May’s issue contains the following headlines:

Police/Fire Union Scheme Prepped For Floor Vote – Bill Would Herd Now-Independent ‘First Responders’ Into Unions

Iowans Again Defeat Forced-Union-Fee Scheme – But Hawkeye State’s Popular Right to Work Law Still Under Fire

New Jersey’s ‘Day of Reckoning Has Arrived’ — Government Union Monopolists Have Brought State to Brink of Ruin

Why Is Big Labor ‘Out of Touch’ With Workers? — Forced-Unionism Privileges, Not Fat Paychecks, Are the Root Cause

Forced-Unionism Expansion, by Hook or Crook — Big Labor ‘Organizing’ Strategy Reliant on Washington, D.C.

Fewer Bidders = Higher Costs For Taxpayers — White House Federal-Contract Policy Rewards Big Labor Patrons

To view these and other recent Committee Newsletter articles online, click here to go to the Committee’s “Newsroom” section where the 20 most recent newsletter articles can be easily viewed.

(Source: May 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has sent out an unmistakable signal that he is dead set on pushing through a bill that would undermine state Right to Work laws and soak state and local taxpayers for billions of dollars in additional goverment costs.

On April 12, Mr. Reid reintroduced as S.3194 the Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill, which was already pending in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee as S.1611.

Mr. Reid’s clear purpose in carrying out this tactical maneuver was to make it possible for him to bring up this federal government union power grab for a Senate floor vote at any time, with as little as 48 hours public notice and with no HELP Committee action whatsoever in advance.

Harry Reid and his cohorts cynically mislabel their legislation, also introduced in the U.S. House as H.R.413 by union-label Congressman Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), as the “Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act.”

States’ Bitter Experiences Illustrate Dangers of Harry Reid’s Scheme

But that moniker has nothing to do with reality. S.3194/H.R.413 would institute a federal mandate foisting union “exclusive representation” (monopoly bargaining) on state and local police, firefighters, and other public-safety employees nationwide.

Reid-Kildee would force countless policemen, firefighters and EMT’s to accept as their monopoly-bargaining agent a union they never asked for or voted for, and want nothing to do with.

It would also constitute a major step towards Big Labor’s decades-old goal of enacting a federal law that foists union monopoly bargaining on front-line state and local employees of all types across America.

“In recent years, the expansion of public-sector union bosses’ monopoly-bargaining empire has become the top challenge to the prosperity of America’s private sector,” said National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix.

“Consequently, the states in which government union bosses are relatively less powerful are our nation’s growth engine.”

According to labor economists Barry Hirsch and David Macpherson, as of 2004 fewer than one in four public-sector workers were unionized in 16 states. That same year, more than half of public-sector employees were unionized in 15 states.

From 2004 through 2009, the aggregate real personal income for the 16 states where government union bosses wielded the least power grew by 11.0%, an increase nearly two-and-a-half times as great as the total real income growth for the 15 states with the most public-sector monopoly bargaining.

And real income growth for the lowest union-monopoly states was greater by two-thirds than the national average.

Reid-Kildee Would ‘Replicate California’s Disaster Nationally’

Mr. Mix commented:

“This spring, incredibly, the U.S. Congress is poised to pass, and President Barack Obama is vowing to sign, legislation designed to help government union bigwigs seize monopoly-bargaining control over majorities of public employees in all 50 states.

“To get an idea of where Reid-Kildee could take America, you need only look at California, where nearly 60% of public employees are unionized (compared to 41% nationwide) and government union bosses have for years gotten practically everything they wanted.

“Today, Californians fork over a higher share of their incomes in state and local taxes than residents of all but five other states, but still face unfunded public-employee pension liabilities of as much as $500 billion. Meanwhile, overall income growth in the once-Golden State has fallen well below the national average in recent years.

“Does Congress really want to replicate California’s disaster nationally?”

Reid-Kildee would rewrite the public-sector labor laws of the vast majority of the 50 states to make them more pro-forced unionism.

In states that haven’t caved in to Big Labor demands for monopoly bargaining, Reid-Kildee would federally impose it, denying localities the option to refuse to grant a single union the power to speak for all front-line employees, including those who don’t want to join.

And in most states that already authorize public-safety union monopoly bargaining, S.3194/H.R.413 would widen its scope.

Right to Work States Would Likely Lose Key Edge They’ve Had Up to Now

“Employees and businesses in the 22 states with Right to Work laws, which prohibit the firing of employees for refusal to join or pay dues to an unwanted union, would lose a key advantage they’ve had up to now,” noted Mr. Mix.

“As Ohio University’s Richard Vedder, a widely recognized expert in labor economics, pointed out in a recent scholarly article, one important reason Right to Work states typically enjoy superior job and income growth is that a far smaller share of their employees are under union monopoly-bargaining control.

“But Reid-Kildee would facilitate the rapid spread of government union monopoly bargaining in states, overwhelmingly Right to Work states, where it has up to now been rare.

“While this federal scheme does not directly authorize forced dues in states where they are now prohibited, it obviously would reduce the relative attractiveness of the business climates of Right to Work states like Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas.

“Politicians who claim otherwise are either misinformed, or simply lying.”

“Right to Work supporters face an uphill battle against S.3194/H.R.413,” Mr. Mix acknowledged. “In the Big Labor-dominated House, the most we can do is slow the legislation down to buy time. And President Obama has publicly promised Big Labor he will sign the bill into law if he gets a chance.

“Our only chance of victory is in the Senate. That’s why, right now, Right to Work members and supporters are doing everything they can to mobilize 41 senators to sustain an extended debate and keep S.3194 from coming up for a final vote for as long as necessary.”

(Source: April 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)

Over the course of the past few decades, public servants, especially state and local government employees, have become Big Labor’s bread and butter.

By 2009, union officials wielded monopoly-bargaining power over 7.5 million state and local employees, nearly 43% of all such employees nationwide, compared to just 8% of private-sector workers.

Moreover, for many years now, Big Labor featherbedding and counterproductive work rules have sharply increased real taxpayer costs for compensation of state and local government employees.

In fact, from 1998 to 2008 alone, taxpayers’ aggregate real costs for compensation of state and local government employees soared at a rate nearly 50% faster than the total real growth of private-sector employee compensation!

And now, incredibly, the Big Labor Congress is poised to sock it to taxpayers again.

This spring, the U.S. House and Senate are on the verge of rubber-stamping a new federal mandate ensuring that public-sector union bosses get monopoly-bargaining privileges over additional hundreds of thousands of state and local public-safety employees.

Kildee-Gregg Would Pave Way For Dragooning All State, Local Employees Into Unions

This federal mandate (H.R.413 and S.1611), respectively introduced in the House and Senate by Big Labor Congressman Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) and Big Labor-appeasing Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), goes by an innocent-sounding moniker, the “Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act.”

But this label mocks the reality that the legislation would incite conflict between government agencies and employees and hurt taxpayers.

H.R.413/S.1611 would institute a federal mandate foisting union “exclusive representation” (monopoly bargaining) on state and local police, firefighters, and other public-safety employees nationwide.

This legislation would rewrite the public-sector labor laws of the vast majority of the 50 states to make them more pro-forced unionism.

In states that haven’t caved in to Big Labor demands for monopoly bargaining, Kildee-Gregg would federally impose it, denying localities the option to refuse to grant a single union the power to speak for all front-line employees, including those who don’t want to join.

And in most states that already authorize public-safety union monopoly bargaining, H.R.413/S.1611 would widen its scope.

Kildee-Gregg would force countless policemen, firefighters and EMT’s to accept as their monopoly-bargaining agent a union they never voted for, and want nothing to do with.

It would also constitute a major step towards Big Labor’s decades-old goal of enacting a federal law that foists union monopoly bargaining on front-line state and local employees of all types across America.

States With Heaviest Public-Sector Unionization Have Higher Taxes, More Debt

“The record shows that pervasive unionization of government employees is closely associated with higher taxes and more public debt,” said National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix.

“Therefore, enactment of federal police/fire monopoly-bargaining legislation would almost certainly lead to tax hikes in state after state.

“In 2008, while 40.7% of all government employees, federal, state and local, nationwide were unionized, public-sector unionization was 60% or more in seven states.

“That year, residents of those Big Labor-controlled states had to fork over, on average, a 22% higher share of their income in state and local taxes than did the residents of states with below-average public-sector unionization.

“Moreover, in Fiscal 2008, eight of the 10 states with the most long-term debt as a share of their personal income had public-sector unionization higher than 50%.

“Meanwhile, every one of the 10 states with the least long-term debt as a share of personal income had public-sector unionization below the national average.

“In five of these least indebted states, public-sector unionization was less than half the national average!

“Federal personal and business taxes are already poised to skyrocket over the next few years. Cities, towns and counties across America are facing their worst fiscal crisis in decades.

“And yet, our out-of-touch Congress seems eager to pass legislation that would greatly compound the damage. Even in Washington, D.C., this degree of recklessness is unusual.”

Big Labor Scheme Expected to Sail Through House Within The Next Few Weeks

Recently, top bosses of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) and other public-safety unions that are leading the charge for H.R.413/S.1611 have boasted of their intent to ram H.R.413 through the House during the next few weeks.

And Big Labor’s control over the lower chamber is so tight that Right to Work members can only slow down this legislation there.

However, freedom-loving Americans still have a chance of blocking Kildee-Gregg in the Senate.

“This will, without a doubt, be an uphill fight,” commented Mr. Mix. “Part of the reason why is that Judd Gregg and a few other Republican senators are colluding with the Democratic congressional leadership and the Obama Administration to make sure Kildee-Gregg gets rubber-stamped.

“Right to Work advocates’ only chance of victory is to prevent this bill from coming up for a final Senate vote by mobilizing at least 41 senators to sustain an extended debate for as long as necessary.”

To Prevail, Right to Work Will Need to Switch Over a Handful of Senators’ Votes

“To prevail in this fight,” Mr. Mix continued, “the Committee will almost certainly need to switch over the votes of a handful of senators who habitually vote according to the union bosses’ dictates.”

Among the top lobbying targets he cited are Virginia Sens. Jim Webb (D) and Mark Warner (D) and North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan (D).

“While Sens. Webb, Warner and Hagan all tend to vote how Big Labor tells them to, they also represent two states that have longstanding laws, with bipartisan support, that explicitly ban all union monopoly bargaining over state and local government employees,” Mr. Mix explained.

“If we can convince these three senators and just a few others to support the Right to Work in this one instance, Kildee-Gregg can still be thwarted this year.”

As you know, the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill is designed to FORCE every firefighter and police officer in the country under union boss control — and is just the first step toward forcing ALL state and local public employees under Big Labor’s thumb. (Push Triangle to Play Video) 

The player will show in this paragraph

(The Strategy Room is FoxNews.com’s live web based video programming from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET  that provides: “always entertaining discussion of the day’s top stories, plus a variety of hour-long shows on topics like business, health, technology, and entertainment.”)

(Source: March 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)

Poll after poll indicates that union-label Democratic U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln faces a tough battle to get reelected in Right to Work Arkansas this November.

And Ms. Lincoln clearly knows she has a problem.

That’s why she’s now suggesting to independent employees and employers in her home state that, although she has routinely voted according to Big Labor’s dictates on key forced-unionism issues during her nearly two decades on Capitol Hill, she is now an “independent” voice on such issues.

Freedom-loving Arkansans shouldn’t believe it for a minute.

First of all, even if Ms. Lincoln were consistently opposing compulsory unionism in the current Congress, Arkansas Right to Work supporters would have good reason to doubt she would continue to stand up to the union bosses once she was safely installed for another six-year term.

And the fact is, even in the current Congress, while she is trailing several potential pro-Right to Work general election opponents, Ms. Lincoln continues to support major forced-unionism power grabs whenever she thinks she can get away with it.

Gregg-Kildee Would Pave Way For Dragging All State, Local Employees Into Unions

One major example is Ms. Lincoln’s stealth move just before the Senate’s Christmas recess last year to sign on as a cosponsor of Big Labor-appeasing New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg’s (R) S.1611, the so-called “Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act.”

The innocent-sounding name of this legislation (also introduced in the U.S. House as H.R.413 by Big Labor Michigan Democrat Congressman Dale Kildee) mocks the reality that it would incite conflict between government agencies and employees and hurt taxpayers.

S.1611/H.R.413 would institute a federal mandate foisting union “exclusive representation” (monopoly bargaining) on state and local police, firefighters, and other public-safety employees nationwide.

This legislation would rewrite the public-sector labor laws of the vast majority of the 50 states to make them more pro-forced unionism.

In Arkansas and other states that haven’t caved in to Big Labor demands for monopoly bargaining, Gregg-Kildee would federally impose it, denying localities the option to refuse to grant a single union the power to speak for all front-line employees, including those who don’t want to join.

And in most states that already authorize public-safety union monopoly bargaining, S.1611/H.R.413 would widen its scope.

Gregg-Kildee would force countless policemen, firefighters and EMT’s to accept as their monopoly-bargaining agent a union they never voted for, and want nothing to do with.

It would also constitute a major step towards Big Labor’s decades-old goal of enacting a federal law that foists union monopoly bargaining on front-line state and local employees of all types across America.

Mark Mix Presses Sen. Lincoln to Withdraw Cosponsorship of S.1611

“Poll after poll shows the public overwhelmingly agrees that a worker who chooses not to join a union should be free as an individual to bargain for himself or herself,” pointed out National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix.

“Gregg-Kildee completely rejects that principle. For that reason alone, it lacks popular support.

“Moreover, there is a large and growing body of evidence that public-sector union monopoly bargaining helps drive up wasteful government spending, pouring fuel on the fire for future tax hikes.

“In the current political environment, with federal personal and business taxes already poised to skyrocket over the next few years and cities, towns and counties across America already facing their worst fiscal crisis in decades, popular opposition to schemes like Gregg-Kildee is mounting.

“By mandating public-safety union monopoly bargaining over a range of issues even wider than is currently the case in Big Labor-controlled states like Illinois and Michigan, this power grab could push localities across the country into bankruptcy.

“Does Congress as a whole, and do so-called ‘moderate’ politicians like Blanche Lincoln, really want to bear the responsibility for such a disastrous outcome?

“If Sen. Lincoln wants at last to make her vaunted ‘independence’ a reality, rather than just a hollow campaign slogan, the first thing she should do is withdraw her cosponsorship of S.1611.”

Mr. Mix urged freedom-loving Arkansans to call Ms. Lincoln’s office at 202-224-4843 and personally ask her to repudiate her support for the Gregg-Kildee scheme.

The bills, which union bosses themselves call the greatest (potential) change in labor law in decades, would mean literally tens of millions in new dues revenue from public safety workers who would be fired if they didn’t pay union dues and fees. Forced unionism apologists in Congress have been working on this since the late 1970’s.

(Click-on Green Triangle to play)

(Source: January 2010 NRTWC Newsletter)

It is growing very clear that Big Labor politicians know the American people do not support their 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. Jus t be fore the U.S. House adjourned last month, forced-unionism cheerleader Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her cohorts plotted to sneak this legislation through their chamber while attracting as little public attention as possible.

Behind the scenes, Ms. Pelosi, Big Labor Congressman Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), and others worked on a plan to tack Mr. Kildee’s House version of the Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill (H.R.413) onto H.R.3326, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill.

And Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Kildee et al probably would have succeeded in securing a House rubber-stamp for a huge expansion of union bosses’ monopoly privileges without facing major resistance – but for the efforts of the National Right to Work Committee and its allies on Capitol Hill.

Committee Staff Alerted Leaders of Allied Groups

On December 14, within just hours of learning from a key Capitol Hill source that Big Labor House leaders were preparing to bring up H.R.413 as an amendment to H.R.3326, Committee legislative officers began sending faxes and e-mails and making personal visits to key Capitol Hill offices.

Right to Work staff also alerted leaders of several organizations representing the interests of local governments and public-safety departments, such as the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), that is also opposed to H.R.413 and its U.S. Senate counterpart, S.1611.

House members from key swing districts who were already edgy as a result of the intense public controversy over ObamaCare thus began receiving calls and e-mails from an array of groups urging them to resist all efforts to attach the monopoly-bargaining bill to the defense spending measure.

Moreover, congressmen and their staff members certainly knew from previous showdowns over forced unionism legislation that, if H.R.3326 emerged with a monopoly-bargaining amendment, their offices would quickly be flooded with calls from Right to Work members mobilized by the Committee’s phone operation.

And on Wednesday, December 16, it became clear that Speaker Pelosi and co. had decided to heed, for the moment, concerned congressmen when H.R.3326 was formally introduced without the public-safety monopoly bargaining provision.

Vast Majority of Americans Reject Monopoly Bargaining

Of course, Big Labor House leaders are virtually certain to try again early this year to smuggle H.R.413 through their chamber. And there are still several pending FY 2010 appropriations bills to which this destructive measure could be attached. H.R.413 and the nearly identical S.1611 would force countless policemen, firefighters and EMT’s to accept as their monopoly-bargaining agent a union they personally never voted for, and want nothing to do with.

Moreover, H.R.413 and S.1611 do NOT protect the Right To Work without being forced to pay union dues or fees either of the public-safety employees upon whom Congress is imposing a union monopoly, or of the public-safety employees who are already subject to one.

“Americans overwhelmingly oppose monopoly bargaining, period,” noted Committee President Mark Mix. “The public certainly has no interest in backing legislation designed to help Big Labor grab monopoly-bargaining privileges over hundreds of thousands of additional employees.”

Mr. Mix cited a recent scientific nationwide survey conducted by veteran pollster Del Ali and his firm Research 2000. The poll found that 81% of Americans who regularly vote in statewide elections believe that employees in unionized businesses should retain the right to bargain for themselves. Just 17% of regular voters believe employees should not have that right, while 2% are unsure.

“Forcing union nonmembers to accept public-safety union officials as their monopoly-bargaining agent is what H.R.413 and S.1611 are all about,” explained Mr. Mix. “Any state law or local ordinance authorizing public-safety union bosses to bargain on behalf of their members only would get tossed in the scrapheap if either measure became law.”

And government union bosses actually see this legislation as just a first step toward enactment of a federal mandate corralling state and local employees of all kinds into unions. “H.R.413 simply can’t withstand public scrutiny. And Nancy Pelosi knows it.”

Big Labor-Appeasing West Virginia GOP Congresswoman ‘Should Heed Her Own Mayor’

Mr. Mix continued: “Federalizing union monopoly control over public safety employees would be ill-advised at any time, but at a time when taxes are already poised to skyrocket and cities and towns across America are already facing their worst fiscal crisis in decades, enactment of H.R.413 would be incredibly reckless.”

Pervasive public-sector union monopoly bargaining helps government union bosses build up giant political machines, which in most cases are fueled by workers’ compulsory union dues and fees. “

Government union officials use their electoral machines to bankroll Tax-and-Spend state legislative and executive politicians. And the onerous taxes such politicians foist on families and businesses sharply suppress job and income growth.

“Responsible local elected officials across the country have recognized the danger and are urging Congress to defeat H.R.413 and S.1611.”

For example, just this past November, Danny Jones, the mayor of Charleston, W.Va., publicly expressed his concern that this legislation could “bankrupt” his city. In an interview with Charleston’s Daily Mail, Mr. Jones starkly predicted of H.R.413/S.1611: “It’s going to change things. The relationship [between the city and the police union] will become adversarial. “. . . If you look around the states, the most unionized states are the ones that are most broke.”

“Unfortunately,” noted Mr. Mix, virtually every Democrat in Congress and dozens of Republicans are choosing to back the Police/Fire Monopoly- Bargaining Bill in spite of what concerned mayors, city council members, and public-safety officials have to say. “For example, West Virginia GOP Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, who resides in Charleston when she isn’t in Washington, is a cosponsor of the very bill her hometown mayor charges could bankrupt their city.”

Ms. Capito should heed her own mayor and withdraw her support for H.R.413 immediately.”

Right to Work Committee And Its Members Will Keep Turning up the Heat

“Enactment of H.R.413 or S.1611 would be disastrous, not just for independent-minded public-safety officers and Right to Work advocates, but also for taxpayers and citizens who depend on their local police and fire departments,” Mr. Mix continued. “That’s why the National Right to Work Committee and its members can’t afford to rest on our laurels for a minute. We will keep turning up the heat in preparation for the next Capitol Hill showdown over H.R.413/S.1611.

“I urge all Right to Work members to maintain and expand their support, both lobbying and financial, for our campaign. Working together, we can stop the federalization of public-safety monopoly bargaining in 2010.”

March 10, 2010

National Right to Work Vice President Blasts the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill in Testimony to Congress

Big Labor power grab would be a disaster for workers, taxpayers and struggling state economies

Washington, D.C (March 10, 2010) – National Right to Work Committee Vice President Doug Stafford, urged members of Congress to oppose H.R. 413/ S.1611, the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill in a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions this morning.

As detailed in Mr. Stafford’s testimony, if it becomes law H.R. 413 and S. 1611 would force monopoly bargaining on every police officer, firefighter, and emergency medical technician (EMT) in the country, putting them under the monopoly control of union bosses. Mr. Stafford blasted the bill as “yet another bill in a long line of paybacks to union bosses,” in his testimony before the House HELP Subcommittee:

“First, let’s be clear. The ultimate goal of this legislation is to force every firefighter and police officer in the country under union boss control, whether the individual public safety officers want it or not. And whether state and local governments want it or not.

“Under monopoly bargaining, individual workers lose the power to speak for themselves in dealing with their employers, to the detriment of workers and taxpayers. In addition to imposing monopoly bargaining on countless workers, H.R. 413 and its companion bill in the Senate, S. 1611, would override state labor laws across the country.”

Currently, state and local governments have the authority to enter into monopoly bargaining agreements. Many have chosen to do so and many have not. But H.R. 413 and S. 1611 would grant the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) oversight of the labor-management laws of public safety workers in political subdivisions across the country, stripping localities of the right to govern themselves.

Mr. Stafford’s testimony also demonstrated how monopoly bargaining strains the already-vulnerable budgets of state and local government:

“This power comes with a price — H.R. 413 and S. 1611 would also have a detrimental impact on the budgets of state and local governments. Last year, Vallejo, California — where union bosses have already been granted control over public safety workers — went bankrupt after nearly 75 percent of its budget was spent on unionized police and firefighters. And today, despite a $26 billion state budget deficit, out-of-control public sector union bosses aren’t shouldering cuts or taking blame for the problems they’ve caused — they’re threatening strikes!

“In other states where union bosses have been granted monopoly bargaining privileges over public sector workers, we’re seeing the exact same thing. In fact, the Mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania recently stated that these struggling cities are ‘handcuffed’ by public sector monopoly bargaining.

“Put simply, passage of the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill could be the last economic straw for already struggling communities. During these troubled economic times, the last thing Congress should be considering is a Big Labor power grab that would hurt workers and bust state budgets.”

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The National Right to Work Committee, established in 1955, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, single-purpose citizens’ organization dedicated to the principle that all Americans must have the right to join a union if they choose to, but none should ever be forced to affiliate with a union in order to get or keep a job. 

www.NRTWC.org