NRTW Attorneys file suit against MN Gov. Dayton’s SEIU-AFSCME payback scheme

On January 20, 2012, By NRTW Committee Staff

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, like former governors Gray Davis (CA), Rod Blagojevich (IL), and Jennifer Granholm (MI) to name a few, knows how to payback the SEIU union bosses — they all indentured parents and family members who take care of relatives to Big Labor.  It is a shameless act of pure political power compelling people who are not even employees of the state to be required to pay union dues and fees.  In Michigan,  Governor Rick Snyder ended Granholm’s SEIU payback scheme.  But, in other states like Minnesota, parents and family members have not been so fortunate.  That is why the National Right To Work Legal Defense is taking the case in an effort to expose the scheme and have the court system eventually rule against everyone of these schemes. Legal schemes that were in a large part a brainchild of Obama’s former NLRB member Craig Becker.

From The StarTribune article by Jim Ragsdale and Paul  Walsh:

Opponents of the drive to unionize in-home child care providers have filed a second suit aimed at blocking a union vote.

A group of 12 child-care providers, aided by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, filed suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis against Gov. Mark Dayton’s executive order authorizing a union election. The group argues that the order is unconstitutional because it could ultimately require all providers to be represented by the union, whether they want to or not.

The federal complaint says that if either or both unions win the elections in their geographic areas, the union would become the “exclusive” representative of all providers. It said the providers who filed the suit do not want to associate with either union “in any way” and “wish to retain their individual right to choose with whom they associate to lobby the state.”

“In the order, the state is going to designate a representative of these providers for the purposes of petitioning the state,” said William Messenger, an attorney for the foundation, based in Springfield, Va. “It infringes on the freedom of association — the First Amendment protects to right to associate or not associate.”

After an organizing drive by the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Dayton issued an order setting a union election for those providers who care for children with state subsidies — about 4,300 of the state’s 11,000 licensed in-home providers.

The foundation is focused on fighting what it considers “compulsory unionism,” such as workplaces where employees are required to be members. It is providing legal work on the lawsuit for free, Messenger said.

From the related National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation press release: (more…)

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Posted in: California, Forced Dues, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, Illinois, Legislation, Michigan, Minnesota, Public Employees
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SEIU Siphons “Dues” from Michigan Medicaid

On November 15, 2011, By NRTW Committee Staff

Outrageous.  That is the only way to describe the SEIU’s latest scheme to paid their coffers:

If you’re a parent who accepts Medicaid payments from the State of Michigan to help support your mentally-disabled adult children,  you qualify as a state employee for the purposes of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). They can now claim and receive a portion of your Medicaid in the form of union dues.

Robert and Patricia Haynes live in Michigan with their two adult children, who have cerebral palsy. The state government provides the family with insurance through Medicaid, but also treats them as caregivers. For the SEIU, this makes them public employees and thus members of the union, which receives $30 out of the family’s monthly Medicaid subsidy. The Michigan Quality Community Care Council (MQC3) deducts union dues on behalf of SEIU.

Michigan Department of Community Health Director Olga Dazzo explained the process in to her members of her staff.  ”MQC3 basically runs the program for SEIU and passes the union dues from the state to the union,” she wrote in an emailobtained by the Mackinac Center. Initiated in 2006 under then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich., the plan reportedly provides the SEIU with $6 million annually in union dues deducted from those Medicaid subsidies.

“We’re not even home health care workers. We’re just parents taking care of our kids,” Robert Haynes, a retired Detroit police officer, told the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Our daughter is 34 and our son is 30. They have cerebral palsy. They are basically like 6-month-olds in adult bodies. They need to be fed and they wear diapers. We could sure use that $30 a month that’s being sent to the union.” (more…)

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Posted in: Big Labor Payback, Forced-Dues for Politics, Forced-Unionism Abuses Exposed, Michigan, Public Employees
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Michelle Malkin: Obama’s Big Labor ethics loophole

On August 18, 2010, By NRTW Committee Staff

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Michelle Malkin highlights the non-existent ethical standards applied to Obama Big Labor politcal appointees like  SEIU/AFL-CIO lawyer Craig Becker who Obama appointed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB):

Everything you need to know about President Obama’s fraudulent ethics pledge can be summed up in four words: SEIU lawyer Craig Becker.

It’s no surprise that Becker now refuses to hold himself accountable for the ethics pledge he himself signed in April. As the past two years have taught us, Team Obama’s operational slogan is: Rules are for fools. The contractual ethics commitment states: “I will not for a period of two years from the date of my appointment participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to my former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.” Yet, Becker has participated in numerous NLRB cases involving the SEIU and its affiliates — and is parsing the definition of “former employer” by arguing that local SEIU chapters are “separate and distinct legal entities” that don’t fall under the ethics rules.

The National Right to Work Foundation, which has fought both national and local SEIU officials in court on behalf of rank-and-file workers’ rights, eviscerates Becker’s lawyerly blather. SEIU’s own constitution considers local affiliates “constituent subordinate bodies” of the national union, the foundation notes. “Moreover, in 2009 over 85 percent of the SEIU’s receipts came from a per capita tax on the locals’ membership dues and fees. The national union even has the power to assume control over its locals if they do not conform to International policies.” (more…)

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Posted in: AFL-CIO, Arbitration, Big Labor Ethics, Card Check, Card Check, Economics, Exclusive Representation, Forced Dues, Forced-Dues for Politics, Government Grants to Unions, Monopoly Bargaining, NLRB, NRTWLDF, Obama Administration, Personnel Alert, Public Employee Monopoly Bargaining, Right to Work, SEIU
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