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Oregon Senator helps SEIU organize state employees; threatens gov't officials who may oppose

Oregon Senator helps SEIU organize state employees; threatens gov't officials who may oppose

The Democrat Budget chief of the Oregon Senate is trying silence critics of an organizing drive that added more than 7,700 workers to the union's membership and turned it into the largest in the state. Thanks to campaign contributions, Sen. Richard Devlin is moving to tip the scales in favor of the union organizers.  Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian reports: At the behest of Service Employees International Union, Oregon Senate budget chief Richard Devlin sought to stifle criticism of an organizing drive that added more than 7,700 workers to the union's membership and turned it into the largest in the state. During a drive to organize workers who help care for developmentally disabled Oregonians, Tualatin Democrat wrote a letter to officials who help employ the workers, warning them not to say anything even "mildly" critical of unionization. He also suggested that a successful union drive would help boost legislative support for services for Oregonians with developmental disabilities. . Several officials who received the letter said it appeared Devlin tried to tip the scales in favor of the union's expansion.

Oregon Senator helps SEIU organize state employees; threatens gov't officials who may oppose

Oregon Senator helps SEIU organize state employees; threatens gov't officials who may oppose

The Democrat Budget chief of the Oregon Senate is trying silence critics of an organizing drive that added more than 7,700 workers to the union's membership and turned it into the largest in the state. Thanks to campaign contributions, Sen. Richard Devlin is moving to tip the scales in favor of the union organizers.  Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian reports: At the behest of Service Employees International Union, Oregon Senate budget chief Richard Devlin sought to stifle criticism of an organizing drive that added more than 7,700 workers to the union's membership and turned it into the largest in the state. During a drive to organize workers who help care for developmentally disabled Oregonians, Tualatin Democrat wrote a letter to officials who help employ the workers, warning them not to say anything even "mildly" critical of unionization. He also suggested that a successful union drive would help boost legislative support for services for Oregonians with developmental disabilities. . Several officials who received the letter said it appeared Devlin tried to tip the scales in favor of the union's expansion.

Bullied Over Ballots -- File this under irony.

Jonas Tichenor of Sacramento-TV 13 reports: A SEIU member says she was physically forced out of a room after she questioned union leaders about how they were counting ballots, and she recorded the confrontation on her cell phone. Mariam Nojiam, a state worker for the Department of Motor Vehicles, began recording video as she walked into an SEIU election office while officials were giving instructions on counting procedure. After one of the officials giving instructions asked if there were any questions, Mariam said she spoke up and began asking about large envelopes she says didn’t have any postmarks on them. “Some people sent them in today, some people sent them in yesterday and the day before in priority mail, and there’s no postmark on them,” the official responded. The ballot instructions clearly state that ballots must be received at the election office through the U.S. Postal Service, but when Mariam tried to insist that the envelopes without postmarks shouldn’t be allowed, the official cut her off.

Latest NLRB Big Labor Handout – Ambush “Elections”

If punishing employees in Right to Work states isn't enough to please the union bosses, then the NLRB continues to try. Their latest giveaway is an effort to impose "quickie elections" -- a blatant effort to ensure that workers do not get both sides of the unionization issue. The Washington Examiner's Philip Klein looks at the latest union bailout: With union membership precipitously declining (it was less than 7 percent in the private sector last year), big labor has been desperate to expand its ranks by any means necessary. As Peter Schaumber, former NLRB chairman, warned last week, "Imagine a political election in which only one party were given the opportunity to tell voters its side of the story, and could set an election date only days away, all without prior notice to the other side."

Confirmation from the Mainstream Media: Right to Work Means Jobs

Confirmation from the Mainstream Media: Right to Work Means Jobs

"The right-to-work states are creating a lot more jobs today than the heavily unionized states." "We rate this claim True." PolitiFact.com PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times and claims it seeks to "find the truth" in politics. It has been accused of a liberal bent but did win a Pulitzer Prize in 2009. That's why it's significant that they have examined claims by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich that Right To Work states are creating more jobs than compulsory-unionism states:  As we knew, and PolitiFact confirms, 'more jobs are being created in Right To Work states' is a fact: Former Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich made a claim during last week’s CNN debate of Republican presidential candidates that was like red meat to conservatives who complain that government is trying to force employees to join unions. "The right-to-work states are creating a lot more jobs today than the heavily unionized states," said Gingrich, the former U.S. House Speaker who now lives in Virginia.

NLRB Reverses Let's Employees Speak, well sort of

NLRB Reverses Let's Employees Speak, well sort of

From the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation: Worker Advocate Blasts Labor Board Ruling to Allow Charleston Workers Minimal Say in Boeing Case  Big Labor watchdog slams ruling as insufficient; ploy to quietly sweep workers’ stories under the rug Washington, DC (June 20, 2011) – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C. has ruled three Charleston-area Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) employees are allowed to intervene, albeit minimally, in the NLRB’s high-profile case against Boeing. With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, North Charleston Boeing employees Dennis Murray, Cynthia Ramaker, and Meredith Going, Sr. filed a motion earlier this month to intervene in the NLRB’s unprecedented case targeting the company for locating production of some of its 787 Dreamliner airplanes in South Carolina, in part due to its popular Right to Work law. An NLRB Administrative Law Judge in San Francisco denied the workers’ request and the workers were forced to file an emergency appeal with the national Board in Washington, D.C. The Board in D.C. has ruled that the employees can only file a brief in the case once the hearings, occurring in Seattle, Washington, are concluded.

NLRB Reverses Let's Employees Speak, well sort of

NLRB Reverses Let's Employees Speak, well sort of

From the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation: Worker Advocate Blasts Labor Board Ruling to Allow Charleston Workers Minimal Say in Boeing Case  Big Labor watchdog slams ruling as insufficient; ploy to quietly sweep workers’ stories under the rug Washington, DC (June 20, 2011) – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C. has ruled three Charleston-area Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) employees are allowed to intervene, albeit minimally, in the NLRB’s high-profile case against Boeing. With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, North Charleston Boeing employees Dennis Murray, Cynthia Ramaker, and Meredith Going, Sr. filed a motion earlier this month to intervene in the NLRB’s unprecedented case targeting the company for locating production of some of its 787 Dreamliner airplanes in South Carolina, in part due to its popular Right to Work law. An NLRB Administrative Law Judge in San Francisco denied the workers’ request and the workers were forced to file an emergency appeal with the national Board in Washington, D.C. The Board in D.C. has ruled that the employees can only file a brief in the case once the hearings, occurring in Seattle, Washington, are concluded.