An EFCA Game Changer: Franken to be Seated

Hoping for the best, yet preparing for the worst has always been a good motto with regard to handling labor relations.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise to any of you that comedian-turned-politician (is there a difference?) Al Franken has won his election against Norm Coleman for the Senate seat in Minnesota.

Earlier today, the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously rejected Norm Coleman's legal arguments, ending one of the longest Senate races ever.

Coleman earlier answered the question of whether this would end his challenge by stating: "I thought we had a better case, but the court has spoken. I'll abide by the results. There will be no further litigation."

As a result of this development, the Democrats now have a filibuster-proof majority, leaving the question of the timing of the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act to a matter of "when" not "if."

While there is still the potential for compromise legislation to be crafted, Tom Harkin has threatened, barring any compromise, to send the legislation to the Senate floor for an "up or down vote" after July 4th (which is less than a week away).

We'll keep you posted as developments arise.

LaborUnionReport.com

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

EFCA: 'Wounded' is not 'Dead'

Though summer is a bit behind this year, the wet, winter-like weather has finally turned in the Northeast and the two wheels are finally planted on the pavement in earnest.

Given that, our aim this summer is to continue giving you the news on LaborUnionReport.com (M-F), as well as our views on today's labor unions (and the miscreants running them) through our blog, as well as these e-mail blasts to you as the need arises…Whether it be from the office, from the airports, or even whilst riding, with the reins of our iron horses betwixt and between the teeth, as we blog, Twitter, "tweet," type, and give the errant, lane-crossing cages a one-finger salute now and then.

In this regard, dear readers, as we are not without words when it comes to today's unions and their misdeeds we, therefore, offer you the following fare.

• Who Needs EFCA When They Have Max Baucus?
• Is the media asleep?
• Taxation without Representation's New Meaning
• Wounded Does Not Mean Dead For Union Bailout Bill
• EFCA's In a Holding Pattern
• News Stories From Around the Internet…

Who needs EFCA when They Have Max Baucus?…

If you have not heard by now, the debate over nationalizing America's health care system is now raging in Washington. Indeed, the health care debate, according to the People's Weekly World, may be causing EFCA to be delayed a bit longer:

The same congressional committees that would deal with labor law reform are now busy with overhauling health care. The result is that labor will likely have to delay its goal of having the Employee Free Choice Act on President Obama’s desk by Labor Day.

Only time will tell if EFCA will happen before or after Labor Day and what shape it will take.

Is the media asleep?

As we've noted before, like a scene from a Hollywood movie, union bosses are using a senior Senator to either craft an EFCA compromise or help them develop a 'hit list' of fellow senators (including those from his own party) for unions to eliminate in the 2010 mid-term elections.

If Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), barring an EFCA compromise, carries out his threat to introduce EFCA for an 'up or down vote' after July 4th, he has vowed to do union bosses' bidding and draw out his fellow senators for union bosses. Since exposing this chicanery on June 18th, we have launched the Harkin Hit List Watch on our blog. That is, we are counting the days until someone (anyone) in the media reports on how a special interest group (union bosses) is using a senior member of the United States Senate to blackmail fellow senators into supporting a piece of legislation or he'll help mark them for elimination by his union handlers. [We are on the twelfth day.]

Taxation Without Representation

Meanwhile, as the nationalization of health care begins to take form, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has introduced a plan to help pay for the estimated $1.6 trillion government takeover by taxing many Americans on their health care coverage. Of course, the one group of Americans that would be exempt from taxation would be union members. The White House is said to be 'priming the public' for then-candidate Obama's pledge not to impose taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year.

As appalling as it sounds, Senator Baucus is actually proposing to exempt union members from the health care tax. This, of course, gives new meaning to taxation without representation. Indeed, if Baucus succeeds with this plan and although President Obama may break his pledge by raising taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year, all will likely be forgiven by their union backers as the incentive for union-free workers to join unions will be reduced to simple economics.

With that said…

'Wounded' Does Not Mean 'Dead' for Union Bailout Bill

It's been wounded to the point that its supporters are beginning to question its short-term survivability. Perhaps it is a victim of its own deformity since its name is as mismatched with its intent as is a rat poison named Vanilla Ice Cream. Or, perhaps, it is a victim of pure numbers-game politics, awaiting the arrival of comic-turned-comedic-politician Al Franken. Irrespective of why the union bailout bill otherwise known as the moronically-monikered Employee Free Choice Act is temporarily wounded, the fact is, it is not dead. [more…]

Good News & Bad News on the Union-Free Front: EFCA's in a "Holding Pattern"

There's good news and bad news on the union-free front.

First, the good news: The moronically-named Employee Free Choice Act (that job-destroying bill that union bosses have been pushing for the last few years) may now be on the back burner until after Labor Day.

Read the bad news here…

Other News Stories Posted on LaborUnionReport.com

• NLRB WATCH: Precedents Likely to Fall Under Liebman Board...
• Justices Reject Sotomayor Position 9-0 -- But Bigger Battles Loom...
• Judge urges 'Somebody has to go after ACORN'...
• White House Said To Be Priming Public For Health Benefit Tax...
• Hoffa: Taxing Health Coverage Could be Poison Pill for Reform...
• SEIU PROVES CASE AGAINST EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT... ...full article...
• THE KING MAKER: Obama's 'curiously close labor friendship'...

For these and many more stories, please go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Until next time, dear readers, crack the throttle, open a bottle, and be safe!

DAYS NINE, TEN & ELEVEN: Good Heavens, Still No Media Coverage of Harkin's Hit List

It has been more than a week and one half since we launched the Harkin Hit List Watch on LaborUnionReport.com. Since that time, there has still been no media coverage of senior Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and his threat to develop a 'hit list' of his fellow senators for union bosses.

'Wounded' Does Not Mean 'Dead' for Union Bailout Bill

It's been wounded to the point that its supporters are beginning to question its short-term survivability. Perhaps it is a victim of its own deformity since its name is as mismatched with its intent as is a rat poison named Vanilla Ice Cream. Or, perhaps, it is a victim of pure numbers-game politics, awaiting the arrival of comic-turned-commedic-politician Al Franken. Irrespective of why the union bailout bill otherwise known as the moronically-monikered Employee Free Choice Act is temporarily wounded, the fact is, it is not dead.

Although the union pushers pushing this job-destroying legislation are beginning to concede that its passage is far from certain (as written), as one Congressman told us in 2007 (two days before it passed the House of Representatives), EFCA will not go away.

Indeed, while the card-check provisions of EFCA may be dying due to the queasiness politicians feel toward casting a vote that would effectively eliminate secret-ballots, alternatives such as mail-ballot elections or shortened election time frames would likely have the same effect as eliminating secret-ballots. Afterall, as unions now win 66% of all NLRB-conducted secret-ballot elections, any added slant toward the unions will give them an unparalleled upperhand in unionizing more workers. This, it is believed, union bosses and their minions in the federal government know, which is why they are more apt to accept a compromise on card-check.

Moreover, EFCA's true job killer, binding arbitration (which is, in effect, the federal government dictating wages and benefits on workers and their employers), has not garnered as much vociferous attention as the elimination of secret-ballots and, as a result, is not as much as a hot potato for the politicos in their districts back home.

Therefore, as no-vote unionization (aka card-check) gets watered down, binding arbitration still lingers like the stench of a skunk having feasted on a can of pork. While no-vote unionization becomes the throw-away issue for those who owe their political careers to pandering to union bosses, EFCA's job-killing aribtration provision is the real devil in EFCA's details.

When a senior member of the United States Senate becomes a tool of a special interest group, threatening to 'out' his fellow senators (including those from his own party) in order for that special interest to develop a 'hit list' for the 2010 mid-term elections, it is a telling sign that, while EFCA is wounded, it is not dead.

For the time being, the delusionally-dubbed Employee Free Choice Act may be delayed until Labor Day (or beyond) as the debate over nationalizing America's health care system takes precedence, EFCA's wounds are not mortal and the battle will continue.

Good News & Bad News on the Union-Free Front: EFCA's in a "Holding Pattern"

There's good news and bad news on the union-free front.

First, the good news: The moronically-named Employee Free Choice Act (that job-destroying bill that union bosses have been pushing for the last few years) may now be on the back burner until after Labor Day.

According to the Communications Workers' of America (CWA) top boss Larry Cohen:

“...[T]he trouble we have is with cloture.” He explained that “unions don’t have solid promises from both Arkansas senators and from Sen. Specter yet that they will vote to break a filibuster.”

Blaming Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman, Cohen stated:

"Republican obstructionism that keeps one of Minnesota’s U.S. Senate seats vacant, plus congressional concentration on health care, are combining to put consideration of the Employee Free Choice Act in a holding pattern."

In addition, there are apparently 12 "wavering" Democratic Senators. These include Evan Bayh, D-Ind., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Thomas Carper, D-Del., Mary Landrieu, D-La., Michael Bennett, D-Colo., Arlen Specter, D-Pa., Kay Hagan, D-N.C., Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and both senators from each of two states, Arkansas and Virginia, according to the CWA's Annie Hill.

According to the People's Weekly World, EFCA may have to wait until after Labor Day:

The same congressional committees that would deal with labor law reform are now busy with overhauling health care.

The result is that labor will likely have to delay its goal of having the Employee Free Choice Act on President Obama’s desk by Labor Day.

If this is indeed the case, it would appear that President Obama's effort to nationalize America's health care will be taking precedent over the job-destroying union bail out bill...And that is the bad news.

Despite candidate Obama's ridicule of Sen. John McCain's proposed health care plan last year, it would appear that Democrats are proposing to tax Americans for their health care after all.

According to Fox Business, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), is proposing “options to limit allowable tax free health benefits."

The Baucus Plan, which is estimated to cost more than $1 trillion, will tax one in eight Americans for their health care coverage. However, in a payback to his Big Labor backers, Max Baucus plans on exempting union members' benefits.

As Human Events notes: It would penalize every non-union recipient of employer-provided healthcare benefits.

As unbelievable as this seems, Baucus apparently feels that discriminating against more than 87% of Americans who are not paying union dues is all right.

Of course, should this reprehensible discrimination against those who choose not to be unionized make it into the socialized medicine plan, Baucus and his union backers know full well that this will create an incentive for workers to unionize.

Unfortunately, if this causes more workers to unionize, it will cause less companies to offer benefits and, for those that do, it will cause a greater incentive for those companies to dump their workers onto the government's plan. Thus, the speeding up of the transition to full blown national health care will occur.

DAYS FIVE, SIX, SEVEN & EIGHT...WHERE IS THE MEDIA ON THE HARKIN HIT LIST STORY?

It has been four days since our last update on the Harkin Hit List, and still nothing in the media about Senator Tom Harkin's (D-Iowa) threat to help his union bosses to develop a 2010 Hit List of his fellow Senators.

Apparently, the union bosses have either silenced the media, or the reporters just don't care that a senior member of the United States Senate is being used by a special interest group to develop a hit list of his fellow senators for the 2010 midterm elections.

And so...?

As unions have come out (so to speak) in favor of same-sex marriages, it seems that RWDSU President Stuart Applebaum has decided to become a gay activist by outting himself.

In Gay City News, under the title Labor Big Outs Himself, Applebaum declared:

“I am defining myself publicly, and not just defining myself privately. That’s what makes a difference. I wanted to make my public role not just as a labor leader or Jewish labor leader, but as a gay Jewish labor leader.”

Wow! Congratulations, Stu!

It's too bad you, like so many other people on the left, feel you have "define" yourself by pandering to identity politics, as opposed to just saying you're an American.

DAY FOUR: Where is the media?...

It's Monday and it is Day Four of LaborUnionReport.com's Harkin Hit List Watch and the media seems to still be missing the story of a senior member of the United States Senate helping a special interest group develop a hit list to target fellow senators--including those of his own party.

The Ironic Problem with Employee (Not-So) Free Choice Act

The Seattle Times has posted two Letters to the Editor that, in an interesting twist of irony, expose the fallacy of the offensively-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). While both letters were in response to a June 18th Seattle Times editorial entitled "Strike won't fly at Boeing if machinists want to keep 787 production here," the responses posted explain one of the main problems with EFCA.

In the first letter, a Seattle resident named Rob Snyder argues that the right to strike is his right:

I will give up my right to strike when corporate executives tie my total compensation to theirs.

In the second letter, another Seattle resident named Tanya Stock uses the editorial to opine that workers need EFCA, clearly (and ignorantly) missing the point that Boeing workers are already unionized and EFCA would have no impact on them--nor does it have any bearing to the topic of the original editorial.

• NOTE: It would appear that Ms. Stock is part of the eco-friendly union coalition and gets her talking points directly from the AFL-CIO, SEIU, or one of the other union front groups, since there is not one original statement coming from her "letter."

The ironic part about posting both letters to the editor is that, besides the controversial card-check (aka the no-vote unionization) provision of EFCA, there is a lesser known provision to the bill called binding arbitration.

Bnding arbitration is the process where, after a mere 120 days following the start of negotiations between an employer and union, if there is no agreement reached, the federal government can step in and have a government-imposed arbitrator dictate what the union contract will be.

Now, besides the inherent problems with the freedom to contract (or not) argument, as well as the overall fascist nature of the government-imposing terms and conditions of employment, a lesser realized side effect of binding arbitration will be that workers themselves will be losing some basic human rights as a result of the binding arbitration section of EFCA.

First, under the binding arbitration provision of EFCA, workers will NOT be able to vote for or against a government-imposed contract. Now, since the National Labor Relations Board recently stated that unions can lie to members about the contents of a proposed contract, the right to ratify a contract (or not) probably doesn't mean much anyway.

However, the second point where EFCA absolutely takes away a fundamental human right is the fact that, under a government-imposed contract, workers lose their right to strike.

This means that, if workers are unionized based on cards that were signed under false pretenses, then forced into a government-imposed contract that does not meet what the union organizer promised them in order to get their signatures, workers not only cannot vote to accept or reject the contract, they cannot strike either. Their only choice will be to work under terms they had no choice to accept (or deny), or quit their employment.

In other words, under EFCA, workers will be tricked and trapped.

Doesn't sound too much like "free choice" now does it?

DAY THREE: Mainstream Media MIA on Harkin's Hit List

It is Day Three of our watching and waiting for the mainstream media to pick up on Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and his threat to help Big Labor develop their 2010 Hit List of Senators against the delusionally-dubbed Employee Free Choice Act.

Apparently, not even the Democrats who are not in favor of the job-destroying legislation have have picked up on the fact that one of their own is helpiing put them on union bosses' hit list.

Perhaps tomorrow...?

RNs Against Forced Unionism

Those nurses over at RAFU have a new blog.

Check it out here.

DAY TWO: No Media Sightings on the Harkin Hit List

It is day two since we launched the Tom Harkin Hit List Countdown on LaborUnionReport.com and, so far, the mainstream media is still failing to pick up the story of a senior member of the United States Senate helping a special interest group to develop a hit list of his fellow senators for the 2010 mid-term elections. [Background here.]

Tomorrow will be Day Three.

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.

TOP DEM HELPS UNION BOSSES TARGET OTHER DEMS: How Sen. Harkin is Conspiring With Union Bosses to Target Members of His Own Party

Imagine a U.S. Senator helping a special interest group to target members of his own party. Unbelievable? Well, it's happening and, now, the United Steel Workers (formerly known as the United Steel Workers of America) has confirmed what we stated earlier this week.

As we noted on Monday's post, Iowa's Senator Tom Harkin (D) had previously threatened that, barring any compromise, he would send the moronically-monikered Employee Free Choice Act to the Senate floor for an 'up or down' vote.

Despite the irony of the date, the question becomes, is there further significance to Harking's hurried threat?

As noted:

Why has Harkin made this threat? It's really very simple. Union bosses want to know who's with them (or not with them) so they can target the Dems on the fence in the 2010 mid-term elections. If they can't get to the four or five Democratic Senators who are now queasy over EFCA, they'll attempt to get the electorate to boot them from office next year.

It appears that we may have stumbled onto something as Unted Steel Workers stated rather bluntly yesterday:

Senator Harkin, who is leading this fight as Senator Kennedy deals with health issues, 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. Either way, the vote could occur this summer, possibly within weeks.

So,there you have it. A senior member of the United States Senate, Tom Harkin, a Democrat, working to help a special interest group-union bosess-target fellow his fellow Democrats.

Where is the outrage from within the Democratic Party?

Of course the union threats against politicians who do not follow the union agenda are not new, as this video of an SEIU "person" threatening legislators in California proves.

Does Liberal Talk Show Host Ed Schultz Live By His Own Words?

Liberal talk show host Ed Schultz has become the [Rush] Limbaugh of the Left in recent years, an icon to those who envy conservatives' stranglehold on the AM airwaves.

As his egalitarian star has risen, Mr. Schultz has been railing against corporate America and ranting for passage of the job-destroying Employee Free Choice Act, including at an event this past Saturday. According to this doting blogger:

As you can probably imagine, The Employee Free Choice Act was a winner with the audience. Ed told us that currently 10% of U.S. labor is in a union. Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act could up that number to 40%, then, we could really see some change. The trade laws could be rewritten to protect manufacturing and stop the race to the bottom that is destroying our middle class. Instead of the U.S. continuing to descend to third world living standards it might become possible to improve third world working conditions instead.

As one of those rich talking heads, Mr. Schultz obviously has his money invested in a variety of areas, one of which is a construction company called E.A. Schultz Construction Company.

As Mr. Schultz constantly promotes the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act, we cannot help but wonder if Mr. Schultz's workers are represented by a union and, if not, why not?

According to a quick google search, it appears that E.A. Schultz Construction Company is located in Fargo, North Dakota. In fact, here is the information from the Home Builders Association of America:

E.A. Schultz Construction, LLC
417 38th St. SW, Ste H,
Fargo, ND 58103
(701) 282-4963

If anyone would like to place a call, please e-mail us if you find out whether Ed Schultz lives by his own words, or if he's just another left-wing hypocrite.

Employee Free Choice Act Dead?...Really Dead?

Is the delusionally-dubbed Employee Free choice Act dead? According to Mark Pryor's office, it is.

The Arkansas Times is reporting that Senator Pryor stated through a spoksperson:

The Employee Free Choice Act is dead, and I am not working on a compromise to this bill. However, I continue to meet with business, labor and my colleagues to discuss the potential for common ground to make sure the process for forming a union is fair for workers and employers. This is an effort to bring new ideas to the table, but there is no draft and there remains a lot of distance between the various parties. [Emphasis added.]

While Iowa's Tom Harkin is still threatening to bring the job-destroying legislation to the Senate floor in July for an 'up or down' vote, he is apparently awaiting Big Al Franken's arrival in DC to put it out for a vote.

We'll keep you posted.

EFCA, Union Lies, and More Resources...

Dear Readers:

It's Monday and the debate over the union assault on workers' rights is still raging.

July 4th still seems to be the 'drop dead' date set by union-bought-and-paid for Senator Tom Harkin to have a compromise on the delusionally-dubbed Employee Free Choice Act or he will presumably make good on his threat to send the original bill to the Senate floor for an 'up or down' vote.

Why has Harkin made this threat? It's really very simple. Union bosses want to know who's with them (or not with them) so they can target the Dems on the fence in the 2010 mid-term elections. If they can't get to the four or five Democratic Senators who are now queasy over EFCA, they'll attempt to get the electorate to boot them from office next year.

EFCA: The Trick 'em & Trap 'em Union Act:

As we stated in last week's post to you, though this is subject to change again, current EFCA compromise proposals being discussed include a 'mail ballot' election (card-check with a postage stamp) and some version of binding arbitration.

Although much has been written about the elimination of secret-ballots, it seems that 'card-check' may, in fact, be a red herring as unions seem almost too willing to give up card-check, as long as binding arbitration still becomes the law of the land. In this regard, too little has been explained on how binding arbitration traps workers and eliminates a fundamental employee right–that is, the Right to Strike. This issue is examined a little more closely in this blogpost.

As employees, under EFCA, can legally be misled into signing their rights over to a union, too few in the chatterhood realize that binding arbitration forces employees into a contract that they have no right to vote on and, if they dislike it, cannot strike either. In fact, a government-imposed contract turns employees into serfs. Either they live with it, or they resign…Employees will be left with no other choice.

Unions LIE with Governmental Approval

As stated above, unions have almost always had the right to mislead workers when targeting a company. Indeed, the National Labor Relations Board has been pretty clear on this subject over the years.

However, the NLRB has recently gone one giant leap further by ruling that unions can even LIE to their own members. You can read about this here. This may not be new news to those of us in labor relations, but it is always does the heart good when the government affirms what we've been saying for years.

On the Web:

In the last week, we've been busy keeping readers to LaborUnionReport.com up to date with the shenanigans of unions and their EFCA-pushing comrades. In fact, there are two new blogs for you to check out:

• 1-888-NO-UNION.COM has a new blog, which you can check out here. The blog is loaded with hyperlinks to the large amount of information contained on 1-888-NO-UNION.COM.
• The Employee Free Choice Act & The Great Union Swindle
• Unions are Legally Allowed to LIE to Their Members, Says NLRB
  
• LaborUnionReport.com is now blogging on blogspot. You can check the new blog out here. Recent posts include:
• The Teamsters' Distaste for Secret Ballots…
• Left-wing Blogger Politicized Holocaust Museum Shooting Tying Tragedy to No-Vote Unionization Bill
• Is the Machinists' Union a Threat to U.S. National Security?
• LaborUnionReport.com's Union Bullsh*t Watch will remain on the site blog.

In addition, we thought you'd like to know that since their launch on April 2nd, LaborUnionReport.com and 1-888-NO-UNION.COM have had over 22,000 combined hits, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Network is now actively providing information and resources to employees from Hawaii to Philadelphia.

In Other News:

As you know, as news topics warrant, we change the columns on LaborUnionReport.com to reflect the hot topic of the day.

This week, and as long as the topic occupies the news, we are posting stories on the attempt to socialize America's Health Care system. Be sure to check out LaborUnionReport.com to stay on top of the latest plans to nationalize health care.

In addition, the following are some stories you might want to know about:

• HEALTH CARE FATE TO BE DECIDED IN NEXT SIX WEEKS...
• BW: Is Obama's health care "reform" naive, hypocritical or simply dishonest?
• UAW STRIKES BELL HELICOPTER...
• Union donors got deals with Cal Pension...
• NFL owners intent on locking out, says players union...
• Delta Air 'Ground Zero' as Machinists Target Airline...

For these stories and so many more, go to LaborUnionReport.com

Best wishes for a productive and prosperous week.

LaborUnionReport.com

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

The Teamsters' Distaste for Secret Ballots...

If there were ever a union that should not be involved in the union propaganda pushing for the delusionally-dubbed Employee Free Choice Act, it would be the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Since the Teamsters' union is but a mere shadow of its former self, most people do not remember that the Teamsters have such a disdain for democracy and secret-ballots that it took the federal government's imposed trusteeship in 1989 to force Teamster bosses to allow members to vote for their own union president. Prior to 1991, the union's first-ever election for Teamster president, organized crime bosses determined who would run the Teamsters.


To illustrate how much the Teamsters dislike secret-ballots, several months ago, Teamsters' president James P. Hoffa had the audacity to state: "Since when is the secret ballot a basic tenet of democracy?" Apparently, Mr. Hoffa has not read history as the secret-ballot goes as far back as ancient Greece.

Then, of course, there's the story of Teamsters local 445, out of Newburgh, NY.

The union claims to win 27 out of 28 secret-ballot elections [or 96%]. Nevertheless, the union believes that secret-ballots are bad and that doing away with them (through the delusionally-dubbed Employee Free Choice Act) is completely okay.

“In the past three years, our union has won 27 out of 28 elections it has conducted at various workplaces,” said Adrian Huff, secretary-treasurer and principal officer of Local 445.”However, these statistics tell only part of the story for there are at least another 27 workplaces where our efforts were ruined by illegal management tactics.” [Emphasis added.]

Oh really, Adrian? Does this collectvist really believe ending ballots altogether is likely to take care of ruining unnamed campaigns? Or is it that he, like his boss, just doesn't believe in people making a choice without a union goon standing over their shoulders?

LEFT-WING BLOGGER POLITICIZES HOLOCAUST MUSEUM SHOOTING TYING TRAGEDY TO NO-VOTE UNIONIZATION BILL

This is one of the most pathetic, invidious and disingenious arguments for the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act...ever.

As the world knows, on Wednesday, an armed 88-year old deranged whacko walked into Washington DC's Holocaust Museum and shot down security guard Steven Johns.

This stupid, senseless crime is a tragedy in the fact that Mr. Johns left behind a son, a wife, as well as other family and friends who undoubtedly miss their loved one.

However, left-wing blogger Dave Johnson has taken "the ends justify the means" mentality to new and disgusting lows.

On this sycophantic blog, Johnson uses the tragic shooting to make a phony argument for the moronically-monikered EFCA by stating:

Security guards at the Holocaust Museum, members of the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America, had tried to get protective vests from the company that employs them. The company didn't want to bother with this "cost" and wouldn't provide vests. Now one guard is dead.

Employees need to be able to have a say in their workplace. The "security" company was concerned with profits. The employees were the ones concerned with security. The company won out.

This is one more reason why we need the Employee Free Choice Act.

The problem with this insipid argument is that 1) Mr. Johns was already a union member and 2) EFCA would have done nothing to save Mr. Johns' life since he was already in a union contract.

The Orwellian Employee Free Choice Act has nothing to do with the Holocaust Museum shooting and Mr. Johnson's use of this sad event as justification for the union bailout bill is nothing more than pandering propaganda.

Mr. Johnson ought to be ashamed of himself and should apologize to Mr. John's family for using and politicizing Mr. Johns' heinous death in such a morally bankrupt way.

Is the Machinists' Union a Threat to U.S. National Security?

Can a union become a threat to national security?

Quite possibly, if it engages in a strike during a time of crisis.

Well, on June 9th, hundreds of members of Local 898 of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) went on strike against their employers--private contractors at Vance Air Force Base.

This labor dispute, according to UPI, has caused the Air Force to suspend flight operations at the base.

While America is currently not under attack (that we know of), imagine if an incident like 9/11 were to occur and the Air Force could not scramble the jets to intercept hijacked aircraft.

What then?

Can Unions Lie to Their Members? The NLRB Says 'YES'!

The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that was allegedly established to protect workers from abuse from both employers and unions.

Unfortunately, it seems that the NLRB has now become a mere tool of union bosses (see post here).

On May 29th, the union-controlled NRLB gave an unabashed green light for union bosses to go-ahead and lie to their members. In an Advice Memorandum (download PDF here), the Office of the General Counsel stated:

We conclude that the Union did not violate either Section 8(b)(3) or 8(b)(1)(A) by misstating the Employer’s final contract proposal at the ratification meeting because that vote was wholly an internal union matter, nor did it violate Section 8(b)(3) by failing to execute the proposed final agreement because the contract proposed by the Employer differed from the contract ratified by the employees. [Emphasis added.]

Left as a stand alone, this is alarming for union members and potential union members. In light of the potential of the delusionally-dubbed Employee Free Choice Act, this NLRB ruling is appalling!

Update on Union Pensions: Officers Funds Flush as Rank & File Suffer

Following our post below wherein we described the sorry state of union pensions, the following article was forwarded to us.

The Washington Examiner is reporting that:

Pension plans for union officers remain healthy and well-funded even as rising liabilities threaten to consume the savings of their rank and file counterparts who participate in different funds within the same labor organization, according to a Hudson Institute study.

This disparity became evident from a sample of the 21 largest union and staff pension plans from the same organizations. They are: The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), UNITE-HERE, the United Steelworkers, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the Plumbers and Pipefitters, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Sheet Metal Workers and the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.

“This issue of rank and file pension plans being funded less than the officer pension
plans is extraordinarily serious and shows a great moral failing on the part of the unions,” said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute who authored the study.

Read the entire article here.

Hat-tip to Bret Jacobson

It Must Be Frustrating to be a Union Boss

Dear Readers:

We hope this post finds you well and securely employed.

As we've been saying for several months, unemployment will likely reach into the double digits, assuming the unions have their way with the U.S. government and, based on last week's 9.4% unemployment rate, it appears we will be proven right.

Though we are not economists, we believe Americans should brace themselves for an unemployment rate of around 11% and, if EFCA and some of the other job-killing pieces of legislation unions are pushing for come to fruition, unemployment may reach 15% or more.

Money isn't buying union bosses any love these days…

It must be frustrating to be a union boss these days. In fact, it must be downright humiliating. You see, after spending a cool (est.) $1.4 billion in 2006 and 2008 to buy the most anti-free market government in American history, union bosses are just having a hard-as-hell time getting the neanderthalically-named Employee Free Choice Act passed.

In fact, just this morning, Politico is reporting that there are some key votes still missing in the Senate. Al Franken (the SNL writer-comedian-turned-author-turned-failed talk-show host-turned-filibuster-breaking politician) is having a heck of a time killing off Norm Coleman, which means the elusive 60th Senate vote is MIA.

Then, there are the two missing Senators who are as nearly as old as the Senate itself, Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd. They both have ailments that are rendering them unavailable to inflict any more damage on America's economy--like voting for the delusionally-dubbed EFCA, or forcing our nation in to socialized medicine.

Although we do not wish these two lions of the Senate any ill will, we are not hoping for speedy recovery either, as their absence enables our nation's workers to enjoy the freedom to have a secret-ballot just a little longer and denies union bosses the ability to kill more companies (and jobs).

The Not-So-Dynamic Duo & EFCA Compromise…

While Sens. Kennedy and Byrd are laid up, and Al Franken awaits Norm Coleman to give up the ghost, the junior Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania, Arlen Specter, was out this past weekend kissing babies and union butts in an effort to make himself attractive for re-election. [You can view the video of Specter kow-towing to labor bosses here.]

At one point over the weekend told a union crowd (in reference to EFCA): "You'll like my vote."

Then, there is Specter's partner in the EFCA-compromise camp, Sen. Tom Harkin.

In a Workday Minnesota article over the weekend, as the latest EFCA compromise was being reported, a stunning revelation was made.

Whether unionists would accept a mail-in ballot compromise is open to question. David Bonior, president of American Rights At Work, which is leading the pro-worker information and advertising campaign for the bill, said that if the mail-in is inserted, “He (Harkin) will bring it back to us and we’ll decide if we can support it.”

Harkin, it seems, is not taking his orders from the American people but from an advocacy group funded by union bosses.

Out with the old, in with the new? Who will Replace the Boss of Union Bosses?

That's the question union bosses are grappling with this summer as AFL-CIO boss and Democratic Socialists of America member John Sweeney retires in September.

Top contenders include the AFL-CIO's #2 dude, Richard Trumka and Machinists' President Tom "Blowhard" Buffenbarger. Neither are being enthusiastically endorsed by other union bosses since Trumka represents the old and Blowhard Buffenbarger shot himself in the foot with President Obama and his supporters during last year's primaries (view video here) calling then-candidate Obama "Janus, the two-faced Roman god of ancient times" and his supporters "latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies…"

The Purple Pimpernel Andy Stern is also out of the picture, as his union, the SEIU, is attempting to fend off numerous battles from within and without. [See LaborUnionReport.com's column Battle of the Bosses here.]

With all the drama and infighting going on within the House of Labor, it is becoming readily apparent that, for all the money spent, today's union bosses may just irresponsibly see their prize slip through their fingers.

To Make Matters Worse: A National Union Pension Predicament

For months, we have warned that the next looming 'crisis' that we may be asked to bail out is the union pension fund crisis. You may recall that when Wall Street imploded last September, Teamsters' president Jimmy Hoffa wrote a letter to Congress to urge Congress to change the rules for union pensions.

Ironically, while union pensions had lost enormous amounts of money in last year's market meltdown, many (including several major Teamster funds) have been under funded for years (as this article from 2002 demonstrates). This makes Mr. Hoffa's request seem rather suspect. Indeed, prior to UPS' 2007 withdrawal from the Teamsters' Central States Pension Fund (for which UPS paid $6.1 billion), for every dollar UPS contributed to the ailing pension, 60 cents would go to pay non-UPS retirees.

Last week, in preparing a PowerPoint for employee consumption, we researched the funding levels of two union pension funds, the United Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters (UA) and the Sheet Metal Workers National Pension Fund.

Interestingly, the data we found for the Sheet Metal Workers National Pension Fund (from 2008) showed that the fund is over $3 billion underfunded; while a review of the IRS 5500 forms for year-ending 12-31-2006 (the most recent available) filed by the Plumbers & Pipefitters showed an underfunding level of more than $3.5 billion. In this latter case, the data examined was prior to the market collapse of 2008.

Over the weekend, the Washington Examiner reported that Almost Half of the Top Union Pension Funds are Under Funded, which may be, in fact, another reason union bosses are pushing so hard for the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act.

Union bosses may be figuring that, if EFCA's binding arbitration is part of the law, government arbitrators will likely impose contracts that include employers paying into under-funded pension plans.

If this is, indeed, the case, then there is little wonder that all rationale employers are opposed to binding arbitration. In addition to the economic peril that binding arbitration would place many smaller employers (and their employees) into, funding underfunded pension plans is another reason how EFCA will kill jobs. For a recent listing of union pension plans the Department of Labor considers 'critical' or 'endangered,' go here.

Given the fact that the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp (PBGC) is itself running a $33 billion deficit, the federal agency that insures pensions similar to the FDIC (except the payout is usually around 40 cents on the dollar) will likely be looking for Congress to bail it out as well.

As a result of huge influence that union bosses have over Washington these days, we should expect talk of bailing out union pensions to begin sometime within the next three to four months.

More news than you can shake your fist at…

While the above is a synopsis of the news and our views of what is going on in the world of labor unions this week, it is but a small fraction of the news we're posting for you on LaborUnionReport.com.

For more news and views, please go to LaborUnionReport.com.

On behalf of all of us at LaborUnionReport.com, best wishes for a safe, productive and secure week.

Uh Oh, UFCW, Hi-Tech is Coming to Your Local Grocer

The following has been cross-posted on LaborUnionReport.com:

The United Food & Commercial Workers has a major (as in HUGE) problem…and it’s not Wal-Mart.

For years, Wal-Mart has been the bane of the UFCW by stealing customers by offering lower prices than the traditionally higher-priced (and often unionized) grocery chains.

However, while the UFCW (and the union movement as a whole) has focused on bringing Wal-Mart down, one of the UFCW’s own unionized chains is preparing to put a stake through the UFCW’s heart by arming shoppers with hi-tech scanners.

According to WPIX, 18 Stop & Shop supermarkets in the Long Island area are offering hand held Motorola scanners to shoppers, with more stores to soon follow.

Also there are other supermarkets looking to use this new technology, which is making the trip to the grocery store much easier for shoppers.

“It always good to save money and time, I’m able to pack out as I go and I can check
out a lot faster and I can see what I’m spending as I go.” said shopper Andrea
Cunningham.

The “Scan It” technology works on produce as well and it allows you to see if the item is on sale.

This certainly does not bode well for the UFCW.

Government Motors: Government of the idiots, by the idiots and for the idiots

The following was sent to us last Friday and we felt it worthy of a post.

The genius of our government becomes more evident every day.

Our state owned and controlled auto manufacturing company, GM, has been told by its de facto CEO, President Obama, to produce smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient cars. At the same time the second largest shareholder in the new GM, Ron Gettlefinger, the head of the United Auto Workers, has convinced Congress to direct state owned and run GM that they are prohibited from importing small, light fuel efficient cars to the US that they currently make in their own factories in China.

Today, state owned and run GM announced that it is selling Saturn to Roger Penske, the second largest auto dealer in the world. Penske already is the exclusive North American distributor of Smart Cars (made by Daimler-Benz) and he announced separately that he has a deal to import and distribute small, light fuel efficient cars made by Renault at his new Saturn dealerships.

Now Saturn dealers will have Saturn, Renault and Smart Cars. Penske also announced that he is negotiating with SEVERAL CHINESE AUTO MANUFACTURERS to import and distribute small, light fuel efficient cars made in
China, by Chinese auto manufacturers. (Currently, more cars are made in China
each year than in the US.)

So state-owned and controlled GM has just created another huge competitor for the small, light fuel efficient auto market, which will have the ability to import cars from manufacturers who have specialized in small, light fuel efficient cars for years. While at the same time not being able to import to the US small, light fuel efficient cars that they already make in their own factories in China.

I guess I am not holding much hope that my tax investment in the new GM will be repaid; but I am glad the the government is watching out for my best interests.

Have a nice weekend Comrades!

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