Seventh Circuit affirms dismissal of Act 10 lawsuit By: Associated Press December 18, 2020
1:51 pm
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals this week affirmed the dismissal of a First Amendment lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s Act 10.
The court released its decision on Thursday, making this the third challenge to Act 10 to be rejected by the Seventh Circuit.
State lawmakers passed Act 10 in 2011 to limit the collective-bargaining power of state employees who weren’t working in public safety or transit. Among other things, Act 10 made it harder for general-employee unions to retain certification as exclusive bargaining agents, prohibited public-sector employees from collectively bargaining with their general employees over anything except base wages and prohibited public employers from deducting union dues from general employees’ paychecks.
GRAND TOWERÂ â A representative of Grand Tower Energy Center, a natural gas plant in rural Jackson County, said operations have ceased, though offered few additional details.
Jonathan Beach with Texas-based Rockland Capital, the company that manages the plant, said the facility suffered some âsignificant mechanical failuresâ over the past two quarters.
âThe plant is currently in an extended outage and ownership is conducting a review of future options,â Beach said in an emailed statement to The Southern.
He declined to answer any further questions.
Randy Ellet, who has worked at the plant for 41 years, said employees were notified of the plantâs closure plans last week.
Rob Martineau
On Dec. 1, affiliated unions elected AFSCME Local 189 president Rob Martineau as DCTU president; IBEW Local 48 business representative Jenna Bazner as vice president; and Machinists District Lodge W24 organizer Will Lukens as secretary-treasurer. DCTU also named as trustees Painters District Council 5 member Jack Johnson; Operating Engineers Local 701 member Chris Montgomery; and UA Local 290 member Nichet Newsome.
Martineau, Bazner and Lukens say they want to chart a new course for DCTU, breaking down walls and building solidarity across unions and bureaus. They also want to make DCTU processes more transparent and open the coalition up to direct involvement by rank-and-file members of affiliated unions.
rfox@tribtoday.com
WARREN Spending by and donations to the four candidates who ran for Trumbull County commissioner were a trickle in the weeks just before the election, compared to the cash the candidates spent and raised in preceding weeks.
The latest reporting period for campaign finance reports submitted to the Trumbull County Board of Elections covers Oct. 15 to Dec. 4.
Although the four candidates for commissioner spent a collective $147,000 between June and mid-October, they spent only a collective $36,000 in the days leading up to the Nov. 3 election.
The job pays about $93,000 annually.
FRENCHKO AND POLIVKA
Republican Niki Frenchko, who defeated longtime Democrat Commissioner Dan Polivka with more than 52 percent of the vote, spent the largest sum of money during the last reporting period, $16,939. Polivka spent $9,099.
Ohio city worker sues over administrative fees related to union thecentersquare.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thecentersquare.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.