Podcast: National Right to Work Radio Appearance on Card Check Power Grab
The National Right to Work Committee’s Greg Mourad sits down with WCHS radio hosts Michael Agnello and Rick Johnson to discuss card check’s legislative prospects. Click here to listen or use the embedded player below:
Greedy Detroit Union Boss Threatens Firings: Teachers, Your Money or Your Jobs!
The Detroit Free Press reports that the Detroit Federation of Teachers union is threatening to have up to 70 teachers fired for not paying forced union dues. A school district error is mainly responsible for the mix up.
Yet, because of the clerical error, union official Mark O’Keefe stated that the "fair" thing to do would be to fire the teachers who fail to pay the full union dues.
No, Mark. The "fair" thing to do is to not require teachers to pay ANY union dues as a condition of teaching Detroit’s schoolchildren.
Washington Examiner: The Big Business of Big Labor
In today’s Washington Examiner, Timothy Carney has an excellent column about President Obama’s plan to "save" Chrysler. As Carney shows, it’s more accurate to call Obama’s plan a bailout of Big Labor and political payback for the UAW union’s exorbitant politicking on behalf of Obama and his party in the 2008 election:
The union’s $1.98 million to Democratic candidates last cycle (not counting the $4.87 million in independent expenditures to elect Obama president) is more than any PAC spent on Republicans. If you combine the political spending of the top three oil company PACs and the UAW’s PAC, Republicans and Democrats come out about even.
Peer deeper into the UAW’s finances, and it starts to look even more like a big business. The organization sits on nearly $1.2 billion in investments. This is money the UAW took from the paychecks of workers, money that now functions as an endowment out of which the union pays its staff and subsidizes its golf resort.
Black Lake Golf Club, which the UAW brags is "one of the finest anywhere in the nation," is owned by the union. Situated at the very top of Michigan, a drive of more than four hours from Detroit, it’s not exactly accessible to the union rank and file.
The resort is subsidized by workers’ paychecks, too—the union currently has $29.6 million in loans outstanding to the resort. That’s not their only posh real estate. The UAW’s Washington headquarters, home base for the union’s $1.6 million-a-year lobbying operation, is a beautiful $2.98 million townhouse in the DuPont circle neighborhood.
While UAW membership has fallen by 32.5 percent since 2002, the national headquarters has kept its spending nearly the same—a reduction of only 1.9 percent. Add these facts together, and it starts to look like the union management exists largely to preserve union management.
These are the people who would, practically speaking, own Chrysler under Obama’s plan. These are the benefactors of Obama’s upturning bankruptcy law and threatening investors.
But Obama’s team will maintain that it’s “the workers” who are taking ownership of Chrysler under their plan. When Obama and Democrats extend future bailouts and subsidies to Chrysler, they will have even more reason to claim that they are simply helping the workingmen. In truth, subsidies and special favors for the UAW are corporate welfare, and considering the UAW’s political activities, the right word might be crony capitalism.
Read the full column here.
It’s also worth remembering that the UAW is one of the most militant unions whose leaders relish in intimidating workers and lashing out at independent-minded employees.
Obama’s a Budget Hawk! But Only Slashes Budget of Watchdog Agency Over Union Corruption
For all the talk of "restoring labor standards," the Obama Administration is cutting four million dollars from the Office of Labor and Management Standards’ (OLMS) already small budget for 2010 (see page 13 of the budget appendix under "Employment Standards Administration").
Not coincidentally, the OLMS is the branch responsible for policing union corruption and enforcing basic transparency standards. This follows on the heels of several Big Labor-friendly executive orders that can only be described as payback by the Obama Administration for union bosses’ political support. After all, who wants oversight when your union bosses allies are involved in all kinds of corrupt schemes?
Of course, all the disclosure in the world won’t fix the much more fundamental problem of forced unionism, but it’s telling that, in the process of exploding the size of the federal budget to unprecedented heights, Obama saw his way clear to cut funding for union oversight.
Far Left Icon George McGovern Takes Aim at Mandatory Binding Arbitration
As we told you last year, Far Left icon and former Democrat presidential nominee George McGovern came out in strong opposition to the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill in the Wall Street Journal. In his op-ed, McGovern recognized that the union boss power grab would destroy the secret ballot, and he noted card check instant organizing drives are infamous for worker intimidation and dirty tricks by union organizers.
Now, McGovern has again taken to the pages of the Journal to criticize another disturbing provision of the card check bill: mandatory binding arbitration.
Last year, I wrote on these pages that I was opposed to this bill because it would eliminate secret ballots in union organizing elections. However, the bill has an additional feature that isn’t often mentioned but that is just as troublesome — compulsory arbitration.
This feature would give the government the power to step into labor disputes where employers and labor leaders cannot reach an agreement and compel both sides to accept a contract. Compulsory arbitration is bound to trigger the law of unintended consequences.
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In a contract negotiation, each party typically perceives the other as too demanding. But no one loses their right to contract willingly or suffers being forced to agree to anything. Employees can strike if they feel that they have been dealt with unfairly, but it is a costly option. Employers are free to reject labor demands they find to be too difficult to accept, but running a business without experienced employees is itself difficult. Both sides have an incentive to press their demands, but they also have compelling reasons not to press their demands too far. EFCA would disrupt that balance by enabling government-appointed lawyers to decide what they believe is fair or reasonable.
A federally appointed arbitrator cannot be expected to understand the nuances specific to each business dispute, the competitive market position of the business, or the plethora of other factors unique to each case. Yet fundamental decisions on wages and benefit costs, rules for promotions, or even rules for exiting an unprofitable line of business could fall to federal arbitrators under EFCA.
Many labor contracts can run over 100 pages with their requirements of each party. Compulsory arbitration is, in one sense, government dictating to employees what they will win or lose in the deal, with no opportunity to approve the "agreement." Why should employees pay union dues to get such a contract?
Good points, but McGovern didn’t think to add: the public sector binding arbitration experience proves arbitrators will usually include a forced union dues requirement in the imposed contract!
But it’s worth remembering the even the secret ballot isn’t a cure-all. As long as individual workers are forced to accept a union-boss "representation," there is no true employee free choice.
Oklahoma Leader of Professional, Non-Union Teachers Receives High Recognition from National Right to Work
On April 24, the National Right to Work Committee presented Professional Oklahoma Educators (POE) executive director Ginger Tinney with the Carol Applegate Education Award.
Ginger Tinney (center) with National Right to Work Chairman of the Executive Committee Reed Larson and President Mark Mix
Tinney was a teacher for more than 11 years before taking on her full-time role as executive director of POE. She taught in both regular and special education, at elementary and secondary grade levels, and in urban and rural school districts.
Vice president of National Right to Work Stefan Gleason stated in the POE’s news release:
“We have had the pleasure of working with Ginger Tinney over many years, and we’ve always been impressed with her leadership skills, her passion for teacher excellence, and her passion for the principles of freedom and volunteerism that embody the Right to Work cause."
The Carol Applegate Education Award is presented annually by the Committee’s Board of Directors to exceptional educators who take courageous stands against the coercive policies of the National Education Association (NEA) union. The award is named in honor of Carol Applegate, a longtime English teacher who refused to formally join the NEA union and was fired from her job.
A longtime member of Concerned Educators Against Forced Unionism (an umbrella organization established by the National Right to Work Foundation), the Professional Oklahoma Educators is a all voluntary professional educators association that serves more than 4,000 teachers, administrators, and support professionals in Oklahoma. The group puts children first and focuses on true professionalism, unlike its militant union counterpart. For more information on the POE, click here.
New Right to Work Podcast: VP Stefan Gleason talks Card Check and Specter with the Liberty Roundtable
National Right to Work Vice President Stefan Gleason sits down with the Liberty Roundtable to discuss card check, the Obama administration’s early moves, and Specter’s recent GOP defection. Click here to listen or use the embeddable player below:
Federal Appellate Court Finds NLRB’s 2008 Rulings Invalid Due to Bush Administration’s Incompetence
As we noted earlier this week, President Barack Obama nominated two hard-line union militants to the National Labor Relations Board. Now, President Bush’s inability to properly staff the five-member Board during his eight years in the Oval Office has come home to roost.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. Circuit ruled that decisions of the NLRB last year (approximately 300 in total) are not valid because only two of the five seats were filled. In other words, there was no valid quorum, even if the two members agreed how to rule. (A less influential federal circuit court ruled two member board decision are valid, so the circuit court split may lead to U.S. Supreme Court review)
Either way, the fact that the Board was comprised of a mere two members for such a long time is a testimony to the total incompetence of the Bush Administration in dealing with the agency.
Bill Clinton’s NLRB overturned 1200 years of precedent in an effort to make it easier for union officials to coerce workers into union ranks and misuse their forced dues on political activism.
At first, the Bush administration simply kept intact a Clinton majority on the Board for a full year after taking office. Then the Bushies kept hardened union activists like Clinton holdover Wilma Liebman (who Obama has since named Board chairman) on the Board, while nominating soft and inexperienced Republican appointees.
As a result, the Bush Board was unable to get itself moving to reverse most of the controversial rulings of the activist Clinton Board.
After years of foolish efforts to cozy up to certain union bosses combined with a Keystone Cop-like incompetence with respect their NLRB nomination strategy, Bush and his staff simply gave up trying to fill the Board’s vacancies in mid 2007 and failed to make recess appointments.
The union bosses must be ecstatic about their good fortune. For nearly a decade, a resurgent Big Labor had its way with this Bush Administration. And now they’ve got one of their own in the White House, and the payback has already begun.
Big Labor knows how important the NLRB is to its forced unionism power over the American workplace and economy. You can bet the Obama administration will not make similar mistakes.
AT&T Worker Files Federal Charges Over Forced Union Dues
St. Louis, Missouri (April 29), 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a St. Louis-based AT&T employee has filed unfair labor practice charges challenging a local area union’s compulsory dues requirements.
Despite resigning her union membership in 2004, Jeanette Burton of Imperial, Missouri was never informed of her right to opt-out of union dues used for politics and other non-bargaining activities. When Burton attempted to exercise her right to stop paying dues, Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 6300 union officials ignored her objections and continued to collect full union dues from her paycheck.
Moreover, union officials continued to force Burton to pay dues after the union’s contract with AT&T expired in April 2009. The union’s previous agreement with AT&T contained a provision requiring nonmember employees to pay union dues for collective bargaining, but after the agreement lapsed, Burton could no longer be compelled to pay any dues to CWA officials.
CWA Local 6300 also failed to provide Burton with a federally-mandated audit of union financial expenditures, which is necessary to allow workers to determine whether they are being forced to pay more than can be required as a condition of employment.
Under the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Communication Workers v. Beck, nonmember employees can be forced to pay certain union dues as a condition of employment, but they cannot be compelled to pay for politics, lobbying, public relations, and other non-bargaining activities. Union officials are also legally obligated to inform workers of these rights.
The Foundation’s unfair labor practice charges seek an end to all unlawful union deductions and guarantees that the union hierarchy will comply with its Beck obligations and reimburse nonunion workers’ forced dues. The case will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.
“Workers shouldn’t have to jump through legal hoops just to protect their hard-earned paychecks,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “The only way to stop future abuse is to pass a Missouri Right to Work law, making all union dues strictly voluntary.”
Right to Work Foundation Files Lawsuit for Nonunion Worker Forced to Pay Teamster Dues
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (April 28, 2009) – National Right to Work Foundation attorneys today filed suit in United States District Court for an employee forced to pay agency fees by Teamsters officials at a Luzerne County government office.
The plaintiff, Jeffrey McCabe, is currently employed by the Luzerne County Office of Children and Youth Services. Although International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 401 is the monopoly bargaining agent for McCabe’s office, McCabe never joined the union or consented to pay union dues.
Despite McCabe’s nonunion status, Teamsters officials failed to provide him with a federally-mandated breakdown of union expenditures and forced him to pay for union activities unrelated to collective bargaining. Teamsters officials also failed to give McCabe adequate notice of payroll deductions for forced agency fees, preventing him from challenging the Teamsters’ dues collections.
Under the Foundation-won Supreme Court precedent Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson, union officials are obligated to provide workers with an independent audit of union financial expenditures. Although employees may be forced to pay certain union dues as a condition of employment, they cannot be compelled to fund union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining. An independently-verified financial audit is required by law to ensure nonunion employees are not compelled to pay for non-bargaining activities.
The Foundation’s lawsuit seeks an immediate, court-ordered injunction to prevent further union paycheck deductions, a court order requiring the union to ensure workers have access to information on union expenditures, an order preventing the union from collecting dues unrelated to collective bargaining, and monetary damages for McCabe.
“Giving union officials free reign to deduct money from workers’ paychecks is an open invitation to abuse,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Enacting a Pennsylvania Right to Work law to make union dues fully voluntary is the only way to ensure employees are protected from avaricious union bosses.”
