The State Worker

State worker retirement potlucks could get a tad uncomfortable starting next month when a crop of new hires with less generous pension benefits gathers around the finger-food table.

After California voters embraced Gov. Jerry Brown's Proposition 30 tax hike, this column received a half-dozen phone calls from state workers asking essentially the same question: "What are the odds I'll get a raise?"

California's new state parks director was sworn in Friday amid hopeful applause and assurances of fiscal integrity.

The sound of backslapping between Gov. Jerry Brown and union leaders who helped put his tax initiative over the top last week could soon turn to teeth-gnashing and bargaining-table-pounding as the administration takes on a touchy subject: retiree health care.

Did a handful of wealthy conservative interests set out to undermine California unions with a statewide ballot measure only to see it backfire?

With Election Day looming, let's look at some popular perceptions about unions filtered through ballot measure Proposition 32.

With labor politics and money looming large right now, a new nonprofit launched a website this week that aims to divert union dues money to charity.

If he had just one vote on Nov. 6, the president of the California Federation of Teachers wouldn't use it on Gov. Jerry Brown's tax hike for schools.

A system out of whack. A new program that promises lower benefits. Higher payments from government workers.

A new contract for a small band of unionized industry regulators, locked out until last week, literally prompted standing ovations around the country.

A messy fight between California's largest state employee union, SEIU Local 1000, and another union that has represented 160 of its staff has spilled into public view.

Imagine it's Nov. 7, 2012. Yesterday, California voters approved Proposition 32, ending payroll-deducted funds for politics and eliminating union and corporate contributions directly to candidates. So now what?

Watch Chicago. A strike by teachers there demonstrates public sector unions' struggle to find their footing in an era when even their friends are turning on them.

CalPERS, an organization that once unapologetically promoted higher public pension benefits, is evolving.

Government wages and retirement benefits are a lot like a balloon: Squeezing one end puts pressure on the other.

If you thought politics would settle the raging debate over public pensions, think again. The real action has shifted to the courts.

Are two unions known for fearlessly fighting state worker furloughs going soft?