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Philadelphia -- Union Violence in City of Brotherly Love

Philadelphia -- Union Violence in City of Brotherly Love

[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.
SEIU Boss Indicted

SEIU Boss Indicted

After a four-year investigation, federal authorities have charged the former powerful SEIU union boss with corruption. The Los Angeles Times describes Tyrone Freeman as "a rising young star in the national labor movement, already the head of California’s biggest union local and a force in Democratic politics from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C." The Times reports: Freeman’s quick climb up the ranks of the powerful Service Employees International Union burnished his reputation as an effective advocate for the disadvantaged, a man who helped improve the lot of about 190,000 workers paid about $9 an hour to provide in-home care for the infirm. On Tuesday, however, Freeman was indicted on federal charges of stealing from those workers to enrich himself, including by billing the union for costs from his Hawaii wedding. The 15-count indictment secured by the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles also alleges that Freeman violated tax laws and gave false information to a mortgage lender. If convicted on all counts, he could face maximum prison sentences in excess of 200 years. The charges resulted from a nearly four-year investigation by the U.S. Labor Department, FBI and Internal Revenue Service that grew out of a series of reports in the Los Angeles Times on Freeman’s financial dealings as president of SEIU Local 6434. The resulting scandal spread through the 2-million-member SEIU and cost several other union officials their jobs. Citing records and interviews, The Times reports showed that Freeman, 42, funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars of his union members’ hard-earned dues to his relatives and lavished similar sums on golf tournaments, expensive restaurants and a Beverly Hills cigar club. Last month, his wife pleaded guilty to an income tax charge in connection with more than $540,000 she received in union consulting payments at Freeman’s direction.
Boss Trumka Begs for Help

Boss Trumka Begs for Help

[media-credit id=7 align="alignleft" width="300"][/media-credit]Margaret Thatcher once quipped that the problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money.  The same can be said for the union bosses -- after taking advantage of so many workers for so long, eventually you run out of people who want to be taken advantage of. That's why it is not surprising to see AFL-CIO union boss Richard Trumka begging students to become part of Big Labor.  Red Alert Politics reports "Trumka practically begged liberal students to join the labor movement in a speech this morning at Campus Progress’ annual national conference in Washington, D.C. 'The American labor movement truly needs you,' Trumka told attendees of the conference." They continue: Trumka tried to explain every which way to Sunday why it would benefit the college students to team up with the teamsters. The union boss even admitted that he could see why unions would turn off young people. “You probably think we’re a bunch of stodgy, old school people with outdated ideas, too interested in what’s good for us and too disinterested in what’s good for the others in our community,” said Trumka.  “And I’ll be perfectly frank with you, there’s a grain of truth to that.” Trumka admitted that unions were often seen as self-serving and as slow-to-change institutions, thus young people might not necessarily consider joining a union to be in their best interest.