DOL Releases "Persuader" PowerPoint

As the union-controlled Department of Labor explores ways to make it more difficult for employers to communicate with employees on the subject of unionization, the DoL held a meeting this past Monday to "hear" from interested parties (even though their minds are made up) on the topic of making employers report any time employees hear from their employer on unionization.

The DoL has just released the PowerPoint of the meeting's agenda.

The foreshadowing of the DoL's plan comes on slides 8, 9 and 12:

As we said previously, the union-controlled Department of Labor does not want employees to hear anything negative on the facts about unionization and they are doing everything in their power to make it more difficult to hear from employers.

You can bet, by January, the DoL's new rules will become effective.

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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

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

Secretary of Labor & Union Bosses Want to Shut You Up

With 9.9% of America's workers unemployed, and the United States facing Greece-like deficits, you would think that America's leaders would focus on helping the private sector create jobs, instead of proposing rules to make it easier for unions to help cripple companies.

President Obama and his union cronies wants you and your company unionized, period. As a result, Washington's union assault on America's job creators continues and, if you are an employee or an employer, you need to be aware of this.  If you have a friend or relative that happens to own a small business (with two or more employees), you need to make them aware of this too.

Forget about EFCA and the Craig Becker at the union-controlled NLRB for a moment, because this latest tactic will probably leave you shaking your head in disbelief.

With the job-destroying (and hallucinogenically-named) Employee Free Choice Act on the back burner for the moment, President Obama's Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis is pushing new rules to make it extremely difficult for employers to talk to their employees about unions.

Unions want to shut you up
Although unions win more than 60% of all NRLB elections, that is not enough for union bosses. You see, employees currently have a right to discuss unions with their employers through individual as well as group discussions. Union bosses do not believe employers should have any right to discuss unionization with employees and they are doing everything in their power to take that right away, without having to go through Congress.

Their plan? To use a little known 1959 law called the Labor-Management Reporting & Disclosure Act and changing the application of this law.

The OLMS "Union Meeting" on May 24th

Earlier this week, a notice to a meeting taking place on Monday, May 24th, at the US Department of Labor's Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) was issued. The meeting ostensibly is to "seek comments" and is a mere formality in the Administration's attempt to help union bosses unionize America.  However, you need to know about the meeting and its likely outcome.

Here is what the meeting is about:

If your Company is targeted by a union, the Secretary of Labor wants your company to file financial disclosure reports if an attorney (or consultant) is hired to give advice, even if the attorney or consultant never speaks directly to employees. 

If your company is targeted by a union and an officer of the company, a supervisor, or an "employee" (such as human resources or employee or labor relations) speaks directly to employees about unionization, the Secretary of Labor wants to require your company to file financial reports on the amount of money spent on the "officer, supervisor, or employee" for such purposes. 

Note: Since 1959, any consultant, attorney, or firm that is hired to speak directly to employees regarding the exercise of their Section Seven Rights, has been required to file financial reports called LMs with the Office of Labor Management Standards.  These new proposed requirements are a blatant attempt to make it harder for employers to oppose unionization.

[Read the Department of Labor's notice here.]

Practical examples of the DOL's intent
Example A:

Suppose ABC Company is targeted by the Teamsters. One day, "Supervisor Joe" is having lunch with Bob (a union mole) out in the field.

Bob casually says to Supervisor Joe, "Hey, Joe. I got a letter in the mail last night from the Teamsters. It had a union card attached. What do you think I should do?"

Supervisor Joe responds, "Bob, that's your choice. Personally, I don't think a union is necessary here."

Example B:
ABC Company has a meeting with its new hires. During the new hire orientation, the Company's Human Resources Director, Barbara, gives the new hires the Company's position on unions.

Example C:
Mom & Pop Diner has three waitresses who have been targeted by the United Waitresses Union, one day Mom & Pop's get a petition from the NLRB. Mom & Pop do what most employers do, call their attorney. The attorney gives Mom & Pop a lot of information about the law, Mom & Pop's legal rights, the waitresses' legal rights, as well as some talking points that Mom & Pop can use in discussing the union issue with the waitresses.

Do these examples seem innocuous? Well, these are the types of scenarios that the Secretary of Labor, under the propsed rules, could view as "reportable" to the Office of Labor Management Standards.


And, what happens if an employer (or attorney or consultant) ignores their reporting requirements?

Jail and/or Fines
Willfuly violating the requirements under the LMRDA could land you in jail.

Any person who willfully violates this section shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

Any person who makes a false statement or representation of a material fact, knowing it to be false, or who knowingly fails to disclose a material fact, in any report required under the provisions of this section or willfully makes any false entry in or willfully withholds, conceals, or destroys any documents, books, records, reports, or statements upon which such report is based, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

Yeah. They're that serious about it.

Again, the meeting at the OLMS will take place on Monday, May 24th, from 10:00 am until 12:00 noon. Although we're fairly certain that the bulk of the attendees will be union lobbyists, it is a public meeting and we should have a report on this meeting for you the following morning (if not sooner).

As always, we'll have the scoop for 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

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

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U.S. News & World Report Bashes Obama's Secretary of Labor

Now, this is just mean...

Obama's 5 Worst Cabinet Secretaries

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis

Unemployment is sky-high, but our insiders say that she is not a point person in the effort to expand employment, a major issue in kick-starting the economy. Critics also feel she’s too close to labor unions.

Read 10 Things You Didn't Know About Hilda Solis.

Depending on your POV, we find it hard to believe that Hilda's worse than...
Tim Geithner (#1)
Janet Napolitano (#2)
Eric Holder (#3)

But a cut above:
Shaun Donovan (#5)

__________________

"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.

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

Union to Labor Secretary Solis: Practice What You Preach!

On Monday, we posted on the topic of protesters planning to protest President Obama's Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.

Yesterday, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) had banner in hand as they chanted "Si se puede, restore the core!"

From the AFL-CIO's DC Metro Council website:

Chanting "Si se puede, restore the core!" 50 Department of Labor employees - members of AFGE Local 12 - demonstrated outside a high-level meeting of foreign labor ministers at the DOL at noon on Tuesday, calling on Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to implement a more family-friendly "core hour" work schedule

__________________

“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.

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

Labor Shorts: Exposing Union Bosses One Skid Mark at a Time

This week, to give break to the weightier milieu of the union agenda we wanted to lighten things up a bit by bringing back our ever-popular Labor Shorts and share some of the usual (and not-so-usual) shenanigans of today's union bosses:

First things first:

• The NLRB Scorecard: With the new, union-controlled National Labor Relations Board finally seated, we introduced the NLRB Scoreboard on the LaborUnionReport blog over the weekend to keep an unofficial tally of NRLB decisions, as well as general NLRB "stuff" (blogs and other souvenirs from the Land of Liebman and Becker).  If you have suggestions, blogs you'd like to see posted, tips, or see a case we haven't posted, please give us a shout here.
• NLRB Blowback: The business community is on edge, as Politico notes this morning, over President Obama's appointment of Craig Becker to the NLRB, as well as the prospect of appointing the NLRB's General Counsel in the Fall.  We blogged about it here.

All About Andy...

• His 'time to leave'...Ever since SEIU top boss Andy Stern's announced "retirement" from the SEIU last week, the pundits (from yours truly to Glenn Beck) have been trying to figure out why.  Then, on Thursday, like a post-bean dip epiphany, everything became eye-wateringly clear with a story that summed it all up:  Andy changed America forever, lost interest in the day-to-day running of the SEIU and got bored.  In fact, in his pontificating-on-all-things-union interview with a fawning Ezra Klein, Stern ends the speculation (and interview) by stating that he's going to the beach (...we'll see).
• Good Riddance... says former friend and current arch rival Sal Roselli.
• A Purple Palace Coup challenges the Queen of Labor... Instead of ensuring a smooth transition for his presumed successor, Anna Burger, Andy has left Anna flailing without as much as a simple nod or endorsement. The Queen of Labor's throne very is much in play, with a challenge from inside the purple palace.  Now, in an internal letter to the SEIU Executive Board, four out of nine executive vice presidents have endorsed one of their own, Mary Kay Henry, in her bid to replace Andy Stern.
• AFSCME and I'll tell ya... Loud, foul-mouth AFSCME boss Gerry McEntee threw a splash of cold water on the hopes of a family reunion in the House of Labor, stating the SEIU's rumored re-entry into the AFL-CIO is not likely.
• Now, that's what friends are for... As Andy looked on last Friday, actor-turned-union-activist Danny Glover received a pair of shiny silver bracelets at one of the Sodexho protests.
• A most Dangerous Place... Between Andy Stern and a microphone, notes Bret Jacobson on Breitbart's Big Government.com, as Andy asserts unions don't cost taxpayers a dime...(!)

When Hypocrisy Strikes...

• Shock! Not All Unions Like Card-Check...? After hundreds of millions spent and years of hard work to pass the job-destroying and hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act, it's hard to believe (well, maybe not) that when a union's own employees want to unionize, the union-employer wouldn't just voluntarily succumb agree to recognize the union based on card-check.  Such is the case here.
• Shhh!... Don't tell the UFCW you saw this, 'cause this is not your normal UFCW strike and they'd rather not have it talked about.
• Oh Hilda! You've got picketers at your door!  Will you or won't you cross?
• An Injury to One?... AFSCME throws Solidarity Under the Bus...  (again...)

Strike That!...

• Eee Gads! That Stinks! New Yorkers may soon discover the joys of hailing their own taxis, hauling their own garbage to the curb and opening their own doors if SEIU's 32BJ pulls 30,000 doormen (and women) out on strike tomorrow.  [Factoid: NYC produces 11,000 tons of garbage every day...who knew?]
• A juicy one...? The UFCW's RWDSU might be walking out on strike at Mott's NY applesauce and juice plant.
• Week Four... The Machinists at Merrill Manufacturing Corp. have been on the lines for four weeks.  Problem is, the company is operating at full capacity with replacement workers.
• Schools Out... Teachers in the North Penn School District walked out on their students Monday, causing classes to be cancelled.
• No Contract, No Talks, but No Strike either... The Teamster still don't have a contract with Waste Management in WaSta, but they're not striking either.  (Here's why.)

And then there's this...

• The bigger they are... On the same day President Obama rewarded his union buddies with a federal PLA on construction projects, a union-owned and built high rise was condemned for shoddy construction.

If you can't do the time...

• Stealing $50,000 earns this union boss no time served ever
• Stealing $110,000 netted this CWA boss five years probation, six months home detention and 200 hours of community service
• Allegedly stealing $46,000, draining the union's bank account, a firefighter from Norwell, CT earned himself a pair of shiny new bracelets
  
  

And this...

• Dumb & Dumber? Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) call unions strongest proponent of good government.
• In space DC, no one can hear you scream...  Where are the investigations (and media)??? A week ago, it was revealed that the SEIU paid the White House Political Director (former SEIU boss Patrick Gaspard) $37,000 in 2009 and, so far, there is only...silence.

And, that, dear readers, wraps up this week's edition of LaborUnionReport.com's LaborShorts.

__________________

“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.

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Hilda the Hypocrite? Union to Picket Obama's Secretary of Labor

Now, here's something you don't see every day.

Tomorrow, President Obama's Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis will be greeted by her own unionized employees picketing her.

DOL Workers Picket G20 Labor Minister's Meeting

Where
Across the street from the Dept of Labor; 200 Constitution Avenue NW

Map
Click here for map

When
Apr 20   starts at 12:00 pm

Frustrated Department of Labor employees will conduct an informational picket outside the G-20 labor minister's meeting at the DOL. "We're extremely disappointed that Secretary Solis has failed to follow through on President Obama's vision of implementing family-friendly work policies," says AFGE Local 12 President Alex Bastani. At issue are the "core hour" requirements for DOL workers, which in 2005 were unilaterally changed by Bush Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to 9:30a-3:30p after 25 years of beginning at 10a. [Emphasis added]

It seems that the unionized workers are aggrieved by having to work more hours.

One lingering question:  Will Ms. Solis cross the union picket line, or will she honor it?

[Though we suspect that Capitol Police will be moving the picketers away from Ms. Solis' entry point to the meeting.]

__________________

“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.

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

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis Politicizes Office, Calls for Congress to Act on Job-Destroying EFCA

President Obama's Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis just issued a press release this morning regarding the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Annual Union Membership Report.  While a press release from a government bureaucrat (regardless of party) wouldn't ordinarily draw our attention, the blatant political homage paid to Solis' old union cronies as well as the nakedly partisan call for the hallucinogencially-named Employee Free FORCED Choice Act (EFCA) is astonishing. 

The job-destroying and delusionally-dubbed Employee Free Choice Act is the union bosses' dream which has been further put into jeopardy this week with the election of Scott Brown to the Senate.

In sum, EFCA does three things:

1. First, it effectively removes the right of workers to vote by secret-ballot on the question of unionization, replacing the decades-old secret-ballot process for "majority sign-up"
2. Second, it give a federally-appointed arbitrator the right to impose a contract on workers and their employers, which is an extraordinary and unprecedented intrusion of the government into the private sector.
3. Thirdly, it imposes unrealistic monetary penalties on employers whom the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board rule has committed Unfair Labor Practices.

For more background on EFCA, go here.

Given that one of Secretary Solis' previous positions while she was in Congress was on the board of the union-funded lobbying group American Rights at Work (a potential conflict noted by the Weekly Standard last year), Ms. Solis' union loyalties are unquestionable.  However, to use the power of her office in such a brash display of union payback is appallingly lacking in tact and beneath the office which she holds.

Here's the text of the release [with emphasis added]:

"Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that, in 2009, the unionization rate of employed wage and salary workers was 12.3 percent, in essence unchanged from the 12.4 percent rate in 2008. Among private sector employees, the rate dropped to 7.2 percent from 7.6 percent in 2008.


"The data also show the median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary union members were $908 per week, compared to $710 for workers not represented by unions. Union members earn 28 percent more than their non-union counterparts.

"When coupled with data showing that union members have access to better health care, retirement and leave benefits, these numbers make it clear that union jobs are good jobs.

"As workers across the country have seen their real and nominal wages decline as a result of the recession, these numbers show a need for Congress to pass legislation to level the playing field to enable more American workers to access the benefits of union membership. This report makes clear why the administration supports the Employee Free Choice Act."

Of course, Ms. Solis and her union comrades completely ignore the fact that unions have destroyed millions of other jobs in industries like the American auto, steel, textile, trucking and other industries.
 
Delusional.
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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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How Progressive! Liberal Group Accused of Being Anti-Worker & Anti-Union

Hyposcrisy knows no bounds when it comes to unions and their "progressive" (aka socialist-leaning) allies.

One group that has an allegedly bad track record when it comes to treating its workers fairly is the Public Interest Research Groups, according to Daily Beast blogger Luke Rosiak.

In his piece, The Liberal Sweatshop, Rosiak states that the nonprofit Fund for Public Interest Inc. was set up in 1982 by former presidential candidate Ralph Nader as the fundraising arm of the network of Public Interest Research Groups. In fact, according to Rosiak, it "deploys legions of door-to-door and street canvassers—and once counted a young Barack Obama as one of its New York City organizers—to solicit contributions for the Human Rights Campaign, the Sierra Club, Environment America, and other groups that together spend millions of dollars each year lobbying Congress."

However, there is a darker side to this do-gooder organization that Rosiak exposes.

According to one of its former employees, Christian Miller:

"They're the Wal-Mart of nonprofits in every way imaginable. They basically look at the next generation of social change as the next source of cheap labor."

What's more, the PIRG is being accused of being a pretty anti-union organization:

In the summer of 2005, the activists tried to unionize their Los Angeles office. The canvassers voted to organize with the Teamsters, Miller said.

"Management basically started changing office policies to try to systematically fire all union employees, while stalling the contract," he added. Eventually, Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), now Labor secretary, wrote the Fund pressing it to negotiate with workers, to no avail.

Then suddenly, Miller said, "they changed the locks on the doors and they were gone. We were shut down overnight."

And complying with other labor laws? Apparently, the PIRG doesn't like to do that either.

The nation’s largest fundraiser for progressive causes issued checks to thousands of former workers in the last several weeks after settling a $2.15 million class-action suit alleging it subjected workers to grueling hours without overtime pay.

On their website, the PIRGs slogan is "Standing Up to Powerful Interests." To us, however, it sounds as though the more appropriate slogan should be: Do as we say, not as we do.

LABOR SECRETARY SOLIS STILL PUSHING NO-VOTE UNION BILL

In a Washington Post interview published on Saturday, it appears that President Obama's Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is still pushing the no-vote unionization bill, otherwise misleadingly called the Employee Free Choice Act.

One of her most pressing issues is the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a huge priority of labor that would effectively change the way unions are organized. Under the proposed legislation, a secret ballot election can be bypassed. The measure faces a tough battle on Capitol Hill. Interview excerpts:

Q: Doesn't the Employee Free Choice Act in fact take power away from the employer (and) give that power to the union organizers?

A: I don't think that it takes away power from businesses. I think it helps to level the playing field because, in many cases, workers have been disadvantaged. They've been intimidated, they've been harassed, and we have case after case after case that we can look at. And you probably hear from the opposing side, that they will say, “Well, no, there have been successes where people have been able to organize, and they have been able to push forward a unionization.” But when you look at the attempts that have been made over the past few years ... there have been barriers that have been put up. And I think that the past administration was not very favorable for unions. They were not supportive in many ways.

Apparently, the reporter covering the story did not believe that reporting Ms. Solis' past affiliation with the union shill group American Rights at Work was worth a mention.

Read the entire piece here.

Hat-tip to Bret Jacobson.