Labor Law from Thin Air
Robert Verbruggen describes the recent efforts by the National Labor Relations Board to…
Free Spending Worker’s Dues Money
Big Labor continues to throw good money after bad in political campaigns — after all it’s not their money. The Washington Examiner believes their free spending ways has the whiff of desperation:
Their desperation is a function of two realities: First, only 7 percent of all private sector employees are union members. Fewer members means less dues revenue, which in turn reduces how much campaign cash the leaders have to give, thus slashing their political leverage. Second, labor finances are in bad shape. The SEIU, for example, owes $156 million, including $94 million to Bank of America and other corporate lenders tapped to finance its 2008 political contributions to Obama and congressional Democrats.
Thus, card check, which union leaders think would enable them to recruit new members, is critically important to labor’s future. Big Labor has spent an estimated $400 million since 2006 seeking to elect enough Democrats to assure that card check becomes law. Just last month, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ Gerald McEntee said his union would spend another $50 million trying to protect Democratic incumbents in 2010. Here’s to hoping card check opponents in every congressional district in America make ‘em flush it all.