California government unions move to squeeze out private contractors (The Sacramento Bee)
By Jon OrtizWith California facing yet another budget crisis that threatens state jobs and pay, employee unions are moving on several fronts to push use of civil service workers instead of private contractors for state government work.
Unions had a say in Gov. Jerry Brown's 2012-13 budget revision last month, which proposes axing outside contracting for a range of work, from computer consulting to custodial services.
State employee unions also threw their weight behind recent legislation that, among other things, would have given civil service employees first crack at all state government jobs. The measure failed but is likely to resurface.
Last month, the state attorneys' union successfully contested a multimillion-dollar contract with a private law firm for legal services.
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