With union militants striking reports and destroying property, it’s sad to see the Obama Administration refuses to condemn such tactics: White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to condemn the increasing violence and threats by union members in Michigan, merely…
From Michelle Malkin: “To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” – Thomas Jefferson…
[media-credit id=7 align="alignright" width="300"][/media-credit]The Heritage Foundation examines how big labor unions are retaliating with acts of violence against a non-union construction company: Beaten workers. Blocked deliveries. Late-night vandalism. The news surrounding the Goldtex construction project in Philadelphia reads like a script for The Sopranos. What is going on? In early March, Post Brothers Construction, owned by brothers Matt and Mike Pestronk, began converting a 10-story loft building into 163 apartments. They decided to hire non-union workers—in defiance of Philadelphia’s construction trade unions, which control the city’s market. Post Brothers pays its employees well: $35–$45 an hour. But that is less than the union rate, and the jobs are going to non-union workers. So the union movement is trying to shut them down by any means necessary. They want to send the message that union members are the only source of labor in Philadelphia. Anything else issponsored by “ruthless, irresponsible developers.” The results have not been pretty. Nail “bombs”—nails welded together to puncture tires—have been thrown on the road leading to the work site. Union protestors have followed female employees and the wives of the brothers to their homes. Police arrested two protestors for allegedly assaulting a construction worker. Security cameras at the Goldtex construction site have also recorded union protestors shoving security guards,pouring oil in front of the loading dock, and blocking deliveries to the site. Post Brothers has had to spend almost $1 million on extra security.
The boss of a South Carolina chapter of the AFL-CIO, Donna DeWitt, takes a baseball bat to GOP Gov. Nikki Haley’s face on a pinata while a crowd of union activists egg her on. (http://youtu.be/3DZq2jOscBU) …
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."
International longshore union President Bob McEllrath has publicly encouraged lawlessness by his militant followers in Washington State. For example, last September 7 he participated in an illegal blockade of grain terminal deliveries. Credit: Dawn Des Brisay-Longshore Shipping News Freedom From Union Violence Act Would Close 'Lethal Loophole' (source: National Right To Work Committee April 2012 Newsletter) This month, pro-Right to Work U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) will introduce an important legal reform known as the Freedom from Union Violence Act. This bill would hold union officials who plan, commit, or foment extortionate violence against a firm's employees or owners to the same standard as business rivals, gangsters, or anyone else who does the same. Legislation Would Bar Use Of Violence as a Union 'Organizing Tool' Parallel legislation was introduced in the U.S. House earlier this year as H.R.4074 by Congressman Paul Broun (R-Ga.). Like Mr. Lee, Mr. Broun is one of the most outspoken opponents of compulsory unionism in Congress today. If H.R.4074 is enacted, power-hungry, win-at-any-cost Big Labor barons will no longer be able, without fear of federal prosecution, to resort to violence as a union "organizing" or "bargaining" tool. Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee, vowed over the course of the next few months to mobilize hundreds of thousands of members and other citizens to contact their federal elected officials and express their strong support for this legislation. It's 'Extraordinarily Difficult' to Prosecute Union Lawbreakers Mr. Mix explained: "In today's America, prosecutions of Big Labor arson, assaults, death threats, and other serious crimes are extraordinarily difficult. "Such prosecutions are frequently hindered because of a loophole in federal law that exempts extortionate violence from prosecution when it is committed pursuant to so-called 'legitimate union objectives.'
International longshore union President Bob McEllrath has publicly encouraged lawlessness by his militant followers in Washington State. For example, last September 7 he participated in an illegal blockade of grain terminal deliveries. Credit: Dawn Des Brisay-Longshore Shipping News Freedom From Union Violence Act Would Close 'Lethal Loophole' (source: National Right To Work Committee April 2012 Newsletter) This month, pro-Right to Work U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) will introduce an important legal reform known as the Freedom from Union Violence Act. This bill would hold union officials who plan, commit, or foment extortionate violence against a firm's employees or owners to the same standard as business rivals, gangsters, or anyone else who does the same. Legislation Would Bar Use Of Violence as a Union 'Organizing Tool' Parallel legislation was introduced in the U.S. House earlier this year as H.R.4074 by Congressman Paul Broun (R-Ga.). Like Mr. Lee, Mr. Broun is one of the most outspoken opponents of compulsory unionism in Congress today. If H.R.4074 is enacted, power-hungry, win-at-any-cost Big Labor barons will no longer be able, without fear of federal prosecution, to resort to violence as a union "organizing" or "bargaining" tool. Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee, vowed over the course of the next few months to mobilize hundreds of thousands of members and other citizens to contact their federal elected officials and express their strong support for this legislation. It's 'Extraordinarily Difficult' to Prosecute Union Lawbreakers Mr. Mix explained: "In today's America, prosecutions of Big Labor arson, assaults, death threats, and other serious crimes are extraordinarily difficult. "Such prosecutions are frequently hindered because of a loophole in federal law that exempts extortionate violence from prosecution when it is committed pursuant to so-called 'legitimate union objectives.'
The April 2012 issue of The National Right to Work Committee Newsletter is available for download for your convenience to read and share. It is…