Union Rules, Taxpayers Bleed

On January 30, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

The New York Post and Daily Caller report on a disgraced typing teacher in New York who hasn’t taught a class since 2001 but collects over $100,000 a year from taxpayers thanks to union rules that prevent his firing.  ”His case is one of seven in the New York City Department of Education, where teachers the department can’t fire are “rubber-roomed” — essentially meaning they don’t do any real work but keep getting paid, the Caller reports.  Six other teachers also find themselves collecting hefty checks and accumulating pensions for not working.

Read it and weep:

In a defiant raspberry to the city Department of Education — and taxpayers — disgraced teacher Alan Rosenfeld, 66, won’t retire.

Deemed a danger to kids, the typing teacher with a $10 million real estate portfolio hasn’t been allowed in a classroom for more than a decade, but still collects $100,049 a year in city salary — plus health benefits, a growing pension nest egg, vacation and sick pay.

Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Cuomo can call for better teacher evaluations until they’re blue-faced, but Rosenfeld and six peers with similar gigs costing about $650,000 a year in total salaries are untouchable. Under a system shackled by protections for tenured teachers, they can’t be fired, the DOE says.

“It’s an F-U,” a friend of Rosenfeld said of his refusal to quit. “He’s happy about it, and very proud that he beat the system. This is a great show-up-but-don’t-do-anything job.”

Accused in 2001 of making lewd comments and ogling eighth-grade girls’ butts at IS 347 in Queens, Rosenfeld was slapped with a week off without pay after the DOE failed to produce enough witnesses at a hearing. (more…)

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Posted in: Forced-Dues for Politics, New York, Public Employees, Teacher Unions
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Bloomberg (?) Takes on Teacher’s Union

On January 13, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

Liberal, pro-Big Labor New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is talking education reform and the teacher’s union isn’t happy.  Bloomberg will propose merit pay for teachers in his State of the City address and is threatening to use state and federal law to force the changes, Politicker reports:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s press office has emailed out an early version of his upcoming State of the City address, and in it the administration has unveiled several new initiatives to boost the city’s schools, several of which are likely to antagonize the United Federation of Teachers.

In the speech, the Mayor will propose instituting a merit pay system, something that teacher’s unions have traditionally fought against.

“Historically, teachers unions around the country have opposed rewarding great teaching through merit pay but more and more teachers are asking why, and we’ve seen how well this can work in other cities,” the Mayor acknowledged. “A recent article in the New York Times explained how cities with merit pay have found that rewarding great teachers keeps them from leaving the system. Again, our teachers deserve that. And so do our children.”

Mayor Bloomberg will also proposed a revamped teacher evaluation system. (more…)

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Posted in: New York, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees, Teacher Unions
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Union Workers Beaten by Union Bosses Who Enriched Themselves on a Forced Dues Feast

On May 16, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

 

“They were warning me that if I continue to complain about their finances, they would have me killed,” a New York union member, who caught the union bosses with their hands in the union member coffers, told the New York Daily News:

Unionized phone company employees say they were beaten or threatened after they accused their labor bosses of looting their coffers through various scams.

One member of Communications Workers of America Local 1101 said that after he reported a time-sheet padding scheme, a thug beat him so badly his spine was injured.

Another says he found a dead rat in his locker, while a third said a union officer warned that suspected informants should be brought off company property and “taken care of.”

The threats come to light as the U.S. Labor Department is probing charges that union bosses lined their pockets at the rank-and-file’s expense.

Accusations include an unauthorized 401(k) plan union officers gave themselves funded with members’ dues, along with hefty weekly allowances, lavish expense accounts and six-figure salaries, union documents show.

The feds are also looking into allegations that double-dipping union bosses illegally received pay from Verizon and the local for the same hours, sources said.

“This was union greed and that’s worse than corporate greed,” said Kevin Condy, a reform movement leader of the 6,700-member local that represents mostly Verizon workers in Manhattan and the Bronx. “These guys acted like they felt they were entitled.”

And, some members charge, the bosses retaliated when threatened with exposure.

In August, business agent Patrick Gibbons said he received death threats and his office was vandalized after he complained that union bosses were misappropriating cash.

“They were warning me that if I continue to complain about their finances, they would have me killed,” Gibbons wrote in an open letter to union members.

Six months earlier, Verizon heavy equipment operators Salvatore DiStefano and Sebastian Taravella sued the local in Brooklyn Federal Court.

They said they were harassed after telling Verizon security officials a manager allowed workers to leave early but claim a full day’s pay – as long as they completed a quota of assigned jobs. DiStefano told the Daily News he was “attacked by a union thug” as he started the morning shift at a Verizon garage in the Bronx in April 2009. “He pounded me with his fists, he spit on me, he choked me and threw me down to the floor,” he said.

DiStefano said he suffered two herniated discs and had knee problems that required surgery. He got workers’ compensation as a result, records show. (more…)

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Posted in: DOL, Forced Dues, Intimidation Tactics, New York, Union boss power, Union Corruption, Union Corruption and Violence, Union Membership, Union Violence
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“Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm Makes the Case for Right to Work Laws”

On May 3, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

Matt Mayer of the Buckeye Institute debunks the long-term economic growth without Right To Work freedom is sustainable. Mayer uses a Columbus Dispatch reporter Joe Hatlett column that featured Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to expose the fact that corporate welfare and reduced regulations ignore the “proverbial elephant in the room weighing down” compulsory union states like Indiana, Ohio, Illinois,, and Michigan.

From Matt Mayer’s post:

“With Michigan bleeding jobs and tax revenues, Granholm said she followed the corporate playbook in her attempt to close a huge state budget deficit and make Michigan more competitive. ‘In listening to the business community, I cut takes [sic] 99 times, and I ended shrinking government more than any state in the nation. In my two terms, I cut more by far than any state in the nation. And yet, we still have the highest unemployment rate.

There was no correlation.’ Granholm conceded that streamlining business regulations and lowering taxes — Kasich’s economic recovery mantra — are helpful, but they aren’t a panacea…[l]abor costs, help with start-up costs and proximity to markets are other factors.”

Hallett and Governor Granholm fail to mention why streamlining regulations and lowering taxes aren’t helping the northern states (located within 50 percent of the U.S. population and with low start-up costs) compete against the southern and western states. Instead, Hallett ignores the obvious answer and pleads for an end to corporate pork (with which we enthusiastically agree).

The reason Michigan and Ohio can’t compete is that the southern and western states already have fewer regulations and lower taxes, so “catching up” with those states still leaves the proverbial elephant in the room weighing down the northern states. Plus, those states are also pushing for lower taxes and fewer regulations, so the northern states are perpetually behind them. The elephant, which Governor Granholm does hint at, is labor costs, or, more specifically, unionized labor costs (see: General Motors and the United Auto Workers).

As I noted in Six Principles for Fixing Ohio, “Of course, tax and regulatory burdens also impact a state’s economy. Although many of the forced unionization states have heavy tax burdens and many of the worker freedom states have light tax burdens, some heavily taxed worker freedom states (Idaho, Nevada, and Utah) had the strongest sustained job growth from 1990 to today.

Similarly, a few moderately taxed forced unionization states still had weak job growth (Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri). The combination of both a heavy tax burden and forced unionization is deadly when it comes to job growth, as 11 of the 15 worst performing states are ranked in the top 20 for high tax burdens.” If Ohio and the other states from Missouri to Maine want to truly compete with Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina, then those states need to enact laws that protect the rights of workers not to join a labor union to get a job. (more…)

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Posted in: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Economic Development in RTW States, Economic Impact of Unionization, Economics, Florida, Forced Dues, Forced-Dues for Politics, Georgia, Government Grants to Unions, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, NLRB, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Public Employees, Rhode Island, Right to Work, Right To Work States, South Carolina, South Dakota, State Right To Work, State RTW, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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Sleeping on the Job: A Story of Big Labor’s Monopoly Power

On July 15, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

This is almost too much to believe but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true:

Last week the NY Post ran a story about two late-shift, unionized public employees sleeping on the job. According to the Post, “(S)leeping workers are a familiar nighttime sight along the streets of NoHo and SoHo around the Angelika theater, which is next to the transit crew entrance.” And what do these arrogant deadbeats get paid for shirking their responsibilities? $33-an-hour.

I’d like to tell you that this story is a new development — but it’s not. Two years ago a supervisor and a mechanic were caught sleeping in a locked office at the same facility by the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Inspector General’s Office, which conducted a surprise raid. The same supervisor was discovered to have been moonlighting as an electrician for 20 years — and ordering a subordinate to falsify his hours. A clear-cut firing offense? The MTA reportedly tried, but union work rules required an arbitration process.

The man received a 30-day suspension as his “punishment.”

Outrageous? Here’s the most damnable part of the story: when the NY Post looked in workers’ cars parked near the facility, “several” of them “had pillows and blankets on the back seats.”

Posted in: Big Labor Ethics, New York, Union boss power, Union Work Rules
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Is The Tide Turning?

On June 29, 2010, By NRTWC Staff

The greed and avarice of the labor union bosses has gotten so bad that their allies in government are starting to say “no” the the never ending list of demands that are bankrupting the country.  The New York Times (of all places) reports:

Stephen M. Sweeney, the president of the State Senate here, glowered with disgust as he described how one New Jersey town paid out nearly $1 million to four retiring police officers for their unused sick days and vacation time.

Mr. Sweeney, a Democrat, also scowled about the estimated $46 billion New Jersey owes in pension contributions and its $58 billion in liabilities to finance retiree health coverage for government employees.

For years, Republican lawmakers have railed against public employees’ pay and benefits, but now another breed of elected official is demanding labor concessions, too: current and former labor leaders and allies themselves.

After 12 years erecting steel beams for office buildings, Mr. Sweeney became a top official in New Jersey’s ironworkers union, now holding that post along with his legislative one. He says the state can no longer afford the benefits won over the years by public sector unions.

“At some point, you reach the limit of your ability to pay,” he said. (more…)

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Posted in: Big Labor Ethics, California, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Public Employees
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NY Post: Teacher Union Has its $way

On April 28, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

The New York State teacher union spent an incredible $5 million in lobbying and campaign contributions in New York last year and their political spending helped secured a lucrative retirement deal that is an enormous hit on taxpayers. From the New York Post:

The teachers unions ranked among the state’s biggest-spending special interests last year, unloading nearly $5 million on lobbying and campaign donations to help score a series of legislative wins in Albany.

New York State United Teachers and its huge city-centric subsidiary, the United Federation of Teachers, spent a combined $4.8 million on lobbying and political donations in 2009, according to data the government-reform group NYPIRG expects to release today in its annual “Fat Cat Factor” report on Albany influence pushing.

While the number represents a decline from the staggering $6.6 million the two unions spent in 2008, it remains a hefty sum for a non-election year.

The spending came as NYSUT secured a lucrative early-retirement deal for its members.

And the two unions, which represent some 600,000 teachers and education professionals, successfully beat back two rounds of proposed school cuts and an effort to expand the state’s charter-school program.

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Posted in: Forced Dues, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, New York, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Union boss power
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Democrat Tell Big Labor bosses “pony up $50,000 each for special access”

On March 26, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

“In the current climate of Albany as an ethical cesspool, how could they be so blatant?”

The NY Post‘s Fredric Dicker exposes more Democrat-Big Labor “Pay-to-Play” shenanigans:

Democrats in the state Senate are up for sale — and they don’t come cheap!

The Capitol’s scandalous “pay to play” culture descended to a new low as Democratic lawmakers told top labor leaders that they would have to pony up $50,000 each in donations if they want special access, The Post has learned.

In a shocking letter to union bosses who are battling state budget cuts, state Sen. Jeff Klein of The Bronx offered to sell them “chairmanships” on a newly created “Labor Advisory Council.”

“Advisory Council chairs will have the unique opportunity to advise the Senate Dems on the structure and focus of the Labor Advisory Council,” says the letter from Klein, chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.

“In addition to all meetings, conferences and events that are included with Advisory Council membership, the advisory chairs will be invited to an exclusive meeting with the Senate majority leaders,” the letter states.

It also promises that Advisory Council members “will actively participate in the essential policy conversations that help construct our 2010 campaign strategy.”

All state lawmakers are up for re-election this year, and the Democrats’ narrow control of the state Senate hangs in the balance.

For labor leaders unwilling to kick in $50,000, Klein offered a second-tier “general membership” at $25,000 apiece.

“This is ‘pay to play’ run amok,” said a longtime Democratic activist. “In the current climate of Albany as an ethical cesspool, how could they be so blatant?”

Klein’s pitch for contributions stunned New York Public Interest Research Group Legislative Director Blair Horner.

“Wow, it’s rare to see something so brazen where the Senate leadership is giving unique access to powerful interest groups for $50,000 each, giving them a seat at the table that no one else gets,” Horner said.

Klein’s letter was sent as Senate Democrats hinted they might be willing to drop their support for $2 billion in state education aid and health care cuts that are strongly opposed by the teachers and health care workers unions.

One labor leader who received the letter called it “a little crazy.”

A Senate Republican spokesman charged that Klein arranged for the Democrats to slash an additional $180 million from the budget that would have gone to unionized state workers just as his letter was being sent on Monday.

The cuts would come in the form of a $100 million reduction in state worker overtime and $80 million worth of state “work force actions” such as layoffs or attrition, both of which reduce labor union dues, according to documents supplied by the Senate GOP.

Senate Republicans accused Klein of telling labor leaders, “Pay up if you want that spending back.”

“It sure looks like a shakedown,” said GOP spokesman John McArdle.

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Posted in: Exclusive Representation, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, Intimidation Tactics, New York
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