Newsletters

June 4, 2011

Union Czar's Famous Boast Illuminates Today's State Fiscal Crises

'In a Sense,' We 'Elect Our Own Boss' (Source: May 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) An October 27, 1975 New York magazine feature article by journalist Ken Auletta examined the causes of the Big Apple's financial implosion that year. Three-and-a-half decades later, the article is still remembered for a remarkable quote from government union bigwig Victor Gotbaum. The then-head of the extraordinarily powerful, Manhattan-based District Council 37 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union had "recently remarked," the story reported: "We have the ability, in a sense, to elect our own boss." Mr. Gotbaum was alluding to the fact that, in jurisdictions like New York, where union monopoly bargaining over the pay, benefits, and working conditions of public servants is authorized by law, union bosses negotiate with government officials over such issues. At the same time, government union chiefs funnel a huge portion of the (often compulsory) dues and fees they collect from unionized workers into efforts to influence the outcomes of local and state elections. And the outcomes of those elections often determine who represents the public at the bargaining table. "In city after city and state after state, union bosses wield their privilege to force public employees to pay union dues, or be fired, to amass huge war chests, with which they support and oppose candidates for public office," explained National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix. "Big Labor thus determines who sits on one side of the bargaining table, and heavily influences who sits on the other. It is a terrible conflict of interest, which Victor Gotbaum plainly recognized, even as he bragged about it.

June 4, 2011

Union Czar's Famous Boast Illuminates Today's State Fiscal Crises

'In a Sense,' We 'Elect Our Own Boss' (Source: May 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) An October 27, 1975 New York magazine feature article by journalist Ken Auletta examined the causes of the Big Apple's financial implosion that year. Three-and-a-half decades later, the article is still remembered for a remarkable quote from government union bigwig Victor Gotbaum. The then-head of the extraordinarily powerful, Manhattan-based District Council 37 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union had "recently remarked," the story reported: "We have the ability, in a sense, to elect our own boss." Mr. Gotbaum was alluding to the fact that, in jurisdictions like New York, where union monopoly bargaining over the pay, benefits, and working conditions of public servants is authorized by law, union bosses negotiate with government officials over such issues. At the same time, government union chiefs funnel a huge portion of the (often compulsory) dues and fees they collect from unionized workers into efforts to influence the outcomes of local and state elections. And the outcomes of those elections often determine who represents the public at the bargaining table. "In city after city and state after state, union bosses wield their privilege to force public employees to pay union dues, or be fired, to amass huge war chests, with which they support and oppose candidates for public office," explained National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix. "Big Labor thus determines who sits on one side of the bargaining table, and heavily influences who sits on the other. It is a terrible conflict of interest, which Victor Gotbaum plainly recognized, even as he bragged about it.

June 3, 2011

Recent Right to Work Victories Under Fire

Big Labor Blitzes For Compulsory Unionism in Wisconsin and Ohio (Source: May 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Since the 1960's, Big Labor lobbyists in 21 states have successfully pressured elected officials to pass statutes explicitly authorizing union bosses to get independent-minded public servants fired for refusal to pay dues or fees to a union the employees would never voluntarily join. Until this year, despite the growing success of the Right to Work movement with regard to the private sector, not a single state legislature had ever revoked government union bosses' forced-dues privileges after previously granting them by statute. But this March two states, Wisconsin and Ohio, made history by restoring the Right to Work of public servants. Over ferocious and sometimes menacing Big Labor opposition, Badger State legislators approved, and GOP Gov. Scott Walker signed into law, S.B.11. Key provisions in this law abolish all forced union dues and fees for teachers and many other public employees. Unfortunately, it leaves public-safety officers unprotected. The Buckeye State reform, which union militants opposed with nearly equal bitterness but considerably less media attention, includes provisions protecting the Right to Work of all categories of state and local government employees, including public-safety officers. This law, signed by GOP Gov. John Kasich, is still commonly referred to by its legislative bill number, S.B.5. National Right to Work Helped Mobilize Public Support For Reforms

May 28, 2011

Obama Bureaucrat Tells Boeing Where to Expand

Company Prodded to Abandon New Aircraft Plant in Right Work State (Source: May 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) To a rational observer, it's obvious that the antics of the strike-happy union bosses at Boeing's West Coast facilities over the past few decades have been detrimental to the interests of the aerospace company's rank-and-file domestic employees as well as its shareholders. Since 1975, International Association of Machinists (IAM/AFL-CIO) union bosses have ordered employees at Boeing's Washington State and Oregon facilities out on strike five times. The most recent strike, in 2008, lasted 58 days and cost the company $1.8 billion. In a highly competitive, globalized industry like aircraft production, such costly labor stoppages put Boeing jobs at risk. The potential harm to workers is far greater than any economic gain they could possibly reap from a strike. Obama NLRB's Top Lawyer: Sensible Business Decision Driven by 'Anti-Union Animus'

May 27, 2011

Obama Labor Department: A School For Scandal

Union Consultant Charged With Overseeing Union Financial Reports (Source: May 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) On his first full day as U.S. President, Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13490, otherwise known as the Ethics Executive Order. Under E.O.13490, presidential appointees are required to sign a pledge affirming that, for two years after the day they are appointed, they will not "participate in any particular matter involving a specific party that includes a former employer or former client." "Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," Mr. Obama vowed. Unfortunately, almost from the day E.O.13490 was first issued, the Obama Administration has repeatedly ignored its letter as well as its spirit when it comes to appointees whose job is to oversee and regulate labor unions. Thousands of Union Bosses to Be Exempted From Disclosing Any Conflicts of Interest Last month, the National Right to Work Committee issued a report on one of the most egregious examples of an Obama appointee making policies that clearly benefit his former union-boss clients: John Lund, now the director of the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). Mr. Lund is a former employee of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE/AFL-CIO). And he is currently on unpaid leave from the Madison-based University of Wisconsin School for Workers, of which the AFL-CIO and many other unions, as well as many union benefit funds, are clients. But now Mr. Lund is responsible for overseeing federally-mandated union financial disclosures and criminal investigations regarding union financial irregularities and embezzlement!

May 23, 2011

Can Big Labor Governor’s Veto Be Overridden?

New Hampshire Battles to Become the 23rd Right to Work State -- New Hampshire's pro-Right to Work House speaker, William O'Brien (R-Mont Vernon), has vowed to make a strong push to secure enough votes in his chamber to override an all-but-inevitable veto of H.B.474. Time was when New Hampshire had the reputation, largely justified, of being an island of brisk economic expansion among the generally slow-growing New England states.

May 1, 2011

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels Sabotages Right to Work Law

(Source: March 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) In Contrast, Maine Governor Stands Up For His Avowed Principles Eight years ago, Indiana citizens who were determined to free themselves and their fellow Hoosiers from the shackles of compulsory unionism launched what they knew from the beginning would be a sustained, and often difficult, effort to pass a state Right to Work law. Ever since then, the organization these citizens put into high-gear in 2003, the Indiana Right to Work Committee, has mobilized an ever-loudening drumbeat of support for employee freedom. Over the course of the ongoing campaign, the Indianapolis-based Right to Work group has benefited from the counsel and experience of the National Right to Work Committee. And National Committee members and supporters who live in the Hoosier State, roughly 119,000 strong and growing in number year after year, have been the bulwark of the Indiana Right to Work campaign. Stubborn Opposition to Right To Work Has Ended Long Political Careers in Indiana In the 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010 state election cycles, pro-Right to Work Hoosiers sent thousands upon thousands of postcards, letters, and e-mail messages to their legislative candidates urging them to oppose forced unionism. Right to Work activists also reinforced the point with phone calls and personal visits. Since the Indiana Committee emerged as a major statewide citizens lobby, many politicians who once rode the fence have decided to take a stand in favor of Right to Work. Other politicians who stubbornly continued to carry water for, or at least appease, Big Labor have gone down to defeat. For example, in early 2005, then-Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton (R-Columbus) told National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix that Right to Work legislation wouldn't get a floor vote in his chamber as long as he held his leadership position. In 2006, Mr. Garton, a 36-year incumbent and the longest serving Senate pro tem in American history, was defeated by primary challenger Greg Walker, an underfunded political novice. A critical asset Mr. Walker did have going for him was his 100% support for Right to Work. That same year, 26-year state Rep. Mary Kay Budak (R-LaPorte) was ousted in a primary upset by pro-Right to Work challenger Tom Dermody. A few months earlier, Ms. Budak had been one of the minority of House Republicans who voted with Big Labor to defeat an amendment that would have made Indiana a Right to Work state.

April 29, 2011

April 2011 issue of The National Right To Work Committee Newsletter now available

The April 2011 issue of The National Right to Work Committee Newsletter is available for download in an Adobe pdf format for your convenience to read and share.

April 23, 2011

Young Employees Thrive in Right to Work States

(Source: March 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Millions Have 'Voted With Their Feet' For Better Opportunities For a combination of reasons, nationwide the number of young adults aged 25-34 is growing far more slowly than is the number of Americans aged 55 and older. In 1999, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 37.94 million people aged 25-34 living in the U.S. By 2009, there were 41.57 million people nationwide in that age bracket. That's a 9.6% increase. Over the same decade, the number of Americans aged 55 and older soared from 57.93 million to 74.36 million, a whopping 28.4% increase! The nationwide decline in young employees' population share, relative to that of Americans nearing or in their retirement years, is obviously an impediment to economic growth. Eleven Non-Right to Work  States Suffered Young-Adult Population Declines

April 2, 2011

Capitol Hill Showdown Looms Over TSA Takeover Bid

(Source: March 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Committee Calls on U.S. House Leaders to Block Union Power Grab On February 4, President Barack Obama's handpicked head of the Transportation Security Administration publicly announced he would help government union bosses grab monopoly-bargaining control over more than 40,000 airport screeners and other TSA employees. John Pistole, who was sworn in as TSA chief in July 2010, made the move shortly after Republican John Boehner (Ohio) replaced Big Labor Democrat Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) as speaker of the U.S. House. The changing of the guard at the House made it impossible, in all probability, for union lobbyists to ram through Congress legislation mandating union monopoly bargaining at the TSA. Therefore, in order for the Obama Administration to hand federal union officials what they wanted, Mr. Pistole had to act administratively. Agency Would Likely Become 'Less Efficient and Flexible' As a consequence of the Pistole edict, the honchos of one of two large government unions, either the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) or the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), could grab so-called "exclusive" representation power at the TSA within the next few weeks. If this happens, the already much-reviled federal agency will likely become even "less efficient and flexible," as National Review Associate Editor Robert Verbruggen pointed out in a February 11 commentary.

March 30, 2011

March 2011 issue of The National Right To Work Committee Newsletter now available

The March 2011 issue of The National Right to Work Committee Newsletter is available for download in an Adobe pdf format for your convenience to read and share. It is the Committee’s official newsletter publication that provides an excellent monthly…

March 28, 2011

Congress Nearly Federalized the Mess in Madison

(Source: March 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Time For Politicians in Both Parties to Own Up to Their Mistakes In late February, many concerned Americans in other states were paying close attention to the fierce, and still unresolved, battle over public-sector union monopoly bargaining in Wisconsin. Many observing the Madison showdown from their homes inwere undoubtedly amazed by what they saw. These five states, like roughly a dozen others, have no statutes on the books empowering government union officials to act as state and local public employees' monopoly-bargaining agents. When elected officials in such states make a judgment that a reform in public-employee compensation packages and work rules is necessary and can be prudently implemented to give taxpayers a better return on their money, they have the power to proceed. It is then up to the voting public to judge whether the reform was a good idea or not. In Wisconsin, however, like in other states which statutorily mandate union monopoly bargaining over public employee pay, benefits, and working conditions, elected officials from the governor on down have far less control over the roughly 50% of public expenditures that go into employee compensation. In the Badger State, half of state and local government employees are unionized. Elected officials and their appointees cannot make any significant changes in the way these employees are compensated or in how they are instructed to do their jobs without government union bosses' approval. Today, millions of Americans whose state and local governments operate free from Big Labor constraints appreciate, after watching the bitter struggle in Wisconsin unfold, better than ever before the importance of keeping union monopolists out of the government workplace. Only Intense Right to Work Lobbying Blocked Monopoly-Bargaining Bill What most freedom-loving Virginians, North Carolinians and Texans probably don't realize is that, just last year, the U.S. Congress came within a hair of taking away their prerogative to decide how their state and local government workplaces are run. At the outset of the 2009-2010 Congress, the votes were there to pass the so-called "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act" in both the House and the Senate. Furthermore, President Obama was publicly vowing to sign this legislation as soon as it reached his desk. This measure, more accurately labeled the "Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill," would have foisted Wisconsin-style labor relations on state and local public-safety departments in all 50 states.

March 28, 2011

President Obama Eggs on Big Labor Lawbreakers

(Source: March 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Labels Proposed Rollback of Union Monopoly Powers As an 'Assault' As the cover story of this Right to Work Newsletter edition reports, last month Wisconsin teacher union bosses encouraged educators in Madison, Milwaukee, and other school districts to strike illegally in order to participate in protests against GOP Gov. Scott Walker's monopoly-bargaining rollback proposal. Most teachers rejected union bosses' exhortations and reported for their jobs. However, the number of teachers who heeded the siren call of union militancy was sufficient to force multiple school districts, including Milwaukee's, to cancel classes. Madison's schools were closed for a total of four days. Many of the striking union militants, convinced that they should be paid for protesting rather than carrying out their assigned duties, collected phony "sick notes" from pro-forced unionism doctors. Wisconsin taxpayers may have to furnish these outlaw teachers with up to $6 million in "sick pay" for work they were perfectly capable of performing, but chose not to. Wisconsites quoted in media reports, including some who are normally sympathetic to Big Labor, are outraged by the actions of a relatively small share of Badger State teachers (in Milwaukee, for example, just a few more than 600 out of 5,400 teachers joined in the union-instigated "sickout"). Former Union Czar Andy Stern: President's Statement 'Helped Enormously' Even as they were losing the good will of the people of Wisconsin, however, teacher union zealots and thousands of other government union radicals who joined in their wildcat strikes got a "thumbs up" from the White House. On February 17, the second day of illegal teacher strikes, President Obama took the extraordinary step of inviting a reporter and camera crew from a Milwaukee TV station to sit down with him at the White House for an interview. Mr. Obama suggested he was okay with the portions of Gov. Walker's reform package that authorize public agencies to divert a significantly higher share of employees' wages and salaries into their health care and pension plans, and thus reduce taxpayers' total compensation liabilities. At the same time, the President blasted the provision that would, for the first time in decades, restore for most Wisconsin public employees the Right to Work without being fired for refusal to pay dues or fees to an unwanted union.

March 19, 2011

Big Labor Disdained 'Alleged Religious Beliefs'

(Source: February 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Unjust Firing Helped Make Frank Partin a Right to Work Leader There are many paths to becoming a leader in the Right to Work movement. Frank Partin's was an unusually difficult one. In 1973, Mr. Partin was working for Philco-Ford at the New Hampshire Satellite Tracking Station in New Boston, when the facility was targeted by International Association of Machinists (IAM/AFL-CIO) union organizers. Mr. Partin’s Efforts to Keep His Job Honorably Ran Into Big Labor Wall The Big Labor campaign soon succeeded, and in short order IAM officials obtained from Philco-Ford a forced-unionism contract with a clause requiring the termination of any employee who refused to become and remain "a member in good standing of the Union" once the contract had been in effect for 30 days. Mr. Partin's problem was not simply that he didn't want to join the IAM union, but that he couldn't do so without compromising his faith in God. He was then, and remained for the rest of his life, a member of the Church of the Kingdom, a Christian denomination that teaches, as a matter of doctrine based on its understanding of the Bible, that no member may belong to, join, or participate in any labor union. But Frank Partin still hoped, for a time, that IAM officials would accept an alternative arrangement he proposed and thus allow him to keep his job without going against the doctrine of his faith. 'We Have No Alternative But to Process Your Termination' In a letter to the secretary-treasurer of his IAM local, Mr. Partin offered to "donate to the union the equivalent of initiation fees and monthly union dues if it was understood I was not a member of the union, and the union in turn donated that amount to a bona fide charitable organization." IAM Local 2503 Secretary-Treasurer Dwight Mercer was unmoved. Even a signed affidavit from Mr. Partin's pastor certifying that he was a member of the Church of the Kingdom and could not remain one if he joined or participated in a labor union did not cause Mr. Mercer to budge. In an icy letter, dated March 19, 1973, Mr. Mercer sneered that Mr. Partin's "current alleged religious beliefs" did not give him any protection from forced payment of a union initiation fee and full monthly dues. And IAM bosses would spend the conscripted money exactly as they wanted. Frank Partin refused to compromise his faith in the way the IAM hierarchy demanded. Consequently, on March 28, 1973, he received a letter from Philco-Ford stating that, in accordance with Article II of the union contract (the forced-unionism clause), "we have no alternative but to process your termination as soon as possible." 'He Was the Kind of Guy Who Really Loved Life' Subscribe to The National Right to Work Committee® Website Updates by Email

March 19, 2011

Big Labor Disdained 'Alleged Religious Beliefs'

(Source: February 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Unjust Firing Helped Make Frank Partin a Right to Work Leader There are many paths to becoming a leader in the Right to Work movement. Frank Partin's was an unusually difficult one. In 1973, Mr. Partin was working for Philco-Ford at the New Hampshire Satellite Tracking Station in New Boston, when the facility was targeted by International Association of Machinists (IAM/AFL-CIO) union organizers. Mr. Partin’s Efforts to Keep His Job Honorably Ran Into Big Labor Wall The Big Labor campaign soon succeeded, and in short order IAM officials obtained from Philco-Ford a forced-unionism contract with a clause requiring the termination of any employee who refused to become and remain "a member in good standing of the Union" once the contract had been in effect for 30 days. Mr. Partin's problem was not simply that he didn't want to join the IAM union, but that he couldn't do so without compromising his faith in God. He was then, and remained for the rest of his life, a member of the Church of the Kingdom, a Christian denomination that teaches, as a matter of doctrine based on its understanding of the Bible, that no member may belong to, join, or participate in any labor union. But Frank Partin still hoped, for a time, that IAM officials would accept an alternative arrangement he proposed and thus allow him to keep his job without going against the doctrine of his faith. 'We Have No Alternative But to Process Your Termination' In a letter to the secretary-treasurer of his IAM local, Mr. Partin offered to "donate to the union the equivalent of initiation fees and monthly union dues if it was understood I was not a member of the union, and the union in turn donated that amount to a bona fide charitable organization." IAM Local 2503 Secretary-Treasurer Dwight Mercer was unmoved. Even a signed affidavit from Mr. Partin's pastor certifying that he was a member of the Church of the Kingdom and could not remain one if he joined or participated in a labor union did not cause Mr. Mercer to budge. In an icy letter, dated March 19, 1973, Mr. Mercer sneered that Mr. Partin's "current alleged religious beliefs" did not give him any protection from forced payment of a union initiation fee and full monthly dues. And IAM bosses would spend the conscripted money exactly as they wanted. Frank Partin refused to compromise his faith in the way the IAM hierarchy demanded. Consequently, on March 28, 1973, he received a letter from Philco-Ford stating that, in accordance with Article II of the union contract (the forced-unionism clause), "we have no alternative but to process your termination as soon as possible." 'He Was the Kind of Guy Who Really Loved Life' Subscribe to The National Right to Work Committee® Website Updates by Email

March 19, 2011

Right to Work on the March in Statehouses

Subscribe to The National Right to Work Committee® Website Updates by Email (Source: February 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Economic Reality Puts Compulsory-Unionism Apologists on Defensive In a hand-wringing January 21 commentary for the leftist Huffington Post, international Teamster chieftain Jim Hoffa joined the ranks of prominent union officials bemoaning the recent introduction of legislation prohibiting forced union dues and fees in state capitols across America. Mr. Hoffa called on his militant followers to "fight like h***" against what he called "dangerous attacks." In reality, of course, the Right to Work measures he decried would do nothing more than prohibit firing or denying a job to an employee simply because he or she refuses to join or bankroll an unwanted union. Echoing the rhetoric of his late father Jimmy Hoffa, who filled out his last four years as Teamster czar while serving a federal prison term for jury tampering, attempted bribery and fraud, Mr. Hoffa proffered a conspiracy theory about why Right to Work legislation is being considered in so many states this year. "A coordinated network of think tanks, business groups, [and other organizations] has for years been working toward passing these right-to-work … laws. Leading the charge is National Right to Work," he fumed.

March 13, 2011

Indy Star OpEd: Union Bosses Distort Right To Work Facts

Subscribe to The National Right to Work Committee® by Email (Source: February 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Regular observers of the Hoosier Capitol in Indianapolis report there is a strong possibility state legislators will soon vote on legislation protecting the individual employee's freedom to join or bankroll a union, or refuse to do either, without being fired as a consequence. Even before the new legislature convened, Rep. Wes Culver, R-Goshen, introduced House Bill 1028, which would prohibit forcing employees to join or pay dues or fees to a union as a condition of employment, thus making Indiana America's 23rd right-to-work state. Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, and Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury, have also introduced right-to-work legislation. Not surprisingly, it angers Big Labor that Indiana elected officials may soon seriously consider stripping the state's union officials of their government-granted privilege to force employees, including union members and nonmembers alike, to pay tribute to their union monopoly-bargaining agent just to keep their jobs. In their anger, union bosses are displaying a near-total disregard for the facts. In one remarkable example, the hierarchy of the Indiana AFL-CIO has posted on its website a screed insisting state right-to-work legislation is not necessary, because "federal law already protects workers who don't want to join a union to get or keep their jobs." In reality, federal law specifically authorizes union contracts forcing workers who don't want to join a union to pay dues or fees that can be as high as full union dues, or be fired from their jobs. Technically, such workers haven't "joined" the union. But how significant is that?

March 1, 2011

'Wrongful Use of…Violence and Fear'

(Source: February 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Subscribe to The National Right to Work Committee® by Email Latest Indictments Show Mob Retains Grip on Several Major Unions Just last September, Tommy Leonardis, president of the Newark-based Local 1235 of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), attended a hearing at the New Jersey Capitol in Trenton to protest a state program targeting Organized Crime in the New York harbor region. Mr. Leonardis insisted Mafia infiltration of the ILA and the waterfront was a thing of the past, grumbling that the program unfairly "tars the industry as mob-influenced." But last month, a federal grand jury issued an 82-page indictment charging that it is in reality ILA union bosses like Mr. Leonardis who continue to blacken the reputation of the New Jersey waterfront. The indictment accuses Mr. Leonardis, along with former Local 1235 Presidents Albert Cernadas and Vincent Aulisi, the latter's son Eddie, and Nuncio LaGrasso, vice president of another Newark-based ILA local, as well as other conspirators, of running an extortion operation in which unionized workers were the principal victims. Specifically, Mr. Leonardis and other conspirators "agreed to obtain property of ILA members, that is: money belonging to ILA union members, with their consent, which consent was to be induced by wrongful use of actual and threatened force, violence and fear." One especially egregious form of extortion of which several ILA union-boss defendants are accused is the collection of "Christmas tribute" money from dockworkers after they received year-end bonuses. This tribute was allegedly funneled into Genovese Crime Family coffers as well as ILA chieftains' pockets. A Foreman Who Protests Shakedowns May Need 'to Be Physically Assaulted’ Federal prosecutors' January 20 arrests of half-a-dozen current and former ILA officials and their cohorts were only part of a larger takedown that day. Also indicted was Ralph Scopo Jr., the former president of Local 6A of the New York Cement and Concrete Workers union. This local is affiliated with the notorious Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA). The indictment in which Mr. Scopo is named alleges that he and his son, Ralph III, current union president and an unindicted coconspirator, have run Local 6A as a front for the Colombo Crime Family. Among the favors done by Local 6A kingpins for the Colombos was the "coffee boy" scam. In this shakedown, occurring at every 6A-controlled job site, workers were forced to buy all their lunches, snacks and drinks from a mob-selected vendor who kicked back $250 a week to the Colombos. When one foreman protested such extortion, Ralph Jr. escorted him to a meeting with Colombo captain Dino Calabro and Ralph III. According to the indictment, during the meeting Ralph Jr. explained to Mr. Calabro that he had brought along Ralph III in case the foreman "needed to be physically assaulted." Forced Unionism Culpable For 'Almost Every Antisocial Aspect in Labor Relations' "The ILA’s New Jersey locals and LIUNA Local 6A are representative of many other union operations that have remained crooked, decade after decade, despite multiple crackdowns by law enforcement," noted National Right to Work Committee Vice President Matthew Leen.