Big Labor's War on the Private Sector in Ohio and across the USA

Big Labor's War on the Private Sector in Ohio and across the USA

Stan Greer of the National Right to Work Committee comments on big labor's ongoing efforts to have taxpayers finance their growing payroll costs in Ohio: Over the past four decades, the share of Ohio private-sector employees' pay that is consumed by the Buckeye state's heavily unionized state and local government workforce payroll costs has soared dramatically. U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis data show Ohio's state and local government employee compensation (including wages, salaries, benefits and bonuses) amounted to 11.2 percent of all compensation for private-sector employees in 1970. By 1990, the number had soared to 14.6 percent. Last year alone, total state and local compensation rose 7.7 percent, to $29.4 billion — or 17.3 percent of total compensation for private-sector employees. Ohioans' government employee spending burden grew vastly over the past 40 years even as the state's constituencies for several key services furnished by state and local employees shrank as a share of the total population. For example, in 1970, 26.4 percent of Ohio residents were K-12 school-aged (5-17 years-old). By 2010, just 17.4 percent of Ohio residents were in the same age bracket. As of 2010, 46.2 percent of the Buckeye state's public employees were laboring under a contract negotiated by union officials wielding monopoly bargaining power. By comparison, just 9 percent of Ohio's private-sector employees were unionized. Ohio is far from the only state in which business employees and employers are increasingly overburdened by a Big Labor-dominated government sector. But Ohio's private sector is having an especially hard time. While private employer expenditures for employee compensation increased by an inflation-adjusted 4.3 percent from 2000-2010 nationwide, Ohio businesses spent 6.6 percent less on employee compensation in 2010 than they had in 2000. Ohio is one of just five states with negative private-sector compensation growth over the past decade. All five of these economic laggards have something in common: They lack a right-to-work law protecting employees' freedom to refuse to join or pay dues or fees to an unwanted union, without being fired as a consequence. In fact, 13 of the 14 states with the lowest 2000-2010 private-sector compensation growth don't have right-to-work laws. In the 22 states that have right-to-work laws in effect, real private employee compensation over the same period grew by an aggregate 11.3 percent — two-and-a-half times as much as the national average. Meanwhile, private-sector employees in 20 of the 22 right-to-work states experienced compensation growth above the national average. The best news Ohio business employees and employers have had in many years was the passage into law this spring of Senate Bill 5, a government reform package that includes provisions protecting the right to work for all state and local public employees. It also reduces the scope of government union officials' monopoly-bargaining privileges in several other ways. While a full-fledged right-to-work law would do much more to get Ohio back on track, Senate Bill 5 marks a significant step in the right direction. Nearly half of the forced dues-paying employees in Ohio are government workers. A huge chunk of the loot Big Labor rakes in from such workers goes into electioneering and lobbying efforts in support of union officials' tax-spend-and-regulate agenda — greatly impeding private-sector job and income growth. Over the course of the next few years, Senate Bill 5 can begin undoing the damage Big Labor has wrought on Ohio over the years — if union officials' ongoing, multimillion-dollar, forced dues-fueled campaign to overturn it is first thwarted.
Big Labor's War on the Private Sector in Ohio and across the USA

Big Labor's War on the Private Sector in Ohio and across the USA

Stan Greer of the National Right to Work Committee comments on big labor's ongoing efforts to have taxpayers finance their growing payroll costs in Ohio: Over the past four decades, the share of Ohio private-sector employees' pay that is consumed by the Buckeye state's heavily unionized state and local government workforce payroll costs has soared dramatically. U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis data show Ohio's state and local government employee compensation (including wages, salaries, benefits and bonuses) amounted to 11.2 percent of all compensation for private-sector employees in 1970. By 1990, the number had soared to 14.6 percent. Last year alone, total state and local compensation rose 7.7 percent, to $29.4 billion — or 17.3 percent of total compensation for private-sector employees. Ohioans' government employee spending burden grew vastly over the past 40 years even as the state's constituencies for several key services furnished by state and local employees shrank as a share of the total population. For example, in 1970, 26.4 percent of Ohio residents were K-12 school-aged (5-17 years-old). By 2010, just 17.4 percent of Ohio residents were in the same age bracket. As of 2010, 46.2 percent of the Buckeye state's public employees were laboring under a contract negotiated by union officials wielding monopoly bargaining power. By comparison, just 9 percent of Ohio's private-sector employees were unionized. Ohio is far from the only state in which business employees and employers are increasingly overburdened by a Big Labor-dominated government sector. But Ohio's private sector is having an especially hard time. While private employer expenditures for employee compensation increased by an inflation-adjusted 4.3 percent from 2000-2010 nationwide, Ohio businesses spent 6.6 percent less on employee compensation in 2010 than they had in 2000. Ohio is one of just five states with negative private-sector compensation growth over the past decade. All five of these economic laggards have something in common: They lack a right-to-work law protecting employees' freedom to refuse to join or pay dues or fees to an unwanted union, without being fired as a consequence. In fact, 13 of the 14 states with the lowest 2000-2010 private-sector compensation growth don't have right-to-work laws. In the 22 states that have right-to-work laws in effect, real private employee compensation over the same period grew by an aggregate 11.3 percent — two-and-a-half times as much as the national average. Meanwhile, private-sector employees in 20 of the 22 right-to-work states experienced compensation growth above the national average. The best news Ohio business employees and employers have had in many years was the passage into law this spring of Senate Bill 5, a government reform package that includes provisions protecting the right to work for all state and local public employees. It also reduces the scope of government union officials' monopoly-bargaining privileges in several other ways. While a full-fledged right-to-work law would do much more to get Ohio back on track, Senate Bill 5 marks a significant step in the right direction. Nearly half of the forced dues-paying employees in Ohio are government workers. A huge chunk of the loot Big Labor rakes in from such workers goes into electioneering and lobbying efforts in support of union officials' tax-spend-and-regulate agenda — greatly impeding private-sector job and income growth. Over the course of the next few years, Senate Bill 5 can begin undoing the damage Big Labor has wrought on Ohio over the years — if union officials' ongoing, multimillion-dollar, forced dues-fueled campaign to overturn it is first thwarted.
New evidence "Right To Work boon for Oklahoma"

New evidence "Right To Work boon for Oklahoma"

Families are fleeing compulsory unionism states and moving to Right Work States like Oklahoma.  And, that is not all that is OKay in Oklahoma since it became the 22nd Right To Work state in 2001.  From a recent analysis by J. Scott Moody and Wendy P. Warcholik of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs: On September 25, 2001, Oklahoma voters went to the polls and passed a constitutional amendment—Right to Work (RTW)—which gave workers the choice to join or financially support a union. This made Oklahoma the 22nd state in the union to join the ranks of Right To Work states. Fast forward to today, and opponents of the law are still at work trying to discredit it. A recent study by the [Big Labor related] Economic Policy Institute (EPI), for example, claimed that Right To Work in Oklahoma has been a dismal failure. One of EPI’s most important pieces of evidence is that manufacturing employment is lower today than it was before Right To Work. [However,] the EPI study did not consider whether Oklahoma’s manufacturing industry may have chosen to boost productivity instead of hiring more workers. Chart 1 shows the growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the manufacturing industry from 2003 to 2010 using a growth index. Oklahoma’s manufacturing GDP has grown 45 percent in that time period, outstripping that of the average manufacturing growth in in non-Right To Work states (22 percent).
New evidence

New evidence "Right To Work boon for Oklahoma"

Families are fleeing compulsory unionism states and moving to Right Work States like Oklahoma.  And, that is not all that is OKay in Oklahoma since it became the 22nd Right To Work state in 2001.  From a recent analysis by J. Scott Moody and Wendy P. Warcholik of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs: On September 25, 2001, Oklahoma voters went to the polls and passed a constitutional amendment—Right to Work (RTW)—which gave workers the choice to join or financially support a union. This made Oklahoma the 22nd state in the union to join the ranks of Right To Work states. Fast forward to today, and opponents of the law are still at work trying to discredit it. A recent study by the [Big Labor related] Economic Policy Institute (EPI), for example, claimed that Right To Work in Oklahoma has been a dismal failure. One of EPI’s most important pieces of evidence is that manufacturing employment is lower today than it was before Right To Work. [However,] the EPI study did not consider whether Oklahoma’s manufacturing industry may have chosen to boost productivity instead of hiring more workers. Chart 1 shows the growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the manufacturing industry from 2003 to 2010 using a growth index. Oklahoma’s manufacturing GDP has grown 45 percent in that time period, outstripping that of the average manufacturing growth in in non-Right To Work states (22 percent).
Rouge NRLB Blocking Probe

Rouge NRLB Blocking Probe

House Government Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) accused the National Labor Relations Board of being a “rogue agency” in a letter to its general counsel Monday. The chairman claimed the NLRB knowingly withheld damaging documents relating to his committee’s probe of the agency’s controversial Boeing complaint, the Investors Business Daily Reports: Issa was referring to a cache of emails obtained earlier this month by the watchdog group Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act. He expressed anger that the emails were not turned over to his committee first and said the messages demonstrated the agency’s lack of impartiality. He further alleged that some of them contradicted claims NLRB staffers made as part of his committee’s probe. NLRB spokeswoman Nancy Cleland said the agency had not withheld the emails. She said that the committee’s requests and the FOIA requests that produced the emails were handled separately by different people and that caused confusion. “Because the documents were being produced on separate tracks, the Committee had not yet received some materials at the time they were provided to Judicial Watch. It is the Agency’s intent to provide those materials as part of its next, and fourth, delivery of documents later this week,” Cleland said in a statement to IBD, adding that in the future the committee requests will be given priority over FOIA requests. The 505 pages of emails do not contain especially startling revelations. For the most part, the NLRB staffers appear to be very circumspect in their messages to each other. There are several redacted sections, most citing FOIA exceptions for privacy and attorney work product. Nevertheless in several cases NLRB staffers do offer some personal commentary on the Boeing case and the effect is not unlike listening in at the watercooler. Those messages show the staff to be enthused at the prospect of bringing the aerospace giant to heel and disdainful of their critics on the case. At the time of the Boeing case, its chairwoman was Wilma Liebman, a former Teamsters lawyer. Obama had also appointed former Service Employees International Union lawyer Craig Becker to the five-member board. Only one board member was a Republican.“The unprecedented NLRB decision to attack Boeing seemed abusive on its face and cried out for further investigation. And we suspected it was done at the behest of union interests and not the public interest. The pro-union email traffic we uncovered confirm this,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, in an email to IBD. NLRB attorney, John Mantz, forwarded Willen a link to a Wall Street Journal op-ed by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. The GOP governor was criticizing Obama and his “union-beholden appointees at the National Labor Relations Board” for launching “a direct assault on the 22 right-to-work states across America.”“Deb, have you seen this?” Mantz wrote. Willen didn’t apparently respond, but did forward the link to another attorney, Jayme Sophir, who gave a one-word response: “Ugh.”

Holy Toledo, Hoffa sees a 'Right To Work Conspiracy'

While in Toledo, Ohio, Teamster Union President James Hoffa exposed the "Right To Work Conspiracy" to his compulsory-dues-paying audience.  BigGovernment.com argues that a desire work free from compulsion is not a conspiracy: The simple proposition that no one should be forced to pay tributes to labor bosses or they will lose their job, is not a conspiracy.  It is freedom from tyranny.  Using forced dues to finance politicians who vote to force citizens against their will to pay union bosses in order to keep their own jobs, is a conspiracy. The fact is, until 1935, the United States Government did not force people to pay tributes to union bosses in order to get or keep a job.  If there was a conspiracy, it was between the AFL, CIO, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a Democrat Congress passed the Wagner Act, selling the concept as “workers rights.”  The Wagner Act foisted union servitude on millions of working Americans overnight.  We see the AFL-CIO, the president, and Congress attempting the same scam today. The only workers who can escape from Wagner Act compulsion work in the 22-states which chose a Right to Work law to protect their citizens from this tyranny.  This Wagner Act forced-dues tyranny can be clearly blamed on Big Labor Bosses. Then-A.F.L. president William Green boasted of Big Labor’s role in the Wagner Act in Liberty Magazine: “We helped write it. We thought of it as ‘Our Baby’.”  And at a union convention Green said, “The A.F.L. is wholly and fully responsible for the Wagner Labor Relations Act.” Mr. Hoffa, freedom is no conspiracy.  Freedom is an ideal that both men and women aspire to obtain. The real conspiracy occurred in 1935, and it continues today as Big Labor bosses spend billions in forced-dues filled treasuries on stopping worker freedom and promoting legislation, executive orders, and regulations that expand worker compulsion.

Holy Toledo, Hoffa sees a 'Right To Work Conspiracy'

While in Toledo, Ohio, Teamster Union President James Hoffa exposed the "Right To Work Conspiracy" to his compulsory-dues-paying audience.  BigGovernment.com argues that a desire work free from compulsion is not a conspiracy: The simple proposition that no one should be forced to pay tributes to labor bosses or they will lose their job, is not a conspiracy.  It is freedom from tyranny.  Using forced dues to finance politicians who vote to force citizens against their will to pay union bosses in order to keep their own jobs, is a conspiracy. The fact is, until 1935, the United States Government did not force people to pay tributes to union bosses in order to get or keep a job.  If there was a conspiracy, it was between the AFL, CIO, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a Democrat Congress passed the Wagner Act, selling the concept as “workers rights.”  The Wagner Act foisted union servitude on millions of working Americans overnight.  We see the AFL-CIO, the president, and Congress attempting the same scam today. The only workers who can escape from Wagner Act compulsion work in the 22-states which chose a Right to Work law to protect their citizens from this tyranny.  This Wagner Act forced-dues tyranny can be clearly blamed on Big Labor Bosses. Then-A.F.L. president William Green boasted of Big Labor’s role in the Wagner Act in Liberty Magazine: “We helped write it. We thought of it as ‘Our Baby’.”  And at a union convention Green said, “The A.F.L. is wholly and fully responsible for the Wagner Labor Relations Act.” Mr. Hoffa, freedom is no conspiracy.  Freedom is an ideal that both men and women aspire to obtain. The real conspiracy occurred in 1935, and it continues today as Big Labor bosses spend billions in forced-dues filled treasuries on stopping worker freedom and promoting legislation, executive orders, and regulations that expand worker compulsion.

Big Labor economist leaves out important details in Right To Work debate

Big Labor’s favorite economists Gordon Lafer’s ‘study’ “Right To Work, The wrong answer for Michigan’s economy” lists several companies that chose Michigan over Right To Work states, but he left out important details according to Tom Gantert at CAPCON.  Lafer fails to mention that Right To Work states offered no incentives, but Michigan offered millions in tax-incentives. Not only that, Lafer uses a laughable term to describe ‘forced-unionism states;’ he refers to them as “free bargaining states.”  As most know, unions are still able to bargain in Right To Work states.  But, what union bosses cannot do is force employees to pay union fees against their will.  For Lafer to refer to compulsory-unionism states as ‘free bargaining’ illustrates the insincerity of his analysis. From CAPCON: Lafer wrote, “Indeed, a series of recent corporate announcements make clear that many auto industry companies continue to prefer Michigan over right-to-work competitors …” But Lafer never mentioned that some of those businesses cited in his report received deals for millions of dollars in tax incentives to locate in Michigan while the competing states offered no incentives, according to research done by Michigan Capitol Confidential. In fact, even the Michigan Economic Development Corp. says those companies wouldn’t have picked this state had it not been for the MEDC’s handouts. MEDC memos received in a Freedom of Information Act request involving the businesses stated in Lafer’s report paint a picture of a state that has difficulty competing with right-to-work states without offering tax breaks. The memos refer to lower taxes and personnel costs in right-to-work states as a reason Michigan has to offer millions in incentives to attract the businesses. “He (Lafer) is listing successes that are actually evidence of failure,” said James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
Virginia's Stalwart Supporter of Right to Work: Gov. McDonnell

Virginia's Stalwart Supporter of Right to Work: Gov. McDonnell

Virginia is prospering more than most states in the nation, thanks in part to its Right to Work law -- and Gov. Bob McDonnell is not hesitate to acknowledge the fact.  He recently wrote a letter outlining his position on the issue and made it clear -- he is a proud and ardent supporter of the state's Right to Work law.  Read and enjoy: There’s much more separating Richmond and Washington than just 100 miles of interstate. It’s a Tale of Two Cities. In Washington they’re bogged down in red ink, spiraling debt, expanding government and overspending – all while the difficult decisions are left to future generations. Here in Richmond, for the second straight year, we’ve reached the end of our fiscal year in the black —with a surplus this year of more than $500 million. What does it take to create jobs and bring economic development to Virginia? It’s really common sense and a focus on getting results, something that is in short supply in Washington. Businesses want consistency and a level playing field, low taxes, reasonable regulation, good schools and a world-class transportation system. We are unapologetic supporters of Virginia’s Right-to-Work laws and fighting off the union excesses that is hurting businessmen across the United States. We’ve kept taxes low on businesses in Virginia. We’ve worked to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses here in the Commonwealth. Contrast that with how Washington does businesses. In Washington, the Administration is using unelected people in appointed boards to do what Congress can’t, like using the NLRB to prohibit companies like Boeing from relocating some of their workforce to Right To Work states.