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Senator 'Stood Behind' Right to Work Principle

Senator 'Stood Behind' Right to Work Principle

Regardless of who was in the White House, Sen. Wallop energetically defended the Right to Work. Credit: Los Angeles Times Malcolm Wallop Opposed Compulsory Unionism, Without Fear or Favor (Source: October 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Thirty-five years ago this August, a staunchly pro-Right to Work, but obscure GOP state senator named Malcolm Wallop was running 34 points behind in his challenge to Wyoming three-term U.S. Sen. Gale McGee, a Big Labor Democrat. Respected pundits didn't expect the race ever to get close. But less than three months later, after an extensive National Right to Work Committee campaign had alerted Wyoming citizens about the union-boss power grabs Mr. McGee could help ram through Congress if reelected, Mr. Wallop soundly defeated the incumbent. As even the Washington Post noticed from afar at the time, the McGee-Wallop race "brought unions and right-to-work groups into direct battle." Former Right to Work President:  Sen. Wallop Kept His Promises to Constituents "In a letter he sent out in late August 1976 to Wyoming citizens who had inquired about his stance on compulsory unionism, Malcolm Wallop said forthrightly: 'I believe in the work of the [National Right to Work] Committee,'" noted former Committee President Reed Larson.
Senator 'Stood Behind' Right to Work Principle

Senator 'Stood Behind' Right to Work Principle

Regardless of who was in the White House, Sen. Wallop energetically defended the Right to Work. Credit: Los Angeles Times Malcolm Wallop Opposed Compulsory Unionism, Without Fear or Favor (Source: October 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Thirty-five years ago this August, a staunchly pro-Right to Work, but obscure GOP state senator named Malcolm Wallop was running 34 points behind in his challenge to Wyoming three-term U.S. Sen. Gale McGee, a Big Labor Democrat. Respected pundits didn't expect the race ever to get close. But less than three months later, after an extensive National Right to Work Committee campaign had alerted Wyoming citizens about the union-boss power grabs Mr. McGee could help ram through Congress if reelected, Mr. Wallop soundly defeated the incumbent. As even the Washington Post noticed from afar at the time, the McGee-Wallop race "brought unions and right-to-work groups into direct battle." Former Right to Work President:  Sen. Wallop Kept His Promises to Constituents "In a letter he sent out in late August 1976 to Wyoming citizens who had inquired about his stance on compulsory unionism, Malcolm Wallop said forthrightly: 'I believe in the work of the [National Right to Work] Committee,'" noted former Committee President Reed Larson.
The Government Workers Union Albatross

The Government Workers Union Albatross

Phillip K. Howard examines how union bosses for government workers are fleecing the taxpayers: The indictment of seven Long Island Rail Road workers for disability fraud last week cast a spotlight on a troubled government agency. Until recently, over 90% of LIRR workers retired with a disability—even those who worked desk jobs—adding about $36,000 to their annual pensions. The cost to New York taxpayers over the past decade was $300 million. As one investigator put it, fraud of this kind "became a culture of sorts among the LIRR workers, who took to gathering in doctor's waiting rooms bragging to each [other] about their disabilities while simultaneously talking about their golf game." How could almost every employee think fraud was the right thing to do? The LIRR disability epidemic is hardly unique—82% of senior California state troopers are "disabled" in their last year before retirement. Pension abuses are so common—for example, "spiking" pensions with excess overtime in the last year of employment—that they're taken for granted. Governors in Wisconsin and Ohio this year have led well-publicized showdowns with public unions. Union leaders argue they are "decimat[ing] the collective bargaining rights of public employees." What are these so-called "rights"? The dispute has focused on rich benefit packages that are drowning public budgets. Far more important is the lack of productivity. "I've never seen anyone terminated for incompetence," observed a long-time human relations official in New York City. In Cincinnati, police personnel records must be expunged every few years—making periodic misconduct essentially unaccountable. Over the past decade, Los Angeles succeeded in firing five teachers (out of 33,000), at a cost of $3.5 million. Collective-bargaining rights have made government virtually unmanageable. Promotions, reassignments and layoffs are dictated by rigid rules, without any opportunity for managerial judgment. In 2010, shortly after receiving an award as best first-year teacher in Wisconsin, Megan Sampson had to be let go under "last in, first out" provisions of the union contract. Even what task someone should do on a given day is subject to detailed rules. Last year, when a virus disabled two computers in a shared federal office in Washington, D.C., the IT technician fixed one but said he was unable to fix the other because it wasn't listed on his form. Making things work better is an affront to union prerogatives. The refuse-collection union in Toledo sued when the city proposed consolidating garbage collection with the surrounding county. (Toledo ended up making a cash settlement.) In Wisconsin, when budget cuts eliminated funding to mow the grass along the roads, the union sued to stop the county executive from giving the job to inmates.
Barack Obama, President of the SEIU

Barack Obama, President of the SEIU

Barack Obama is an effective president, unfortunately not of the United States but of the SEIU argues Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer: Unions — particularly public-employee unions — support illegal immigration because it serves their interests to have a permanent class of people who are financially dependent on the government. The sad secret about private-sector unions is that they are dying.  All they do now is drive up the cost of doing business, thereby preventing their own members from getting hired. Arizona is what we call a “right to work” state. As mandated by the Arizona Constitution, Arizonans are free to join a union or not — it’s their choice, not some union boss’s command. And interestingly enough, when employees are given the choice of whether or not to join a union, they increasingly say no. These workers understand that the rigid workplace rules and regulations that unions promote are bad for growth, bad for competitiveness, and bad for jobs. More and more workers recognize this. That’s why in the private sector, where employees have a real stake in the success of the businesses they work for, only 7.5 percent of workers are unionized. By contrast, more than 36 percent of public-sector workers are unionized, and more than 42 percent of local-government workers. That’s because public-sector workers in the federal government don’t have to worry about unemployment. Ever. In many federal agencies, the primary threat to job security is actually death. Democratic-party bosses love government workers because each of those workers must rely upon the health and growth of government to pay his salary and guarantee his benefits. If the government contracts or shuts down for any reason, those workers are out of a job. And public-sector unions love the Democratic bosses because they keep on growing government. The more people the Democrats can put on the payroll, the more voters they can lock up for their candidates. That gives public-sector unions like the SEIU (which includes huge numbers of public employees) unbelievable leverage. Because the party bosses want to keep government workers employed and happy, they’ll give the unions just about anything they want. And the best part (for them) is that it doesn’t cost them a thing. The taxpayers pick up the tab. Liberal politicians spend taxpayer money to grow government; the unions keep voting for (and contributing to) Democrats, and the Democrats stay in office so they can spend more of the taxpayers’ money growing government. It’s a simple, corrupt, mutual back-scratching circle. How does illegal immigration play into this? Most illegal aliens work hard. That is not in dispute. But the unfortunate fact is that most illegal aliens are also unskilled and uneducated. Unskilled workers have higher unemployment rates and lower earnings. Many rely on government programs to help support them and their families. Much of this access to the welfare system by these households is gained through their American-born children, who are U.S. citizens. That means more government, which means more public-sector-union members. Even if, in the short term, more illegal immigration means fewer union jobs, the unions are okay with that. It is a strategic cost they are willing to bear. Because they know that if the Democrats keep winning, they will give the unions subsidies, grow government, and employ more union members.