THE UNION LABEL

SEIU Steals Members from Puerto Rico Teachers Union

May 31, 2008 - 11:27 am - Posted by WTH

The Puerto Rico Teachers Union warns the world of the SEIU’s attack on their members!

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In a Democracy, You are FORCED by Law to Pay Dues to Union You Don’t Belong to?

May 30, 2008 - 6:19 pm - Posted by WTH

How can it be legal that an American is forced to pay dues to a union he doesn’t even want to belong to, and hasn’t joined? Believe it or not, some state laws force workers in some industries to do just that. It seems insane and unAmerican, but it is true nonetheless.

Freedom, liberty, rights. These are all words we bandy about quite a bit, right? The first thing most Americans think about when they are forced to do something they don’t want to do is that their rights are being violated. We feel violated paying tolls on toll roads, we are angered at the high taxes we are soaked with year in and year out. But joining a union, why that’s supposed to be freedom of association, right? When we join a union and pay dues, most Americans deem that a right in and of itself. We have a right to join a union if we want, sure enough.

But what if we don’t want to join a union? I can hear the readers now saying “well, then don’t.” If it were that simple I’d agree. If you don’t like unions don’t join one. But what if you had to pay union dues even if you DIDN’T join the union? Would you feel that your rights are being violated by the state forcing you to pay dues to a union you never joined?

It seems to any clear thinking American that if anyone’s rights are being violated, it is those people forced to pay union dues to a union they don’t belong to just so that they can have the privilege to work.

This is no fantasy case. Grocery workers in Colorado, for instance, are forced by oppressive state laws to pay union dues even if they never join the union, the United Food and Commercial Workers.

But currently the State of Colorado has an upcoming Amendment that changes the forced payment of dues. Amendment 47 will be placed before Colorado’s voters this November.

Amendment 47

This November, Colorado voters will have the opportunity to decide whether workers in the state will be free to choose for themselves whether or not to join a union. It’s Amendment 47, the Colorado Right to Work Amendment. If passed, Amendment 47 will strengthen Colorado’s economy, protect the rights of all employees and ensure that no one can be forced to join a union to get or keep a job.

• Changes the current law that forces some workers to join a union as a condition of employment.
• Protects worker rights, including the right to strike, collective bargaining, and the right to organize and belong to a union.
• Protects worker paychecks by ending the practice of forcing workers to pay dues that support political causes without their consent.
• Strengthens Colorado’s economy, creates jobs and makes our state more competitive.

The union thieves know that this is a bad deal for them. They have for some time been living off the gravy of a compliant, oppressive government that has given in to their every wish, quite despite what the people want, quite despite what is right a good.

Ernest Duran of the Colorado office of the UFCW is worried about Amendment 47. He sent out a letter last week that warned his membership that if Amendment 47 passed half of the current dues paying members (and non-member, forced dues payers) would stop sending him their dues money.

And what is Mr. Duran going to do to stop the Amendment? He is going to take union dues money and pay $2 for every signature on several petitions to get the legislature to favor union policies in the state government.

So, that means, if you are forced to pay dues and don’t want to, this union thug is going to use YOUR money to pay people to thwart YOUR wishes! No wonder the unions want to force people to pay dues even if they aren’t members.

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Let us illegally smoke, or we strike

May 30, 2008 - 10:23 am - Posted by Union Labeler

Last fall, the Illinois legislature passed the Smoke-Free Illinois Act that banned smoking in all public places and workplaces. To comply with that new law, Caterpillar, Inc. immediately announced it would ban smoking on all of its IL campuses. Today, the Springfield State-Journal Register reports the United Auto Worker union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Cat for setting a date (June 1) for the ban to take effect.

The union claims the ban goes against guarantees in the companys contract with the UAW, adding that whether workers can smoke or not should be subjected to collective bargaining.

The dispute over smoking, which the union says has been a contractual privilege for 60 years, has Caterpillar officials worried about a possible strike.

Hey, UAW, instead of striking, why don’t you talk to the people responsible for that law- your Democrat governor, Democrat lieutenant governor, Democrat attorney general, Democrat treasurer, Democrat comptroller, Democrat majority supreme court, Democrat veto-proof majority senate and Democrat majority house? And how did all of those Dems get elected? Oh yeah, your campaign cash.

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Union Perpetrates Hostile Take Over of Another Union

May 28, 2008 - 1:08 pm - Posted by WTH

Puerto Rico’s teachers union seems to have been aced out of their position as the union organizing the teachers of that Island nation by a hostile takeover. It seems that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) cozied up to the embattled Puerto Rican Governor and was able to convince him to simply hand over all the teachers on the Island to the SEIU — quite regardless of the fact that they already belonged to the existing teachers union, the Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR).

This reminds me of 1920’s Chicago as various Mob bosses battled for control of the Windy City. Seriously, who isn’t shocked by the fact that one union (the SEIU) can just roll in the back door of government and steal the members of another union (the FMPR) by arm-twisting a pliant politician? The only thing we lack here is the tommy guns in the streets!

For their part the FMPR is trying to fight this hostile take over of their union by organizing a coalition to oppose this presumptuous attack by the SEIU on their position as the union of Puerto Rico’s teachers.

The FMPR has been trying to work out a new contract for three years with the government of Puerto Rico and it appears that the government is using the SEIU to break the FMPR. And, here we have the SEIU stepping in to assist the government to break the union.

According to the New York Daily News, the Governor told Rivera (Dennis Rivera of the SEIU) that the teachers’ union is “yours to take.” Previously El Diaro-La Prensa reported that Rivera had discussed the teachers union with Acevedo in addition to possible SEIU monetary support for the Governor, who has recently been indicted on corruption charges.

The Puerto Rican government declared the teachers’ strike illegal, based on the vote alone — the actual strike was not called until late February 2008 — and moved to decertify FMPR. Almost simultaneously, SEIU announced that the Island’s union of school principals and supervisors was affiliating with SEIU — and would attempt to take over the teachers’ union.

This shows the rather unethical lengths that the SEIU will go to gather power unto itself. The SEIU is willing to trample on fellow unionists, make sweetheart deals with governments in closed door, back rooms, and steal members from other unions.

With this hostile take over of the Pureto Rican teachers union, it seems as if Andy Stern, president of the SEIU, has seen “The Untouchables” far too many times.

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Teachers Abandon Kids Over Contract Negotiations

May 28, 2008 - 12:01 pm - Posted by WTH

Showing once again that the kids don’t matter a hill of beans to union members, a “sickout” was staged in one of Denver, Colorado’s schools forcing school administrators to scramble to fill 16 classes where teachers suddenly called in sick, refusing to go to work.

Strikes that interrupt the student’s education are bad enough, but at least strikes are known, planned, and announced events that gives everyone time to face the issue. This, on the other hand, was not planned ahead of time.

All 16 classroom teachers plus the music teacher and a librarian called in sick, forcing Debra Lucero Kraft, principal of Academia Ana Marie Sandoval, to scramble to cover classes at the bilingual Montessori elementary school.

“I didn’t have any warning,” Kraft said. “I don’t know what the goal is, so I can’t really speak to whether or not that accomplished their goal. . . . (But) I’m not sure if leaving your students without a teacher is a way to address contract negotiations.”

Instead of having the respect for their purpose (it’s supposed to be teaching, by the way) and the respect for their students, these union thugs merely stopped going to work without warning. These guerilla styled tactics where unannounced “sickouts” are secretly planned to strike at random schools is despicable.

Every teacher that involves themselves in this sort of thuggish behavior should be fired immediately. But, thuggish behavior is what one ends up with when one allows unions to take over, sadly.

But, heck, who cares if these kid’s schooling is destroyed by the games unions play? The union sure as heck doesn’t.

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It’s Official, Union Rejects Money for Kids

May 26, 2008 - 5:30 pm - Posted by WTH

A while back we mentioned that the State of Washington was about to refuse a grant of $13.2 million grant being offered to the kids of the state to help them learn math and science. Well now it’s official, Washington State has refused this generous donation.

The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) was started by Bill Gates, Michael Dell and other technology titans concerned about the declining performance of American students in math and science. The public-private partnership funds efforts to increase the number of students taking advanced placement courses in those subjects. But thanks to the Washington Education Association, a teachers union, the initiative’s recent efforts in Washington state have been torpedoed.

This seems crazy, doesn’t it? Why would the state do this?

One word: unions

Earlier this month NMSI announced that a $13.2 million grant slated for Washington state was being scrapped. Why? The contract ran afoul of the union’s collective bargaining agreement. NMSI wanted to compensate teachers directly and include extra pay based on how well students performed on AP exams. But under the teacher contracts, the union is the exclusive agent for negotiating teacher pay and union officials refused to compromise. They were willing to turn away free money for their teacher members rather than abide this kind of merit pay.

State Representative Bill Fromhold, who was helping to administer the grant, told the Seattle Times, “We worked hard to try to find middle ground.” But in the end, he said, “we got caught in the middle of the grant requirements and collective bargaining laws in the state of Washington that have to be followed.”

Yeah, they “worked hard.” Riiight.

So, once again, proving that they could not care less about the kids, a teachers unions actually stands in the way of helping kids learn.

Aren’t you glad we have unions?

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When a Union Tries to Go Beyond its Role

May 24, 2008 - 10:26 pm - Posted by WTH

We have talked numerous times about the current internal fight of the SEIU here on the blog. It is a titanic fight between old style, rank-and-file interests, and a sort of new-fangled, top heavy style of leadership more interested in national issues and less in the average member. It has left many members wondering what their union is for if not to actually service the members themselves?

A recent editorial by Nelson Lichtenstein in the L.A. Times has done a fair job to give a few hints at exactly what SEIU President Andy Stern has in store for the future of his union as well as the future of the labor movement itself.

The article, titled “The battle for labor’s future” and subtitled “The SEIU’s Andy Stern has an ambitious plan. Not everyone is on board,” is a sort of over view on what is going on with the SEIU. It contains some interesting observations that has ominous portent. He has announced plans to “raise wages and working conditions for everyone,” meaning not just his own concerns with the SEIU, but to meddle in the entire workforce the country wide.

Stern also has made it clear that he sees the U.S. economy as a single integrated system in which the status of labor is closely related to the structure of capitalism. This has led the SEIU to take great interest in issues that once would have been considered irrelevant to what went on at the bargaining table, such as how to regulate private equity firms, which now control companies that employ more than a million workers in industries the SEIU seeks to organize. Stern has sought to strike deals, or at least open negotiations, on a variety of employment-related issues with politicians and businessmen, including Wal-Mart’s H. Lee Scott and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who have often been hostile to unionism.

But Stern and his allies within the SEIU believe that with a Democratic Party landslide in the offing this November, unions are on the verge of an historic breakthrough. This is not the time for what they label “Just Us” unionism devoted to the advancement of the wages and working conditions of those already enrolled in a labor organization.

Here is what might be called mission creep in the military where the original mission keeps getting larger with added on goals. Only with the military it is usually an accidental occurrence. In this case, it is a purposeful attempt by Andy Stern to take over and install a socialist structure upon our nation’s economy.

For their part, his internal opponents think he is slighting his own members to gain personal power.

Andy Stern is an ambitious and dangerous man who will surely love to destroy the current system and to tear down the things that have made this country great. Lets hope that the internal fight in his union knocks him down… more hopefully out.

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Union Financial Disclosure Info Project

May 22, 2008 - 9:24 pm - Posted by WTH

We’ve mentioned the new financial disclosure requirements that the U.S. Dept. of Labor is implementing and now we’d like to pass on to one and all a new information site that just debuted to help explain and track the progress of the new requirements.

It’s called Union Financial Disclosure and can be reached at http://www.unionfinancialdisclosure.info/new_regulations.htm.

There you’ll get some info on the new requirements and links to Dept. of Labor sites and the like.

The OLMS has instituted the public comments phase, so go on over to this new site, learn a little about the new requirements, and be sure and add your comments to the government website.

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GA Court Upholds Attorney Disclosure

May 22, 2008 - 7:09 pm - Posted by Union Labeler

In a victory for workers and transparency, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia demanded the continual disclosure of money or items of value that attorneys pay to unions or union officials.

From the U.S. Department of Labor’s press release:

In this case, Warshauer v. Chao, an attorney who had been appointed as a designated legal counsel by the United Transportation Union (UTU) sued to enjoin the secretary of labor from requiring him to file a Form LM-10 (Employer Report). Designated legal counsel are lawyers recommended by a union to its members for representation in workers’ compensation, personal injury or other matters.

The release also spells out the origin of the disclosure law:

The Web site advisory followed an OLMS investigation of corruption in the UTU that resulted in the felony conviction of four union officials. These officials pled guilty to conspiring with others to violate federal mail and wire fraud statutes, among others, by using their positions of authority to solicit and collect cash payments and other things of value from attorneys doing business or seeking to do business as designated legal counsels of the UTU.

Union officials taking bribes for legal referrals? Surely you jest, U.S. Department of Labor!

Form LM-10 ensures union members have the ability to investigate whether an attorney appears on a list of preferred legal counsel because of merit, or because of a $250+ payoff.

If you wish to view union disclosure reports or collective bargaining agreements, please go here.

H/T: Mark Tapscott

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Court Denies Union Ability to Jack Up Forced Dues Payments

May 21, 2008 - 9:07 pm - Posted by WTH

National Right to Work fills us in on the good news that the 9th Circuit Court handed unions a blow this month making it harder on the unions for hiding expenses that end up charged to forced-dues-payers.

Upholding the National Labor Relations Board’s January 2006 decision against Studio Transportation Drivers Local 399 of the Teamsters, the appeals court found that the union, which used the arbitration awards for nonrepresentational purposes such as political and charitable contributions, should exclude the money from its calculation of agency fees rather than use it to reduce its reported nonrepresentational expenses.

By spending the arbitration award money on nonrepresentational rather than representational expenditures, the union in effect increased the agency fees owed by the objecting nonmember for representational expenses, Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for the appeals court.

NRTW informs us that this is an important ruling because is stops unions from shifting expenses that end up overcharging nonmembers who are forced to pay dues as a condition of employment.

It is now even more clearly illegal for union officials to funnel revenue from sources other than union dues to pay for “non-chargeable” items – like politics, lobbying and members-only activities. Using this scheme, union officials try to get away with charging a higher percentage of the remaining activities to forced-dues-payers.

So, mark this one as a win for the good guys.

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Politics over Jobs? That’s the Union Way.

May 20, 2008 - 11:41 am - Posted by Union Labeler

Do you hear that? Once again, it’s that time of year again when state legislators create a giant sucking sound as they poach money out of dedicated state budget categories to feed their insatiable unionized supporters.

Louisiana’s Times-Picayne sounds off today about the LA House voting to siphon $48.6 million out of an economic development fund to give one-time $1,000 bonuses to school support workers (read: unionized employees.) These employees received a raise last year, which not only was not in the state budget, but also ensured their salaries and benefit packages are equally or more generous than comparative private sector jobs.

From the article:

The House may view the economic development fund as a painless source of money.

But the state is in discussions with a steel company that apparently is interested in the same 4,061-acre site along the Mississippi River that intrigued ThyssenKrupp last year. The $307 million economic development fund is reportedly a key selling point for Nucor Corp., which is looking to build a $2 billion mill to manufacture crude iron for its processing plants.

Shrinking the development fund by almost $49 million in the middle of those discussions doesn’t seem like a smart move. But the approval of the support worker bonuses wasn’t about being smart, it was about being political.

Once again, union-friendly legislators choose paying off their union pals over creating new economic opportunities for their citizens. I agree with the title of the Times-Picayne editorial, It’s a Matter of Priorities. Louisiana House Members: We’re watching yours.

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Union Allows ‘Stalker’ to Represent Them

May 19, 2008 - 9:53 pm - Posted by WTH

Amazingly, the International Union of Security, Police and Fire Professionals doesn’t see a problem with allowing a man accused of stalking his girlfriend and has compared employers to terrorists to act as an official organizer in Nevada at the MGM Mirage. It does not speak well of the union to work with such a nut as Steve Maritas, but they are doing so nonetheless.

The Las Vegas Sun gives us the details of this nut’s over-the-top tactics that even have prospective union members chagrined.

A campaign to organize MGM Mirage security guards has turned ugly, with the union’s lead organizer comparing casino executives to terrorists and threatening to bring homeless people and prostitutes to the picket line to make things unpleasant for the company’s customers.

The hardball tactics come as no surprise to anyone who knows the organizer, Steve Maritas. He was convicted in San Diego of stalking his former girlfriend, who he says tricked him into violating a court order to keep his distance. And he says he learned a lot about the union business from his father, a former president of a 30,000-member carpenters district council in New York City who was indicted on racketeering charges.

This fool even put a picture of Osama bin Laden next to a picture of Mandalay Bay President Bill Hornbuckle on his union website. The Sun has him saying “They’re both terrorists.” An absurdity to say the least. Even his fellow security guards were unhappy with that stupid move.

Security guards, some of whom served in the military, were outraged and told Maritas to take the pictures down and apologize, which he did.

“Maybe it was a low move,” Maritas said. “But that’s the way (labor) war is … I’m from the street. If I have to get down and dirty, I’ll do it.”

So far all his efforts have led to naught, but the very fact that the union is letting him act in their name at all is astonishing.

I guess unions don’t care what sort of people thy have working for them if it ends in a union win?

Posted in Warner Todd Huston | 3 Comments »

Teachers Union Sues Illinois School for ‘Bad Air Quality’

May 15, 2008 - 7:05 pm - Posted by WTH

Proving once again that we live in an overly litigious society, a teachers union in Belleville, Illinois has decided that instead of working through the regular channels to fix classrooms and to eliminate mold and dampness caused by building maintenance troubles, they had to stampede straight for the courts to get it done. The lawsuit came as a shock to school administrators who were in the middle of discussions with the district as well as the union to address the problem.

The News-Democrat gives us the details:

Belleville Federation of Teachers Local 434 filed a complaint Wednesday asking a St. Clair County judge to force District 201 to test the air in Belleville East buildings.

Union spokesman Rich Hodson said Belleville East classrooms have poor circulation, which has caused mold to grow on desks, chairs and ceiling tiles, and has led to levels of carbon dioxide of around 3,000 parts per million, three times what is considered to be safe for prolonged exposure.

But District Super Greg Moats was surprised by the resort to the courts and said that the Illinois Dept. of Labor had only weeks before determined that the air quality in the classrooms was fine. He was also curious why the union suddenly ran to the courts because only the Friday before they had met with the union to discuss remedies to the situation.

“We sat down with them last Friday and said we agree that this would be fine,” Moats said. “All we wanted was a mutually agreeable third party to do the testing.”

Of course every resident of the state of Illinois wants the air quality in schools to be optimal for students and teachers alike. But, why appeal to the courts when the issue was not being ignored by the administration?

It’s hard to escape the feeling that these union members were just looking for an “issue” with which to make news. The Belleville teachers are some of the highest paid in the state, and they recently updated their contracts, so it shouldn’t be because they are looking for new issues to up their pay scale!

For their part, the union claims that the Il. Dept. of Labor’s readings were skewed because the school administration had left windows and doors of the classrooms open “all weekend” so that when readings were taken the conditions would be “unusually favorable.”

One of the stumbling blocks is that it seems union officials are demanding that their own handpicked testing service be used to test the air again. The administration is worried about a sweetheart deal between the union and their picked testing agency and want a mutually agreed upon, unconnected third party to do the testing.

If determining the safety factor of the workplace is the goal, it’s hard to understand why the union won’t accept this solution? So, why is the union taking this unnecessary step to involve the courts? Is it just that unions traditionally refuse to ever work with employers?

We’d all like to know.

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