The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is demanding that the Department of Labor surrender legal documents related to an ObamaCare regulation allegedly designed to provide health care subsidies for union members. The controversy stems from a rule that…
The Free Beacon reports on our efforts to highlight a loophole in federal law that allows union activists and militants to use violence without fear of prosecution: Labor watchdogs held a candlelight vigil outside AFL-CIO headquarters…
Terry McAuliffe’s support from big labor continues to come under scrutiny from the media. The Free Beacon reports that the union bosses are spending big to see him gain control of the Old Dominion: Unions are spending hundreds of…
The Free Beacon asks an interesting question -- will Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan recuse herself from a case dealing with recess appointments to the NLRB? Critics of President Barack Obama’s recess appointments are calling on Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to recuse herself from a potential Supreme Court hearing on the matter. The Chamber of Commerce raised the prospect of recusal, citing then-solicitor general Kagan’s defense of President Obama’s recess appointments in a previous case regarding the composition of the National Labor Relations Board. The Supreme Court invalidated more than 600 NLRB decisions in the June 2010 case New Process Steel v. NLRB because the board had been issuing decisions with only two members. Kagan defended Obama’s approach to board composition and recess appointments in several briefs, writing in April 2010 that the court “would significantly burden the rights protected” by the National Labor Relations Act if it decided against the administration. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in January ruled in Noel Canning v. NLRBthat Obama violated the Constitution when he appointed Richard Griffin and Sharon Block to the board without Senate confirmation while the upper legislative chamber was in pro forma session. Legal experts predict the case will end up in the Supreme Court.
[media-credit name=" " align="alignright" width="218"][/media-credit]The Free Beacon has discovered that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) owes at least $8 million to a bank owned by one of the largest unions in the country, according to the committee’s most recent financial report. The DNC initiated an $8 million loan with the Amalgamated Bank of New York on Aug. 10, the report shows, accounting for the majority of the committee’s overall debt of $11 million. Amalgamated Bank, often described as “America’s Labor Bank,” is a national entity, the majority of which is owned by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a politically active union with deep ties to the Democratic Party. The SEIU is also involved with the Democracy Alliance, a shadowy group of wealthy left-wing donors founded by billionaire investor George Soros. The bank announced in an August press release that the DNC had “moved its primary banking relationship” to Amalgamated Bank, which would handle the committee’s “day-to-day banking needs.” The DNC had previously done most of its banking with Bank of America, which helped finance the Democratic convention in Charlotte. DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz hailed the transition to Amalgamated Bank, and noted the longstanding political and financial ties between the two organizations.