The Union Label - September 29, 2006
Posted on September 30, 2006 at 9:19 pm by Chuck Muth
WHO’S THIS “WE,” PALEFACE
Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, preparing for negotiations with UPS, recently taunted the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, telling the Detroit Free Press that his union was far healthier than theirs. “We’re not laying anybody off; we’re hiring,” Hoffa told the Free Press. “We’re making money; they’re losing money — a lot of dissimilarities.”
“We’re” hiring? To hear Hoffa tell it, it’s the UNION that creates jobs, not the employer that the union negotiates with. “We’re” making money? Get real. Unions do make money in the sense that they extract dues from members, often unwillingly, in order to provide labor bosses such as Hoffa with hefty salaries and benefits, luxury cars and exotic vacations. But unions don’t “make” money in the traditional sense of the word, meaning you provide a service or product for sale to consumers.
Much as Hoffa wants you believe he creates jobs and wealth, the fact is unions are nothing more than leeches on the financial success of true entrepreneurs and capitalists. Turn union bosses loose to fend for themselves in a free market economy and they’d fall flat on their faces.
THE UN-HOFFA
“Tom Leedham told Teamsters supporters Saturday that they were on the verge of the greatest upset victory in the history of the American labor movement. Leedham, who was in Cleveland to speak at the convention of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union, or TDU, is challenging James P. Hoffa for general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. . . . Leedham received loud applause when he said he was not going to be outdone by a “pudgy corporate lawyer,” a jab at Hoffa’s 25-year career as a labor lawyer before following his infamous father’s footsteps into Teamsters politics.”
- The Plain Dealer, 9/24/06
YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONES YOU LOVE
“In their zeal to negotiate as many benefits as possible, some (labor unions) may be hurting the very employees they represent. Workers in the automobile industry have learned this lesson the hard way. Employees of the U.S. Postal Service — the third largest employer in the country — should take note: Asking for too much can sometimes turn big benefits into big layoffs.”
- Dr. Charles Guy of the Lexington Institute
LUXURY TASTE ON BEDPAN BUDGET
“The union powerhouse that represents some of the poorest workers in New York City shelled out more than $2 million on parties and out-of-town conferences last year, the Daily News has learned. Local 1199, whose members empty bedpans and scrub toilets in hospitals and nursing homes, spent $465,000 for a summer retreat to Lake Placid for 700 staffers. Its tab at the pricey Firebird Russian Restaurant on W. 46th St. hit $9,247. And a five-day getaway at a resort in Westchester County favored by Fortune 500 titans topped $300,000.”
- New York Daily News, 9/24/06
HATING WAL-MART
“Last week’s announcement by Wal-Mart that it will offer many generic drugs for $4 is welcome news for American consumers. Strangely, however, this isn’t winning Wal-Mart any applause from its left-wing critics. . . . (These) critics are the same folks who’ve complained for years about high drug prices, using the issue to argue for government price controls, shorter patent lives on new drugs, and reimportation of drugs from Canada and Mexico.
“…Wal-Mart isn’t a charity, and its $4 decision is designed to lift its own sales by undercutting prices at competing retailers. But that’s the way the market works, driving prices lower with competition. It turns out that Wal-Mart’s critics really didn’t care about prices; what they want is more union clout, and more government control over health care.”
- Wall Street Journal, 9/28/06
COPS UNION RAIDED
“Armed federal agents in blue windbreakers and business suits raided the office of the Riverside Sheriffs’ Assn. on Thursday, an action that comes as the FBI investigates the use of the association’s legal trust fund. Officials at the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office refused to discuss the investigation, but an agent involved in the raid at the Riverside office park was seen carrying a search warrant that included the last name of the sheriffs’ association president, Pat McNamara.”
- Los Angeles Times, 9/29/06
UNION ADMITS TO BEING A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE
“A construction union pleaded guilty Tuesday to enterprise corruption, the first time one has been convicted of the crime in New York state, prosecutors said. Local 8 of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers admitted through its lawyer that it was a criminal enterprise. Also, an organized crime figure was sentenced Tuesday to two to six years in prison after admitting he took part in practices that cheated members of the union and netted its leaders more than $2 million.”
- Associated Press, 9/19/06
CORRUPT CARPENTERS
“Two carpenters union officials have been sentenced to prison on federal corruption charges. U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman on Monday sentenced Walter R. Mabry, 61, of Grosse Pointe Park, to serve two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Mabry also was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. Friedman also sentenced Anthony Michael, 64, of Macomb, to a year in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and a $3,000 fine.”
- Associated Press, 9/25/06
YOUR UNION DUES AT WORK
“By our calculations based on the (LM-2) filings, the AFL-CIO spent at least $2.7 million alone on T-shirts, flyers, telephone calls, Web site hosting, and other support for 2004 Presidential candidate John Kerry. Groups that received AFL-CIO money included Citizens for Tax Justice, an organization devoted to higher tax rates; the Economic Policy Institute, a think-tank that campaigns against Social Security privatization and tax cuts; and the Alliance for Justice, a ferocious opponent of President Bush’s Supreme Court nominees.
“Dues-paying workers of the world might want to ask: Why is Mr. Sweeney spending more of their money trying to raise taxes, or fighting for the cultural left, than he is on collective bargaining?”
- Wall Street Journal, 9/19/06
SHARP-DRESSED MAN
“The (LM-2) forms also offer a glimpse at union chief salaries. At least three union heads took home more than a million dollars in compensation in their last fiscal year — though two were admittedly the heads of the NFL and NBA players unions. The third-fattest union cat was Martin Maddaloni, the chief of the Plumbers and Pipefitters, who took home $1.3 million last year. The Plumbers’ ‘director of training’ — a fellow named George Bliss — somehow managed to make $456,644 in 2005. Now we know why plumbers are so expensive: They have to make enough to pay the dues that keep their union reps in Armani.”
- Wall Street Journal, 9/19/06
UNION SUED FOR KEEPING RECORDS IN THE DARK
“In an important milestone for increasing union financial transparency and accountability, the Justice Department has just filed suit against a transportation union local for failing to file mandatory sunshine reports for four consecutive years. The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania filed the suit against the Transportation Workers Union, Local 700, which represents several hundred parking attendants in Philadelphia.”
- Ron Nehring, Alliance for Worker Freedom, 9/21/06
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“In 51 of New York’s 62 counties, the average salary for state- and local-government jobs exceeds the private-sector average.”
- The Buffalo News, 9/15/06
