Labor

High Court Considers Information Restrictions

September 25, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

An Oklahoma Supreme Court proposal that would remove some personal identifiers from court documents would be a blow to openness and transparency, but opposition to the idea from the state's largest newspaper seems hypocritical given its own secretive and slanted style of journalism.

The court has asked for comments about the proposal, which is in advance of a new electronic document system. (I'll consider this my comment.) If approved, identifying information, such as addresses, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and similar data would be removed from court documents. Here's the entire proposal. Here is a thorough article about it in the Tulsa World.

Costello Pushed To Resign After 'Feral Hogs' Comparison

September 22, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

"I don't know if you know much about feral hogs, but they reproduce three or four times a year, they eat anything and everything, and I kind of think there is some comparison between bureaucrats and feral hogs."-Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello as quoted in the Tulsa World.

Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello might be trying to backtrack on his comments comparing at least some state employees to "feral hogs," but, if anything, he's only making it worse.

On Sept. 13, Costello, pictured right, spoke before the Republican Women's Club of Tulsa County and introduced his new organization, "Parity in Oklahoma, whose primary purpose appears to be undermining state employee benefits and protections," according to a story in the Tulsa World. Along the way, the story states, Costello compared bureaucrats to feral hogs.

Labor and Business Standing Together to Make Progress for California

September 20, 2011 by Calitics

by Caitlin Vega, California Labor Federation

It's not every day that labor and business come together to co-sponsor legislation. But the truth is, we have a lot of shared interests. We all care about creating and protecting jobs, ensuring a skilled workforce and revitalizing our battered economy. This year, the California Labor Federation sponsored two bills with the business community to further these shared goals.