Right to Work Blog

Saul Anuzi gives a short history lesson about the brutal history of big labor in Michigan:

The reason that the great American tradition of making cars in my home state has now gone belly up is due in large part to the irrational and unreasonable demands made by UAW chief Ron Gettelfinger, former UAW chief Frank Garrison, and the union leaders that came before them. And the rest of it lies with the management of the Big 3 who made promises they knew they couldn’t keep, and the politicians who continued to enable this to happen.

What do underfunded union pensions and Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) have to with each other?  A lot; the Obama Administration and Pelosi’s Congress chose to force construction workers to pay into union pensions to work.  That’s right, if you plan to work on the new federal construction projects you must pay into the union pension, even if you are not a member of the union.  And, now more research reveals that union pensions imperil your retirement.  Kevin Mooney of the Washington Examiner reports that half of the 20-largest unions have underfunded pensions.  Mooney quotes Diana Furchtgott-Roth who issued her own report last year that drew similar conclusions.

The report reveals that familiar union pensions are in trouble:  Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Laborers International Union of Northern America, the International Association of Machinists, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, the International Union of Operating Engineers, and the National Plumbers Union.  Four of these unions will dominate the PLA forced unionism contracts created by the Obama Administration.  

Mooney’s report reinforces the detrimental harm caused by forced unionism through Project Labor Agreements.  PLAs force all workers working under the PLA to risk their retirements by forcing payments into these union plans.

With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, seven Chicago employees who refused to abandon their jobs during a strike forced a settlement with a local union after union officials levied exorbitant and illegal retaliatory fines against them.

The employees, truck drivers for industrial laundry company Lechner and Sons, filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Teamsters Local Union 731, an affiliate of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, after Local 731 union officials hit the employees with fines ranging from $13,946 to $40,000 each for not abandoning their jobs during a strike. None of the employees were truly voluntary members of the union during the strike.

In July 2006, Local 731 union bosses ordered the employees to abandon their jobs during a so-called “sympathy strike” involving a different bargaining unit of workers at the plant where the strike occurred. After the strike ended in June 2007, union brass claimed the power to use fines to discipline non-striking employees.

Union officials never informed any of the employees of their right to refrain from formal union membership and pay a reduced amount of forced dues. Instead, union officials mislead the employees into believing that formal, full-dues-paying union membership was a condition of employment.

The union hierarchy also claimed the power to discipline two employees for working during the strike even though they were not union members during the strike. The union bosses illegally threatened one employee that if he did not pay the fine, he would never again work in a “union shop.”

With help from Foundation attorneys, the employees forced Local 731 union officials to drop the fines against the seven workers and refund part of their forced dues.

“It is unconscionable for union bosses to mislead employees into union membership and then attempt to drive them into the poorhouse in vicious retaliation for working,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Confiscatory fines and kangaroo courts are just some of the disturbing, yet increasingly-used tactics of union boss intimidation that are all too common in states like Illinois where there is no Right to Work law on the books.”

The employees at the workplace have since decertified the Teamster union as their monopoly bargaining agent.

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 new majority owner of the Chrysler company is none other than the United Automobile Workers union.  And thanks to the Obama Administration, the UAW has a chance to GROW its influence in the Motor City by negotiating from both sides of the table.

And you can be sure that the forced unionism power that they wield over the workforce will only expand.

National Right to Work Foundation attorneys filed suit in United States District Court for an employee forced to pay unjustifiable fees by Teamsters officials at a Luzerne County government office.  See the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation’s release.

“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.”

When it comes to protecting workers’ rights, Sen. Jim DeMint continues to reign supreme. His recent press release is a good example:

Today [December 12, 2008], U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement regarding the stubborn refusal of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union to agree to concessions needed to save the Big Three automakers.

“Americans are getting to see first hand what it’s like to negotiate with the union bosses at the UAW. It’s heads they win, tails you lose. The unwillingness of the union to accept common-sense reforms to help the American automakers restructure and to save thousands of jobs demonstrates an arrogance that is outrageous,” said Senator DeMint.

“The Big Three are at a serious disadvantage because of the monopoly the UAW has over its workers. Workers at the Big Three are forced to join the UAW, and the automakers must negotiate only with union bosses before they make business decisions. This union monopoly has driven the operational costs for Ford, GM and Chrysler to twice that of their competitors. In 2007, GM had its best year, and sold over 9 million cars. That same year Toyota also sold 9 million cars. But because of unionized labor costs, GM lost nearly $40 billion in 2007, while Toyota made nearly $20 billion. There is simply no way for the Big Three to survive in a global marketplace with the barnacles of the UAW monopoly.”

“The time has come to hold unions accountable and for Congress to stop protecting them from competition. Americans in 28 states can be forced to join a union in order to keep their jobs. Forced unionism restricts Americans’ right to work and encourages the kind of arrogance we have seen with the UAW. Forced unionism is outdated and destructive.

“It is no coincidence that the healthy automakers in the United States are located in ‘right to work’ states and are not unionized by the UAW. Year after year, union bosses have put their interests ahead of the workers they claim to represent. Congress never should have given these unions this much power and now is the time to fix it.

“If we refuse to give workers across the country the ability to hold their union representatives accountable, these unions will continue to exercise their monopoly power in ways that cost Americans jobs, cheat American consumers, and abuse American taxpayers,” said Senator DeMint.

In what can only be described as a parting payoff for the Arizona union bosses, Gov. Janet Napolitano — who is leaving the state to fill a position in the Obama Administration — is prepared to sign an executive order giving state employee unions monopoly bargaining power for more taxpayer monies.

State Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, blasted the order as “midnight-oil rulemaking” and “a good example of a hit-and-run.”

“Now, (Napolitano’s) going to create labor policy that we’ll have to deal with long after she’s gone,” Kavanagh said. “If she thought it was needed, she should have done it six years ago, not as she’s jogging out the door.”

Thanks to John McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, many people across the country are for the first time learning about how her state’s law authorizing union “exclusive” bargaining over public-safety and other government employees works in practice.

And it’s not a pretty picture.

So says Stan Greer, senior research associate for the National Institute for Labor Relations Research, in an article published by The [DC] Examiner. Go here to read what he had to say.

Writing in the Weekly Standard, Stephen Moore details the massive financial obligations and costs imposed on taxpayers by the public employee unions.

It didn’t get much attention on the East Coast, but in late February the town of Vallejo, California, came within an eyelash of becoming the first city since Bridgeport, Connecticut, back in 1991 to declare bankruptcy. This San Francisco Bay suburb of 120,000 residents was threatening to take this radical step because it can no longer afford to pay the extravagant salary and retirement benefits of its public employees. Just a few hours before the city council was to file for bankruptcy, the unions caved in and granted wage concessions to keep the city operational.

Vallejo is not alone.

There are several other cities in California that are contemplating the bankruptcy option thanks to multi-billion-dollar public employee pension and health care obligations that have become effectively unpayable. “Vallejo’s fiscal problems aren’t unique. They’re just the tip of the debt iceberg here in California,” says Keith Richman, a former state legislator and now president of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility (CFFR). The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has $26 billion of unfunded liabilities. The teachers’ retirement system is $20 billion in the red–health benefits add another $48 billion to its shortfall.

Moore called the situation with public employees’ unions the “. . . next great financial bubble in America–a fiscal time bomb that could cause your local and state tax bills to double or even triple in years to come.”

He is right. But this problem is not only on the state level.

Congress has decided to help make the fiscal time bomb even more explosive and powerful. The House of Representatives passed the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Act (H.R. 980) which would virtually ensure that Big Labor bosses are granted monopoly bargaining status for local and state police, firefighters, county paramedics, and other public safety officers in all 50 states. (This bill is officially called the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007.)

If you think the problem of public employee unions’ stranglehold on taxpayer funds is bad, wait to see what happens if this bill becomes law.

In the book, Stranglehold, Reed Larson reveals the astonishing story of how organized labor has acquired incredible, hidden power over local, state, and national governments in America. For a free copy of Stranglehold, go here.