(Source: Bakersfield Californian, February 3, 2013)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — In a bitter dispute that threatens to divide support for California high-speed rail, union and non-union contractors are fighting over a draft plan for setting aside some of the project’s jobs for Central Valley minorities and small businesses.
Anti-union groups have strongly denounced the proposal, sent out in December as part of request for bids on the project’s first leg from Merced to Fresno. They say it would raise the project’s costs and discriminate against merit shops by, among other things, requiring that hiring be done through union halls.
Full story: Bakersfield Californian