SEIU Union Goons Assault Dissenting Employee; Threaten «Next Time We’re Going to Kill You»
Late last week, notoriously corrupt Service Employee International Union (SEIU) Local 1000 brass sent a clear message to those who object and attempt to expose their shady underbellies. When California state employee and part-time reporter Ken Hamidi, a vocal critic of SEIU boss corruption, arrived at a SEIU Local 1000 meeting as in preparation for a cable access show exposing the local’s misconduct, SEIU union thugs assaulted him:
Hamidi says he came to the hall to expose how he says SEIU union leaders are spending tens of thousands of dollars on a political race, he claims, they have no right to do. After he and a photographer walked in to the meeting, it didn’t take long for Hamidi to be right out the door and on his way to the hospital.
After Hamidi entered the meeting, SEIU union bosses ordered union militants to "beat the hell out of him." Three or four union thugs then held Hamidi down and beat him until he was "covered in blood." SEIU union toughs then reportedly warned Hamidi that if he ever showed up again, they would probably kill him.
Hamidi was treated at the hospital for lacerations to his head and face and the district attorney is investigating the incident.
Sadly, if workers in California were protected by a Right to Work law, this incident may have been adverted. Right to Work laws promote accountability of union officials to rank and file workers, thereby reducing union boss corruption. If SEIU Local 1000 officials were obligated to be accountable to their members, it would have been much less likely Mr. Hamidi would have reason to investigate them and their questionable political schemes.
Health Care Protester Recounts Violent SEIU Union Thug Attack, Racial Slurs
Last August, a health care protester was assaulted by union thugs for daring to voice his opinions at a political rally. Now Kenneth Gladney is stepping forward with his own account of what happened:
He [the union protester] shouted at me, “What kind of nigger are you?!” Then, he grabbed my board, so I quickly grabbed it back, then the man punched me in the face and charged at me . I put my hands up to block the second blow from the large man, when two other people from that group grabbed me and threw me to the ground and started punching and kicking me. I was kicked in the head and in the back, legs and buttocks. Then a white woman ran up to me while I was on the ground and began kicking me in my head as well.
Big Labor activism is frequently characterized by outbreaks of physical violence. Richard Trumka, the newly-installed head of the AFL-CIO who has condoned bloody violence, has made a career out of bullying and aggressive tactics. The powerful Service Employees International Union is also no stranger to physical coercion.
But why are union operatives so eager to stifle dissent over health care reform? Simple: they know that a massive expansion of Big Labor special privileges is at stake. A few weeks ago, Foundation President Mark Mix took to the pages of The Wall Street Journal to explain why union bosses are so invested in the health care debate.
Obama Administration Backs Down (For Now) Rather than Defend Discriminatory Project Labor Agreements
After only a few months in office, the Obama Administration issued a controversial executive order that encourages federal agencies to use discriminatory Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) when allocating lucrative government contracts. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, PLAs give unionized companies preferential access to government work, which allows federal agencies to pressure unwilling employers to turn their workers over to union bosses. Fortunately, the first federal PLA issued under this executive order has just been defeated in New Hampshire:
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today announced that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has canceled its solicitation for bids to construct a new Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H. under a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA). The cancellation came in response to a protest filed with the Government Accountability Office Office (GAO) by ABC member North Branch Construction . . .
As the Associated Builders and Contractors’ release points out, PLAs cut nonunion companies out of the bidding process, making federal projects more susceptible to wasteful union work rules and massive cost overruns. The Foundation has filed public comments opposing the use of PLAs with the Department of Labor. Although the DoL’s response has been marked by shady union boss maneuvering, we hope the Administration will take note and rescind its discriminatory executive order. (Of course, we won’t be holding our breath given how close the administration is to Big Labor).
For more information, here’s a CNN segment on PLAs that includes an interview with Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason:
Right to Work on Fox Business: Philadelphia Union Bosses Instigate Transit Strike
National Right to Work President Mark Mix recently appeared on Fox Business to discuss the ongoing Philadelphia transit strike:
Teamster Bosses Face Federal Charges After Blocking Workers from Stopping Dues Payments
Orlando, FL (November 4, 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a local worker is challenging Teamster officials’ efforts to block several UPS employees from opting out of union dues.
Dean Alamo, a Kissimmee resident and UPS freight employee, filed federal unfair labor practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 385 union and UPS on behalf of himself and similarly situated workers.
In August 2009, Alamo and several other UPS employees resigned from the Teamsters union and attempted to revoke their dues deduction authorizations, which are used by union officials to automatically withhold dues from employee paychecks. Despite employees’ best efforts, union operatives continue to collect full dues from workers who previously resigned from the union. Moreover, Teamster officials have not registered an objection to Alamo’s or any other worker’s dues deduction revocations.
Alamo also requested that UPS and the union notify him if there was a designated window period to opt out of union dues. Both UPS and the Teamsters failed to respond to Alamo’s inquiry.
Alamo’s charges will now be investigated by the NLRB, which can prosecute the union for violating the legal rights of the employees they claim to represent.
“Despite repeated requests, the local Teamster union and the company have ignored workers’ attempts to stop paying union dues” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “We intend to make sure that Teamster operatives play by the rules and stop extorting union dues from unwilling workers.”
SEIU Union Czar Andy Stern: Most Frequent White House Visitor
Here on Freedom@Work, we’ve kept you updated about the Obama Administration’s payback after payback to the union bosses who spent over one billion dollars in 2008 getting Barack Obama and other forced unionism proponents elected.
From rolling back union disclosure guidelines to slashing the budget of the Department of Labor’s union watchdog agency to blacklistining nonunion construction workers from "stimulus" projects, the Obama Administration hasn’t been shy about rewarding union brass.
So Friday’s news about the White House’s visitor list isn’t exactly a shocker, but it says an awful lot about the Administration’s priorities: no one has visited the White House more than Service Employees International Union chief Andy Stern.
Stern, of course, is one of the nation’s most politically powerful union barons. Under Stern’s reign, the SEIU has also been marked by scandal after scandal, dissatisfied and unhappy workers and union members, and vicious campaigns against workers and employers.
AFL-CIO Launches Sneak Attack on Nation’s Non-Union Railway and Airline Workers
AFL-CIO Launches Sneak Attack on Nation’s Non-Union Railway and Airline Workers
National Right to Work opposes union officials’ quiet efforts to grease the skids to impose forced unionism at non-union workplaces
Washington, DC (November 3, 2009) – America’s preeminent workers’ rights advocacy organization raised the alarm about an under-the-radar attempt by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and 30 other unions to make a dramatic change to labor regulations, enabling union organizers to corral tens of thousands of non-union railway and airline industry workers into union membership.
Yesterday, the National Mediation Board (NMB), a government agency charged under the Railway Labor Act with mediating labor disputes within the railroad and airline industries, voted 2-1 to preliminarily support the controversial changes. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation sent a letter objecting to the AFL-CIO union’s proposals and the NMB is requesting comments on the proposed changes. The Foundation will file formal comments in the coming days.
The AFL-CIO union bosses’ proposal urges the NMB to discard its policy of requiring a true majority of all workers within a collective bargaining unit to decide for themselves if they wish to be represented by a union – a 75-year-old precedent – and instead implement new procedures that require only a majority of workers actually voting in a union organizing election to make that decision for the whole group.
AFL-CIO Launches Sneak Attack on Nation’s Non-Union Railway and Airline Workers
Washington, DC (November 3, 2009) – America’s preeminent workers’ rights advocacy organization raised the alarm about an under-the-radar attempt by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and 30 other unions to make a dramatic change to labor regulations, enabling union organizers to corral tens of thousands of non-union railway and airline industry workers into union membership.
Yesterday, the National Mediation Board (NMB), a government agency charged under the Railway Labor Act with mediating labor disputes within the railroad and airline industries, voted 2-1 to preliminarily support the controversial changes. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation sent a letter objecting to the AFL-CIO union’s proposals and the NMB is requesting comments on the proposed changes. The Foundation will file formal comments in the coming days.
The AFL-CIO union bosses’ proposal urges the NMB to discard its policy of requiring a true majority of all workers within a collective bargaining unit to decide for themselves if they wish to be represented by a union – a 75-year-old precedent – and instead implement new procedures that require only a majority of workers actually voting in a union organizing election to make that decision for the whole group.
The National Right to Work Foundation opposes the AFL-CIO’s proposal because it makes it exceedingly difficult for independent-minded workers to resist Big Labor’s well-funded, professional organizing machine, particularly since these campaigns must be run across an entire, often-nationwide bargaining unit. The proposed change also imposes a greater burden on employees who wish to refrain from union membership by forcing them to either take affirmative action to oppose the union or otherwise potentially allow far less than a majority make that decision for them.
“Apparently unable to convince a true majority of affected workers to vote for unionization under the current process, AFL-CIO operatives are attempting to change the rules to give themselves the upper hand over the workers,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of National Right to Work. “Individual workers should never be forced into union ranks against their will, and it’s unconscionable that union bosses want to be able to impose unionization without an actual majority of employees ever showing support for a union.”
The National Right to Work Foundation’s letter also calls on the NMB to establish a formal process for workers wanting to remove a union as their monopoly bargaining agent as required under Foundation-won precedent in U.S. federal court.
Employee Hits Newspaper Guild Union with Federal Charges for Illegal Forced Dues Policy
New York, NY (November 2, 2009) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a local employee has filed federal unfair labor practice charges against the Newspaper Guild of New York Local 3 Union.
Jeremy Rosenbaum, a financial analyst at Standard & Poor’s, is not a union member and had previously exercised his right to opt-out of certain union dues. In July of 2009, Rosenbaum discovered that union officials arbitrarily stripped him of his objector status, forcing him to pay full dues.
Although employees can be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment, the Foundation-won Supreme Court decision Communication Workers v. Beck guarantees the right of workers to opt-out of dues intended for purposes other than union bargaining, including lobbying, political activism, and members-only activities.
However, local union bosses maintain a controversial policy that requires employees to annually renew their objection to paying forced union dues unrelated to bargaining. If an employee fails to register an objection within a window period designated by union officials, they are automatically re-enrolled as full dues-payers.
In response, Rosenbaum filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), seeking union recognition of his right to opt-out of dues for ideological activities and a rescission of the union’s annual objection policy. The charges will now be investigated by NLRB officials. Several courts and NLRB administrative law judges have ruled similar policies unlawful.
“We intend to make the union hierarchy pay for their violations of employee rights,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “However, the best way to protect all workers from similar mistreatment would be for New York to adopt a Right to Work law, making the payment of union dues purely voluntary.”
American Spectator on Government-Run Health Care Plan: «Taking Care of Big Labor»
In The American Spectator, reporter Kevin Mooney interviews Right to Work experts about the hidden payoffs to union bosses tucked away in the thousands of pages of health care overhaul legislation. Here’s a sample:
Consider the language contained in section 2531 submerged deep within the House version. Here the bill stipulates that any participating health care employer "provides wages and benefits to its nurses that are competitive for its market or that have been collectively bargained with a labor organization."
"This phrase ‘competitive for its market’ is not defined," said Greg Mourad, the main author of the NRTWC study. "This means the Obama administration will be free to define the phrase using Davis-Bacon standards and this would make it almost impossible for non-union employees to qualify."
The approach is similar to what has been done with apprentice programs in federal construction work, Stefan Gleason, vice-president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, explained.
"This is a scheme that is used to fund union organizations that are supposedly doing job training but are often doing other activities," he said. "The scenario that is set up essentially bblack-balls non-union contractors from even being eligible to work on federal contracts at all. There is a similar strategy at work here with health care."
Read the full article here.
