The Right to Intimidate?

The Right to Intimidate?

The American Thinker blog lives up to its name with a post analyzing the faulty logic behind big labor's ACLU supported lawsuit attempting to overturn Michigan's Right to Work law: Do you recall what happened at the Wisconsin state Capitol building in March 2011, when the state Senate was considering legislation to curb public employee unions? For days, union members trashed the place. They blew horns. They swore at legislators unfortunate enough to cross their path. Litter was everywhere. Meanwhile, all Senate Democrats high-tailed it to Illinois, trying to prevent a vote. Not the prettiest exercise in representative democracy. In Michigan last December 6, someone at the Republican-controlled legislature decided not to have a replay of Wisconsin. The state police locked the doors at one point during afternoon debates over the proposed right-to-work law, with supporters and opponents who had already gained entrance staying inside. Four hours later, the House and Senate reopened the doors before both houses voted to pass the legislation. On Dec. 11, Gov. Rick Snyder signed it, making Michigan the 24th right-to-work state, which means employees in the Wolverine State can work without having to join a union.
Unions busy subverting Right To Work

Unions busy subverting Right To Work

Nolan Finley of the Detroit News discusses Big Labor efforts in Michigan to undercut Right To Work protections for workers. Rather than convincing workers that it is worth continuing their membership in the union, the bosses are seeking subvert new rights: Unions busy subverting right to workIf you're a professor at Wayne State or Western Michigan, or a school teacher in Taylor or Berkley and are eager to exercise your right to end your forced union membership, fuggedaboutit.The mob that runs the public employee unions in Michigan has already figured out a way to keep you as an indentured servant to the unions and their financial beneficiaries in the Democratic Party. Unions at those schools are rushing to renegotiate labor contracts before the March 27 effective date of the newly passed right-to-work law.Because the law includes a grandfather clause, contracts in place before that date aren't affected by right to work until they expire.In Wayne State's case, that would be 10 years from now, if the professors union's proposal to extend the current contract is approved by a board of trustees made up nearly entirely by Democrats whose election campaigns were financed by labor unions.Similar extensions are being weighed at Western Michigan and the Taylor and Berkley public schools, and a growing list of other places. It's a warning flag that right to work alone will not be enough to break labor's stranglehold on local politics and policy making.One of the reasons public employee unions are such a target of government reformers is that Michigan's collective bargaining laws basically create the opportunity for them to negotiate contracts with themselves.All the unions need to do is put their money behind candidates who support their agenda and get them elected in school board elections that attract little interest from voters.
An Open Letter to Michigan Union Workers

An Open Letter to Michigan Union Workers

Steve Deace, a Michigan native and union member, writes an open letter to Michigan union members on why Right to Work benefits their families and the state he loves: I love the state of Michigan. I grew up there. I may live in Iowa, but my man cave is adorned in maize-and-blue. I still allow the Detroit Lions to rip my still-beating heart of out of my chest and show it to me 16 Sundays per year. I use Detroit Red Wings championship banners for curtains. I can still recite the entire everyday lineup – in order – of the 1984 World Series champion Detroit Tigers. I say this to point out I am one of you. Heck, I was also a Teamster. I worked at the nation’s first automated UPS plant in Grand Rapids as a truck loader to put myself through Grand Rapids Community College. When I stopped working there I made sure to pay up all my dues to leave as a member in good standing. I grew up with a step-dad who was an active Teamster at Grand Rapids Gravel driving ready-mix trucks. I think unions historically have been an imperfect but mostly necessary check-and-balance against corporatism, which I and most other liberty-loving Americans loathe. I can’t stand crony capitalism any more than you can. It’s an oxymoron like “gay marriage,” “moderate Arab nation,” and “local celebrity.” There’s no such thing as “crony capitalism,” because capitalism is based on the objective worth of an asset as determined by a free and competitive market. Whenever cronyism gets involved it becomes about the subjective nature of palm-greasing and back-scrubbing, which is antithetical to capitalism. I agree with you it’s hypocritical for those claiming to be for economic growth to fight Obamcare and then fight to nominate as an alternative in the other party the guy who gave the administration the idea in the first place. I agree it’s hypocritical of ruling class Republicans to say a union worker in Toledo making $15/hour at the local Chrysler plant doesn’t deserve a bailout from the federal taxpayer, but their buddies at “too big to fail” Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs do. I share many of your laments, but what you’re being sold as the solution to these problems is actually what caused the problem.