A Union and Davis Bacon Smackdown in San Diego June 5, 2012

We all know that the voters of the City of San Diego voted to reign in the out of control pensions that are bankrupting them.   It was not even a close vote.  The City is deemed a Republican stronghold and the liberal democrats and their union pals thumbed their noses at the vote.  Well, until San Jose, a liberal democrat stronghold did the same thing!  But not many were watching the vote on the issue of contracts for local government work. 

Called the San Diego Ban on Project-Labor Agreements Initiative, Proposition A, it passed handily.  The 58-42 defeat of the unions was sweet for me.  The reason this is a big deal is the scam of the Davis-Bacon and the California version called the "Little Davis-Bacon Act".  The big daddy was passed in the 1930's to keep blacks, moving up from the south for work from undercutting white workers wages.  It became part of every government contract for any work done in construction and similar jobs.  It adds billions to the costs of things and it is unnecessary.  The State version requires the same result. IThey are truly anti fairness, anti free market laws.

San Diego voters said we want our City funded projects exempt.  They know it is their money going into the pockets of unions and not the into the jobs.  They are pretty darn smart.  The Little version requires a "prevailing" wage in California and I had some personal experience as a County Supervisor on the issue.  When we decided to build the government center, we wanted to get a new prevailing wage study done to better reflect our county's wage rates.  I was appointed to be the representative in a discussion with the George Deukmajian appointed Labor Secretary, whose name I do not recall.  I traveled to San Francisco and when I was ushered into the room, there was the Labor Secretary and four huge Guido's from the local Unions.

Well, I was young and not intimidated by this muscle and the discussion proceeded.  All we wanted was  a new study and we knew it would save our county taxpayers about $500,000 minimum in labor costs.  I was persistent and eventually secured an agreement (verbally) to do the new study.  We were in the Sacramento "prevailing wage" region where the labor was double, plus benefits, than we paid here.  So, I left and guess what?  The bums never did the study! 

Nevada County had to pay the inflated wages.  The same thing happens with school construction and roads  as well.  So when I saw that San Diego said no to the ripoff of Davis Bacon (at least with local dollars) I was ecstatic. Maybe this is a way to rid our state and then our country of a law, formed in racism and now embraced by democrats and the government agencies.  The people need a break and the repeal of these crummy laws could save us billions, maybe hundreds of billions, of hard earned tax dollars.