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What's Government For?

This year it's not just about choosing who will govern us, but also how government should work.

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Fri, Jun 18, 2010 -- 9:00 AM

Public Employee Unions: On the Defensive?


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Four big California public employee unions -- including firefighters and highway patrol officers -- would roll back their pensions under a deal struck this week with the governor. The compromise comes at a time when public sector unions are increasingly under pressure to make sacrifices to help state and local governments balance their budgets.

Host: Dave Iverson

Guests:

  • Daniel J.B. Mitchell, professor emeritus at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management and former director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
  • John Myers, KQED's Sacramento bureau chief
  • Steve Greenhut, author of "Plunder: How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation" and director of the Journalism Center of the Pacific Research Institute, a conservative think tank
  • Terry Brennand, senior government relations advocate for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California, which represents 700,000 public and private sector workers in the state

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