Employee Free Choice Act

Monday, June 28, 2010

ATTENTION: LABORUNIONREPORT.COM READERS....

LABORUNIONREPORT.COM is pleased to report that our new website (and blog) is operations.

We will NO LONGER be posting on this site.

Please go to LABORUNIONREPORT.COM for all our latest news & views.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Saturday, June 26, 2010

AFSCME official admits embezzling $180,000 intended for ACORN affiliate

It's been said that there is no honor among thieves...

An AFSCME official stole $180,000.  Big news?  Not really.  Union corruption in the form of union bosses stealing from their members happens all the time.  What is surprising  is when union bosses steal from one of their own.

A former union official from Milwaukee has agreed to plead guilty to embezzling about $180,000 of union funds, according to federal court records.
Paula Dorsey, former president of District Council 48 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, withdrew the money from an account between 2004 and 2009 to finance her gambling habit, said Mel Johnson, an assistant U.S. attorney. Dorsey faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, in addition to repayment of the estimated amount stolen.
The money was intended to fund Operation Big Vote, a national initiative to increase minority voter turnout.

More here.

So what is Operation Big Vote? Well, it appears to be one of the nuts from the fallen ACORN tree...

This year alone ACORN has registered 1,315,037 voters.
Although the organization prides itself for its registration efforts, it also has a long history of scandal. In the state of Missouri in 1986, 12 ACORN members were convicted of voter fraud. But that case was not an isolated incident in the state. In December 2004, in St. Louis, six volunteers pleaded guilty of dozens of election law violations for filling out registration cards with names of dead people and other bogus information. Authorities launched an earlier investigation after noticing that among the new voters was longtime St. Louis alderman Albert “Red” Villa, who died in 1990. The volunteers worked for “Operation Big Vote” — a branch of ACORN — in St. Louis.

Like we said...no honor among thieves.
__________________

“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Cross-posted on RedState.
For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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UPDATED: Machinists stick themselves with rejected contract, lack votes to strike...

On Friday...
Machinists union members at Spirit AeroSystems are voting today on whether to accept the company's 10-year contract offer.

Of close to 20 Machinists interviewed this morning, most said they were voting to strike.

Read more here.

UPDATE: 2:36 AM, Saturday...

Machinists' union rules stick members with rejected contract...
Machinists union members at Spirit AeroSystems rejected the company's offer of a 10-year contract on Friday, but lacked the votes required for a strike.


As a result, members ratified the contract by default.


Of those voting, 57 percent rejected the contract. Fifty-eight percent voted to strike, falling short of the two-thirds required for a work stoppage.
Read more here.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Friday, June 25, 2010

BFF: Obama, Blago & SEIU's Stern


What do you do if you're up to your eyeballs in snot and someone throws a turd at your head?  In Andy Sterns' case, he quits the SEIU and becomes a corporate dude.  This may be why:
John Harris relays a meeting on Nov. 3, 2008 with himself, two union leaders -- Andy Stern and Tom Balanoff -- and the governor.

In a previous call played to jurors, Harris testified he and Blagojevich understood the two were approaching him on behalf of Obama's camp.


The meeting happened one day before the presidential election and the talk was about the senate seat vacancy the major campaign donors expected would happen the next day.

Reproach?  Nah. They're above it.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Teamsters let man's home flood over non-union crane

They'd rather let a man's home flood than let a non-union operator on to a piece of equipment?
Witnesses said pickets at scene, however, prevented the Gatlin employees from using the crane, saying that only union operators were allowed to run them.


"They gathered around and wouldn't let the guys get to the equipment," said Diane Brzycki, who lives across the street from Milton. "They just stood there in the middle of the road."


A spokesman for Gatlin acknowledged there was a "dispute" Thursday morning but that the company and the union workers settled it. But whatever they agreed upon did not help Milton, whose property to the north of his just-completed house was still under standing water Thursday afternoon.


"They don't give a hoot about what happens to my house; they weren't even going to turn on the pumps," Milton said. "Gatlin came to turn them on, but the Teamsters said no, not without union operators.


"I'm a union person myself, but I wouldn't allow someone's house to get flooded."

More here.

[Ed. note: May their pickets leave splinters in their hands that get infected and fester.]
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Thursday, June 24, 2010

UPDATED! Dastardly union dealmakers dealt out of Dems’ disgusting DISCLOSE Act

It must pay to have friends in low high places because less than a week after the National Rifle Association sold out Americans' First Amendment rights for its own special deal, union bosses have had their Democratic sock puppets exempt unions from the DISCLOSE Act as well.


A Democratic amendment tucked into campaign finance legislation Wednesday night appears to exempt big labor unions from proposed disclosure requirements.


The change, inserted by Rep. Bob Brady (D-Pa.), chairman of the committee charged with handling the bill and a key union ally, would also affect other groups funded by members who pay dues of less than $50,000. While the move may satiate liberal Democrats who had become uneasy with an exemption for the National Rifle Association, a union loophole will certainly cause Big Business to cry foul.

[Update] From the Alliance for Worker Freedom:
The DISCLOSE Act marks a stark departure from the traditional treatment of corporations and unions by applying punitive measures to associations in the corporate form, but not to labor unions, even though these groups have traditionally been treated similarly in campaign finance law:
  • Companies that received federal money during the financial crisis face restrictions on speech, but not unions: General Motors cannot engage in express advocacy, urging voters to support a candidate by name, while the United Auto Workers union can 
  • Corporations, unions, non-profits and 527 groups will be required to report donors who give more than $600 if they engage in express advocacy, -- average union dues, the source of the majority of their funds, in 2004 were $377 
  • Businesses with government contracts worth more than $7 million are not allowed to engage in express advocacy while public sector unions that receive their dues from the taxpayers are exempt from such restrictions 
  • Companies where a foreign entity owns 20 percent or more of a company’s shares are not allowed to engage in express advocacy while international unions are free to tell Americans how to vote

With Democrats throwing the Constitution out to special interests with the highest bid (or the best back-room talents), it is no wonder hard-working Americans no longer have faith in their government.

If special interests were lollipops, Democrats would be lining up to see who could suck the hardest.


__________________

“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Obama's Oil Spill: Just get out of the way...

Yeah, British Petroleum may have caused the gusher, but President Obama and his union-controlled federal bureaucracies now own the disaster:


Governor Riley was in Huntsville Wednesday afternoon updating leaders on the state of our state... namely how we're dealing with the oil spill.


He said he believes Alabama leaders could have stopped the oil from lapping onto our shores, if only they had the tools from the start.


"Can we protect our shores?" Governor Riley asked. "Sure you can, but you can't do it with the situation that you have down there today."


Riley says there are about 20 federal agencies that have veto power, and they all have their hand in the decisions to clean up the spill; that creates gridlock, so nothing gets done.


"If this is going to affect a turtle, you can't do it. If this is going to affect a person's ability to work in hot conditions, you can't do it," Riley mimicked the agency officials.


The Governor says there was a boom in Alabama that would have protected the 25 miles of coastline from the oil, but he says government leaders moved it to Louisiana, saying that state needed it worse. Then, the plan was to put up a snare boom across the beach.


"Sounded like a plan to me until Fish and Wildlife said, 'Nope. You can't do that because it'll catch turtles in the net,'" said Riley.


So, then the plan changed, and 400 workers would be hired to clean the beach.


"Sounded great right up until OSHA said, 'Nope. It's too hot for 'em to work.' So, now they're limited to working no more than 20 minutes out of the hour or a maximum of two hours a day," said Riley.

What is perhaps the world's worst environmental disaster in history can now be laid squarely at this President's feet.  He may not have started it, but his government has helped spread it.

Mr. President, please get your bureaucracy out of the way and let real men and women clean up the mess you helped create.

__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Machinists Postpone Boeing Strike...for now

It looks like Sunday...

 

_________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

CEOs explain why economy still sucks...

Okay, that's not their politically-correct terminology, but it should be...
Despite a slightly more upbeat report, Business Roundtable Chairman Ivan Seidenberg said chief executives still have plenty of angst. They are not sure if the economy will continue to build momentum and are concerned about new congressional proposals to increase taxes and regulations on business, he said.


"There's a lot of caution on the part of CEOs," Seidenberg said after the report was issued Wednesday. "We are not expanding as fast as we expected to at this stage of the recovery."


The day before the report, Seidenberg warned of a "growing disconnect" between business and government that he said are preventing the economy from growing faster and creating more jobs.

Now, wait for the job killers on the Left to complain...

__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Is Obama About to Grant Amnesty By Executive Order?

Rumors are rumors.  Then again...

Apparently, this rumor is serious enough that Senators Grassley, Hatch (R-Utah), Vitter (R-La.), Bunning (R-Ky.), Chambliss (R-Ga.), Isakson (R-Ga.), Inhofe (R-Okla.), and Cochran (R-Miss.) sent President Obama a letter.

According to Numbers USA...
Several Senators have learned of a possible plan by the Obama Administration that would provide a mass Amnesty for the nation's 11-18 million illegal aliens. Led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), eight Senators addressed a letter to the President asking for answers to questions about a plan that would allow DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to provide an amnesty if they can't secure enough votes for a bill in the Senate.

Senate Letter to Obama on Amnesty



Ah, just in time for the mid-term elections.

__________________

“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Cross-posted.

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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

NLRB Update: Everyone But Becker

Senate confirms Pearce and Hayes, sidelines SEIU's Becker.

According to Bloomberg...

The National Labor Relations Board reached its full five-member size for the first time since December 2007 after the U.S. Senate confirmed two of President Barack Obama’s nominees.

Brian Hayes, a Republican Senate aide, was confirmed by the Senate as it approved a package of almost 70 of Obama’s stalled nominees. The Senate also confirmed Mark Pearce, a Democrat Obama appointed to the board in March, for a full term.


However, the one person the Senate appears to have overlooked? The SEIU's Craig "Refuse to Recuse" Becker.
Becker, opposed by Republicans and business groups for his ties to labor unions, wasn’t confirmed by the Senate today. That means he will serve on the board only until the end of 2011, less than the full five-year term.

With Andy Stern opting to reside in Corporate America now, it appears the SEIU may not have as much sway as it did just a few short months ago.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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More on former SEIU boss Andy Stern's golden parachute...

We posted on former SEIU boss Andy Stern's joining a corporate board of directors yesterday.

Now, Beyond Chron opines...
Not bad enough to cause painful damage to workers who are still paying for his fat compensation package, and too many others who took risks and made sacrifices only to see their organizing or contract campaigns damaged or smashed entirely.


All the while, he’s building his own golden parachute from the burning wreckage he left, polishing up his WH insider portfolio — and then peddling his ass to fat cats and high hats everywhere who must enjoy having a pet labor leader who does tricks upon command — all for the same bastards who are actively destroying the American dream for the working stiffs and huddled masses this punk once claimed to speak for.

For some reason, Andy's switch from union boss to corporate insider isn't sitting too well.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Monday, June 21, 2010

The Union Protection Racket: Union members need protection...from union bosses

Remember that piece we posted the other day about the 400lb union boss who stole $300k to blow on hookers and gambling?

Well, the New York Post had a great piece on Saturday that started with this:
Remember why unions were formed in the first place -- to protect workers from being taken advantage of?

Nowadays, the rank-and-file mostly need protection from their own leadership.

The Post article goes on to give a few examples of other corrupt union bosses but it is really only touching the tip of the iceberg.  The rest of the iceberg is here.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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SEIU's Andy Stern gets a new job as a corporate insider...

Maybe Andy's sudden resignation from the Service Employees International Union wasn't so sudden after all?...
SIGA Technologies, Inc. (SIGA 6.76, -0.04, -0.59%) , a company specializing in the development of pharmaceutical agents to combat bio-warfare pathogens, announced today that Andy Stern, labor leader and prominent advocate for reform, joined SIGA's board of directors. Mr. Stern is the former president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in North America.

[snip]

"Andy is a strong leader and a great addition to our Board of Directors. His insight, experience, and leadership, particularly his understanding of how our federal government works, will complement the skill sets of our existing board members," said Dr. Eric Rose, SIGA's Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Stern has been cited in numerous publications as being one of the most influential leaders on healthcare and a frequent White House visitor. In 2010, Stern was named a Presidential appointee to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Though it does appear, having the dude who holds the keys to the White House may benefit SIGA rather nicely:
Shares of SIGA Technologies have approached the eight dollar level of late, rebounding nicely from the low of under five dollars about six months ago. The SIGA stock reached a high of over ten bucks last December in anticipation of a possible awarding of a BARDA contract for the ST-246 smallpox vaccine. The contract did not pan out at the time, although some modifications to the application process in the interest of creating competition were announced around that time.

A $2.8 million contract was awarded to Siga by the Department of Defense in early March, although this one was for ST-669, a broad-spectrum anti-viral. 

That's nothing in comparison to the big BARDA contract that investors of the company are waiting for, but it does have the potential to rake in up to ten million dollars for SIGA when it's all said and done.

Then, too it helps that SIGA's Eric Rose was appears to have been an Obama donor and that SIGA seems to be doing well sucking off of the government teat.

Welcome to your new home, Andy.  We're sure we'll be paying for your avarice somehow.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Saturday, June 19, 2010

Union v. Union: IBEW calls out Cannibalistic Carpenters in St. Louis

Sometimes, cannibals get into fights over the same piece of meat.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is launching a sweeping campaign to convince St. Louis Carpenters Local 57 to stop performing electrical work that undercuts union standards of quality, safety and wages.


Billboards have been mounted in several locations, and the message can be seen and heard in radio and print ads this week. A unity rally June 15 drew more than 1,000 members from several craft unions to hear national leaders of the IBEW and other trades.




We posted on this fight back in April.

__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Thursday, June 17, 2010

400 lb. union boss cops to blowing $300,000 on hookers and gambling

Courtesy of the New York Daily News comes this gross little story of union corruption:
A roly-poly ripoff artist with a taste for hookers and gambling pleaded guilty Wednesday to squandering nearly $300,000 in looted union funds.

[snip]

The 400-pound married father of a young son cavorted with prostitutes in Manhattan, the Bronx and a notorious Queens motel offering specially themed rooms and short-stay rates.

"They were $400 to $500 [per date]," Port Authority Deputy Inspector General Michael Nestor told the Daily News about the union-subsidized trysts.

If you have the stomach for it, there's more here.


[Editor's note: We opted not to include pictures.]
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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NLRB's two-member rulings illegal, says SCOTUS

This is all you really need to know...
Hundreds of recent federal rulings in disputes between unions and employers could be reopened after the Supreme Court said on Thursday that it was illegal for the National Labor Relations Board to decide the cases with only two sitting members.


But for those of you that like to read the weighter legal stuff, here's the SCOTUS decision (in PDF).

Of course, the AFL-CIO front group American Rights at Work is playing the blame game, as usual.

__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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SHOCK! The Teamsters lied to us, say striking drivers...

Ripped from the headlines:
Teamsters members growing wary of strike

SOME UNION TRUCK DRIVERS SAY THEY WERE MISLED ABOUT CONTRACT

Several members of a Gary-based union have contacted The Times in recent days over concerns that the terms of a labor agreement proposed by employers was misrepresented, and they question why they are on strike.

More than 300 truck drivers with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 142 went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday against 28 contractors after voting down a proposed new two-year contract. In a move of solidarity, union members declined to cross picket lines of certain contractors after Portage-based Ironworkers Local 395 went on strike June 1.

[snip]

One union driver, who declined to be identified fearing retaliation, said a strike vote was taken as early as March 21 at a union meeting. He said Teamsters Local 142 President Mitch Sawochka told members a group of highway contractors was trying to break up the union by separating the people doing highway work from people who work at steel mills and refineries. He said he also was baffled about why a vote was being taken because the contract didn't expire until two months later and that likely a final proposal hadn't been presented to the union.

"He told us they were out to screw us," the driver said. "I don't think he went into negotiations with good faith as these people were led to believe."

Unfortunately, last year, the National Labor Relations Board decided that it's okay for unions to lie to their members and it's not likely, with unions now controlling the NLRB, the Board will reverse its position any time soon.

__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Union-Backed Democrat Urges an End to Right to Work States

Elections have consequences.

In 28 states across the U.S., unionized workers can be forced to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. If workers refuse to pay the union, the union can order them to be fired from their jobs.

However, since 1947, the so-called Taft-Hartley Amendments to the National Labor Relations Act (passed over Pres. Harry Truman's veto) enabled state legislatures to enact "Right-to-Work" laws which outlaw forced unionism.



It's not the first time he's pushed it.  In 2008, he actually introduced a bill that went nowhere.  However, this time union-bought backed Democrat Congressman Brad Sherman's effort to end Right-to-Work laws must be take a little more seriously.

On Monday, Rep. Sherman sent a letter to colleagues encouraging them to join his efforts to force workers to pay union dues by ending Right-to-Work laws.

BradShermanRTW


With nearly $700,000 pumped into his campaign coffers over his career by Big Labor (12 out of his top 20 contributors are unions), there's little wonder why the California Congressman would want to reward his backers.  After all, California, (with all its fiscal issues) owes a lot to its unions.

Note: California is not a right to work state but its neighbors Arizona and Nevada are.


Contributor  ↓Total  ↓Indivs  ↓PACs  ↓
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers$75,000$0$75,000
American Assn for Justice$73,000$0$73,000
Credit Union National Assn$71,819$6,250$65,569
Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union$71,500$0$71,500
Teamsters Union$68,000$0$68,000
National Assn of Realtors$67,750$1,000$66,750
Carpenters & Joiners Union$67,500$0$67,500
United Auto Workers$66,000$0$66,000
American Institute of CPAs$62,500$0$62,500
American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees$59,000$0$59,000
Operating Engineers Union$58,000$0$58,000
Laborers Union$55,000$0$55,000
United Food & Commercial Workers Union$52,500$0$52,500
Time Warner$51,400$38,900$12,500
Specialty Merchandise Corp$48,200$48,200$0
American Federation of Teachers$44,031$0$44,031
Grobstein, Horwath & Co$43,533$43,533$0
Deloitte & Touche$41,750$750$41,000
National Education Assn$40,000$0$40,000
Service Employees International Union$37,200$0$37,200
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If Sherman and his colleagues succeed in getting a bill passed that ends workers' right to work, President Obama would likely sign it and millions of Americans could be forced to pay a union or be fired if they become unionized.

This is why....

Elections have consequences

Get out and vote in November.

hat-tip: Alliance for Worker Freedom
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Teamsters win right to mow lawns...

The Teamsters won a round:
Racine County's use of inmates to mow state highway medians and shoulders violated 2009 labor agreements, an arbitrator has decided.


Racine County has been using jail inmates for the last year to mow state highway medians, and that upset union members who filed a grievance.


An arbitrator decision, publicly released Tuesday, said Racine County did violate 2009 labor agreements by using inmates to mow, but the arbitrator's decision did not directly say the county needed to stop using inmates to mow.


Ssssh!  Don't tell the arbitrator about the goats...
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Desperate Times for Desperate Dems

You know when time are bad for socialists Democrats when one of their own becomes a capitalist lobbyist for a corporation fighting the SEIU*...
Former House Dem leader Gephardt hired as lobbyist by firm battling SEIU

Former House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) has been hired to lobby for a major food-services company that has faced criticism from a powerful union


Gephardt and Tom O’Donnell, his former chief of staff, have registered to lobby on “labor/management related matters” by Sodexo, according to lobbying disclosure records.


The French-owned company has been embroiled in a battle with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) over a labor organizing campaign, and Gephardt is known for his labor ties.


[snip]


The company has also hired Jeff Trammell, a former senior adviser to ex-Vice President Al Gore, to lobby for the firm.

...and its not Gephardt's first time working for corporations either...
So what does a labor union supporter and former 14-term congressman do after abandoning all hope of becoming president?  Does he hook up with a union and use his connections to further the cause?  Does he put his Northwestern University bachelor’s degree and University of Michigan law degree to use by doing public interest work?  Does he teach, write books and go on the lecture circuit, extolling the virtues of America’s workers?


No. He turns his back on what he formerly stood for and goes for the easy money.  He places his snout in the trough right next to the other guys.  Gephardt becomes a lobbyist.  Not only a lobbyist, but a lobbyist for Goldman Sachs


This former critic of Wall Street is now a booster of Wall Street.  With his knowledge and connections, there were a dozen ways Gephardt could have helped the labor movement. He could have made a difference.  Instead, by defecting, he defiled his legacy and further fanned the flames of cynicism.

Yo, Dick! Money talks, bulls**t walks!

[Now we know how much your "service" in Washington meant to you!]

...can't...stop...laughing...
__________________

"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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[* Emphasis added throughout.]

No-Vote Unionization: Union bosses and Dems want it resurrected...

With the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board doing labor's bidding these days, one would think union bosses and their Democrat minions would forget about pushing the job-destroying and hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act. But apparently that is not the case.

As the Union of Ailing Workplaces United Auto Workers (UAW) meets in Detroit this week to install a new king (Bob King, that is), they had a visit from the AFL-CIO's top boss, Richard "the Fifth" Trumka, who, among other comments seemed to be calling up the spirits of EFCA:
Trumka also called on UAW members to intensify phone calls, letter writing and other lobbying of their congressional representatives and senators to pass the Employee Free Choice Act....


"We won't quit until the EFCA becomes the law of the land and everyone who wants a union can have a union," Trumka said.

Not to be outdone by Trumka's remarks, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) seemed rather frustrated by Democrats current impotence on EFCA:
“I do not understand it. … We control the White House. We control the Senate. We control the House of Representatives," Lewis said. “Let's pass it and pass it now.”

No matter how bad the idea, no matter how many jobs it will destroy and no matter how many freedoms it takes away, unions and their Democrat minions will stop at nothing at seeing a unionized America.

Remember GOTV on NOVEMBER 2nd.  Your right to vote depends on it.
__________________

“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

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Monday, June 14, 2010

On UAW's Gettlefinger: It doesn't get any more surreal.

This week, the United Against Work United Auto Workers (UAW) is holding its 35th constitutional convention in Detroit this week, one protester was handcuffed (actually he is a UAW retiree and convention delegate) and the UAW's new king (Bob King, that is) is being challenged by a dissident member.

Meanwhile, the UAW's retiring boss, Ron Gettlefinger (the man who brought you Government Motors), in an interview with reporters, offered his rather surrealistic views on worker rights.
United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger gave a preview Sunday of part of his Monday farewell speech at the union's constitutional convention, telling reporters that he would vigorously defend the right of workers to organize.

Okay.  So far, so good.  But here's where he goes all screwy:
Gettelfinger questioned why it is all right for groups like the National Association of Manufacturers to have members, but businesses try to trample the rights of individual employees to form unions and collectively bargain for wages, benefits and working conditions. 

What Gettlefinger is doing in this one statement is deploying at least two distinct propaganda techniques, namely transfer and The Big Lie.

For decades, unions have used (as an argument for unionization) the transfer meme that there's really no difference between businesses belonging to associations like the National Association of Manufacturers or Chambers of Commerce versus workers belonging to labor unions.

Unfortunately, there are many differences between business associations and unions. Here are just a few:
  • Businesses can quit their associations whenever they want, union workers cannot.  In fact, trying to get a union out of the workplace is extremely difficult for workers.
  • Businesses can stop paying money to their associations any time they like and the worst that would happen to them is they get kicked out.  If a unionized worker quits paying a union, in 28 states, the union can have him fired.
  • Businesses who break an association's rules can get kicked out, but a union worker who breaks a union's rules can be placed on trial by the union and fined money.
  • Business associations cannot cause their members to go out on strike, unions can.
  • Business associations cannot cause their members to lose their jobs, unions can.
  • Business associations cannot cause their member companies to outsource jobs, unions can.
  • Business associations cannot cause the government to nationalize companies, unions have the UAW has.

The second propaganda technique Gettlefinger uses is the Big Lie.  In fact, not only does he use it once in his statement but twice.
  • First, Gettlefinger alleges that businesses try "to trample the rights of individual employees..."  Despite that this is an overly broad generality (there are over four million employers in the U.S.), the fact of the matter is, unions win roughly 68% of all NLRB elections.  This means that, if Gettlefinger's statement was true, employers are doing a pretty poor job at trampling the rights of workers.
  • The second point Gettlefinger makes in the same sentence is another union myth:  "...individual employees to form unions and collectively bargain for wages, benefits and working conditions."  Unions like the UAW are no longer "formed" by workers, they are legal entities already established and, more importantly, when workers belong to a third-party union like the UAW, the union is the members sole and exclusive bargaining representative for the purpose of collective bargaining.  In other words, the workers don't do the bargaining, the union does.  Moreover, according to the UAW's own union constitution, in order for any UAW contract to be approved, the UAW must approve it (and the union has veto power as well).

What is even more hypocritical of Gettlefinger's portrayal of unions is the fact that his successor, Bob King, who was chosen by the UAW leaders last year, is not even going to be voted on by UAW members but will be installed this week by the convention delegates.
For more than 60 years, the UAW's top leadership has blocked attempts to permit union members to vote directly for the union presidency. Rather, as the UAW's new designated nominee, King has the support of the union executive board, which has picked the UAW presidents since the late 1940s through series of closed caucuses.

It's a good thing Ron Gettlefinger is retiring because the truth just can't be stretched any more than it has.

Goodbye, Ron.  It's been surreal.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

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