A whistle-blower in Illinois contends that state union bosses forced government workers to attend a political rally with Nancy Pelosi and Jesse Jackson, Jr., the Daily Caller reports. According to the whistle-blower, 76 employees of an Illinois state agency were forced to engage…
Sylvia Bokor outlines the critical connection between the Right to Work and individual rights: The Right to Work clause came into existence in 1935, embedded in the Taft-Hartely Law. It means that (a) employees may not be forced to join a union, that (b) employers need not hire only those who agree to join a union, and (c) that employers need not fire employees for failing to join a union or pay union dues. What does this mean in dollars and cents? Consider one of the worse-case scenarios: the Nelson Index ranks New Mexico, a non-Right to Work state, below the national average. Recently, the Rio Grande Foundation published its study of the effect of Right to Work on business growth and increased personal income in New Mexico. The Foundation concluded that were New Mexico to become a Right to Work state, "[b]y 2020, New Mexico would have 42,300 more people working ... [and that] the state's personal income would be nearly $5 billion higher, and wage and salary income would be $2.2 billion higher." But why? Why does prohibiting the use of force have such a hugely beneficial effect on economic growth and prosperity? The National Institute of Labor Relations Research answers the question. Mr. Greer begins his article by correctly identifying the foundation of the Right to Work clause: "Big Labor propaganda against Right to Work legislation and laws rarely focuses on the principle at stake: freedom of association." Later he states: "... Right to Work laws are not merely or even primarily an economic development tool. Right to Work laws and legislation are really a matter of freedom, not economics." True. But go deeper still. Individual rights are the foundation of freedom. "Freedom is the absence of force." Without individual rights, freedom does not exist. To the extent one's rights are violated, to that extent is one's freedom is curtailed, ultimately to be destroyed altogether. By definition, individual rights include the assurance that no man may violate the rights of another with impunity. A culture permeated by freedom is a culture enjoying the essential condition for prosperity: protection and recognition of individual rights. Philosophically, the Right to Work clause is the recognition of man's right to think for himself, to make his own choices and decisions -- i.e., his right to life. Personal happiness fuels productivity. Prosperity results. So why do union bosses continue to block implementation of the RTW clause?
Union activists have collected enough signatures to force a statewide vote on the unionization of home health care workers — a scheme that ended earlier this year when the legislature and governor said no more. This effort will force unionization…
Fox All Star and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer discusses the meaning of the Wisconsin recall election and how taxpayers have finally had enough of Big Labor's power and pocketbook grabs while union bosses claimed mythical societal benefits arose from forced-dues: Tuesday, June 5, 2012, will be remembered as the beginning of the long decline of the public-sector union. It will follow, and parallel, the shrinking of private-sector unions, now down to less than 7 percent of American workers. The abject failure of the unions to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) — the first such failure in U.S. history — marks the Icarus moment of government-union power. Wax wings melted, there’s nowhere to go but down. The ultimate significance of Walker’s union reforms has been largely misunderstood. At first, the issue was curtailing outrageous union benefits, far beyond those of the ordinary Wisconsin taxpayer. That became a nonissue when the unions quickly realized that trying to defend the indefensible would render them toxic for the real fight to come. But as the recall campaign progressed, the Democrats stopped talking about bargaining rights. It was a losing issue. Walker was able to make the case that years of corrupt union-politician back-scratching had been bankrupting the state. The real threat behind all this, however, was that the new law ended automatic government collection of union dues. That was the unexpressed and politically inexpressible issue. That was the reason the unions finally decided to gamble on a high-risk recall. Without the thumb of the state tilting the scale by coerced collection, union membership became truly voluntary. Result? Newly freed members rushed for the exits. In less than one year, -AFSCME, the second-largest public-sector union in Wisconsin, has lost more than 50 percent of its membership.
There's freedom and religious freedom, but if either interfere with union bosses and dues collections-- well, kiss your Civil Rights goodbye. That is unless you have National Right To Work Legal Defense attorneys helping you ... From NRTW.org: Union Bosses Set Forest Fire Captain’s Religious Rights Ablaze Union officials and state play God with firefighter’s rights San Francisco, CA (May 21, 2012) – A California Department of Forestry fire captain has filed a religious discrimination charge against the California Department of Forestry Firefighters (CDFF) union for violating his statutory right to refrain from paying forced union dues to support a union hierarchy involved in activities he considers immoral. With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, Susanville firefighter John Valentich filed the charge against the CDFF union with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission located in San Francisco.
There's freedom and religious freedom, but if either interfere with union bosses and dues collections-- well, kiss your Civil Rights goodbye. That is unless you have National Right To Work Legal Defense attorneys helping you ... From NRTW.org: Union Bosses Set Forest Fire Captain’s Religious Rights Ablaze Union officials and state play God with firefighter’s rights San Francisco, CA (May 21, 2012) – A California Department of Forestry fire captain has filed a religious discrimination charge against the California Department of Forestry Firefighters (CDFF) union for violating his statutory right to refrain from paying forced union dues to support a union hierarchy involved in activities he considers immoral. With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, Susanville firefighter John Valentich filed the charge against the CDFF union with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission located in San Francisco.
From Stan Greer at the National Institute for Labor Relations Research: Indiana Performing Well in Job Growth Ball State University economist Michael Hicks: "Indiana just zoomed past the rest of the country in terms of job growth" during the first full month after its Right to Work law took effect. In the U.S.as a whole, the anemic private-sector employment growth of early 2012 got even more feeble last month, as the nation’s business payrolls barely increased by an estimated 0.1%, seasonally-adjusted. (See link) However, job seekers are faring far better in some regions of the country than in others. A notable example is America’s 23rd Right to Work state, Indiana. As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics first reported (see link) and as WIBC news radio in Indianapolis discussed early today, one out of every eight private-sector jobs created in the nation in April was “created in Indiana.” This is remarkable, because the Hoosier State is home to just 2.2% of America’s private-sector employees. Michael Hicks, an economist at Ball State University in Muncie and a frequently quoted analyst of the Indiana economy, is impressed: “We’ve seen good job growth over the last several months in Indiana but it looks like the nation as a whole was slowing down a bit. But last month Indiana just zoomed past the rest of the country in terms of job growth.” Previously, Dr. Hicks had been publicly skeptical about whether Indiana’s new Right to Work statute, which was adopted in early February and took effect in mid-March, would have much impact on job creation. He still insists its “too early to tell,” but now admits “it’s pretty difficult to say” the state’s sudden burst of private-sector payroll job growth in April, even as private-sector job creation nationwide practically ground to a halt, is not related to Indiana’s new ban on compulsory union dues and fees.
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."