Right to Work Blog

Every year economist Ronald Pollina studies the economic environment of all 50 states and culls the information into a list of the “Top 10 Pro-Business States.” Pollina has just completed his 2009 study and the winners are:

1. Virginia

2. Utah

3. North Carolina

4. Wyoming

5. South Carolina

6. South Dakota

7. Kansas

8. Georgia

9. Florida

10. Nebraska

Readers please note that all 10 states have a critical component in common — they all protect workers with Right to Work laws.

The Examiner has reported that big labor’s pension plans are underfunded understands that the Forced Unionism Card Check Bill is an effort to force subsidization of these failing plans:

Private firms could be required to save underfunded union pension plans even if doing so reduces profits and jeopardizes the retirement savings of non-union workers. That’s the consequence of a binding arbitration provision in a proposal now before Congress. The provision is included in the horribly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (aka Card Check) and may actually be the primary driving force behind the measure, which is described by labor bosses as their top legislative priority for 2009. Card Check abolishes secret balloting voting for employees in workplace representation elections, and mandates that federal arbitrators impose settlements when a company fails to reach an agreement with a newly recognized union within 120 days.

Card Check would not bar federal arbitrators from forcing companies into union-negotiated multi-employer pension plans, many of which are severely underfunded and staggering under steadily increasing rising liabilities. Pensions for nearly half of the nation’s 20 largest unions are classified as either “endangered” or in “critical” condition due to underfunding, according to federal actuarial reports. Pensions with less than 80 percent of the assets needed to cover present and projected liabilities are considered “endangered,” while those below 65 percent are classified as “critical” under the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The average union pension has resources to cover only 62 percent of what is owed to participants, according to the government-backed Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. (PBGC). Less than one in 160 workers is presently covered by a properly funded union pension plan. Failed pension plans are bailed out by the PBGC.

But opposition to abolishing the secret ballot in the workplace is growing steadily, forcing Card Check backers to seek a legislative compromise with opponents. But if the compromise includes the mandatory arbitration provision, unions, particularly those with sickly pension plans, will be tempted to resist settling with a company, knowing that federal arbitrators will likely impose a settlement that is more to their liking, according to Ted Phlegar, senior counsel to the Workforce Freedom Initiative. “Unions are pushing this bill because they need members and they need the contributions as many of these funds are underwater. This is one way to save them,” Phlegar said. “In fact, this may have been the goal all along.” In other words, a Card Check compromise that includes mandatory arbitration would give unions that inadequately funded their pension plans a backdoor way to get a bailout, paid for either by the company or the tax payers.

Projo quote of the day:

“This was a big mistake by the Obama administration,” said Cochran. “In 77 years, never has not one federal official attended the mayors’ annual meeting.”

The Obama Administration’s take-over of General Motors contains a host of concessions to the UAW designed to keep the union bosses happy at the expense of the American public: 

There’s also the labor agreement that the UAW approved last week, which goes some way toward reducing costs but probably not enough to make the new, smaller GM competitive. The new agreement simplifies some work rules and job descriptions but makes no reductions in hourly pay, pensions or health care for active workers. The agreement must also be renegotiated in two years by an Obama Administration running for re-election and weighing the need to keep Big Labor happy against the risks to taxpayer-shareholders. Who do you think wins that White House debate?

The Administration’s concessions to the UAW also restrict the company’s ability to import smaller, more fuel-efficient cars that it already makes overseas. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger boasted on PBS’s “NewsHour” last week that “we, quite frankly, put pressure on the White House, the [auto] task force, the corporation” to bar small-car imports from overseas. GM is also selling its Opel operation in Europe as part of this restructuring, and the Washington Post reports that one of Treasury’s sale conditions is that Opel’s new owners must stay out of the U.S., and even out of China, where GM’s business is strong.

This is raw trade protectionism. It is also textbook cartel behavior and would be an antitrust violation if practiced by a business. But the benefits for GM are illusory because the import limits mean the company will have to spend even more to retool its domestic plants to make the little green cars that President Obama and Congress are demanding. No one knows if Americans will buy such cars, even if GM can make them competitively in the U.S.

An Associated Press headline reads: “Leader of UNITE HERE resigns as labor feud grows.”  But, that is only part of the story.  UNITE HERE is the bank holding company for Amalgamated Bank of New York.  The Chairman of Amalgamated Bank, Bruce Raynor, said the bank’s holding company “is in total chaos.”

When is the NY State Banking Department going to investigate Amalgamated Bank’s Holding Company, UNITE-HERE?  How many workers’ forced dues are tied up in Amalgamated Bank and its holding company?  What is the state doing to protect the depositors?

The long-simmering clash between rival factions at the labor union UNITE HERE grew increasingly bitter on Friday as its general president resigned and accused his opponents of breaking into his office to steal sensitive files.

It’s the latest turn in a nasty divorce that has split the union of roughly 400,000 hotel, restaurant and clothing workers and diverted millions into a drawn out legal dispute.

Bruce Raynor, the union’s general president, claimed he was being forced out of his post and said he would take another top spot at a newly formed union affiliated with the Service Employees International Union.

Raynor said. “Our union is in total chaos.” [Thus, the Holding Company is in chaos.]

Raynor claimed UNITE HERE staff loyal to Wilhelm broke into his office at the union’s New York headquarters last Friday and stole numerous files, including his personal files from the mediation sessions.

Pilar Weiss, a spokeswoman for UNITE HERE, contested Raynor’s characterization that documents were stolen. Rather, she claimed the union was securing documents that officials suspected were about to be destroyed or removed from the building.

Last week Minnesota radio talk show host and occasional guest host for the Rush Limbaugh Show, Jason Lewis discussed forced unionism and worker freedoms with National Right To Work President Mark Mix. The Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has the episode available on its site, link here.

Its an unemployment rate of nearly 13% — the highest rate since 1983 — the state of Michigan desperately needs to reform its economy.  Enactment of a Right to Work law would end the brain and job drain that is killing the state.  The question remains — are politicians ready to break big labor’s grip on the state’s economy?

While nothing is set in stone, this TradingMarkets.com article highlights the attraction of Right To Work states for employment opportunities.  No doubt about it, if your state wants to attract jobs, then it should pass right to work laws.

Spokesman Bob Klein said by e-mail last week said the current economy was not the only economic consideration at work. The company is looking at long-term competitiveness.

Going south?

Boyd said that the trend for company relocation within the United States has been from the North to the South, where a big attraction is Right-to-Work laws in southern states.

Right-to-Work allows  companies more flexibility in handling labor issues than in non Right-to-Work states.

Right-to-Work refers to a worker being able to work at a company without necessarily joining a union when one is in place, which puts less power in the hands of unions.

One example is that a company can be more flexible in moving workers from one job to another.

Chicago’s Fran Eaton calls the effects of forced unionism as she sees it:

Just when that house begins to teeter is when the bullies really get mean and desperate. We’re seeing that now at the federal level. Unions want to strip away workers’ right to privacy when they vote on unionizing. The federal “Card Check” legislation will strip away secret balloting for workers.  

“OK, everyone who wants me to be in charge, raise your hands,” imagine the bully shouting on the playground with his trusted goons standing on either side.

Instead, union thugs hike demands and press taxpayers for more under the guise of better education for the kids and compassionate welfare for the state’s helpless. The Illinois Education Association and the Service Employees International Union then have the guts to use those confiscated tax dollars to run radio ads and demand more tax increases.

It gets worse.

In Illinois, only union workers can build bridges, schools or roads. While only 43 percent of Illinois construction workers are in unions, impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s Executive Order 13 made it impossible for non-union crews to bid on state-funded construction projects.

Recently, President Barack Obama signed a similar order for federally-funded plans.

It’s simply a choice between freedom and coercion, National Right to Work’s Mark Mix said Monday during a private meeting in Chicago. “We’re not against unions, we’re just for people being given the choice whether or not they want to belong,” Mix said. “Freedom always works best.”

Mix is an average-sized guy, and one who would surprise you for being gutsy enough to stir up the idea that union bullies should be challenged in Illinois. Mix is the type of guy you always admired for his backbone but who also made you feel a little ashamed you weren’t quite as brave.

Mix, though, has been part of several statewide victories over the past few years and thinks Illinois needs to challenge statewide union tyranny. Twenty-two states are now “Right to Work” states, including nearby Ohio and neighboring Iowa. Indiana is right on the verge of joining their ranks.

“When the cost of government is less, the cost of living is less, and companies find those states more desirable to build new businesses and bring in more jobs,” Mix said.

The Augusta Chronicle joins the growing opposition to the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill, S.560, pointing out that Georgia House of  Representatives member John Barrow is refusing to protect workers rights.