Oregon Senator helps SEIU organize state employees; threatens gov't officials who may oppose

Oregon Senator helps SEIU organize state employees; threatens gov't officials who may oppose

The Democrat Budget chief of the Oregon Senate is trying silence critics of an organizing drive that added more than 7,700 workers to the union's membership and turned it into the largest in the state. Thanks to campaign contributions, Sen. Richard Devlin is moving to tip the scales in favor of the union organizers.  Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian reports: At the behest of Service Employees International Union, Oregon Senate budget chief Richard Devlin sought to stifle criticism of an organizing drive that added more than 7,700 workers to the union's membership and turned it into the largest in the state. During a drive to organize workers who help care for developmentally disabled Oregonians, Tualatin Democrat wrote a letter to officials who help employ the workers, warning them not to say anything even "mildly" critical of unionization. He also suggested that a successful union drive would help boost legislative support for services for Oregonians with developmental disabilities. . Several officials who received the letter said it appeared Devlin tried to tip the scales in favor of the union's expansion.

Oregon Senator helps SEIU organize state employees; threatens gov't officials who may oppose

Oregon Senator helps SEIU organize state employees; threatens gov't officials who may oppose

The Democrat Budget chief of the Oregon Senate is trying silence critics of an organizing drive that added more than 7,700 workers to the union's membership and turned it into the largest in the state. Thanks to campaign contributions, Sen. Richard Devlin is moving to tip the scales in favor of the union organizers.  Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian reports: At the behest of Service Employees International Union, Oregon Senate budget chief Richard Devlin sought to stifle criticism of an organizing drive that added more than 7,700 workers to the union's membership and turned it into the largest in the state. During a drive to organize workers who help care for developmentally disabled Oregonians, Tualatin Democrat wrote a letter to officials who help employ the workers, warning them not to say anything even "mildly" critical of unionization. He also suggested that a successful union drive would help boost legislative support for services for Oregonians with developmental disabilities. . Several officials who received the letter said it appeared Devlin tried to tip the scales in favor of the union's expansion.

Right To Work freedom = Prosperity

Right To Work freedom strongly linked to economic prosperity explains Vincent Vernuccio in his Townhall post: The NLRB’s complaint is in fact a back-handed compliment to right-to-work laws, because it is based on the assumption that right-to-work laws help attract businesses. The preponderance of the evidence favors that position. As Arthur B. Laffer and Stephen Moore recently noted in the Wall Street Journal, from 2000 to 2009 right-to-work states “grew faster in nearly every respect than their union-shop counterparts: 54.6% versus 41.1% in gross state product, 53.3% versus 40.6% in personal income, 11.9% versus 6.1% in population, and 4.1% versus -0.6% in payrolls.” A recent analysis by the office of Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) shows that right-to-work states created 1.3 million more jobs in the private sector, had 3.5 percent faster income growth, and 46 percent higher business growth than forced union states between 1993 and 2009. And, according to a recent National Right to Work Committee analysis of Department of Labor data, over the past 10 years, the top five states in creating new jobs are right-to-work states, while the bottom five are forced unionism states. Workers in right-to-work states also have more disposable income than those in forced unionism states. In right-to-work states, unions must demonstrate to workers that their service has value or they will refuse to join. As in other areas of the economy, competition makes providers of goods and services—in this case the representation services of labor organizations—more efficient and responsive.