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© 2011 The Union Label Blog & Grassfire Nation
The journalists of Indianapolis want us to feel sorry for them. See, they’ve voluntarily signed a contract that includes a 10% pay cut and precludes raises during this contract’s 2 year term. And they are wining about it.
In a day when papers are failing all across the country, the guild members of Indy journos want us to shed a tear for the fact that they’ve been successful in keeping their jobs. In a day of the highest unemployment in all sectors of the economy for decades, these newspaper folks want us to get all twisted up over the fact that they didn’t get fired. Yes, they are all mad at their employer for not firing them and they are looking for sympathy from us.
Sure they agreed to the contract, but darn it all, they are “angry about it.” And, gosh, they’ve “sacrificed,” man! And they want to be sure that we all know about it.
I have to say, this has to be one of the most amazing displays of self-indulgent hubris I’ve seen in quite a while. Apparently, it doesn’t seem to dawn on these union members to feel grateful that their paper hasn’t gone down the tubes like so many others have. It doesn’t seem to dawn on them that they should feel lucky they have a job at all, either.
There also doesn’t seem to be any hint that these union whiners understand that Indy’s readers are dealing with their own employment situations. The unemployment rate in Indy stands at nearly 9%. Companies are closing throughout the Indianapolis area yet these journos want everyone to feel sorry for them? And they’re still working!
I have some advice for these guys, though. Do your job and quit imagining that anyone in the reading public gives a flying fig about your troubles. And, as the whole country is sacrificing in this horrible Obama economy, don’t come to us thinking that we should feel sorry for you.
You ain’t any more special than the millions of other out-of-work Americans. And, since you actually didn’t lose your jobs, Indy journos, that makes our sympathy for you amount to even less than zero.
So, quit yer whining. Do your job. Give us the news instead of the leftist pablum you’ve been giving us and feel lucky that your useless skills are still commanding a paycheck.
Or, learn to say, “do you want fries with that,” which is a phrase from a job that better fits your skill level, anyway.
Sheese.
An economist is saying that President Hoover set the stage to worsen The Great Depression because of his pro-labor union stance.
Pro-labor policies pushed by President Herbert Hoover after the stock market crash of 1929 accounted for close to two-thirds of the drop in the nation’s gross domestic product over the two years that followed, causing what might otherwise have been a bad recession to slip into the Great Depression, a UCLA economist concludes in a new study.
Lee E. Ohanian, a UCLA professor of economics, lays the worst of the Depression at the feet of Hoover who, in his opinion, made the recession “three times worse†by keeping industrial wages too high which “sharply depressed employment.â€
Ohanian’s study is being published by the peer-reviewed Journal of Economic Theory in December and was also posted at www.nber.org, the site of the National Buerau of Economic Research.
Hoover’s approach is unlikely to be considered today as a means of responding to economic crisis, but it does illustrate the perils of ill-conceived government policies in times of economic upheaval and confusion, says Ohanian, a macroeconomist who specializes in economic crises.
“Hoover’s response illustrates the danger of knee-jerk policy reactions in a time of crisis,” he said. “Almost always when bad policies are adopted, it’s during a period of crisis. The real risk is picking a cure that turns out to be worse than the disease.”
Of course, President Roosevelt made matters worse by continuing and even expanding many of Hoover’s worst mistakes, many economists are concluding.
As we’ve said many times here on the blog, unions are antithetical to good government as well as economic success.
And now, to today, we can tremble in fear for our economic health as we see a president about to repeat every mistake that Hoover and FDR made by nationalizing industries, forcing a top-down economy, and being a slavish devote of Big Labor.
Democrats do not learn from history.
Roll Call is reporting that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, Nev) is admitting that the schedule is too crowded to expect the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) to come before that body at any time tis year. “We have too many other things on our plate,” Reid told the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce on August 27.
This comes on the tail of reports that AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka was telling his supporters that the union would launch itself into full support of Obamacare putting the EFCA on hold until that succeeded, as we reported on the 25th.
But be warned. Even while we have a brief respite from the battle over the EFCA, this is not over. The legislation is in trouble and has been put off, yes. But with solid Democrat control of Congress, we cannot expect this to be done. The Democrats owe unions for the billions of dollars raised for Democrats across the country, so the EFCA will not be cast aside so easily.
The battle is not finished.
Whole Foods, Inc. CEO John Mackey made the mistake of writing a piece opposing Obamacare in the Wall Street Journal last week. I say “mistake†only in the vein that it has made of him a target for destruction by union thugs.
As the Associated Press reports, unions have “responded†to Mackey’s piece by calling for his resignation from his own company because he opposes the socialist policies of Obamacare.
The CtW Investment Group, a part of the Change to Win federation of unions that advocates on behalf of workers’ investments in pension funds, said in a statement that it is calling on the Whole Foods board to remove Mackey as chairman and find a new CEO.
“Mr. Mackey attempted to capitalize on the brand reputation of Whole Foods to champion his personal political views, but has instead deeply offended a key segment of Whole Foods consumer base,” CtW Investment Group’s Executive Director Bill Patterson said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which is part of Change to Win, said it will be giving out information to Whole Foods shoppers about health care reform. The group said Mackey’s op-ed was an “attempt to undermine Obama’s health-care reform.”
Why anyone should care what these union thugs have to say about anything is, of course, another thing, but they’ve made the news and that is at least one success for their blather.
The truth is, Mackey is right, Obamacare is a bitter pill for America one that will lead to more ills than cures. Of course, we can’t expect unions to allow that people will have differences in political opinions from time to time without the need to call for someone’s summary execution!
But that’s union thugishness for ya, innit?
The San Fran Examiner had a good piece on the dangers still inherent in the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and warning that even with the card check feature removed — as it seems will occur at this point — the other features like forced arbitration are just as bad if not worse.
Labor will give up card check, but what about the rest?
By: Brian M. Johnson, The San Francisco Examiner
Labor officials and Democratic members of the Senate have agreed the provision of the Employee Free Choice Act, which eliminates secret ballot voting on union membership, is out. Senate Democrats are rumored to be drafting a new version of the controversial bill.
Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Thomas Carper, D-Del., Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Arlen Specter, D-Pa., are the main forces rumored to be working on this “card-check-lite†version of the bill. However, there is one provision that labor will never give up: binding arbitration.
Arbitration, in its most basic form, is a tool used by two parties (in this case unions and employers) to resolve disagreements on contracts, benefits, responsibilities or any number of issues. Usually, arbitration is reserved as a means to resolve disputes between two previously contracted parties outside a formal courtroom.
The rumored new version of the bill — EFCA-Plus — will fundamentally change the arbitration process, shifting the power from private businesses and workers to a partial governmental entity (i.e., a government-appointed arbitrator).
Current arbitration legislation is founded on the principle of mutual consent. Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act requires employer and employee representatives to meet and bargain “in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment,†correctly encouraging negotiating members to compromise.
“Good-faith bargaining†that occurs during present-day arbitration is preferred by both parties. This prevents each side from making unreasonable demands.
It saves both parties time and money by encouraging a good-faith effort outside the courtroom. Mandating government intervention changes the rules of the game, and thus how negotiations will take place.
Under EFCA-Plus, negotiations between labor and business parties cannot exceed 120 days. If they do, a government-appointed arbitrator enters the dispute and imposes a binding ruling on both parties.
Current negotiations last approximately 10 months. The majority of labor disputes will end up being resolved by the government, a noninterested third party who has no stake in either side. Employees’ hands will be tied.
The threat of government arbitrators under EFCA-Plus creates faulty incentives that deter consent among negotiating parties. With this power, labor unions will have no reason not to propose radical conditions.
By making it impossible for employers to accept their terms, they can reach forcing binding arbitration. Many employers, knowing they will be forced by government-appointed arbitrators to accept terms that may have disastrous negative economic effects, will simply choose to shut down. In fact, that decision has already been made by companies all across America.

 
EFCA-Plus leaves too many questions about arbitrators unanswered while simultaneously giving them unprecedented power. There is no provision that lays out how arbitrators will be chosen, leaving questions about qualifications and bias.
Government is increasing its influence in every part of your life, from what car you can buy to your health insurance. Now they want to dictate to employees and employers the terms of negotiation. Go figure.
Brian M. Johnson is the executive director of the Alliance for Worker Freedom and the author of the forthcoming “2009 Index of Worker Freedom.â€
As The Hill reports, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is on hold until labor leaders help President Obama pass his socialist healthcare policies this year, at least as far as the AFL-CIOs Richard Trumka is concerned.
On Monday, August 24, Trumka pledged to dedicate his union to Obamacare in a web chat event put on by the liberal website Firedoglake.com. Trumka also discussed the issue on his blog posting.
“The President/and Emanuel have both said they don’t intend to bring Employee Free Choice Act up until Health Insurance Reform is done,” Trumka wrote on the blog. “Which gives us an additional reason to do Health Insurance Reform now!”
This presents opponents of Obama’s socialist healthcare policies as well as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) with an opportunity. If we can materially slow or even defeat Obamacare it will be that much easier to defeat the EFCA next season.
Taking Trumka’s advice, opponents of Obamacare and the EFCA should find “an additional reason†to work to defeat this president’s plans. Anti-union forces should join with anti-Obamacare forces because defeating Obamacare is a mutually beneficial goal.
