LABOR SHORTS #4: Exposing Today's Union Bosses One Skid Mark at a Time

Vol. 1, Issue 4

It's Friday and our socks are soaked as Mother Nature drops an early winter Nor'easter on the Eastern third of the U.S. (yep, even some snow flurries in October!).

Nevertheless, we persevere in order to provide you with our fourth installment of LaborUnionReport's Labor Shorts, where we expose another week's worth of shenanigans from today's union bosses. [Click on the following links to see previous installments: #1, #2, and #3.]

• Seeing Red? Welcome RedState readers! [Last weekend, LUR began posting on RedState.com and we were was surprised to have the following post promoted to the front page: Absence of Erroneously-Named Employee Free Choice Act Has Some Union Bosses Getting Antsy]


• Deaf, Dumb and Dem. Despite a letter requesting a hearing (PDF), Senate Democrats are ready to confirm SEIU-radical nominee Craig Becker to the pro-union National Labor Relations Board without a hearing on SEIU's Purple People Eater's attorney and ACORN ally. (Read more on Becker here.)


• Pledging Allegiance to…SEIU? In a newly-uncovered video, the omni-present SEIU gets an oath of allegiance from its Organizer-in Chief to paint the country…purple?


• Related: Another Purple People Eater Goes into Government. Another SEIUer, Michael T. Kerr, who serves as Assistant to the Queen of Labor, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, has been sworn in as New Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management at the Department of Labor. This brings the number of union insiders running our government to…a LOT!


• Related ReDux: Purple Pimpernel Among Washington's Most Powerful. Lavender Lapeled Labor Lord (and SEIU boss) Andy Stern is number 36 of Washington's Top 50 Most Powerful People, according to Gentlemen's Quarterly (GQ).


• Third Time's a Charm. Workers at MeadWestvaco were finally successful in their attempt to oust the United Steelworkers in favor of their own independent union. The USW has seven days to object to the election outcome (again).


• Unfriendly Skies? Jimmy Hoffa (the Younger) is out campaigning to unionize Continental Airline's fleet service workers, according to a Teamster press release.


• Get a Job! One way to get people back to work? Drop the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act, says Forbes' Steven Davis. [More on the delusionally-dubbed job-killing EFCA here.]


• Targeting Toyota? Amid the worst auto industry slump in decades, the Machinists' union--not the Union of Ailing Workplaces (UAW) is targeting Toyota workers.


• Health Care Workers Walk Out. Yesterday, the Purple People Eater, SEIU, led a one-day walk out of hospital workers in Washington State. Purporting the walk out was over patients instead of profits, the SEIU's contract has been expired since June.


• Teamster Tussle. Apparently left out of the auto bailouts earlier this year, Teamsters are talking tough over UAW-owned Chrysler's shifting of work to non-union car carriers, fearing that Government Motors (GM) may opt to do the same.


• Bye Bye, Bronx Biscotti. Despite their clever chants, October 8th was union workers' last day at the Bronx cookie maker Stella D'Oro, following an 11-month strike and the company's sale. The now unemployed union workers left the plant chanting, "The workers united, will never be defeated!" [For background, read 'No Contract, No Cookies!...and No Job!']


• Tough-Talking Trumka. Though he is accused of being "narcissistic, lazy" and "self-indulgent" from people within his own movement, newly anointed AFL-CIO boss Richard Trumka talks of being tougher than his predecessor, DSA member John Sweeney.


• NO CHIT! Despite the newly-reported Administration ties to health care lobbyists, unions are calling in their chits on health care, according to Townhall, making Dead Fish Sender (and presidential advisor) Rahm Emanuel more afraid of losing union bosses' backing than he is of America's citizen backlash. Continued…


• Tax Thee Not Me! Unions are fighting mad over the Senate version of Health Reform because it contains a tax on many employer-sponsored benefit plans.


• NYC Commuters Brace For 'Day of Outrage.' MTA bus and subway riders are bracing for an undefined union job action based on a mysterious text message, although union officials are denying involvement.


• Corrupt Union Bosses? Former UTU Secretary-Treasurer Michael P. Kelly is heading off to the Big House for a year after pilfering nearly $100k from his union and its members.


• Corrupt Union Bosses Part Deux? Teamster affiliate, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers' president Edward Rodzwicz, was arrested on Tuesday, accused of soliciting and accepting $20,000 in bribes from a St. Louis lawyer. The Teamsters have no comment.


• Tips on How Count the Corrupt Union Bosses...Bring more than ten fingers and toes, then go here.


• Union-Free = Un-Patriotic. The proposed Patriotic Corporation Act will give you a 5% tax break if you let your workers unionize (other strings attached). No word on whether your company or employees would get a government bail out if the union drives you out of business.


• Unions Taught In Higher Ed? Albeit rather oxy-moronic to begin with, the moronically-named Employee Free Choice Act will be heading to Penn State as the United Students Against Sweatshops aim to teach others about the no-vote unionization bill.
  

And that, dear readers, is our fourth installment of Labor Shorts.

We hope you have a truly great week's end!

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THE TOM HARKIN HITLIST COUNTDOWN

DAY ONE: IT BEGINS.

Counting the Days Until the Mainstream Media Picks Up the Story of

Democrat Tom Harkin Delivering Big Labor its 2010 Hit List of His Fellow Democrats

As the job-destroying, union bailout bill known as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has become bogged down in the U.S. Senate, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has established himself as union bosses' chief negotiator in the U.S. Senate and, in fact, is beginning to act a bit like a union thug himself.


In fact, if Harkin's attempt to reach a compromise on EFCA fails, he has sworn to take the original measure to the Senate floor for an 'up or down vote' to let the voters "see for themselves who in the Senate is really with them or against them."

As the United Steel Workers (formerly of America) stated on June 18th:

Senator Harkin...has vowed to either find a solution that works to get to 60 votes, or force those unsupportive Senators to take a vote on the original measure. This way, we know where they stand come election time...

In other words, Senator Harkin is doing union bosses' bidding by forcing Senators within his own party to either help bail out the unions or, if they don't, they'll get on Harkin's Hit List.

Unfortunately, no one in the mainstream media (either from the Left or the Right) has called into question a special interest group using a U.S. Senator to target fellow senators--including those within his own party.

Until such time as America's mainstream media picks up on union bosses' use of Senator Harkin to threaten other U.S. senators (including senators of his own party), LaborUnionReport.com is announcing the Harkin Hit List Countdown.

Every day, we will be counting the days that Harkins' threat goes unchallenged by either the media, his fellow Democrats, or Republicans, and LaborUnionReport.com will be issuing another statement about this seeming blackmail of elected politicians by a special interest group.