Spirit Airlines Crippled by Pilots Strike

Apparently, Spirit Airlines' pilots don't realize there's a recession going on and airlines are struggling to stay solvent.

On Saturday, ALPA-represented pilots grounded the airline after rejecting a contract that would have raised their pay 30% over five years, increased the match to their retirement plan and provided them four days off between every trip.

Presumably, it wasn't good enough.

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.

Is Obama’s NLRB Looking to Suppress Worker Votes in Union Elections?

As President Obama's union-controlled National Labor Relations Board continues on its quest to help unions do all they can to unionize America's workers, a hint of their newest attempt may come in the form of a request for information (RFI) through the federal government's procurement website.

For 75 years, when a union seeks to unionize a company, the NLRB's primary method for determining whether a majority of workers wish to be unionized is through a secret-ballot election that includes a paper ballot and private, portable NLRB voting booth.  More importantly, except in extraordinary cases where employees are scattered across geographic areas, these elections are almost always done on an employer's premises and on working time.

Why are they done on an employer's premises?  The reason is simple.  Historically, the NLRB has viewed making the election process available to all the affected workers is preferable than having a minority of employees decide the fate of all affected employees.

Note: NLRB elections are decided by a simple majority vote.  In order for a union to win, it needs 50% + 1 of those people who actually vote.  For example, if there are 100 workers in a voting unit and all 100 vote, a union needs 51 votes in order to win the right to represent all 100.  However, if only five people vote and 95 (for whatever reason) do not vote, if three out of five workers vote to unionize, all 100 workers are unionized.

As they are in politics, unions are effective in getting out the vote in union elections.  As a result, unions win approximately 68% of all elections held this way.  However, when union elections are held in the workplace, there is also a greater likelihood for all affected workers to participate, including those that do not want the union. And that is something the union-controlled NLRB appears to want to change.

According to the NLRB's RFI, the agency is seeking information for electronic voting for...

...the acquisition of electronic voting services to support conducting secret-ballot elections to determine representation issues. Specifically, the Agency requires a proven solution that supports mail, telephone, web-based and/or on-site electronic voting...


...the Agency specifically requests information, to the extent available, relating to what safeguards, if any, could be implemented to ensure that votes cast remotely were free from distractions or other interferences, including undue intimidation or coercion.

In other words, it appears the union-controlled NLRB is about to move a process that has primarily taken place in the workplace (and has worked well) out into the streets.

And the agency is closing the RFI quickly—June 29th—which indicates it is going down that path, without much time for there to be an opposition mounted.

As one of the more common union-organizing ploys is telling workers "if you don't want the union, don't vote" (a means of tricking "NO union" voters from voting), the NLRB's push toward off-site, electronic voting appears as a willingness to disenfranchise (read: suppression) workers who oppose unionization.

Equally important is the ability for unions to further pressure workers into voting for the union outside the workplace.  As the law firm of Ford & Harrison notes:

While a shift away from the on-site, secret-ballot election makes little sense with respect to the NLRB representation election process, the potential for such a shift does create great concern for employers and employees alike. The primary goal of the on-site, secret-ballot election is to ensure the presence of "laboratory conditions" in the election process – to ensure that the voters are not subject to outside influences at the time immediately leading up to, during, and immediately following the casting of the ballot. If the NLRB eliminates the on-site aspect of the secret-ballot election, the NLRB is also eliminating any guarantee that voters will not be subject to coercion, intimidation, or other outside influences as they cast their ballots. [Emphasis added.]

While the union-controlled NLRB won't publicly admit its RFI and the implementation of off-site voting is designed to better aid unions by suppressing votes that may be against unionizing, the NLRB's recent actions leave little question.

__________________
“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.

NYC Bus Drivers Don’t Take Spit

New York City.  You either love it or hate it.  It's a big city.  It's tough.  It never sleeps.

Like their city, New Yorkers are hip, they're trendy and, all too often, they can be rather rude and rudeness...well, you know...rudeness can sometimes lead to bad behavior.

The Transport Workers' Union, which represents New York City's bus drivers has negotiated a unique benefit for its members who encounter particularly rude riders, especially those passengers prone to hocking loogies:

A bizarre policy has allowed city bus drivers to land an average of two months paid time off -- with one staying at home for more than half a year -- every time a rider spits on them.


The outrageous arrangement comes courtesy of TWU Local 100's strong union contract and the willingness of MTA officials to categorize spitting incidents as "assaults" -- even though the state penal code doesn't.


Of the 153 bus drivers who took time off because of assaults last year, 51 -- one-third -- did so solely because a disgusting rider decided to spew his frustrations, MTA officials said at a committee hearing yesterday.


And they averaged a whopping 64 days of paid time off for each incident, the officials said.


The number of days off ranged from a single mental-health day for some drivers to the 191-day debacle, the agency said.


[snip]


When an MTA bus driver reports a spitting incident, an agency team responds to the scene with a cleanup kit.


Some drivers just continue on their way afterward, and some are taken off in ambulances if there's fear of a health risk, Smith said.


Drivers need to get a note from their family doctor to get the free days -- and there isn't a limit to how much "assault time" they can take.


Many claim to have posttraumatic stress disorder. [Emphasis added.]

Despite an exhaustive search, there's no information available for what happens when a driver encounters pigeon poop.

__________________
“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.

Unionizing Doctors: SEIU already reaping rewards at having Craig Becker at the NLRB

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is already reaping the rewards of having its Associate General Counsel Craig Becker sitting on the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

On June 3rd, the union-controlled NLRB issued a 2-1 decision denying a request for review (a form of appeal) by St. Barnabas Hospital regarding the unionization of its resident physicians.  The two board members were former-Teamster attorney (and current NLRB chairman) Wilma Liebman and SEIU's former associate general counsel Craig Becker.  The dissenter was the last remaining GOP appointee Peter Schaumber (whose term expires in August).

Legitimate and unanswered questions still remain about why the SEIU's Becker refuses to recuse himself on cases involving the SEIU, but the fact is, the SEIU's presence on the labor board is already reaping rewards for the purple behemoth.

Resident physicians at St. Barnabas Hospital voted overwhelmingly to form a union after a two-year fight. The National Labor Relations Board today announced a 119 to 2 vote in favor of the residents and interns of joining the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare as their exclusive bargaining agent.

“St. Barnabas's frontline caregivers haven't had the voice they need to advocate for a better, safer hospital for themselves and the Bronx community,” said Eric Scherzer, Executive Director of CIR, in a statement. “With today's vote, they'll be able to work cooperatively with management to achieve their goals.”

But the hospital immediately said it may appeal an NLRB decision that allowed the vote to be counted.

A St. Barnabas spokesman also noted that just 121 of the 280 eligible residents chose to vote, but the union says that total is misleading. A total of 168 votes were cast; St. Barnabas challenged 47 of them because they belonged to residents leaving at the end of the month. CIR agreed to let the remaining 121 votes be counted first, while the the remaining challenged ballots would only be opened if the outcome was in question.

While the hospital is appealing the NLRB's refusal to review its case, the NLRB's current position (unless overturned by the courts) enables the SEIU (and other unions) to unionize resident physicians across the nation, adding tens of thousands of members (and millions of dollars) to the SEIU's rolls and treasury.

You didn't really think the SEIU pushed for nationalized health care for altruistic purposes, did you?
__________________
“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.

Will unions push Boeing to the brink?

Unemployment: 9.7%

Foreclosures: Up 40%

Union pushing a company to the brink? Priceless.

After enduring a month-long strike in Long Beach, California, Boeing has another possible strike looming in St. Louis.

This time the Machinists' are balking at this offer:

Key features of the contract offer to approximately 2,500 represented St. Louis-area employees include:
-- $5,000 lump sum payment in year 1 of the agreement
-- 3 percent general wage increases in years 2, 3, and 4, and an additional 3 percent in the remaining seven months of the contract
-- Basic retirement benefit increased to $81/month per year of benefit service effective Sept. 1, 2010; a $11 (15.7 percent) improvement from $70 today
-- Excellent health care benefits at a moderate cost to employees
Current health care coverage and employee contributions continue through Dec. 31, 2013
-- Continued company savings plan match of 50 percent of the first 6 percent contributed (increases match for employees hired after Dec. 31, 2004, from 50 percent of first $70/week to 50 percent of first 8 percent). Employees hired on or after Jan. 1, 2012, will also receive a 4 percent automatic company contribution to their Voluntary Investment Plan, vested immediately, in lieu of participation in the Employee Retirement Income Plan – Hourly East.

Read the rest 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.

THOSE D*MN UNIONS: Do-nothing teachers' union threatens Marine's job

It is a question of principle.

Apparently, today's union bosses believe that service payment to the union is more important than one's service to his country.  As a result, they would rather make an example of a retired marine by having him fired for not paying union dues than to hear his case as to why he should not be forced to pay them.

A retired U.S. Marine who runs a Massachusetts high school's ROTC program says he faces termination if he doesn't pay a $500 union fee by next week, a levy he refuses to pay because he already receives medical and dental benefits from the military.

Maj. Stephen Godin, senior naval science instructor at the Naval Junior ROTC Unit at North High School in Worcester, Mass., told FoxNews.com he has been teaching for the Educational Association for Worcester for 15 years -- including 14 at North High School -- without having to join the union or pay an "agency fee" toward the cost of collective bargaining.

"I just want to save my job here," the 58-year-old father of two said. "I've been doing this for 15 years. Nobody has ever told me to join the union or be terminated."

Unfortunately, the teachers' union may have more standing in they eyes of the law, since Mr. Godin lives in Massachusetts, one of 28 states where it is legal to force workers to pay the union or the union can have them fired.

Godin, who earns roughly $75,000 a year, said he has asked for arbitration no fewer than five times, but has not received a response from the teacher's union. He said he received a letter last month from Worcester Public School officials indicating he will be fired on June 15 if he fails to pay the agency fee.

"It's really nothing," Godin said of the amount. "It's the principal [sic] of the matter. I think they're trying to extort money from me. They do nothing for me."

In this case, while they may have the legal right to have Major Godin fired, on principle*, the teachers' union is just plain WRONG..  To think, this retired marine fought for freedom for his country and his fellow Americans--some of whom are those very teachers' union bosses who are now trying to have him fired.

[* Then again, like morals, principles seem to be what are lacking with so many of today's union bosses.]

Read the rest of Major Godin's story 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.

12,000 Nurses Abandon Patients...for "Patient Safety?"

While claiming they're doing it for their patients, 2,000 RNs walked out on their patients today in protest of...everything.

​In what may be the largest ever strike of its kind, 12,000 Twin Cities nurses have walked off the job at 14 area hospitals in a 24-hour strike over pay, pensions and staffing ratios. Outside Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis, they greeted the day with a rendition of "Amazing Grace."


The hospitals have shipped in 2,800 replacement nurses, as well as extra doctors, nurse practitioners and other health care delivery pros to try and cover for the walkout, and says that ERs and birthing centers won't be affected by the strike.Estimated cost to the hospitals: $4.5 million.

Word has it that Florence Nightingale opted to cross the picket line to care for the abandoned patients..
__________________
“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.

Why the Arkansas Runoff is Important: Union bosses delivered a $10 million message to Democrats

Union bosses suffered a seeming setback on Tuesday as Arkansas voters rejected the union attempt to make an example out of Blanche Lincoln.  But the setback isn't what it seems.

The Black Sheep Survives the Slaughterhouse

From the beginning, Tuesday's Arkansas Showdown was really more about the national Democratic Party and who owns it  than it was about Blanche Lincoln.  Blanche Lincoln was merely the black sheep sacrificial lamb who didn't toe the line for union bosses and, therefore, whose throat needed to be slit to ensure that all the other Democratic sheep would fall back into line.

It was a union plan hatched long before Blanche bucked the union bosses.  In fact, in 2008, the SEIU announced that it had set aside $10 million of its members' money to "unelect" politicians who did not toe the labor line.  Blanche Lincoln was the first major test case.

While the effort failed in Arkansas, the message to the rest of the Democratic establishment is simple and clear:

We bought you. We own you. You buck us. We destroy you.

Unions work to tighten their noose on Democrats' necks.
Notwithstanding the fact that neither the American people nor the media would stand for a corporation or group of corporations engaging in such blatant extorionate tactics, union bosses used their members' money to make an example of Blanche Lincoln.

Although it failed in Arkansas, the fact is Arkansas is a Right-to-Work state and has a low number of union members compared to Forced Unionization states should not be ignored.  The fact that unions wasted of $10 million of members' money to send a message to all Democrats should also not be ignored.

Union bosses believe that, since they bought the Democratic Party, they own it and, therefore, Democrat politicians must obey their union masters or face the assault that Blanche Lincoln staved off.

The Faux-Family Feud
While the media is playing up the faux-rift between the White House and union bosses, the real story is that Labor is not licking its wounds.

Labor leaders were incensed by an undisclosed White House official’s assertion to POLITICO Tuesday night that the unions’ support of Halter amounted to “flushing $10 million” of their members’ money down the toilet on “a pointless exercise.”

“If even half that total had been well-targeted and applied in key House races across this country, that could have made a real difference in November,” the official said.

To the contrary, union bosses are pleased with the fact that they almost took Lincoln down:

...[U]nion leaders insisted Wednesday that forcing Lincoln into a runoff and coming within a few thousand votes of unseating her had achieved their goal — getting other wayward Democrats to think twice before crossing labor.


"If working families were able to accomplish this in Arkansas, imagine what they can achieve in other states," said AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.


Union officials were unified in praising the outcome as a strong warning to Democratic incumbents like Lincoln who have taken labor's money and utterly defied them when it comes to votes. They are tired of the argument that Republicans would be even worse, so labor should tolerate the lesser of two evils.


"It's been well worth it," said American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees president Gerald McEntee. "We've gotten more publicity and been talked about in terms of powerful labor more than I've heard in the last 20 years."

While Blanche Lincoln survived the unions and will likely fall in November, the union bosses succeeded in sending the message to the rest of the Democrat politicians who might be considering having a view independent of union bosses:  Don't even think about it.

For those that do not want to fall under the jackboots of today's union bosses, the message is also clear:

In order to overcome the assault that unions are going to engage in leading up to November, Americans will need to be better organized, more strongly motivated, and, most important, they need to get out and vote.

__________________
“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.

SEIU's Becker Wrongly Splits Hairs on Recusing Himself on SEIU's cases at NLRB

Earlier this week, we pointed out SEIU-attorney-turned-NLRB-member Craig Becker's seeming violation of his ethics pledge by ruling on a case involving the SEIU, in breach of the two year moratorium.

A mere five days later, in another case (ironically involving the SEIU again), Becker takes the chance to address his critics with thumb planted firmly on nose, stating that the reason he is (and, presumably, will continue) ruling on cases involving the SEIU is because SEIU locals are different from the SEIU international union.

...the Moving Parties ask that I recuse myself on the grounds that local labor organizations affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are parties to the cases. Prior to the commencement of my service on the Board, I was employed by and served as counsel to the SEIU. I resigned that position and ceased all such representation effective April 4, 2010, prior to being sworn in as a Member of the Board. Pursuant to the President’s Executive Order and Title 5 of the Code, I have pledged to recuse myself from all cases to which SEIU is a party for a period of 2 years subsequent to April 5, 2010. That pledge, however, does not require me to recuse myself from all cases in which local unions affiliated with the SEIU are parties.

SEIU is a separate and distinct legal entity from the many local labor organizations affiliated with SEIU. The courts have clearly distinguished local unions as autonomous entities separate and apart from international unions with which they are affiliated. [Emphasis added.]

A splitting of the hairs Absolutely.

Moreover, it's a faulty argument.  The SEIU has control over its locals and for Craig Becker to argue that they are separate and distinct is like stating that a parent has no responsibility for its child.

While it is true that the Service Employees International Union is a separate legal entity from its local unions, the international is, in fact the parent of those locals.

More importantly, the SEIU's own union constitution (in PDF) seems to contradict Mr. Becker's argument:

This organization shall be known as the Service Employees International Union, affiliated with Change to Win and the Canadian Labour Congress, and shall consist of an unlimited number of Local Unions chartered by it, and the membership thereof, and such affiliated bodies as may be established from time to time. [Article I, p. 3]

It appears there's not much distinction. Then, of course, there this:

Article III


JURISDICTION AND MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. The International Union shall be composed of and have jurisdiction over its affiliated bodies and all Local Unions composed of working men and women who are employed or engaged in any phase of private, nonprofit or public employment... [Article III, p. 4]

...and this...

The International President is empowered to construe the jurisdiction above defined to embrace all classifications of workers within any establishment anywhere in the world.


Section 2(a). The International Union shall have jurisdiction over the Local Unions and their members and over all affiliated bodies. 

and this [note the term with the approval of]:...

(c). With the approval of the International Union, Local Unions may establish different categories of membership and rates of dues for persons represented and not represented by the Local Union for collective bargaining purposes including, but not limited to, life members, retired members and associate members.

...and this certainly appears that the SEIU International President can "require and direct" local unions...

(f). Consistent with the programs and policies adopted by the SEIU Convention delegates, the International President shall be empowered to negotiate and enter into national, regional, or areawide collective bargaining agreements, including companywide or multi-employer agreements, and to coordinate activities toward this end in consultation with the Local Unions involved, and is authorized to require and direct coordinated bargaining among Local Unions. [Article VIII, p. 13]

...or this...

(h). The International President shall have authority to interpret this Constitution and Bylaws and decide on all points of law submitted to him or her by Local Unions or the membership thereof, or by affiliated bodies, subject to appeal to the International Executive Board, and the next Convention. [Article VIII, p. 14]

...and this...

Section 2. Any member or officer of a Local Union aggrieved by any action of his or her Local Union or affiliated body not covered by the provisions of Article XVII of this Constitution (including determinations of election protests) may petition the International President within 15 days after the act complained of, or may petition the International Executive Board, within 15 days after the action of the International President thereon, to review the action of the Local Union or affiliated body. [Article VIII, p. 14]

...or this...

Section 4. The International President shall sign all charters and other official documents of this International Union; shall have the authority to direct an examination of the books and records of any Local Union or affiliated body;... [Article VIII, p. 14]

...and, of course, this...

Section 7(a). Whenever the International President has reason to believe that, in order to protect the interests of the membership, it is necessary to appoint a Trustee for the purpose of correcting corruption or financial malpractice, assuring the performance of collective bargaining agreements or other duties of a bargaining representative, restoring democratic procedures, or otherwise carrying out the legitimate objects of this International Union, he or she may appoint such Trustee to take charge and control of the affairs of a Local Union or of an affiliated body and such appointment shall have the effect of removing the officers of the Local Union or affiliated body. [Article VIII, p. 15]

...and the Trustees powers over a local?

(b). The Trustee shall be authorized and empowered to take full charge of the affairs of the Local Union or affiliated body and its related benefit funds, to remove any of its employees, agents and/or trustees of any funds selected by the Local Union or affiliated body and appoint such agents, employees or fund trustees during his or her trusteeship, and to take such other action as in his or her judgment is necessary for the preservation of the Local Union or affiliated body and for the protection of the interests of the membership.

Sounds like the SEIU is in charge of its locals, doesn't it?

Section 4. No Local Union shall have any right to pay any bills before it pays its full obligation to the International Union each month. [Article XIII, p. 24]

And, of course, the SEIU international constitution "governs" its locals...

Section 3. The Constitution and Bylaws of all Local Unions and affiliated bodies and amendments thereto must be submitted to the International Union and be approved before they become valid; provided, however, that notwithstanding such approval, the Constitution and Bylaws of all Local Unions and affiliated bodies shall at all times be subordinate to the Constitution and Bylaws of the International Union as it may be amended from time to time .... Regardless of approval, if any conflict should arise between the Constitution and Bylaws of a Local Union and affiliated bodies or any amendments thereto, and the Constitution and Bylaws of the International Union as it may be amended from time to time, the provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws of the International Union shall govern. [Article XV, p. 27]

So, while Mr. Becker may try to argue that the SEIU is different from its local unions, the truth is the SEIU exercise a lot of power over its locals, making the SEIU the parent to its children.

Either way, it's the same house!

__________________
“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.

Is the SEIU using racist stereotypes in Arizona travel hotline parody?

Last week, we called attention to the SEIU's new "travel hotline" advising travelers and its seemingly racist undertones.

Now, Fox News' Megyn Kelly takes the purple people eater to task:



Given the SEIU's recent racial play in the Arkansas runoff, it appears there is a troubling pattern emerging out of the house that Andy Stern built.
__________________
“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.