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Big Apple Carpenters Union Local Stays Crooked

Big Apple Carpenters Union Local Stays Crooked

Federally-Authorized Compulsory Dues Undermine Clean-Up Efforts (Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Samuel Johnson said it was second marriages that represent "the triumph of hope over experience." But were the eminent sage living in the United States today, he would surely agree that an attorney who accepts appointment as the federal monitor of a corrupt union is even more quixotic than a widower who remarries. Michael Forde was the fourth chief of New York City's District Council of Carpenters union to be charged with corruption since 1980. In late July, he pleaded guilty to racketeering and other related charges. Credit: Ward/Daily News (N.Y.C.) One such brave soul is former New York state organized crime prosecutor Dennis Walsh. This spring, Mr. Walsh became the fifth federal monitor in the past 15 years to take on the daunting task of cleaning up the notorious New York City District Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners union (UBC). Alleged Genovese Crime Family Associate Linked to New York Union Shakedown Scheme In late July, Mr. Walsh achieved a breakthrough when Michael Forde, chieftain of the council from 1999 until 2009, confessed in court that he had for many years regularly extracted bribes "in the form of cash payments" from construction contractors. He also confessed to perjury and obstruction of justice. In November, Mr. Forde will be sentenced, and he is expected to receive at least a nine-year prison term.
Pro-Union Monopoly Republican Loses in Kansas

Pro-Union Monopoly Republican Loses in Kansas

Public-Safety Union Power Grab at Issue in Senate Primary After the Kansas GOP Senate primary was over, the Washington Examiner's "Beltway Confidential" blog suggested that Todd Tiahrt's pro-union monopoly stance had "hurt him significantly" in his race against Right to Work supporter Jerry Moran (pictured). Credit: statecard.com (Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) In covering the hard-fought and expensive campaign for the GOP nomination to succeed U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), which concluded early last month, national media pundits missed a major policy difference between the two top-tier candidates. Primary contenders Todd Tiahrt and Jerry Moran, who currently hold two of the Sunflower State's four seats in the U.S. House, had both opposed the 2009 "stimulus" package and ObamaCare. And they had virtually identical voting records on the politically charged issues of gun control and abortion. But there is one policy difference between Mr. Tiahrt and Mr. Moran that proved to be very important to rank-and-file Kansas voters this summer. In spite of the failure of newspaper, TV and radio political reporters to cover this issue during the campaign, it was clearly decisive for the race's outcome.
Forced Union Dues-Funded Incumbent Protection

Forced Union Dues-Funded Incumbent Protection

Will Big Labor Machine Rescue Unpopular Union-Label Politicians? (Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Over the past two years, Big Labor bosses have repeatedly succeeded in getting their favored federal politicians in competitive U.S. House districts and states to cast "politically difficult" votes. Top AFL-CIO union official Richard Trumka is going all out this fall to help U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) retain the power to keep pushing forward his forced-unionism agenda in 2011 and 2012. Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America Early in 2009, for example, union lobbyists twisted arms to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress for controversial "stimulus" legislation. Since it became law, the "stimulus" has bilked taxpayers of hundreds of billions of dollars to ensure that bloated, unionized government payrolls stay bloated, but furnished no detectable help for America's private sector. And, more even than President Obama or any other elected official, top union officials are responsible for Congress's narrow votes to reconstruct America's enormous health-care system in late 2009 and early 2010. As the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics reported March 22, 2010, "in the final push before the vote," many union bosses and union operatives "displayed their clout through threats to withhold endorsements from lawmakers who failed to back the bill. They also vowed to support primary challenges or third-party bids against incumbents who opposed" ObamaCare. Now polls indicate that voters across the country are poised to punish vulnerable U.S. representatives and senators for doing what Big Labor told them to do.