LOS ANGELES – Business leaders and elected officials from the Antelope Valley met with Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich on Monday to ask for the Governor’s help to prevent the loss of a $60 million rail plant in Palmdale.
Kinkisharyo International announced last week that it was pulling its plans to build a 400,000-square-foot rail car plant in Palmdale after legal challenges filed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Antonovich denounced the legal challenges as “frivolous” and said opponents were exploiting California’s environmental laws to prevent the construction of a facility that was expected to create hundreds of construction jobs and nearly 200 permanent high-paying jobs once completed.
“What’s needed is a direct intervention by the Governor with his friends in labor as well as comprehensive reform of CEQA laws to prevent further abuses from sending prospective businesses to other states like Texas or Arizona,” Antonovich said in a released statement. “The loss of jobs for union and non-union workers, resulting from the reckless abuse of CEQA to strong-arm Kinkisharyo, threatens the economic viability of Los Angeles County and the state of California to retain and attract business from all corners of the world.”
Antonovich called on Governor Brown to intervene in Palmdale’s dilemma with Kinkisharyo to prevent a message being sent to other businesses that are considering similar investments in Los Angeles County.
However, Madeline Janis, Director of Jobs to Move America— a coalition of more than 40 community, labor and environmental groups – denied that environmental legal action or other union activities were to blame for Kinkisharyo’s decision to pull out of Palmdale.
“It’s time for Kinkisharyo International, a company with almost $1 billion in taxpayer funds, to stop blaming others for its failures and meet its commitment to create good, green Los Angeles County jobs,” Janis said in response to Monday’s press conference.
Janis said that Kinkisharyo’s nearly $1 billion contract is funded entirely by taxpayers, with much of it directly from Los Angeles voters who approved Measure R in 2008 to support good jobs and a cleaner transportation system in Los Angeles.
“Los Angeles public officials ought to hold Kinkisharyo to its obligations to taxpayers, rather than blaming labor unions for the company’s failures,” Janis said. “Despite Kinkisharyo’s failure to build this Palmdale factory, Angelenos want the company to meet its obligation to create hundreds of good LA jobs on this contract in a safe and healthy way.”
But union workers representing the building trades were also in attendance at the press conference, speaking in support of Kinksharyo, according to John Mlynar, Palmdale Communications Manager. Mlynar said that union groups included the Ironworkers Local 433, the Plumbers Local 78 and Carpenters Local 803.
Other officials participating at Monday’s press conference in Los Angeles include Palmdale’s Mayor Jim Ledford and Mayor Pro Tem Tom Lackey, David Flaks from the L.A. County Economic Development Corporation, Gary Toebben from the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, and Carol Schatz from the Central City Association.
–
About the author
Jim E. Winburn is freelance reporter covering news of public interest. –Previous related stories:
Plans for Kinkisharyo plant in Palmdale derailed by labor dispute
Residents offer solution to Kinkisharyo to mitigate environmental concerns
Realist says
Does anyone get the feeling that Madeline Janis, the spokes-hole for Jobs to Move America is a lying liar who lies? I think she’s peeing on your legs and telling you it’s raining. And by the way, where is Democratic Assembly Member Steve Fox in all of this? Is he noticeably silent because he accepts union campaign dollars and is running for reelection? Keep that in mind when you cast your vote.
William says
Is China a ‘right-to-work’ state?
Greg says
Kinkisharyo is Japanese, but they all the look the same right?!
William says
@Greg
You missed the point in order to say that, didn’t you? If Kinkisharyo moves to a ‘right-to-work’ state, isn’t that just like going to China.
I purposely didn’t say that about Japan because US companies don’t typically outsource to Japan for very low wages, do they?
Nice try though. Another fail for you.
Greg says
Yup, I missed your point. It was just such a clear point. After all we outsource to Israel, Ireland, Mexico, Japan, India, China, Russia, Brazil…
Perhaps you should be more clear next time.
William says
@Greg
So, if instead I had asked if Mexico was a ‘right-to-work’ state, that would have be much cleared to you.
I don’t think so.
bird says
Realist— Spot on with that comment.
nannynanny says
It is a good thing that this company is not being built as planned. First of all because it does not originate in the United States of America.
The Unions know what’s up, and a foreign company would not adhere to our laws regarding labor as well as protect our environment.
I would prefer that the mayor’s of the 2 large cities; Lancaster and Palmdale, encourage companies that originate here in the USA. Charity begins at home.
Rancho Vista Express says
Our leftwing Marxist blogger and Proud Palmdalian “William” must really find himself in a in quite the conundrum over all of this.
Palmdale’s Republican Mayor and Republican City Council tried desperately to get this rail car plant built in Palmdale. Doing so would have meant more jobs for Palmdalians and more houses sold in Palmdale, more shoppers at the mall and diners at the restaurants and more revenue for his beloved city of Palmdale. It would have polished Palmdale’s image and made it a more respected city in the Los Angeles region….BUT THEN….William’s fellow Marxists and unionistas in his precious Democratic Party came along and spoiled the whole deal. Now, Beloved Palmdale sits there with her hands open feeling squandered while the Marxists are laughing that they pulled one over on a major corporation. Strangely, it has been Republicans Tom Lackey and Michael Antonovich who are trying to salvage this whole thing so that Palmdale can benefit.
I bet William doesn’t really see the irony in all of this.
William says
@Rancho Vista Express
I don’t take seriously a brand new username that shows up once and disappears nor someone who uses the term ‘Marxists’. You must be over a 100 years old.
Your republican Rex Parris is pulling some shady BS by contacting Kinkisharyo. Why wouldn’t the unions, Marxists and the ‘out of nowhere’ comes the Antelope Valley Residents for Responsible Development pull the same stunt with him? Do you belong to that group that no one has ever heard of?
Rancho Vista Express. Really.
William says
@Rancho Vista Express
Unions didn’t shut down the federal government and lower our credit rating for the first time in history.
Tea party republicans did that and they might do it again, wasting billions of dollars and harming the nation.
If it wasn’t for unions after WWII, there wouldn’t have been the growth of the middle class. Have unions overreaches and undermined themselves? You bet. But, think where the country would be if they hadn’t gotten a few positive things done over the years.
Reagan’s big tax cuts for the rich begat the greed monster in earnest. That tax cut wasn’t enough. That’s when wages starting their stagnation up to this day, thanks to RR.
Executive compensation took off because the tax cuts weren’t enough for millionaires. The race was to become a billionaire by outsourcing, keeping wages stagnant and buying republican officials to write favorable tax laws for their sponsors.
Did Mitt Romney work any harder than his father who ran a car company while Mittens simply stripped companies of assets, outsourced jobs, left the decimated pension funds for the federal government to pick up the tab? Mittens was certainly the poster boy for ‘vulture capitalism’. It would be great to have him run again and lose to Hillary. That would be 3 strikes.
The GOP didn’t even like him last time as they got behind all the real nutjobs for a week or two then another and another till the one with the most money finally prevailed. It was ‘last call’ and they ended up with Mitt. Now, they might foolishly do it again. The congressional republicans will turn off even more voters by 2016, so they can kiss the presidency good bye.
Now, the GOP playbook is for red ‘welfare’ states to poach companies from the blue states where the creativity is for NO NET JOB GAINS NATIONALLY.
It was amusing to see republican Kansas poach Starwood’s call center from republican Rex Parris and Lancaster. Was that a union issue? No new jobs created, just moved from one state to other instead of to China or India. Now, Kansas is in a huge debt crisis because REPUBLICAN governor Sam Brownback cut taxes for the rich and revenues collapsed. BTW. That’s the home of the Koch brothers.
You like irony, RVE, dontcha? How do you like that bit of irony?
The question should be “Why do working and middle class voters vote republican at all?”. They are killing the country, one obstruction and filibuster at a time.
If they take the Senate in November, they will overreach and hopefully it will be the final nail in the GOP coffin. They certainly won’t be able to stop themselves from doing more damage. They are like ‘suicide politicians’, willing to blow up the country and their own party for their ‘beliefs’.
Stay tuned.
s mcguire says
very well stated..
William says
@Rancho Vista Express
Unions didn’t shut down the federal government and lower our credit rating for the first time in history.
Tea party republicans did that and they might do it again, wasting billions of dollars and harming the nation.
If it wasn’t for unions after WWII, there wouldn’t have been the growth of the middle class. Have unions overreaches and undermined themselves? You bet. But, think where the country would be if they hadn’t gotten a few positive things done over the years.
Reagan’s big tax cuts for the rich begat the greed monster in earnest. That tax cut wasn’t enough. That’s when wages starting their stagnation up to this day, thanks to RR.
Executive compensation took off because the tax cuts weren’t enough for millionaires. The race was to become a billionaire by outsourcing, keeping wages stagnant and buying republican officials to write favorable tax laws for their sponsors.
Did Mitt Romney work any harder than his father who ran a car company while Mittens simply stripped companies of assets, outsourced jobs, left the decimated pension funds for the federal government to pick up the tab? Mittens was certainly the poster boy for ‘vulture capitalism’. It would be great to have him run again and lose to Hillary. That would be 3 strikes.
The GOP didn’t even like him last time as they got behind all the real nutjobs for a week or two then another and another till the one with the most money finally prevailed. It was ‘last call’ and they ended up with Mitt. Now, they might foolishly do it again. The congressional republicans will turn off even more voters by 2016, so they can kiss the presidency good bye.
Now, the GOP playbook is for red ‘welfare’ states to poach companies from the blue states where the creativity is for NO NET JOB GAINS NATIONALLY.
It was amusing to see republican Kansas poach Starwood’s call center from republican Rex Parris and Lancaster. Was that a union issue? No new jobs created, just moved from one state to other instead of to China or India. Now, Kansas is in a huge debt crisis because REPUBLICAN governor Sam Brownback cut taxes for the rich and revenues collapsed. BTW. That’s the home of the Koch brothers.
You like irony, RVE, dontcha? How do you like that bit of irony?
The question should be “Why do working and middle class voters vote republican at all?”. They are killing the country, one obstruction and filibuster at a time.
If they take the Senate in November, they will overreach and hopefully it will be the final nail in the GOP coffin. They certainly won’t be able to stop themselves from doing more damage. They are like ‘suicide politicians’, willing to blow up the country and their own party for their ‘beliefs’.
Stay tuned.
William says
Where did Rancho Vista Express go? S/he was quite a 1 hit wonder just as I suspected.
Rick says
Kinkisharyo shouldn’t even bother looking back.
thanks IBEW says
From the Palmdale Water District Web…Clearly a conflict of interest to work for the government…and work for a private union.
“Kathy Mac Laren moved to Palmdale in 1989 with a young family. Since moving to Palmdale, she always worked and balanced that with her children’s activities. She stayed very involved in her children’s school and activities by volunteering as much as her work schedule would allow. After her children left home to pursue their own careers, she decided to try her hand in the area of being a public servant, and in 2007, was appointed to the Palmdale Planning Commission where she served over two terms. Kathy was elected in November, 2011 to serve a four-year term as a Director for the Palmdale Water District. She also works in Business Development for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers/National Electrical Contractors Association LMCC.”
Ummm.... says
I only know that, after this fiasco, I will not be voting for this Kathy Mac Laren for ANYTHING ever again.
Ummm.... says
Kathy Mac Laren is a traitor to the people of the City of Palmdale and the entire AV. She needs to go!
RC says
Currently only 7% of American workers are unionized. Unions are so desperate, they’ll resort to environmental blackmail to secure a contract. California unions have been using this tactic since the CEQA Act was enacted. They have used the same law firm in San Francisco to file lawsuits to secure Project Labor Agreements on every major proposed project in California for many years over “environmental concerns” and then rescinding these “concerns” once a contract was signed. It’s, ” either you sign the contract or you’ll never get the project built”. Certain unions are even blackballed from contracts that other unions have secured. Union Project Labor Agreements are so exclusive, that the only thing the union doesn’t own is the company name. Unions are a necessary part of the equation but their extortion tactics are not. California Legislature will not enact any type of CEQA reform because Democrats, who are heavily backed and funded by the union lobby, dare not, that is, if they want to get re-elected. Unfortunately, 2/3rd of the legislature is controlled by the Democrats, so we will continue to witness major firms taking their business elsewhere. And the unions wonder why they control only 7% of the labor force. Thank you for reading.
Mark says
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers act like thugs. clearly they don’t respect our community
RC says
The residents of the AV can personally thank Kathy Maclaren, who represents the City of Palmdale Water District. She is in the back pocket of the IBEW.
Jip Joe says
This is how Unions roll folks, greed greed greed, then blame others. They want even Janitors to make $90k a year. Unions! Go to AZ Go to Texas, like the rest. California does not deserve this.
Just Saying says
This is how foreign corporations roll folks, greed greed greed, then blame unions. They want even Engineers to make $20k a year. Foreigners! Go to AZ Go to Texas, where the infrastructure is crumbling.. California is the 8th largest economy in the world, and we didn’t get there with 4$ an hour jobs.
Meanwhile just 4 miles North, a greedy non union Chinese factory (BYD) is caught paying employees less than minimum wage. No surprise some people are nervous.
Fact Check says
Kinkisharyo pays good wage and offers benefits. Talk to some of the employees and they’ll tell you. This is no BYD. This is one union giving all unions a bad name, and screwing a lot of their brothers and sisters.
facebooker says
Which proves that unions are just as greedy and “out for themselves” and the corporations they supposedly accuse of the same.
IRat says
way to go IBEW. Way to screw your fellow union brothers who would have built the plant. Now those jobs go out of state. Way to go IBEW, screwing hundreds out of jobs. Too bad your new pal Tony Strickland and your go to gal Katjy MacLaren couldn’t get your in the door. Sucks, huh? All that money and nothing. Go away IBEW. Go away and let the real unions who care about workers and the community live and work in peace.
10dog says
Total waste of tax payers money!
lying says
They’re all lying! Everyone pointing fingers and now it’s a convoluted mess.