EFCA may be "dead" in Congress, but unions are running the NLRB

According to U.S. Representative Phil Roe (R-TN), the job destroying and hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act is "dead" this year.

U.S. Rep. Phil Roe says legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize in the workplace is dead in Congress.


Roe, R-Tenn., recently told human resources professionals at the Kingsport’s MeadowView Marriott that the “Employee Free Choice Act” won’t come back up in this congressional session.


[snip]


“Unless the Senate acted on it, (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi said she would not bring it to the House floor,” Roe told those attending a labor and employment seminar put on by the Kingsport-based Hunter, Smith and Davis law firm. “It won’t be back. ... You will not see that in this Congress. It’s deader than a doornail.”

While this is certainly good news (Scott Brown helped confirm this months ago), the other shoe is dropping over at the National Labor Relations Board, where unions control the government agency like a pitbull's jaws on a chihuahua's throat.

Since SEIU-appointee Craig Becker and union attorney Mark Pearce were seated alongside former Teamster attorney (and current NLRB Chairman) Wilma Liebman, the agency has become to unions what the KGB was to the Kremlin.  And, it's only going to get worse in the months and years ahead.

Already, the NLRB has begun using press releases to tout union "wins," while seemingly ignoring rulings against unions (like this one).

With the General Counsel, Republican-appointee Ron Meisberg resigning two months before his term expires and the last Republican-appointee leaving in August, the union-controlled NLRB will have carte blanche ability to run roughshod over America's union-free workers and their employers.

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“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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Senate (not much) HELP Committee Votes on SEIU's Becker

As a follow-up to last night's post, SEIU attorney Craig Becker's confirmation is organized labor's "highest priority."

Earlier today, the Senate HELP Committee voted along party lines (13-10) to approve the SEIU's President Obama's nominee to the National Labor Relations Board.

As the NAM's Carter Wood notes:

Ranking Member Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) detailed his opposition to the anti-employer views of Becker, an SEIU associate counsel, and questioned the Senate’s rush to approve controversial, labor-backed nominees before Scott Brown of Massachusetts could be seated as a Senator.

Enzi supported Becker’s nomination at an October 2009 markup as part of a package that included Buffalo law labor Mark Pearce and Brian Hayes, a Republican staffer on the HELP Committee. The Senator’s opposition signals united Republican opposition and makes Becker’s confirmation much less likely in the full Senate because Brown will be sworn in before a cloture vote. [Emphasis added.]

According to the Hill:

A spokesman for Enzi said it was unclear whether Republicans would follow through with a filibuster of Becker’s nomination, though opposition to him remains strong among party members.

On Becker's nomination, HELP Committee Chairman (and big labor buddy) Tom Harkin (D-IA) stated:

“As you are all aware, I’m a supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act, and I hope to see it passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. But I don’t have any illusions that those important changes can somehow be accomplished administratively, and neither does Craig Becker.

“He has clearly and consistently explained, on numerous occasions, that all three major reforms proposed in EFCA—card check, binding arbitration for first contracts, and treble backpay for illegally fired workers—cannot be accomplished without a change in the statute. And as we all know, statutes can only be amended by those of us elected to Congress, not Executive Branch appointees.

“Mr. Becker is on the record about all of this. We could not have a more extensive record of where Mr. Becker stands. But now we’ve gotten 144 more written questions that my Republican colleagues have submitted, largely covering similar ground. That’s more than 420 written questions total. 200 more written questions than were submitted to Justice Sotomayor during her confirmation hearings, and she was seeking a lifetime appointment! That’s when I start to wonder whether these questions are legitimate inquiries, or just tactics for delay.

“So while Mr. Becker is diligently answering these additional questions, and expects to have more answers available soon, it is time for this Committee to move forward."

While Scott Brown's early arrival in Washington may aid the Republicans in blocking Becker, it is still possible for President Obama to appoint Becker as a "recess appointment."

If this occurs, this will only serve to delegitimize Craig Becker's role on the Board, as well as the NLRB itself.
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"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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Cross-posted.

GAME CHANGER! Brown Likely to Head to DC Thursday to Block Becker, Reid & Co.

Great Scott! * **

Things in Washington seem to be changing by the hour!

Ever since Scott Brown won the Massachusetts special election last month, Harry Reid and his Democrat cohorts have been gaming the system, trying to rush through Big Labor's President Obama's controversial nominations like Patricia Smith (as the Department of Labor's solicitor) and Craig Becker before Brown could be seated.

Now, Scott plans to try and stop Reid in his tracks, saying he wants to be sworn in immediately, not next week and Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick appears ready to certify Brown as early as tomorrow at 9:30 am.

Patrick is planning to certify the results at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, said governor's spokesman Kyle Sullivan. "This will ensure that Senator-elect Brown’s request to receive the final paperwork by 11 a.m. tomorrow is fulfilled," Sullivan said in a statement.

Vice President Joe Biden would have to administer the oath of office, and top Senate Democrats appeared ready this afternoon to move on Brown's request.

“Once he gets the certificate in hand, he can be sworn in,” said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate majority leader Harry Reid. “We are working to swear him in as quickly as possible, which would be as early as tomorrow afternoon.”

There are several votes coming up within the next week that are expected to be controversial, including nominees for solicitor of labor and the US General Services Administration. A vote could come next week on whether to confirm Craig Becker, a Chicago-based union attorney who was nominated by President Obama to the National Labor Relations Board.

Votes on a major jobs bill could also come next week.

If Scott Brown is seated tomorrow, it is not a moment too soon.

Needless to say, however, union bosses are really, really mad.

The labor community is fuming over the expedited plan to seat Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Mass) this Thursday afternoon, arguing that Democratic leadership is torpedoing one of its most important causes -- the nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.

[snip]

"Democrats were outmaneuvered yet again," emailed a labor source who was granted anonymity to speak freely. "I'm used to us caving, but they didn't even [try to delay Brown's seating]. They just hit the mat.

"I love how we cave to the Republicans and won't seat our Senator, [Al] Franken. Then we reverse cave and seat their senator. I mean forget the analogy of one is playing checkers and the other playing chess. It's like one is playing chess while the other is sitting there picking their nose."

As the NAM's blog Shopfloor notes:

Caterwauling, too. There’s caterwauling.

Organized labor has elevated the importance of Becker’s nomination, logically viewing him as their man on the NLRB. This afternoon, in an e-mail to Senate staff, the SEIU declared, “This is the highest priority for organized labor…”

We note this background paragraph in Stein’s story:

An associate general counsel for the Service Employees International Union since 1990 and previously counsel for the AFL-CIO, Becker was targeted immediately by GOP lawmakers for being too sympathetic to labor for a post at the NLRB. The White House urged unions not to launch a public campaign around his appointment, arguing that it would pass Congress via an “inside game,” a source working on the process told the Huffington Post.

Was he targeted immediately? We don’t recall that. But if so, perhaps it’s because Becker wrote one of the Obama’s Administration’s first executive orders to slant federal regs toward organized labor.

Purple heads must be spinning and pea soup flying over at the SEIU right now.

* pun intended

** Emphasis added throughout post

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"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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Cross-posted.

AFL-CIO Mouthpiece Admits Big Labor's Strategy is to Use NLRB to Push Americans into Unions

As Big Labor's nominee to the National Labor Relations Board, Craig Becker, has his Senate hearing this week, Stewart Acuff, the AFL-CIO's main point person in pushing the delusionally-dubbed (and recently doomed) Employee Free FORCED Choice Act shared the Big Labor backdoor strategy on Huffington Post.

It [sic] we aren't able to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, we will work with President Obama and Vice President Biden and their appointees to the National Labor Relations Board to change the rules governing forming a union through administrative action to once again allow workers in America access to one of the most basic freedoms in a democracy--the freedom of speech and assembly and association so that workers can build the collective power to challenge the Financial Elite and Get America Back to Work. [Emphasis added.]

As we noted yesterday, the leopard (Becker) isn't likely to be changing its spots--despite what he tells the senators in Washington.

This is also why the Communications Workers of America is pushing to get Craig Becker confirmed at the NLRB before Scott Brown gets seated in the Senate.
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"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." Thomas Paine December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport at Twitter.

Cross-posted.

WSJ: AFL-CIO Poll Shows Union Households Boosted Brown [Ouch!]

Perhaps the WSJ's article should have stated "Majority of Union Households Voted for Brown" because no matter how union bosses try to spin it...

A poll conducted on behalf of the AFL-CIO found that 49% of Massachusetts union households supported Mr. Brown in Tuesday's voting, while 46% supported Democrat Martha Coakley. The poll conducted by Hart Research Associates surveyed 810 voters.

[snip]

Karen Ackerman, the AFL-CIO's political action director, said the results of the Massachusetts poll indicate "what we call a working-class revolt" in which voters were responding to the fact that no one was addressing their needs or interests. But she played down the greater support union household members had for Mr. Brown. [Emphasis added.]

Downplay or delude, it's all the same.

Delusion: de⋅lu⋅sion [di-loo-zhuhn] –noun

1. an act or instance of deluding.

2. the state of being deluded.

3. a false belief or opinion: delusions of grandeur.

4. Psychiatry. a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact: a paranoid delusion.

To repeat: A majority of union households voted for Brown.

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

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

Cross-posted.

AFL-CIO Top Boss Spins Why Scott Brown Won

Richard "the boss" Trumka, the AFL-CIO's top dog, puts his spin on the Democrats' stunning defeat in Massachuetts on Tuesday.

Spoiler alert:  Trumka's message: It's because Democrats' weren't socialist enough.



Delusion:  de⋅lu⋅sion [di-loo-zhuhn] –noun

1. an act or instance of deluding.

2. the state of being deluded.

3. a false belief or opinion: delusions of grandeur.

4. Psychiatry. a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact: a paranoid delusion.

h/t: The Union News.

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"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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SEIU Members for Brown Speaks More About SEIU Than Anything Else

Very often, because of its seeming totalitarian tactics and the dictator-like bosses Andy Stern, Anna Burger and their bands of purple people eaters, the tendency for many critics of the purple behemoth is blanket condemnation (perhaps rightly so) of everything and everyone who dons a purple t-shirt.

Yet, this video demonstrates that there are individuals within the SEIU who do not follow lock-step the Union of Purple People Eaters' top-down orders:



While these members' individual opinions are often drowned out by Andy Stern's authoritarian union, their presence rallying for a candidate their union bosses oppose serve to remind us that there are some SEIU members (though they may be few) with independent minds who may be trapped in the Union of Purple People Eaters.

Hat-tip: Think Red.

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"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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The Devil Just Bought 10,000 Snow Shovels Today: SEIU Protestors Picket For Brown

The above headline comes from one of the reader comments to this story from the American Spectator:

More than 75 boosters of the GOP candidate turned out for the counter-rally, standing the sub-freezing weather to wave Brown signs and loudly sing (to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic"), "Glory, Hallelujah . . . Send Scott Brown to D.C.!"

Among the Brown supporters were - believe it or not - rank-and-file members of the Service Employees International Union.

"We're Americans - we have our free choice," said one of the SEIU members, who identified herself only as Michelle and said she drove more than 60 miles from Western Massachusetts - "The stepchild of this state" - to show her support for Brown in Worcester.

Not only is Michelle a Brown supporter, but she's also a Tea Party activist who rode 10 hours on a bus to attend last year's 9/12 March on D.C. "I didn't like the slide into socialism," she explained.

No further comment necessary.

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Union Bosses' Reign of Error May Suffer Fatal Blow Next Tuesday

Unions and their de-facto labor party political puppets [read: Democrats] are freaking out right now!  They know that their Reign of Error may come to a crashing halt next Tuesday.

The Senate Special Election in Massachusetts next Tuesday is not going their way and, while the AFL-CIO sends its shock troops and the SEIU's attack ads and purple shirts flood the Bay state, GOP candidate Scott Brown's momentum seems to be gaining over his opponent Martha Coakley with Brown now leading Coakley  Even in her own polling, Martha Coakley's "bottom has fallen out."

"I have heard that in the last two days the bottom has fallen out of her poll numbers," says one well-connected Democratic strategist. In her own polling, Coakley is said to be around five points behind Republican Scott Brown. "If she's not six or eight ahead going into the election, all the intensity is on the other side in terms of turnout," the Democrat says. "So right now, she is destined to lose."

According to a Suffolk University poll, Brown is up by 4%.

How quickly has this race turned around?

In November, Coakley was beating Brown by 31 percentage points. Now, Brown is up by 4% -- a change of 35% in two months.

How important is this election to the nation?

Well, as one newscaster stated: "If Scott Brown wins next Tuesday...he will change the world of politics as we know it." This is what has union bosses so scared.

Unions have spent over a billion dollars electing a party that would be beholden to their interests (as evidenced by the sweetheart deal union bosses got from Democrats on the "Cadillac tax" earlier this week). 

Union expenditures in 2006 and 2008 were purposeful and with two primary (and many secondary) goals in mind:

First and foremost, union bosses have been running a deceptive campaign to get the job-destroying and hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) made into law.  As EFCA effectively strips workers of their right to vote on unionization and gives the (union-backed) federal government the right to impose contracts in the private sector, it has been union bosses' dream for some time..

Secondly, union bosses have been campaigning for the nationalization of U.S. health care for decades. With the billions union bosses will make from nationalizing the health care industry, union bosses see health care reform as one of the two major vehicles for them to regain their stranglehold on the U.S. economy forever.

Now, however, union bosses' dreams may be getting a bucketful of cold (Bay State) water thrown onto them if Scott Brown wins on Tuesday.

To us, it would not matter if Spongebob were running against Martha Coakley and the union special interests...but  he's not.  So, if you're at all interested in helping Scott Brown end union bosses' Reign of Error and beat Andy Stern & Co., go here to help.

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

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

Cross-posted.

Paid Union Picketer for Coakley Admits He's Voting for Brown

It really doesn't get any richer (or more pathetic) than this.

In Massachusetts' Special Senate Election, where Republican Scott Brown has mounted a serious (as in Democrats-running-scared serious) challenge to the assumed shoe-in Democrat Martha Coakley, these union members admit they were paid $50 to hold placards for Coakley before one admits he is voting for Brown.

Priceless!  [Well, actually the price tag is $50 per union picketer.]



h/t: Moe Lane & Hot-Air



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