Investors Business Daily looks at the thriving American Auto Industry — no not the one in excessively-taxed and forced-unionism dominated Michigan but the lower-taxed Right to Work Tennessee: President Obama triumphantly told the United Auto Workers last month that…
Brietbart.com looks at the upcoming torrent of political spending fueled by forced union dues money: The largest American labor federation promised this week it would launch the most aggressive campaign effort in the labor movement's history, tapping at least 400,000 union members to fill the voter contact and get-out-the-vote voids in the larger Democratic operation. AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka formally endorsed President Barack Obama on Wednesday, though it came as no particular surprise: labor's 2008 contributions to Democratic candidates neared a record half-billion dollar threshold. All while draining pension funds, the same groups have pledged to contribute another $400 million to the president's reelection effort later this year, putting Big Labor’s total contribution to Barack Obama’s political career at well over a billion dollars. But the presidential contest is just one front of a grand operation wherein a number of marquee statewide races -- gubernatorial and legislative bouts in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota are said to register atop their agenda -- will be targeted.
Not only does Right to Work free workers from compulsory unionism, it is directly responsible for new jobs in Indiana. According to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, he is having conversations with 31 companies because Indiana lawmakers passed the…
Not only does Right to Work free workers from compulsory unionism, it is directly responsible for new jobs in Indiana. According to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, he is having conversations with 31 companies because Indiana lawmakers passed the…
New York's forced dues have been very good to teacher union bosses according to a report release by the Education Intelligence Agency. And, New York teachers aren't the only ones paying for extravagant union boss salaries and benefits: Top 36 Teacher Union Locals Took In $337.7 Million. For the first time ever, the Education Intelligence Agency has compiled in one table the finances of the highest-earning teacher union local affiliates in the nation. Using Internal Revenue Service data from the 2009-10 school year, the table, posted on the EIA web site, contains revenue information and employee compensation figures for each K-12 teacher union local affiliate that accumulated more than $2 million in total revenue that year. The 36 affiliates that met the threshold received $337.7 million in total revenue. Topping the list was the United Federation of Teachers in New York City with more than $139 million - a 1 percent increase over 2008-09. UFT also had the highest employee compensation expenditures - a 12.8 percent increase to $47 million. United Teachers Los Angeles ranked a distance second with more than $44.4 million in revenue, while the Chicago Teachers Union ranked third with almost $30.1 million. The top 15 locals were all either American Federation of Teacher affiliates or merged NEA/AFT affiliates, highlighting the difference in structures of the two organizations. NEA's state affiliates are the primary source of funds and services while in AFT the locals rule the roost. The highest-earning "NEA only" local was the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association at $4.3 million. Of the 36 locals listed, 27 saw boosts in revenue over the previous year, but some experienced financial difficulties. The Detroit and Cleveland locals were forced to use dues revenue to cover investment losses.
After a nearly four-hour debate, in a committee room ringed by chanting union members, a Senate committee voted 7-6 to refer the Right to Work constitutional amendment to its next stop at the Senate Rules Committee. Needless to say, the union…
Michigan dials back Big Labor arrogance and power — at least slightly — the legislature passed a bill to prohibit public schools from automatically collecting union dues from the paychecks…
The latest poll driven rhetoric from the union bosses is the claim that union compulsion should be a civil right under color of law. Anthony Davies, a professor at Duquesne University looks behind the rhetoric noting that the problem with Big Labor's proposed law because it makes compulsory unionism a 'right' for Big Labor while taking away from employees' freedom to not join or be compelled to pay tribute to a union boss. A recent op-ed in The New York Times called for new labor laws that will ensure that workers have the right to organize labor unions. These laws already exist, so what are unions griping about? It’s not that workers are being prevented from unionizing. The problem, as unions see it, is that it is too difficult to force workers to unionize. Free workers have weighed the costs and benefits of today’s unions and most have freely chosen to do without them. It is this free will that unions — and their advocates on the country’s op-ed pages — seek to quash. Union membership in the private sector has fallen to 7% not because unions have failed, but because they have done so well that — at least for the present — they are no longer needed. The exploitation of employees by their employers is a thing of the past; in fact, nowadays it seems like we’re more likely to hear about union bosses exploiting union members than about employers exploiting employees. Today, no matter how much labor leaders and their advocates pretend otherwise, labor reform means reforming unions.
The latest poll driven rhetoric from the union bosses is the claim that union compulsion should be a civil right under color of law. Anthony Davies, a professor at Duquesne University looks behind the rhetoric noting that the problem with Big Labor's proposed law because it makes compulsory unionism a 'right' for Big Labor while taking away from employees' freedom to not join or be compelled to pay tribute to a union boss. A recent op-ed in The New York Times called for new labor laws that will ensure that workers have the right to organize labor unions. These laws already exist, so what are unions griping about? It’s not that workers are being prevented from unionizing. The problem, as unions see it, is that it is too difficult to force workers to unionize. Free workers have weighed the costs and benefits of today’s unions and most have freely chosen to do without them. It is this free will that unions — and their advocates on the country’s op-ed pages — seek to quash. Union membership in the private sector has fallen to 7% not because unions have failed, but because they have done so well that — at least for the present — they are no longer needed. The exploitation of employees by their employers is a thing of the past; in fact, nowadays it seems like we’re more likely to hear about union bosses exploiting union members than about employers exploiting employees. Today, no matter how much labor leaders and their advocates pretend otherwise, labor reform means reforming unions.