Voters Give Forced Unionism a 'Shellacking'

Voters Give Forced Unionism a 'Shellacking'

(Source: December 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Voters fed up with the Tax & Spend, forced-unionism agenda that Democratic U.S. House leaders have been pushing consigned them to minority status on November 2. See p. 3 of this Newsletter for details. But Big Labor Retains Hold Over U.S. Senate, Key State Assemblies Not just on November 2, but throughout this past election year, voters across most of the country sent two clear messages to Big Labor politicians on Capitol Hill: They are dismayed by what the politicians have done at union lobbyists' behest, and determined to stop them from doing more of the same. One major object of voters' ire was the controversial "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" (ARRA), otherwise known as the "stimulus" package. In early 2009, AFL-CIO and Change to Win union lobbyists twisted arms to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress for this $800 billion legislation. Since it became law, ARRA has bilked taxpayers of hundreds of billions of dollars to ensure that bloated, unionized government payrolls stay bloated, but furnished no detectable net benefit for America's private sector. Another key source of voters' displeasure was ObamaCare. More even than President Obama or any other elected official, top union bosses and their arm-twisting union lobbyists are responsible for Congress's narrow votes to reconstruct America's enormous health-care system in late 2009 and early 2010. November 2's exit polls clearly indicate that voters across the country punished vulnerable U.S. representatives and senators for doing what Big Labor told them to do. Undoubtedly compounding the woes of many of the politicians who had voted for the government union boss-crafted "stimulus" package and ObamaCare was that they were also on the record in support of forced-unionism initiatives that, due to stiff Right to Work opposition, have yet to be enacted. Millions of freedom-loving citizens were furious with their incumbent politicians for having backed Big Labor's now-moribund "card check" forced-unionism bill and its so far-stalled scheme to federalize government union monopoly bargaining over state and local public-safety employees. Big Labor Appeasers in GOP Were First Casualties Of Voter Backlash
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.
AFL-CIO Blinks

AFL-CIO Blinks

During the health care debate, the union bosses of the AFl-CIO made bold threats to House Democrats -- vote against ObamaCare and we will sit on our hands during your re-election battle.  As Miss Emily Letella on Saturday Night Live used to say, "Nevermind." With many of their congressional water carriers struggling for their political lives, the AFL-CIO backed of their threat putting power before principle. The Hill reports: The AFL-CIO released its first round of mailers in support of endangered Democrats this week. In it, the union sought to bolster Rep. Zack Space’s (D-Ohio) campaign with literature attacking his Republican opponent. Space was the lone Democrat from Ohio’s congressional delegation to vote against the healthcare bill, and his position enraged labor groups. But he’s not the only lawmaker who voted against the legislation to see union support trickle back his way.

Michelle Malkin: Obama’s Big Labor ethics loophole

[stream provider=youtube flv=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D8ia-l1RASG8 img=x:/img.youtube.com/vi/8ia-l1RASG8/0.jpg embed=false share=false width=350 height=250 dock=true controlbar=over bandwidth=high autostart=false /] Michelle Malkin highlights the non-existent ethical standards applied to Obama Big Labor politcal appointees like  SEIU/AFL-CIO lawyer Craig Becker who Obama appointed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): Everything you need to know about President Obama’s fraudulent ethics pledge can be summed up in four words: SEIU lawyer Craig Becker. It’s no surprise that Becker now refuses to hold himself accountable for the ethics pledge he himself signed in April. As the past two years have taught us, Team Obama’s operational slogan is: Rules are for fools. The contractual ethics commitment states: “I will not for a period of two years from the date of my appointment participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to my former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.” Yet, Becker has participated in numerous NLRB cases involving the SEIU and its affiliates — and is parsing the definition of “former employer” by arguing that local SEIU chapters are “separate and distinct legal entities” that don’t fall under the ethics rules. The National Right to Work Foundation, which has fought both national and local SEIU officials in court on behalf of rank-and-file workers’ rights, eviscerates Becker’s lawyerly blather. SEIU’s own constitution considers local affiliates “constituent subordinate bodies” of the national union, the foundation notes. “Moreover, in 2009 over 85 percent of the SEIU’s receipts came from a per capita tax on the locals’ membership dues and fees. The national union even has the power to assume control over its locals if they do not conform to International policies.”