National Right To Work Committee President Mark Mix on Forbes’ Mallory Factor discussing the rift between private sector and public sector union members. The two covered numerous topics including NRTW actions in Congress and in the states.
On December 22, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
On December 19, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
The December 2010 issue of The National Right To Work Committee Newsletter is available for download in an Adobe pdf format for your convenience to read and share. It is the Committee’s official newsletter publication that provides an excellent monthly overview of the battle against forced unionism.
December’s issue contains the following headlines:
The December 2010 issue of The National Right To Work Committee Newsletter
Voters Give Forced Unionism a ‘Shellacking’ – But Big Labor Retains Hold Over U.S. Senate, Key State Assemblies
Federal Candidate Survey Mobilizes Millions – Program Maximizes Right to Work Gains in ‘Year of Opportunity’
Obama NLRB to Ignore Mid-Term Election Results – Independent Workers, Firms Face ‘Card-Check Lite’ Implementation
Workers Forced to Bankroll Agenda They Oppose – New Nationwide Poll Shows Union Members Support Right to Work
Iowans Repudiate Pro-Forced Unionism Governor – Right to Work Makes Major Gains in State Legislative Contests
Right to Work: Rx For Job-Losing States – Legislators Look at ‘Oklahoma Model’ For Stronger Economic Growth
On December 17, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
The Heritage Foundation warns of the negative implication of forcing states to unionize firemen and police forces:
The Senate may soon consider a bill that would force states to allow for the unionization of public employees. In addition to the extraordinary amount of mandates imposed under President Obama, Congress has been attempting to extend the burden of collective bargaining imposed upon every state and local government. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) recently reintroduced the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act in an attempt to rush it through Congress before Republicans take control of the House in January. This legislation would mandate collective bargaining for police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel—even in states that have passed laws to ensure this can’t happen.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty made headlines today with his editorial against government unions. It is no secret that unions have increasingly resorted to government employees to boost membership. Minnesota has362,000 union members, and Governor Pawlenty has had his fair share of battles to keep taxpayers from footing the bill.
Government is the easy way to avoid pesky things like efficiency and competition. In September, Heritage expert James Sherk exposed the fact that since last year, most union workers now collect a check paid for by taxpayers. Some of that money is automatically deposited into union coffers to pay for their dues. This is made possible through a taxpayer-funded payroll system.
The rise of government unions has had many troubling effects.
• Federal workers already receive up to 22 percent more than their private counterparts, resulting in $47 billion in additional taxes.
• Many states force government employees to join a union or lose their job.
• Since the beginning of the recession, private sector employment has fallen while federal employment has risen. Government employees have not faced the same hard decisions that many Americans have confronted during the recent economic decline.
• Unions are able to take the money they receive from their members and lobby for increased wages in the form of more taxes.
Congress should let each state decide whether it wants to force its taxpayers to fund overpaid union employees.
On October 29, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
John Berlau makes a convincing case that if public-sector union get their way on the monopoly collective bargaining bill, firefighters will strike if their pay demands are not met.
On September 16, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
(Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)
Since forced-unionism cheerleader Barack Obama became President in January 2009, Big Labor bosses and their yes-men in the U.S. Congress have helped him inflict a lot of damage on employees, businesses, and taxpayers across America.
To take just the latest example, last month union puppet politicians in the Senate and House rubber-stamped a special-interest measure (H.R.1586) that will ultimately extract an additional $10 billion from beleaguered private-sector employees and businesses to maintain and expand wasteful unionized government payrolls.
From 1998 to 2007, the number of instructional employees at K-12 public schools nationwide soared by 15.9% — an increase 3.5 times greater than the 4.5% growth in school enrollment over the same period.
The rapid-fire expansion of school payrolls, roughly 70% of which are unionized, produced no measurable improvement in educational outcomes, but cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
And the terms on which H.R.1586 piles on another $10 billion are expressly designed to ensure that currently strapped states do not pare back the past decade of teacher union boss-driven growth in K-12 payrolls in order to avoid increasing the burden on taxpaying individuals and businesses.
On August 11, just one day after the House had okayed H.R.1586, President Obama signed it into law.
Big Labor Bosses Still Far From Satisfied (more…)
On September 4, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
Excerpt from NRTW President Mark Mix Op-Ed in the Washington Times (to read the full version, click here):
Today, Big Government, not the private sector, is Big Labor’s bread and butter. That’s why union officials push relentlessly for higher taxes and bigger government and seem completely unconcerned that the policies they advocate will slash overall private-sector job growth in future years.
Just three decades ago, less than a third of all employees subject to “exclusive” union bargaining worked for the government. Earlier this year, the U.S. Labor Department reported that for the first time ever, a majority of unionized workers across America are now government employees.
The outsized power and privileges of government union bosses clearly are a major force behind the unsustainable growth of government payrolls. According to data furnished by respected labor economists Barry T. Hirsch and David A. Macpherson, nonunion government employment nationwide actually fell by 2 percent, but Big Labor-controlled government employment grew by nearly 4 percent from 2007 to 2009.
Incredibly, nearly all Democrats and many Republicans on Capitol Hill appear eager to make matters even worse by rubber-stamping legislation (H.R. 413 and S. 3194) that would federally grant public-safety union officials monopoly bargaining privileges over state and local public employees nationwide. (more…)
On August 23, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
Police Chief Anthony Batts to Oaklanders: If your home is burglarized, don't call us. Credit: AP
(Source: August 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)
Public-Safety Union Monopoly Undercuts California Law Enforcement
On Tuesday, July 13, Oakland, Calif., became a friendlier place for burglars, embezzlers, car thieves, bad-check passers, extortionists, and an array of other criminals.
That afternoon, Oakland, a major West Coast port city with roughly 400,000 residents, laid off 80 police officers, or 10% of its force, to help eliminate a budget deficit of over $30 million. In response, the city police department implemented a new policy in which officers aren’t being dispatched to take reports for 44 “lower priority” crimes.
Oaklanders whose homes or vehicles are burglarized must now go online or visit a police station to file reports. However, the police department warns them that, even if they do: “There will be no follow-up investigation, and the primary reason for filing the report is for (more…)
On August 20, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff
(Source: August 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)
Public-Safety Forced Unionism Still High on Capitol Hill Agenda
The American people do not support Big Labor’s legislative scheme to establish a new federal mandate imposing union “exclusive representation” (monopoly bargaining) over state and local police, firefighters, and other public-safety employees nationwide.
And powerful union-label politicians like U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) know this public-safety scheme (H.R.4
13/S.3194) is unpopular. That’s why they have repeatedly tried to sneak it through Congress.
Most recently, in June, Ms. Pelosi and her top lieutenants cut a deal with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other union bigwigs to attach H.R.413, the House version of the Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill, to a massive spending bill that provides funding for U.S. troops.
International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) union boss Harold Schaitberger openly admitted to helping concoct the scheme to tack H.R.413 on to H.R.4899, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Supplemental Appropriations Act, in a June 30 message to officers of his union subsidiaries. Early last month, the National Right to Work Committee obtained a copy of Mr. Schaitberger’s communication.
Firefighters Union Chief ‘Argued Strongly’ For War Supplemental Strategy
Mr. Schaitberger reported that he had “argued strongly” for attaching H.R.413 “to the War Supplemental funding proposal for our troops in Afghanistan.”
The backroom deal between House leaders and the union hierarchy allowed the public-safety forced-unionism measure to come to the floor so quickly that Right to Work members and their allies had virtually no time to mobilize for the vote. (more…)
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