constitutional right to go on strike—even the Long Beach City Council cannot take that right away.

One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. We all know a famous road that is paved with good intentions. This brings me to my second point: instead of protecting revenue and jobs in Long Beach, this ordinance will discourage businesses from doing business here, and it kills jobs. It kills jobs, because of the message that it sends to those looking to do business in Long Beach—our City Council will regulate every part of your operation at the whim of labor."