Unions

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Workers Deserve Better Than a Big Labor Lackey

January 9, 2009 by

The Heritage Foundation

Today may well turn out to be a major turning point in the history of the labor movement, and not because Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) will face questions at her Secretary of Labor confirmation hearings in the Senate. No, the bigger story is the voice vote conference call Service Employees International Union president Andy Stern has scheduled for 2 pm today. If things go the way Stern plans, the SEIU board will approve the forced break up of the third largest SEIU affiliate in the country, SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW). The UHW’s sin? Their leader, Sal Rosselli, has been a big critic of Stern’s leadership. The Los Angeles Times reports:

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00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

SEIU Prez DID Meet With Corrupt Ill. Governor

January 9, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

When States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced the investigation of the pay-to-play scandal centered around Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich there came to light a meeting between Blago and a top officer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). There was no indication of what the meeting was about and at fist no one knew who the SEIU representative was.

Later it came out that Blago met with Tom Balanoff, president of the Ill. chapter of the SEIU. This was blown off as of little importance ever since. However, now it has been learned that the president of the SEIU, Andy Stern himself, also met with Blago during the period of time that Blago was trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat.

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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

ACORN Abusing the Elderly

January 8, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

As a result of more ACORN voter fraud, the AP is reporting another ACORN employee charged with fraud this time in Missouri.

Charges of Voter-Registration Fraud

A woman has been charged in federal court with submitting false information on Missouri voter-registration cards, including turning in cards from nursing home residents without their knowledge. Deidra Humphrey of East St. Louis, Ill., faces two felony counts of voter-registration fraud. U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway’s office said Humphrey, 44, worked for ACORN and the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition from June to August of last year.

Remember, ACORN (Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now) is the extremist Marxist organization spawned by the work of Saul Alinsky and home to Barack Obama as well as union organizations everywhere.

This sort of fraud and anti-Americanism is what Obama weaned himself on.

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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Democrats Having Trouble With Democrats Over ‘Card Check’?

January 4, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Big Labor is finding that it might have a bit less of a lock than it thought on its pet legislation, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Apparently, several southern Democrats — those that live in right to work states — as well as some moderates are signaling Senate Majority leader Harry Reid that they are not as interested in entertaining passage of the act as they were when they knew that the GOP was strong enough to filibuster it and when they had a president that stood ready to veto it.

Instead, union leaders now say they are being told card check won’t happen soon. It seems the Obama team plans to devote its opening months to important issues, like the economy, and has no intention of jumping straight into the mother of all labor brawls. It also seems Majority Leader Harry Reid, even with his new numbers, might not have what it takes to overcome a filibuster. It’s a case study in how quickly a political landscape can change, and how frequently the conventional wisdom is wrong.

Of course this little incident illustrates the insincerity of much of what goes on in the Democratic Party. These guys were happy to appear to vote on this measure when they knew that it wouldn’t pass. This way, they could go to their union thug supporters and pretend they were all for their anti-democratic idea in card check all along. But, when it comes to crunch time and they are finally in a position to vote for the law that they claimed they supported, suddenly they reveal that they were simply lying to their supporters. They really don’t support the bill because it is a jobs killer and it takes away people’s democratic rights.

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00Publius Contributor - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - The Law - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Missouri Moves to Make Secret Ballot Required by Law

January 3, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will take away the secret ballot for potential union members and force them to openly declare their preferences for or against a union, causing that worker to be easily open to intimidation by union thugs. This is a law currently in the table in Congress, one that Barack Obama has pledged to push through regardless of how it eliminates one of the oldest democratic rights there is.

But, now Missouri is trying to head off the possible federal enactment of “card check” (the provision that eliminates the secret ballot) by legislating that a secret ballot is protected by state law.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

UAW Union Bosses Abusing Positions for Pay

December 28, 2008 by 3 Comments

– By Warner Todd Huston

TV News 4 in Detroit did an excellent expose on a few union bosses that routinely rip off the unions and the auto makers they work for with fake time cards and paid for but unworked overtime pay.

One of the bosses, Ron Seroka, a union job security officer, takes off half a day nearly everyday to go home to lounge around the house while he is on the clock. Seroka punches in at the plant at 6AM every single day and is home by 11:30 AM for some nice leisure time at home. Yet he gets a steady 10 hours pay every single day despite the fact that he is rarely at work.

Seroka’s union boss is even worse. Union chairman Jim Modzelewski buys beer on a daily basis while on the clock and clocks himself in for overtime pay hours before he even wakes up to go into the plant. TV 4 found that after he punches in, he typically leaves for a beer run mere hours later. Again, all this is on a daily basis. He is also paid overtime pay on a daily basis as he sits home drinking his daily beer. With over 2,500 hours of overtime, Modzelewski made a six-figure salary last year. TV 4 also discovered that Modzelewski even played in a bowling tournament while on the clock — as at overtime pay, too!

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00Publius Contributor - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Jobs - News - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Pennsylvania’s Corrosive Strike Culture

December 27, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Wall Street Journal recently had an interesting article on the extremely high percentage of teacher’s strikes in the State of Pennsylvania. The Journal noted that Penn. teachers account for an astonishing 42% of all teacher walk outs in the nation.

This, apparently, despite the fact that Pennsylvania’s teachers are some of the highest paid in the nation.

The strikes take place despite the state’s ranking in the top 20% nationwide for teacher salaries in 2006-2007 — the most recent data available — with an average of $54,970. Those paychecks go even further when adjusted for the state’s cost of living compared to top-spending school districts in places like California.

The Journal notes that 37 states have passed various laws that limit or eliminate teacher walk outs but union bigwigs in Penn. have succeeded in burying all attempts to implement such laws in the Keystone state.

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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Jobs - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Obama’s First Gift to Unions

December 26, 2008 by

– By Warner Todd Huston

Barack Obama’s pick for Secretary of Labor is his first gift to labor unions. Hilda Solis is quite a union extremist and has already promised to push the misleadingly named employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) once she takes over her new role in the Obama administration.

A recent Wall Street Journal report reveals that Solis, a California Congressman, has been in the back pocket of unions since she first ran for Congress.

Barack Obama’s pick for Secretary of Labor — Hilda Solis — brings impeccable big labor credentials. The California Congresswoman first rode to power with labor backing against a fellow Democrat, has voted with the AFL-CIO 97% of the time, and got three-quarters of her campaign contributions from unions.

But the WS Journal rightfully worries that Solis will also try to gut the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). In recent years the OLMS has tightened financial disclosure rules on the unions, an effort that is responsible in just one case for catching hundreds of thousands of dollars being illicitly spent by Tyrone Freeman, the head of the California office of the Service Employee International Union.

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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Jobs - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Obama Appointment That Has Rules for Herself, Then Rules for Everyone Else

December 22, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

We have to start this posting with some questions to each of you dear readers out there. Do you like your vote to be secret? Free of coercion? Known only to you? Well, so does Obama’s new appointment for Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis (D-El Monte, CA). She agrees with you and every other democracy-loving citizen that when it comes to her ballot, she wants it to be a secret one. She’s 100% for her own votes remaining secret from prying eyes.

Unfortunately, she also wants to take away that same democratic right from every working American faced with unionization. Solis, you see, has told everyone that will listen that once she becomes Secretary of Labor she will push for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and the EFCA will do just that; take away the secret ballot from potential union members. In this she is in tune with Barack Obama because he wants the EFCA passed to pay back the millions that unions pumped into his campaign.

But, in January of last year, Solis, then a Congressman from California, signed a letter criticizing the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for not having a secret vote during their proceedings. Bret Jacobson has the scoop in the L.A.Times:

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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

UAW Runs Whining to Obama

December 22, 2008 by

– By Warner Todd Huston

In a day when their industry is cratering, in large part because of their own actions, the United Auto Workers (UAW) is whining to president to be Barack Obama that “unfair labor rules” need to be retracted once he takes office.

The UAW is asking Obama to revisit the conditions that the recent Bailout is dependent upon whereby the union is forced to revisit its practices to look for cutbacks and concessions. In essence, the UAW is trying to convince Obama that the union should not be held accountable for its actions of dragging the US auto makers down the tubes.

“We are disappointed that,” President Bush, “has added unfair conditions singling out workers,” Gettelfinger said. “We will work with the Obama administration and the new Congress to ensure that these unfair conditions are removed, as we join in the coming months with all stakeholders to create a viable future for the U.S. auto industry.”

No, Mr. Gettelfinger, Bush is saying nothing at all about “the workers.” He is pointing at YOU, Mr. Gettlefinger, you and your union thugs. It is YOUR fault that the auto industry is falling apart, not “the workers.”

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Energy - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Technology - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Unions to Organize for Jobs That Don’t Yet Exist?

December 18, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A recent AP piece lauded the fact that the envirosocialist movement and American labor unions are at long last beginning to walk hand in hand. At the “climate talks” in Poland, several American union groups sent representatives to announce common cause on going green.

The AP report noted that the Sierra Club, a longtime environmentalist group, announced support for the inaptly named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that features the undemocratic card check provision.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

SEIU Again Accused of Fixing Vote

December 17, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A pattern has emerged concerning the expansion of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and that is one of rushed contracts that supposedly “give too much away” to the employers. Of course, I won’t comment of the supposed “giving too much away” aspect, but one thing that I will comment on is the propensity of the SEIU to get their contracts by hook or by crook.

This plan is of a piece with SEIU President Andy Stern’s quest to make the SEIU the biggest union in the nation. His has been a plan to simply glom onto as many new contracts and new members as possible no matter what else is going on. His avarice to gain new members and for adding locals by gobbling up lesser unions is so strong that he hasn’t paid much attention to the specifics of the contracts being signed. This sort of slipshod, barreling forward despite the specifics of the actual contracts has angered many of his membership.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Republicans - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Unions Threatened Riots if No Bailout

December 16, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last week, Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers union, threatened to foster riots if the $900 billion bailout didn’t get through Congress. “If we have Republicans who oppose us, we are going to take to the streets, we are going to occupy places. We are not going to allow any more of our members’ lives to be destroyed,” he warned in a conference call to journalists over the weekend.

A new coalition of union welfare seekers has been formed that goes by the name Campaign for America’s Future (CAF).

CAF, made up of more than two dozen labor unions, 127 lesser-known economists and assorted activists, hosted a press conference call to announce the proposed $900 billion Main Street proposal, which the group hopes will be ready for President-elect Barack Obama’s signature when he takes office on Jan. 20.

Yes, it’s all supposed to be legitimate and grown up of these folks lining up in front of Congress with their hands out for our tax dollars to be stuffed into their pockets to come together in a democratic styled coalition. But, as soon as a reporter seems to question these union thugs at all, the yelling begins.

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00Publius Contributor - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Communism - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Media Bias - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - The Law - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

When Did Illinois Stop Being America?

December 15, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

This debacle of Governor Rod Blagojevich endeavoring to sell a U.S. Senate seat for mere personal enrichment proves once and for all that the state of Illinois is no longer an American state. It is so far around the bend that there is no longer any legitimacy to either the state or any local government. Illinois is no better than the worst banana republic.

We have arrived at a time when lucrative state posts have been multiplied without necessity, when people have become pensioners of the state without bounds, and government is the single largest employer summarily supplanting any hint of capitalism. We are mired in a universal policy of governing by bribery and corruption, with all businesses being ignored and trampled under the foot of regulators and their open palms. All offices here are bought and sold at extravagant prices and the debt for this thievery is laid on the shoulders of the people with the highest taxes in the country.

Yet, even as the money flows uninhibited into the pockets of our “elected” officials in both parties, Illinois is falling apart. Roads, bridges, hospitals and schools are crumbling and those that have been built are of the lowest quality because so much of the money has gone to grasping unions, bribes and graft.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Auto Unions Reason for Senate Denial of Bailout

December 15, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

For helping put American auto makers in the mess it is currently in, one might say that the unions deserve this thumbs down vote. Congressional Republicans blocked the $14 billion auto bailout on Thursday and one of the main reasons was because of undue union excess of a sort that sees US cars over priced at thousands of dollars per vehicle compared to all other competition.

According to the Associated Press, the refusal of unions to revisit their contracts with an eye toward taking cuts is one of the reasons the bailout was denied.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R, KY) was concerned that the current bailout plan did not demand any changes occur in the industry ahead of the the payout from Congress.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

SEIU ‘Charity’ For Union Members Nets Nothing While Chief Makes Thousands

December 8, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

SEIU chief Alejandro Stephens not only benefited from some nasty double dipping with his undeserved salary, but he made thousands running a so-called charity that was to benefit union members, even though that “charity” ended up losing money netting nothing for the rank and file members. It’s a sweet deal if you can get it. It just might be, though, that Stephens has finally been caught with his hand in the till enough times that his criminal behavior is at an end.

Stephens used to be a union chief for the largest public employees local in California until the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) merged his local with another. As the consolidation occurred, the SEIU made a deal with Stephens. They would give him a $180,000 severance deal and he would step down. In the agreement he was also required to forego his compensation from Los Angeles Country coffers.

An aside before we continue. It is the perfect example of corruption and graft that the County of Los Angeles pays ANY union operative a salary that the union is supposed to be paying him. It simply does not matter at ALL what this person was doing for the county, there is NO reason the taxpayers should be paying his union salary. Now, if the county has some other job that he can hold at the same time, well that is another matter. But there is no fiscally responsible reason that a county should ever pay a union chief’s union salary. None. Not a one.

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00Publius Contributor - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - John Armor - Media Bias - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions

A Bridge Loan to Nowhere

December 8, 2008 by

-By John Armor

As I write this on Thursday, December 4, I’m watching the Big Three auto presidents talking to the Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Chris Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut. In the interests of accuracy, GM, Ford and Chrysler should instead be called the pathetic two and a half.

Normally, the questions asked by Committee members at these hearings are as self-serving and vacuous as the prepared remarks of the high-level witnesses. Today was an exception. Chairman Dodd’s first question went right to the point.

“No matter what we do here, nothing happens until people go into dealerships and buy cars?” The auto presidents had to agree.

The Ranking Minority Member, Senator Shelby of Alabama, followed with an equally pointed question:
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00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Jobs - News - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Detroit Carpenters Union Chief Under Further Investigation

December 6, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Convicted of corruption charges in 2006, Walter Ralph Marbry is under a cloud once again for further charges that he is involved in illegal activities connected with his former role as head of the Detroit Carpenter’s union.

Convicted of receiving more than “$120,000 in illegally discounted work on his Grosse Pointe Park home,” Marbry is also being looked at for receiving kickbacks in a pension fund deal with a Mississippi casino. The alleged kickback scheme involved Marbry’s control of union pension funds that were invested at his direction.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union Group Uses Worker Death to Advertise for Unions

December 5, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

I guess it doesn’t get more cynical than this, but a union advocacy group that has for years been needling Wal-Mart to unionize has used the tragic death of a Wal-Mart worker on Black Friday as a reason to push their union ideas. Even though that worker’s trampling death has nothing whatever to do with unions or any lack thereof, Wal-Mart Watch is using this poor man’s death to its advantage.

Even more ridiculously — if that is at all possible — Wal-Mart Watch is attempting to say that unions equal “moral responsibility.”

While Jdimytai Damour’s death was a “tragic accident,” it also reflects Wal-Mart’s “blatant disregard for the concern and safety of its workers and customers,” said David Nassar, executive director of Wal-Mart Watch.

Wal-Mart Watch describes itself as a “public education campaign” aimed at changing Wal-Mart so it embraces its “moral responsibility.”

What a disgusting display of opportunism.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Education - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

How Colorado Teachers can get their Union Dues Refunded

December 4, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

In Colorado, teachers are not required to join a union to do their job. But of those that do, there is a state law whereby they can get a refund of the part of their dues that goes to political activism if that teacher is against the union’s use of the money for political ends.

So, teachers in Colorado that oppose the causes and candidates the unions spend dues money on can get a refund of that portion of their dues. But these teachers only have until December 15th to apply for that refund.

The Independence Institute has created this two minute video to explain how Colorado’s teachers can apply for this refund.

00Publius Contributor - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union’s Cure for State Budget Shortfall? Raise Taxes!

December 4, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Apparently, the Service Employees International Union is worried about the state of California’s budget. The SEIU, one of the nation’s biggest employee unions for state workers, would like Sacramento to know they have a cure for the millions in the red state budget.

Could it be that the union is going to offer cutbacks for its exorbitant union perks? Maybe a cut in their overly generous pension is in order? How about a cut in the pay scale that they enjoy, a scale that exceeds the private sector in nearly every way?

Well, don’t be ridiculous. The union is not offering to help the state with its budget. The union is demanding that the state raise taxes to keep them in the lifestyle to which they undeservedly have become accustomed.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Majority of US Voters Oppose Ideas in EFCA

December 4, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The folks at the Workforce Fairness Institute conducted an interesting and enlightening post election survey that they are now ready to release and it shows that a significant majority of American voters do not support the Democrat’s and the Union’s Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The anti-democratic policy of card check was particularly disliked by those surveyed.

Workforce Fairness Institute

Public Opinion Strategies is pleased to present the key findings from a national post-election survey of 800 voters who said they voted on Election Day (November 4, 2008) or voted early. The telephone survey was conducted November 17-19, 2008, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46%.

THE BOTTOM LINE

When presented with neutral language that describes the two main components of the Employee Free Choice Act, solid majorities of those who voted in this year’s elections oppose the proposed legislation. A couple of important themes arise in this survey data.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union Stifles Modern Auto Innovation

December 3, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Where is the most innovative, cost effective, and modern auto manufacturing plant in the world? It sure as heck isn’t in the USA. Why isn’t it here, in a country that has traditionally been at the top of the game for innovation?

The one word answer: Unions.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Protests Intensify Over Local Union Takeover By SEIU

November 30, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is still going ahead with its plans to perpetrate a hostile takeover of California local California Healthcare Workers union (UHW). Naturally, the local isn’t too happy to be forcefully dissolved and integrated into the SEIU national and losing their identity.

The UHW folks with their president Sal Roselli in the lead, are staging all sorts of protests and efforts to deny the SEIU its victory. Roselli has been a thorn in SEIU president Andy Stern’s side for quite a while now.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Jobs - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union Prez Banned From Union For Life!

November 29, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Oh, the humanities! It has been determined by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) that troubled local president Tyrone Freeman is to be banned for life from the union. Gosh, what a horrible fate, eh? One wonders if he can be reinstated with back pay after he dies. Bet he does!

The Service Employees International Union has imposed a lifetime ban on the former president of its largest California local and ordered him to repay more than $1 million that it says he misappropriated from the labor organization.

Let me suggest a more appropriate punishment: jail.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Will Southern Dems Torpedo Themselves By Voting Card Check?

November 28, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Politico has some interesting analysis on the purported divisions among Democrats going into the future. They may have majority control of Congress on its face, but do they have enough of a controlling majority to push through some of their most egregiously extreme measures like the pro-union card check idea contained in the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)?

According to Politico the “fault lines” in the Democratic caucus are soon to be revealed.

Unless Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) can whip their caucuses into unity, numerous fault lines will be revealed: Southern Democrats vs. Northern liberals on labor law; California greens vs. Rust Belt Democrats on global warming; socialized medicine adherents vs. go-slow health care reformers; anti-war liberals vs. cautious centrists on national security. And don’t forget the anti-bailout crowd vs. the powerful Michigan Democrats in both chambers when it comes to money for Detroit.

Martin Kady goes on to elucidate those divisions, one of them being the card check issue. Of course, we’ve discussed card check here many times, but essentially if passed it would eliminate any potential union member from having the right to vote for or against a union on a secret ballot, making the member’s vote open for everyone to see. This would leave the member open to any sort of union pressure and thuggery, for sure.

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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Jobs - News - President - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Fed. Employee’s Labor Chief’s Demands Presented to Obama

November 25, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

And it begins. President of the National Treasury Employees Union, one of the Federal government’s largest labor unions, has drawn up her demands for president-elect Obama to fulfill as payback for union support for his candidacy.

Colleen M. Kelly has announced her demands and two of them are quite controversial. The first, that the employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) get unionized, shows that unions want to be in a place to impede our national security. The second, the firing of all current members of the Federal Service Impasses Panel, shows that unions want to eliminate any oversight that might hinder union corruption and give them a freer hand to hide their own illegal activities.

Thus far, the Bush administration has succeeded in stopping the unionization of employees of the TSA and for good reason. Should the TSA be unionized, this would eliminate any possibility that the government could fire or even regulate the people that are supposed to be making sure our airlines are safe and free of terrorists. This would not only add another layer of distance between government (and therefore we the people) and its employees, but it would also make it harder to control the security of our airports. In fact, it would make it impossible for government to control the safety of our airports.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - News - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Another Example of Hypocritical Politics on Secret Ballots

November 24, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

As the Democratic caucus angles to pass the badly named Employee Free Choice Act, a law that will actually take away the choice of a secret ballot for millions of America’s workers, we get one more example of how Democrats in Congress allocate things for themselves that they refuse to allow others to enjoy.

In the nasty infighting between Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) and John Dingell (D., Mich.) over the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce committee in the House of Representatives, a secret ballot was held of the members of the House after which, Waxman came out the victor.

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