Not surprised at all - corruption everywhere. Sweet deals for those who are connected to the deep state. From the Miami Herald:
Plan to spend $1.5B in climate money includes union boost
California lawmakers gave a boost to a union looking to organize Tesla workers Friday as they approved a plan to spend $1.5 billion on environmental initiatives using money from the state's recently renewed program that charges polluters to emit greenhouse gases.
The spending is outlined in two bills now heading to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk after they were approved on the last day of the legislative year, which wrapped up about 2:15 a.m. Saturday.
Much of the environmental money will go toward pay for incentives and rebates to promote a cleaner vehicle fleet, including passenger cars, commercial trucks and port equipment.
Up to $140 million is earmarked for rebates for people who buy clean vehicles, but that money comes with a catch. Under a provision requested by a labor union, state officials will have to certify that participating automakers are "fair and responsible in the treatment of their workers."
And this is just business as usual - circumventing the established rules and laws by the unions for their own benefit. Not for the benefit of their workers. This is about political power and not about better working conditions or higher wages.
The provision comes as the United Auto Workers pursues an increasingly acrimonious drive to unionize thousands of workers who assemble high-end Tesla electric vehicles at a plant in Fremont. It directs the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency to come up with criteria for certifying that an automaker treats its employees fairly and responsibly.
The Legislature shouldn't insert in a labor dispute that should be handled by the National Labor Relations Board, said Carl Guardino at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a business group that includes Tesla.
A number of lawmakers, including Democrats, agreed, arguing the last-minute language shouldn't have been added to the bill. Still, both bills easily passed.
"We shouldn't be holding our environmental projects hostage," Democratic Sen. Steve Glazer said.
Unions very much had their place in history. Back when people did not move from one city to another, there was always a captive pool of workers and if someone objected to their salary or working conditions, there were always 50 people lined up to take over their jobs. Business owners knew and exploited this. Now, people can move to where the jobs are and labor unions (which represent about 5% of the working force so they are a very vocal minority) are falling victim to the late Dr. Jerry Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy:
The Iron Law of Bureaucracy
Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people":
First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.
Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.
The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.
So unfortunately true...
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