NYT ran a story on the front of the business section last week that dances around the question of whether labor unions are abusing their organizing potential and raising or modulating available environmental objections based on the level to which the developers commit to utilize union labor in renewable power projects.
According to the story, “As California moves to license dozens of huge solar power plants to meet the state’s renewable energy goals, some developers contend they are being pressured to sign agreements pledging to use union labor. If they refuse, they say, they can count on the union group to demand costly environmental studies and deliver hostile testimony at public hearings…If they commit at the outset to use union labor, they say, the environmental objections never materialize.”
However oblique that paragraph may be, it’s a pretty bold accusation. The implication is clear: The union action in question is heavy-handed at best and represents extortionist influence-peddling at worst.