Union Bosses Push "Back to the Future" Agenda

President Obama has yet to been sworn in but that hasn’t stopped Big Labor lobbyists from pushing their legislative agenda. Working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Associations of Manufacturers, Big Labor is working on a stimulus package that promises to be a raw deal for the taxpayers.

Described as a “new New Deal,” Big Labor, with the support of the new president, is pushing an infrastructure spending package. Of course, the package will inevitably allow union-only companies to get the work and would extend Davis Bacon laws — causing the taxpayers to spend more than necessary.

As they say on the TV ads, “but wait there’s more.”

Forbes reports:

Stimulus aside, Big Labor’s got a handful of other issues on its legislative plate early next year. The American Federation of Government Employees says it’s planning an “unprecedented effort” to recruit Transportation Security Administration workers and obtain a collective bargaining agreement for them. The Teamsters union continues to push for a moratorium on the foreign outsourcing of aircraft maintenance, citing security concerns.

Change to Win wants to see greater financial protection for pension plans. Unions are also urging Congress to toughen free trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama before approving them. They don’t think these deals, negotiated by the Bush administration, contain adequate labor or environmental standards.

Big Labor spent hundreds of millions of dollars getting Barack Obama elected president–SEIU [Service Employees International Union] members alone contributed about $85 million–and they’ll expect to be rewarded once his administration sets up shop at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. There’s a theory that Congress and the new administration will address some of these issues, putting aside for a while the most controversial items–health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act, the bill that would make it easier for unions to organize.

Be prepared for a long fight against the biggest Big Labor power grab in decades. It will come in many shapes and forms, but inevitably it will be bad for workers and the economy.