Right to Work President Mark Mix sat down with nationally-syndicated radio host Lars Larson to discuss Obama Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan’s support for forcing workers to contribute to union political activism.
On July 23, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
In Traditional Big Labor Stronghold, Union-Only PLA’s Under Fire
(Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)
If you want to make a Massachusetts taxpayer shudder, just say the words “Big Dig.”
Onetime "Big Dig" enthusiast Charlie Baker is touting his opposition to union-only PLA boondoggles as he campaigns for the Massachusetts governorship this year. Bay State voters may conclude: "Better late than never!" Credit: John Tlumacki/Boston Globe
For years now, the “Big Dig,” officially referred to as the Central/Artery Tunnel Project, has been widely recognized as a poorly constructed, extraordinarily expensive boondoggle.
The “Big Dig” tunnel system was conceived in the 1970′s to replace Boston’s aging elevated six-lane Central Artery and improve access to Logan Airport and Boston Harbor. In 1987, Congress voted to furnish federal taxpayer funds, and ground was first broken in 1991.
To the dismay of independent construction employees and firms and Right to Work advocates, Massachusetts politicians announced that the “Big Dig” would be subject to a union-only “project labor agreement” (PLA).
Construction firm owners who wished to bid on the project, whether unionized or union-free, (more…)
On July 16, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
‘Electronic’ Voting Would Facilitate ‘Card Check’-Style Abuses
Three of the four current NLRB members who were appointed or reappointed by President Obama are veteran union lawyers. All three are expected to vote in lock-step to expand Big Labor's forced-unionism privileges.
(Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)
Since the beginning of 2009, Big Labor has had a cheerleader in the Oval Office. At the same time, ample majorities of both chambers of the U.S. Congress have been willing to vote for virtually any power grab sought by union officials, as long as they could do so without running into intense, across-the-board constituent opposition.
Consequently, top union bosses have expected to see enacted in the current Congress legislation that would help them sharply increase the share of all private-sector workers who are under union monopoly-bargaining control.
Their original vehicle for achieving this objective was S.560/H.R.1409, the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act.”
Sponsored by union-label Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.), S.560/H.R.1409 would grease the skids for Big Labor workplace takeovers in several ways. Most famously, it would effectively end secret-ballot elections in union organizing drives, replacing them with so-called “card checks.”
That means, if S.560/H.R.1409 became law, union organizers would have far more (more…)
On July 14, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
BigGovernment.com reports that Big Labor White House insider Patrick Gaspard (SEIU-ACORN) has failed to accurately report his financials on at least two occasions. Administration officials continue to mock President Obama’s proclaimed high ethical standards:
Has Congressman Darrell Issa’s request that White House Political Director Patrick Gaspard explain his failure to report a $37,000 payment from his previous employer SEIU Local 1199 evolved into a cover-up? It’s beginning to smell like it!
Rep. Issa’s request refers to the same Patrick Gaspard who while working for a Soros-SEIU political committee employed convicted felons to go door-to-door. In fact, that same Soros-SEIU committee received one of the steepest fines in Federal Election Commission history ($750,000) because its leadership, in Machiavellian fashion, chose to ignore federal laws and take the risk of paying fines if caught. So, ignoring a few pesky public disclosure laws is not as unlikely as it may sound.
Questions:
- How did Gaspard work six days in January for SEIU 1199 h while simultaneously working for the “office of the President-Elect” during “January 1-16” of 2009?
- How did Gaspard earn, in those six days of work for SEIU 1199, “$17,238.56 [of] carried over leave & vacation,” in particular, after apparently having already been paid 2.5 to 4 months vacation pay in 2008?
- How did Gaspard earn a 9 week severance payout from an employer (SEIU 1199)? According to available SEIU 1199 financial reports (2000-2009), Gaspard was not paid by SEIU 1199 in years 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004. For the year 2001, SEIU 1199 paid Gaspard only $3,723. It appears that in at least 5 of the 9 years Gaspard was not on the payroll or worked only a week or two.
An investigation by the House Oversight Committee is warranted. Unfortunately with (more…)
On July 14, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
Federal Union Monopoly Threatens State, Local Public Employees
(Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)
Just before the U.S. Congress adjourned for a week-long Independence Day recess, Big Labor House members rubber-stamped legislation that would federally impose union monopoly bargaining over state and local public-safety employees.
The legislation (H.R.413), cynically mislabeled as the “Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act,” would, at a time when government budget deficits are already sky high, hobble the ability of states and localities to keep their expenditures of taxpayer dollars under control.
Incredibly, the House voted July 1 to attach this scheme to a massive spending bill that provides funding for U.S. troops. The Senate is expected to take up this war supplemental bill, with H.R.413 attached, some time this month.
H.R.413 would empower Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) bureaucrats to survey all 50 states and identify which have failed to meet the legislation’s “core standards.” (more…)
On July 13, 2010, By NRTWC Staff
Not all teachers are under the thumb of the teacher’s union. Larry Sand in California is taking them on, head-on including their recent dues increase on teachers. Sand writing in the Mercury News notes:
With the school year complete, and the political season in full swing, it’s a good time to examine teachers’ relationship with their union and its political spending. In California, some 325,000 teachers and other education professionals are represented by the California Teachers Association. While teachers across the state have voted to take pay cuts to save colleagues’ jobs, one would figure the CTA might lower its dues. Well, it hasn’t. In fact, CTA has raised dues $18 per teacher for 2010-2011.
On July 13, 2010, By NRTWC Staff
Keep an eye out on the period from Election Day to swearing-in day in January because it appears that the House Leadership is looking to cram unpopular legislation like the Card Check Forced Unionism bill down the throats of the American people. John Fund is on the case.
On July 9, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
Empire State pupils enrolled in K-12 public schools fell by more than 121,000 over the last 10 years, schools added 14,746 teachers and 8,655 non-teaching professionals to their payrolls
NRTW President Mark Mix commentary in the Washington Examiner:
July 8, 2010 Near midnight last Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow forced unionism apologists in the U.S. House of Representatives disgracefully amended a “must-pass” war funding bill to include language that is designed to force police officers, firefighters, and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) into “exclusive” union bargaining in every state in the country.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that policies expanding public sector monopoly unionism have played a major role in driving many states to the verge of insolvency. (more…)
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