Newsletters

August 23, 2010

Why Are Oakland Burglars Breathing Easier?

Police Chief Anthony Batts to Oaklanders: If your home is burglarized, don't call us. Credit: AP (Source: August 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Public-Safety Union Monopoly Undercuts California Law Enforcement On Tuesday, July 13, Oakland, Calif., became a friendlier place for burglars, embezzlers, car thieves, bad-check passers, extortionists, and an array of other criminals. That afternoon, Oakland, a major West Coast port city with roughly 400,000 residents, laid off 80 police officers, or 10% of its force, to help eliminate a budget deficit of over $30 million. In response, the city police department implemented a new policy in which officers aren't being dispatched to take reports for 44 "lower priority" crimes. Oaklanders whose homes or vehicles are burglarized must now go online or visit a police station to file reports. However, the police department warns them that, even if they do: "There will be no follow-up investigation, and the primary reason for filing the report is for

August 20, 2010

Committee Members Actions Trip Up Government Union Sneak Play

(Source: August 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Public-Safety Forced Unionism Still High on Capitol Hill Agenda The American people do not support Big Labor's legislative scheme to establish a new federal mandate imposing union "exclusive representation" (monopoly bargaining) over state and local police, firefighters, and other public-safety employees nationwide. And powerful union-label politicians like U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) know this public-safety scheme (H.R.413/S.3194) is unpopular. That's why they have repeatedly tried to sneak it through Congress. Most recently, in June, Ms. Pelosi and her top lieutenants cut a deal with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other union bigwigs to attach H.R.413, the House version of the Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill, to a massive spending bill that provides funding for U.S. troops. International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) union boss Harold Schaitberger openly admitted to helping concoct the scheme to tack H.R.413 on to H.R.4899, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Supplemental Appropriations Act, in a June 30 message to officers of his union subsidiaries. Early last month, the National Right to Work Committee obtained a copy of Mr. Schaitberger's communication. Firefighters Union Chief 'Argued Strongly' For War Supplemental Strategy Mr. Schaitberger reported that he had "argued strongly" for attaching H.R.413 "to the War Supplemental funding proposal for our troops in Afghanistan." The backroom deal between House leaders and the union hierarchy allowed the public-safety forced-unionism measure to come to the floor so quickly that Right to Work members and their allies had virtually no time to mobilize for the vote.

August 1, 2010

August 2010 National Right to Work Newsletter Summary

Go here to find a pdf version of the August 2010 National Right to Work Newsletter.

July 27, 2010

Pot of Compulsory Dues For Big Labor?

California Union Bosses, Marijuana Dealers Embark on Joint Effort (Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) From 1999 through 2009, the U.S. population increased by nearly 28 million. And, as dietary scolds often remind us, the average American is eating more all the time. Since 1996, purveyors of "medical" marijuana have generally been able to ply their trade in California without worrying about the cops. But now forced dues-hungry UFCW union bosses are hot on their trail! Credit: Monkey Muck blog Nevertheless, the number of U.S. grocery workers under union monopoly-bargaining control fell sharply over the past decade -- from 666,000 to 531,000, or 20%, according to the respected, Washington, D.C.-based Bureau of National Affairs. How could the empire of grocery (overwhelmingly, United Food and Commercial Workers, or UFCW)

July 23, 2010

Slow Learner vs. 'Never Learner' in Bay State?

In Traditional Big Labor Stronghold, Union-Only PLA's Under Fire (Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) If you want to make a Massachusetts taxpayer shudder, just say the words "Big Dig." Onetime "Big Dig" enthusiast Charlie Baker is touting his opposition to union-only PLA boondoggles as he campaigns for the Massachusetts governorship this year. Bay State voters may conclude: "Better late than never!" Credit: John Tlumacki/Boston Globe For years now, the "Big Dig," officially referred to as the Central/Artery Tunnel Project, has been widely recognized as a poorly constructed, extraordinarily expensive boondoggle. The "Big Dig" tunnel system was conceived in the 1970's to replace Boston's aging elevated six-lane Central Artery and improve access to Logan Airport and Boston Harbor. In 1987, Congress voted to furnish federal taxpayer funds, and ground was first broken in 1991. To the dismay of independent construction employees and firms and Right to Work advocates, Massachusetts politicians announced that the "Big Dig" would be subject to a union-only "project labor agreement" (PLA). Construction firm owners who wished to bid on the project, whether unionized or union-free,

July 23, 2010

Slow Learner vs. 'Never Learner' in Bay State?

In Traditional Big Labor Stronghold, Union-Only PLA's Under Fire (Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) If you want to make a Massachusetts taxpayer shudder, just say the words "Big Dig." Onetime "Big Dig" enthusiast Charlie Baker is touting his opposition to union-only PLA boondoggles as he campaigns for the Massachusetts governorship this year. Bay State voters may conclude: "Better late than never!" Credit: John Tlumacki/Boston Globe For years now, the "Big Dig," officially referred to as the Central/Artery Tunnel Project, has been widely recognized as a poorly constructed, extraordinarily expensive boondoggle. The "Big Dig" tunnel system was conceived in the 1970's to replace Boston's aging elevated six-lane Central Artery and improve access to Logan Airport and Boston Harbor. In 1987, Congress voted to furnish federal taxpayer funds, and ground was first broken in 1991. To the dismay of independent construction employees and firms and Right to Work advocates, Massachusetts politicians announced that the "Big Dig" would be subject to a union-only "project labor agreement" (PLA). Construction firm owners who wished to bid on the project, whether unionized or union-free,

July 22, 2010

Big Labor Propagandists Refute Themselves

Union-Label Academics Inadvertently Scrub Excuse For Forced Dues Union bosses like AFL-CIO czar Richard Trumka and Service Employees International Union czarina Mary Kay Henry have long cited a bogus rationale for forced union dues. Now even Big Labor admits it's phony. (Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Under both federal and state law, union officials have always had the option to negotiate "members-only" contracts with employers that do not affect the terms of employment of workers who do not wish to join or pay dues to a union. But from the early 1960's until recently, Big Labor rarely if ever tried to exercise its members-only option. Current Law Authorizes Monopolistic Unionism Instead, union organizers have focused their efforts on imposing monopoly bargaining on all the employees in a so-called "bargaining unit." (The National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, vaguely defines a "bargaining unit" as "a group of two or more employees who share a 'community of interest' and may reasonably be grouped together for collective bargaining purposes.") Monopoly bargaining in the private sector is authorized and promoted by both the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Railway Labor Act (RLA), and in the public sector by numerous state laws. Under monopoly bargaining, employees lose the individual right to bargain for themselves

July 16, 2010

Obama Labor Bureaucrats to Bypass Congress?

'Electronic' Voting Would Facilitate 'Card Check'-Style Abuses Three of the four current NLRB members who were appointed or reappointed by President Obama are veteran union lawyers. All three are expected to vote in lock-step to expand Big Labor's forced-unionism privileges. (Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Since the beginning of 2009, Big Labor has had a cheerleader in the Oval Office. At the same time, ample majorities of both chambers of the U.S. Congress have been willing to vote for virtually any power grab sought by union officials, as long as they could do so without running into intense, across-the-board constituent opposition. Consequently, top union bosses have expected to see enacted in the current Congress legislation that would help them sharply increase the share of all private-sector workers who are under union monopoly-bargaining control. Their original vehicle for achieving this objective was S.560/H.R.1409, the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act." Sponsored by union-label Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.), S.560/H.R.1409 would grease the skids for Big Labor workplace takeovers in several ways. Most famously, it would effectively end secret-ballot elections in union organizing drives, replacing them with so-called "card checks." That means, if S.560/H.R.1409 became law, union organizers would have far more

July 12, 2010

'Big Labor Picked the Wrong Guy to Bully'

ROTC Instructor Wins Small Victory Over Teacher Union Bosses (Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) According to the most recent available federal data, there are roughly 73,000 public elementary and secondary schoolteachers in Massachusetts. Reportedly, more than 99% of these educators must allow the agents of a single teacher union to negotiate with their employer over matters of pay, benefits and working conditions if they wish to continue working at a public school. And the vast majority of Bay State teachers under union monopoly bargaining are also compelled to fork over dues or fees to their "exclusive" union bargaining agent, or be fired. However, as they recently demonstrated, top bosses of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA/NEA) union and its affiliates aren't content with extracting forced union dues and fees from the vast majority of teachers in the state. The fact that even one teacher is working in a public school without paying tribute is enough to set them off. For 14 years, retired U.S. Marine Maj. Stephen Godin has vexed the bosses of the MTA-affiliated Education Association of Worcester (EAW) union by serving as a junior ROTC instructor at North High School without paying them for the privilege.

July 12, 2010

'Big Labor Picked the Wrong Guy to Bully'

ROTC Instructor Wins Small Victory Over Teacher Union Bosses (Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) According to the most recent available federal data, there are roughly 73,000 public elementary and secondary schoolteachers in Massachusetts. Reportedly, more than 99% of these educators must allow the agents of a single teacher union to negotiate with their employer over matters of pay, benefits and working conditions if they wish to continue working at a public school. And the vast majority of Bay State teachers under union monopoly bargaining are also compelled to fork over dues or fees to their "exclusive" union bargaining agent, or be fired. However, as they recently demonstrated, top bosses of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA/NEA) union and its affiliates aren't content with extracting forced union dues and fees from the vast majority of teachers in the state. The fact that even one teacher is working in a public school without paying tribute is enough to set them off. For 14 years, retired U.S. Marine Maj. Stephen Godin has vexed the bosses of the MTA-affiliated Education Association of Worcester (EAW) union by serving as a junior ROTC instructor at North High School without paying them for the privilege.

July 12, 2010

July 2010 Issue of The National Right To Work Committee Newsletter Now Available Online

The July 2010 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…

June 27, 2010

Business 'Raspberries' For Compulsory Unionism

Protecting the Right to Work Improves Overall Job Climate (Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Early this year, Chief Executive magazine asked 651 CEOs from around the country to grade all 50 states and the District of Columbia in three general categories that businesses invariably consider when they are contemplating where to make job-creating investments. As Chief Executive's editors note, the business leaders were asked to "draw upon their direct experience" to rate each state for a) taxation and regulation, (b) quality of workforce, and (c) living environment. In its May/June issue, Chief Executive published the survey results. They indicate that, in the wake of the severe 2008-2009 recession, state Right to Work laws may be even more critical for private-sector job and income growth than they were in the generally favorable national economic climate of 1982-2007. Overwhelmingly, the CEOs judged that, in Right to Work states, employees have superior work ethics, real estate costs are relatively low, and public officials have a much more positive attitude toward business. Every one of the seven states with the highest overall rankings has a Right to Work law prohibiting the firing of employees for refusal to pay dues or fees to an unwanted union. Nine of the top 10 states are Right to Work states. Thirteen of the top 15 are Right to Work states.

June 27, 2010

Business 'Raspberries' For Compulsory Unionism

Protecting the Right to Work Improves Overall Job Climate (Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Early this year, Chief Executive magazine asked 651 CEOs from around the country to grade all 50 states and the District of Columbia in three general categories that businesses invariably consider when they are contemplating where to make job-creating investments. As Chief Executive's editors note, the business leaders were asked to "draw upon their direct experience" to rate each state for a) taxation and regulation, (b) quality of workforce, and (c) living environment. In its May/June issue, Chief Executive published the survey results. They indicate that, in the wake of the severe 2008-2009 recession, state Right to Work laws may be even more critical for private-sector job and income growth than they were in the generally favorable national economic climate of 1982-2007. Overwhelmingly, the CEOs judged that, in Right to Work states, employees have superior work ethics, real estate costs are relatively low, and public officials have a much more positive attitude toward business. Every one of the seven states with the highest overall rankings has a Right to Work law prohibiting the firing of employees for refusal to pay dues or fees to an unwanted union. Nine of the top 10 states are Right to Work states. Thirteen of the top 15 are Right to Work states.

June 22, 2010

'Mandatory Union Membership' Is PLA's Purpose

Committee President Mark Mix: The Right to Work movement and its allies are challenging President Obama’s 2009 executive order promoting union-only "project labor agreements" on federal taxpayer-funded public works. (Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Ohio Town Council Cuts Through Big Labor/White House Fog  Marietta, which has only about 15,000 residents, but enjoys a place of honor as the oldest city of any size in Ohio, is located more than 230 miles outside the Washington, D.C., Beltway.  And from the vantage point of Marietta's community building at Lookout Park, where the town council considered adoption of a so-called "project labor agreement" (PLA) on May 13, it appears to be far easier to see and state the obvious than it is at the White House or on Capitol Hill.  This spring, building trades union bosses lobbied furiously to convince the council's seven members to impose a Big Labor PLA on employees and firms seeking to participate in the renovation of the town's former Ohio Bureau of Employment Services building into a new municipal court facility.  Parkersburg Marietta Construction and Building Trades Council union President Bill Hutchinson claimed, time and again, that the reason he and his cohorts were twisting arms to get a PLA was to ensure that "local" workers got the jobs.  Finally, at the council's May 13 meeting, Councilman Jon Grimm decided to test building trades union bosses' sincerity.  Mr. Grimm called attention to the provision in the PLA mandating that 50% of any contractor's employees be registered with the union and pay union dues, even if they weren't union members, and didn't want to join.

June 22, 2010

'Mandatory Union Membership' Is PLA's Purpose

Committee President Mark Mix: The Right to Work movement and its allies are challenging President Obama’s 2009 executive order promoting union-only "project labor agreements" on federal taxpayer-funded public works. (Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Ohio Town Council Cuts Through Big Labor/White House Fog  Marietta, which has only about 15,000 residents, but enjoys a place of honor as the oldest city of any size in Ohio, is located more than 230 miles outside the Washington, D.C., Beltway.  And from the vantage point of Marietta's community building at Lookout Park, where the town council considered adoption of a so-called "project labor agreement" (PLA) on May 13, it appears to be far easier to see and state the obvious than it is at the White House or on Capitol Hill.  This spring, building trades union bosses lobbied furiously to convince the council's seven members to impose a Big Labor PLA on employees and firms seeking to participate in the renovation of the town's former Ohio Bureau of Employment Services building into a new municipal court facility.  Parkersburg Marietta Construction and Building Trades Council union President Bill Hutchinson claimed, time and again, that the reason he and his cohorts were twisting arms to get a PLA was to ensure that "local" workers got the jobs.  Finally, at the council's May 13 meeting, Councilman Jon Grimm decided to test building trades union bosses' sincerity.  Mr. Grimm called attention to the provision in the PLA mandating that 50% of any contractor's employees be registered with the union and pay union dues, even if they weren't union members, and didn't want to join.

June 18, 2010

Obama Bureaucrats Promote Monopolistic Unionism

President Obama's overarching labor policy seems to be, "The more union monopoly bargaining, the better." Credit: L.A. Times (Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Right to Work Fights For Independent Transportation Employees Over the past three-quarters of a century, federal labor policy has done enormous damage to employees and businesses by authorizing and promoting monopolistic unionism. Federally-imposed "exclusive" union bargaining undermines efficiency and productivity by forcing employers to reward equally their most productive and least productive employees. The damage is compounded when the employees already hurt by being forced to accept a union bargaining agent opposed to their interests are forced as well to pay dues or fees to the unwanted union. Fortunately, Right to Work laws in 22 states, where nearly 40% of the private-sector work force is employed, prohibit the collection of forced dues from the vast majority of employees. (Both the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress have recognized states' freedom to protect employees' Right to Work.) However, in 1951, when Congress first foisted forced union dues and fees on employees covered by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), Big Labor senators and representatives opted to deny states the option to protect employees' Right to Work. Ever since, Big Labor has had the government-granted power to get airline and railroad employees fired for refusal to bankroll a union in all 50 states, including Right to Work states.

June 14, 2010

Primary Voters Rebuke Issue-Dodging Republican

Senate candidate Trey Grayson (facing forward) refused to oppose legislation promoting union monopoly bargaining over public employees. He thus reinforced voter concerns that he was a Big Government Republican. Credit: AP (Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Refusal to Respond to Right to Work Survey 'Raised Concerns' Just a few months ago, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson was widely considered the favorite to win the GOP nomination this year for the U.S. Senate seat now held by pro-Right to Work Republican Jim Bunning, who is retiring after two terms. A number of pundits contended that the strong support of Mitch McConnell, Kentucky's senior U.S. senator and the head of the GOP minority in the upper chamber of Congress, would practically guarantee Mr. Grayson's nomination. However, the Grayson campaign made serious misjudgments during the final weeks before Kentucky's May 18 primaries. Most important to pro-Right to Work Kentuckians, Mr. Grayson refused to pledge to oppose several of the top power grabs now being advanced on Capitol Hill by Organized Labor, the #1 pro-Big Government special-interest group in America today. More broadly, many voters who were deeply concerned about the rapid growth in federal spending under the George W. Bush Administration as well as under the current one became convinced Mr. Grayson lacked the intestinal fortitude to fight to reduce spending from its current stratospheric level. 'Any Genuine Opponent of Big Government Would Eagerly Oppose' Police/Fire Scheme

June 9, 2010

Tweedle Dee Lincoln and Tweedle Dum Halter

(Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Both Candidates in Arkansas Democrat Run-Off Back Forced Unionism Shortly after this month's National Right to Work Newsletter goes to press, incumbent U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln will face a run-off contest against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter as she seeks her Democratic Party's nomination for a third term. Ms. Lincoln and Mr. Halter ran neck-and-neck in Arkansas's May 18 primary, and neither received a majority of the votes. (That is why the June 8 run-off is required under Arkansas law.) Most election observers expect the run-off will also be close. But one thing is already clear in advance of the Lincoln-Halter showdown: The victor will have a track record of supporting forced-unionism power grabs and giving the back of the hand to the overwhelming majority of Arkansas citizens who support their Right to Work law and oppose tampering with it. The only substantial difference between Ms. Lincoln and Mr. Halter on the forced-unionism issue is that the senator has very recently, with an eye toward the general election this fall, tried to obscure her long history of pro-forced unionism votes. Ms. Lincoln is now suggesting to freedom-loving Arkansas employees and employers that she is an "independent" voice on labor-policy issues.