It’s not polite to call out union leaders on Labor Day, but let’s be frank: Some are costing workers jobs.
Yes, of course, unions historically have expanded the middle class in America by demanding and obtaining better pay and benefits for their members. We’re better off because of them, especially in the private sector.
But in this state we’ve got a widely abused law called the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. And labor is one of its biggest abusers, contributing to California’s reputation as a lousy place to invest and do business.
Signed 45 years ago by Gov. Ronald Reagan, CEQA gradually became the bane of developers and other entrepreneurs. It requires them to undergo a long process of detailing their projects’ environmental effects.
True, the act deserves credit for helping to clear the air, keep the water clean and prevent greedy developers from building on dangerous earthquake faults.
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