Blogging for National Review Online late last week (see the link below), the Heritage Foundation’s James Sherk furnished an especially outrageous example of how Big Labor often wields its government-granted monopoly bargaining power in ways that hurt employees economically. Big…
Taking a lead from Indiana and Michigan, Pennsylvania is taking the preliminary steps to give Keystone State workers the Right to Work: Six GOP lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a proposal to make Pennsylvania, the “Keystone State,” the nation’s 25th right-to-work state. The…
The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and the felony conviction of the person(s) responsible for damages at the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting in Philadelphia.
The Washington Free Beacon reports on a new effort in the U.S. Congress to close the judicially-created loophole in the federal Hobbs Act that exempts from prosecution violence, threats and extortion perpetrated to secure so-called “legitimate union objectives.” National Right…
A new report highlights a striking example of Big Labor’s strength at the local government level: the states of Pennsylvania, California, Illinois and Nevada have all exempted unions from the state’s own anti-stalking laws, the Washington Examiner reports: The report, titled Sabotage, Stalking…
Union activists have littered a construction project in Philadelphia with bottles of urine because a new company had the audacity to hire non-union construction workers on a new development project. “We’re going to continue to embarrass the Pestronks [project owners] until they start doing the right thing for our community and our society, and that is pay fair wages and standards that have been established,” said Pat Gillespie, a boss in the Philadelphia Building and Trades Council. Of course, doing the "right thing" means filling the union's coffers. And, apparently, "the right thing for our community and our society" doesn't mean revitalizing a neighborhood as the construction project will do. A statement from the Pestronks' website: "Our dispute is solely with the organized extortion being carried out by the Building Trade Unions management. They are trying to force a majority of non-local workers onto our projects, and force us to pay a huge tax to sustain the Unions’ power structure. The unmatched public defamation of our company, harassment, bullying, vandalism, racism, property damage, and physical assault all add up to EXTORTION by the Philadelphia Building Trades Unions."
Union activists have littered a construction project in Philadelphia with bottles of urine because a new company had the audacity to hire non-union construction workers on a new development project. “We’re going to continue to embarrass the Pestronks [project owners] until they start doing the right thing for our community and our society, and that is pay fair wages and standards that have been established,” said Pat Gillespie, a boss in the Philadelphia Building and Trades Council. Of course, doing the "right thing" means filling the union's coffers. And, apparently, "the right thing for our community and our society" doesn't mean revitalizing a neighborhood as the construction project will do. A statement from the Pestronks' website: "Our dispute is solely with the organized extortion being carried out by the Building Trade Unions management. They are trying to force a majority of non-local workers onto our projects, and force us to pay a huge tax to sustain the Unions’ power structure. The unmatched public defamation of our company, harassment, bullying, vandalism, racism, property damage, and physical assault all add up to EXTORTION by the Philadelphia Building Trades Unions."
In Chief Executive Magazine's Best and Worst States for Business, all the top ten were from Right To Wok States. Unsurprisingly, Compulsory Unionism States took all bottom ten positions. States ranking from 1-10 are: Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Utah, Arizona. States ranked from the worst, 50-41: California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Hawaii. From the Chief Executive: 2012 Best & Worst States for business. Source: Chief Executive Magazine
Forced-dues continue to fill the coffers of unions, as well as, union presidents' and politicians' pockets according to this recent study by the Commonwealth Foundation: Government Unions and Forced Dues Almost half of government workers in Pennsylvania are union members, compared to 9.3 percent in the private sector. Pennsylvania is a forced union state, meaning that workers can be forced to join a union or pay a [so-called] "fair share fee" just to keep their job. Most government units in Pennsylvania are "agency shops," with a specified union to which workers must pay a fee. When state and local governments automatically deduct dues and fair share fees from government workers' paychecks—as is the practice in Pennsylvania—employees have little or no say in how their money is used. Union Bosses Union bosses collect hefty salaries derived from member dues and fair share fees. In most cases, the salaries are several times the average union member's annual pay. While acknowledging that budgets were tight, AFSCME Council 13 President David Fillman got a 6 percent raise in 2010, making his salary higher than Gov. Tom Corbett's. Dues and fees often go towards expensive conferences, outings and junkets. For example, in 2009-10 the Pennsylvania State Education Association—the state's largest public sector union—spent: More than $250,000 on a board of directors retreat in Gettysburg. More than $89,000 for a "political institution meeting" at the Radisson Penn Harris in Camp Hill, Pa. $20,000 for advertising in the Pittsburgh Steelers Yearbook. Almost $5,900 at Kimberton Golf Club and more than $5,100 at Concord Country Club in Chadd's Ford. Political Activity and Lobbying