Big Labor | The National Right to Work Committee®

House Narrowly Okays Union-Only PLAs at expense of military construction

On August 6, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

Although fewer than 12% of the 229 Republicans present and voting on the anti-Right to Work, pro-PLA LaTourette Amendment sided with Big Labor, that was enough for union lobbyists to grab a 204-203 victory.

Handful of Big Labor-Appeasing Republicans Make the Difference

(Source: July 2011 NRTWC Newsletter)

Back in February 2009, one of the first actions President Barack Obama took after settling in at the White House was to issue Executive Order 13502, which promotes union-only “project labor agreements” (PLAs) on federally funded public works. In April 2010, the Obama Administration issued a “final rule” implementing the order.

“E.O.13502 now pressures federal agencies to acquiesce to PLAs on all large public works,” noted Greg Mourad, vice president of the National Right to Work Committee.

“In practice, it is designed to force nonunion companies wishing to participate in public works using $25 million or more in federal funds to impose union monopoly bargaining on their employees and hire new workers through discriminatory union hiring halls.

“Under union-only PLAs, independent workers who already have their own retirement funds are nevertheless forced to contribute to Big Labor-manipulated pension funds.

“Rather than compromise the freedom of their employees and the efficiency of their operations, most independent construction firms simply refuse to submit bids on PLA projects.”

Results of 2010 Elections Raised Hopes of Pro-Right to Work Citizens (more…)

Obama NLRB Unveils New ‘Card-Check’ Scheme

On August 4, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

Chairman Wilma Liebman and other Big Labor members of President Obama's NLRB have proposed radical new rules for union organizing campaigns that would drastically curtail independent minded employees' ability to resist unionization. Credit: Radaris.com

President’s Handpicked Bureaucrats Ignore 2010 Election Results

(Source: July 2011 NRTWC Newsletter)

In the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 Congresses, Big Labor’s top objective was a rewrite of federal labor law making it even easier for union bosses to seize monopoly-bargaining power over millions of employees in the American private sector.

Union strategists’ legislative vehicle was the cynically mislabeled “Employee Free Choice Act,” introduced by pro-forced unionism Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). After Mr. Kennedy died in 2009, union-label Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin took over as the lead Senate sponsor.

The Miller-Kennedy-Harkin measure was more accurately called the “Card-Check” Forced-Unionism Bill.

Even without a federal card-check mandate, union bosses have long been able to acquire “exclusive” (monopoly) power to negotiate employees’ pay, benefits, and work rules solely through the acquisition of signed “union authorization cards.”

Consequently, individual workers under the peering eyes of union organizers may be intimidated into signing not just themselves, but all of their nonunion fellow employees, over to union-boss control.

However, as stacked as current law is in favor of Big Labor’s monopoly-bargaining power, employers nevertheless retain the right to stand up for their employees against union-boss intimidation tactics.

But Miller-Kennedy-Harkin would have empowered union officials to impose monopoly bargaining through card checks automatically, with no recourse for any pro-Right to Work employee or employer.

This legislation was totally contrary to the policy views of the vast majority of citizens, including union members.

Last November 2, 31 Card-Check Bill Supporters Lost Their Re-Election Bids

“Over the years, polls have shown Americans overwhelmingly oppose union monopoly bargaining, period,” explained National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix. (more…)

Tagged with: Big Labor • George Miller • Harry Reid • Hilda Solis • Landrum-Griffin Act • Mark Mix • Miller-Kennedy-Harkin • Obama • Peter Kirsanow • Ted Kennedy • Tom Harkin • Wilma Liebman
Posted in: Bailouts to Unions, Big Labor Payback, Boeing, Card Check, Card Check, Government Grants to Unions, Intimidation Tactics, Legislation, NLRB, NRTWC Newsletter, Obama Administration, Right to Work, Right To Work States

Obama’s NLRB ‘Assaults’ S.C. Boeing Employees; NRTW Offers Free Legal Help To Workers

On April 21, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

To borrow from President Obama’s own words regarding WI Gov. Scott Walker, his NLRB has committed an ”assault on workers” at the Boeing factory in South Carolina. The National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation is offering help, see press release that follows:

Worker Advocate: Obama Labor Board’s Case Against Boeing “An Assault on Right to Work Laws”

Foundation offers free legal aid to current and prospective Boeing employees in South Carolina

Washington, DC (April 21, 2011) – In response to the National Labor Relations Board’s complaint against Boeing that, if successful, would eliminate over 1,000 jobs in South Carolina, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix released the following statement:

“The National Labor Relations Board’s complaint is just the latest giveaway to Big Labor by an Obama Administration that has already erased union financial disclosure requirements and kept workers in the dark about the right to refrain from union membership. Once again the Board is putting union boss priorities ahead of the rights and well-being of individual employees.

“This case is nothing more than an attack by the Obama Administration on Right to Work laws and all workers in Right to Work states where employees cannot be forced to pay union dues as a condition of getting or keeping a job. Workers in South Carolina should not be denied the opportunity to continue providing for their families to satisfy the outrageous forced unionism demands of union bosses.

“All current or prospective Boeing employees who could lose their jobs may request free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys by calling 1-800-336-3600.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, is assisting thousands of employees in nearly 200 cases nationwide. Its web address is www.nrtw.org.

Tagged with: big government • Big Labor • Boeing • Mark Mix • National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation
Posted in: Big Labor Payback, Economic Development in RTW States, Economic Impact of Unionization, Economics, Government Grants to Unions, Intimidation Tactics, NLRB, Obama Administration, Right to Work, Right To Work States, South Carolina, Washington

Florida Teachers Union Fear Loss of Government Supported Funding Stream

On March 28, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

Some bills making their way through the Florida legislature are striking fear into the union bosses in Florida because it threatens big labor’s access to the wallets of teachers. One bill would would bar any public union from automatically deducting dues from members’ paychecks. Another would require unions to distribute annual reports on their financial activities. The abuse! The outrage! Making labor unions accountable to their employees and requiring them to collect their own dues money, rather than at taxpayer’s expense.

Tagged with: AFT • Big Labor • Florida • Labor Unions • NEA • school teachers • Taxpayer • Teachers • UFT
Posted in: Economic Impact of Unionization, Government Grants to Unions

Rush Limbaugh Exposes “Real Reason” Big Labor Unrest in Wisconsin

On February 18, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

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On February 17^th, Rush Limbaugh exposed the “real reason” union bosses in Wisconsin are in a panic: the new law will allow Wisconsin’s government employees to “opt out of joining the union” rather than continue to be forced to pay union dues without a choice.

Union bosses know, when given a choice, employees will not always willingly pay union fees. Also, union bosses know that if people can threaten to withhold dues, they can demand that the union become more responsive to its members. This can be very inconvenient for the union hierarchy.

Big Labor has fought allowing employees to choose whether our not to pay tribute to a union boss every since President Franklin Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA commanded every employee to pay fees to unions with employer collective bargaining contracts or be fired.

Until the passage of Taft-Hartley Act, section 14(b), employees had no sanctuary from union bosses. After the Taft-Hartley Act, employees in states that passed laws protecting employees’ choices, the “Right To Work”, employees could not longer be forced to pay fees to union bosses against the employees’ will. There are 22 Right To Work states today where employees still breath free air.

Tagged with: Big Labor • Right to Work • Rush Limbaugh • Wisconsin
Posted in: Exclusive Representation, Forced Dues, Forced-Unionism Abuses Exposed, Government Grants to Unions, Intimidation Tactics, Legislation, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Right to Work, Union Membership, Wisconsin

Iowans Repudiate Pro-Forced Unionism Governor

On December 25, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

Right to Work Makes Major Gains in State Legislative Contests

(Source: December 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)

It takes a lot to convince Iowa citizens to oust a sitting governor. Until this fall, the last time a Hawkeye State chief executive failed to get another term after seeking one was in 1962! But over the past four years, Big Labor Democrat Gov. Chet Culver wore out Iowans’ considerable patience.

On November 2, he was one of 13 incumbent governors on the ballot across America. Eleven of these incumbents won, but Mr. Culver lost by a hefty 53% to 43% margin.

What had Chet Culver done to receive such a harsh rebuke from normally amiable Midwesterners? He tried to gut Iowa’s popular Right to Work law — and he was sneaky about it.

After saying nothing about the Right to Work issue during his successful 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Mr. Culver announced, almost as soon as the votes were counted, his support for legislation imposing forced union dues and fees on Iowa workers as a condition of employment.

Since Mr. Culver’s fellow Democrats controlled substantial majorities in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature that greeted him upon his inauguration in early 2007, it seemed Big Labor’s stealthy scheme to bring back forced unionism to the state six decades after it had been banned would succeed.

For four years, Gov. Culver tried to help union bosses extract forced fees from workers who choose not to join. But freedom-loving Iowans first thwarted him legislatively and then defeated him at the polls.

But the National Right to Work Committee and the Iowans for Right to Work Committee were already mobilizing resistance.

Pro-Right to Work Iowan Stopped Forced-Union-Fee Schemes in 2007 and 2009

Even before the new Legislature convened in January 2007, the National Committee began sending out a series of statewide and targeted mailings to members and supporters in Iowa, with a focus on selected House and Senate members in vulnerable seats. (more…)

Tagged with: Big Labor • Bruce Hunter • Chet Culver • Council Bluffs • Democrat • Des Moines • Election 2010 • Greg Mourad • H.R.555 • Hiawatha • Iowa • Kraig Paulsen • Mike Gronstal • Republican • State Right To Work • Terry Branstad
Posted in: AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Elections, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, Iowa, Labor Organizations, Legislation, Monopoly Bargaining, NEA and Affiliates, NRTWC Newsletter, Political Activity, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Public Employees, Right to Work, Union boss power

DNC: Whoops, We Forgot

On June 17, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

The Democrat National Committee has surveyed its members to create a list of priority agenda items for the party and apparently someone forgot to get a sign off from the labor union bosses on the mailing. The Card Check Forced Unionism bill was left off the list.

Tagged with: AFL-CIO • Big Labor • Card Check • DNC
Posted in: Card Check, Card Check, Economic Impact of Unionization, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions

Iowans Again Defeat Forced-Union-Fee Scheme

On May 11, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

But Hawkeye State’s Popular Right to Work Law Still Under Fire

(Source: May 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)

Over the past four years, union lobbyists in Des Moines employed every conceivable tactic to ram through the Hawkeye State Legislature legislation gutting Iowa’s popular, six-decade-old Right to Work law.

Again and again, union officials have threatened to recruit and bankroll primary challengers to run against Democratic legislators who refused to back forced union fees.

This March, one union lobbyist is even alleged to have told a state lawmaker, “You could have $100,000 in your account to fight off any challenger,” if he switched his position and voted for the forced-union-fee bill then pending in the Legislature.

However, the National Right to Work Committee and its grass-roots ally, the Des Moines-based Iowans for Right to Work Committee, energized freedom-loving Iowans to fight back every step of the way.

And this spring, the Big Labor politicians who run the Iowa House and Senate finally backed down and adjourned the 2010 session without ever bringing up for a vote H.F.2420, the Right to Work-gutting measure introduced in the 2009-10 Legislature.

Union Bosses Remain Determined To Destroy Right to Work Law

Not taking anything for granted, the National Right To Work Committee legislative department kept the heat on until the Iowa Legislature called it quits after an unusually short 2010 session on Tuesday, March 30.

And the battle to save Iowa’s Right to Work law is far from over even now. (more…)

Tagged with: Big Labor • bribe • David Jacoby • H.F. 2420 • Iowa • lobbyist • Marcia Nichols • Matthew Leen
Posted in: Big Labor Ethics, Economic Development in RTW States, Economic Impact of Unionization, Economics, Forced-Dues for Politics, Intimidation Tactics, Iowa, NRTWC Newsletter, Political Activity, Right to Work, Union boss power

Obama’s NLRB ‘Assaults’ S.C. Boeing Employees; NRTW Offers Free Legal Help To Workers

Worker Advocate: Obama Labor Board’s Case Against Boeing “An Assault on Right to Work Laws”

Florida Teachers Union Fear Loss of Government Supported Funding Stream

Rush Limbaugh Exposes “Real Reason” Big Labor Unrest in Wisconsin

DNC: Whoops, We Forgot

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