Steelworkers' Leo Gerard Posts a Funny...sort of

Sometimes union bosses are just plain ol' gooberheads.

Take Leo Gerard, for example.  He's the president of the United Steelworkers and he seems to like to making his points by conflating two different issues.

Earlier this week, the union-controlled National Mediation Board (the federal agency that governs labor relations in the airline and railroad industries) set more than 70 years of precedent on its head by changing how union votes are counted.

We noted how the voting change is nothing more than a payback for union bosses who can now concentrate their resources on unionizing an airline's workers by concentrating only on hub cities and ignoring smaller outlying cities, even though workers in those smaller cities become unionized as well.

Nevertheless, in today's true union fashion, Gerard posts an antagonistic op-ed in the Hill entitled: Hey, Union-Busters: We'll Give You Supermajority. Aside from the provocative title [perhaps we should just start calling today's unions 'Company Killers'], Gerard's post was more perplexing to the average reader than enlightening--even for those who don't immediately see through his sad sophomoric sophistry .

Gerard makes the mistake of trying to tie NMB elections (which are entirely different than NLRB elections) into the uber-union desire for the job-destroying Employee Free Choice Act. His problem with doing that is that one has nothing to do with the other. 

The anti-worker-rights groups wanted the NMB to retain a different kind of election – one that requires the winner to receive votes from the majority of all of those qualified to participate -- essentially, a supermajority.

This is an exciting new development. Up until now CEOs, union-busters, and particularly conservative Republicans, have actively opposed the Employee Free Choice Act, mainly because of a provision they call “card check.” But card check provides exactly what they now say that they want – a determination made by the majority of all of those qualified to participate. So, clearly, since they’re so upset by the end of supermajority rule for airline and railroad workers, they’d be happy if Congress intervened and instituted it for all workers by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

Under the NMB's new voting procedures (regardless of whether one agrees with it or not), the voter's preferences (presumably) are kept secret.  Under the delusionally-dubbed Employee Free Choice Act's 'card-check' provisions, worker preferences are not secret.

Under card-check, workers are left exposed to pressure, manipulation and deception. And, most importantly, under card-check there is NO ELECTION, period.

Gerard's post would be funny, if it weren't such a pathetically poor attempt at subterfuge.


Gooberhead.
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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.

Joe Biden Pays Homage to 'Demoralized' AFL-CIO Bosses

Vowing to spend one-quarter of a million dollars less than last year's AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting, the leaders of the 57-union federation are meeting this week for their annual winter meeting at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

Earlier this afternoon, Vice President Joe Biden met with the union leaders and, according to the Wall Street Journal, was "muted, and even defensive at times."

Nevertheless, Biden paid homage to an otherwise disappointed group of labor bosses who have little to show for putting Biden and his boss, Barack Obama, in the White House.

I know it doesn’t seem like it, but we’ve come a long way in 12 months,” Biden told several hundred union officials. “In terms of the NLRB, we’re going to get it done. In the fight for EFCA, we’ve got to sit down and figure out where we go from here…. I think we’re going to get it done.”

[snip]

“I think they owe some answers this time,” said Thomas Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists. “There’s always something that crops up and gets in the way of labor’s agenda.”

BusinessWeek says that union bosses are "reeling" from the losses they've suffered under Obama and the Democrats.

“The labor movement is at a crossroads, and it has to rethink its political strategy,” said Amy Dean, a former labor official who is co-author of “A New New Deal,” a book about reshaping the labor movement. “The conversations that we are having at our kitchen tables and our living rooms that express our disappointment with this administration are very similar to the conversations that we had under the Bush administration.”

[snip]

“We’re demoralized,” said Robert Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “We’re not happy about anything.”

Struggling to cope with their lack of progress, several are laying the blame at the feet of the GOP:

"I think that everyone is frustrated literally, but it's important to understand who we have to be frustrated with," said United Steelworkers president Leo Gerard.

Gerard said unions are angry about Republican tactics they view as obstructionist and a few conservative Senate Democrats who are making it tough for Obama to push through his agenda. Gerard said that Democrats may not count on the usual support they expect from union members in this fall's elections.

"If we don't have clear progress and clear attempts at progress, we're going to have a hard time motivating our folks," he said.

And, Ms. Dean, a former AFL-CIO organizer says "unions made the mistake of waiting for an agenda 'and as a result, got rolled.'"
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

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

Unions Threaten to Boycott Mid-Term Elections

Union bosses are really, really steamed.  In fact, they are throw-the-toys-across-the-room boiling mad.

What's the cause of their tantrum? 

Apparently, the Democrats they spent hundreds of millions of their members' dues dollars getting elected have let them down...again.

Now, the unions are threatening to take their ball and go home. 

According to Politico, union bosses are threatening to sit out (or boycott) the 2010 mid-term elections

Labor groups are furious with the Democrats they helped put in office — and are threatening to stay home this fall when Democratic incumbents will need their help fending off Republican challengers.

The Senate’s failure to confirm labor lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board was just the latest blow, but the frustrations have been building for months.

"Here's labor getting thrown under the bus again," said John Gage, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 600,000 workers. "It's really frustrating for labor, and a lot of union people are thinking: We put out big time in money and volunteers and support. And it seems like the little things that could have been aren't being done."

The 52-33 vote on Becker — who needed 60 to be confirmed — really set labor unions on edge, but the list of setbacks is growing.

The so-called “card check” bill that would make it easier to unionize employees has gone nowhere. A pro-union Transportation Security Administration nominee quit before he even got a confirmation vote. And even though unions got a sweetheart deal to keep their health plans tax-free under the Senate health care bill, that bill has collapsed, leaving unions exposed again.

Union leaders warn that the Democrats' lackluster performance in power is sapping the morale of activists going into the midterm elections.

"Right now if we don’t get positive changes to the agenda, we’re going to have a hard time getting members out to work," said United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard, in an interview.

If, by boycotting the mid-term elections, their members' money won't be frivolously spent on politicians who care less for the American people than their big labor handlers, we say, go ahead!...

Take your ball and go home.

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

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

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