House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) has another bright idea to reward government union bosses – subsidize the creation of more government union jobs with $100 billion in taxpayer money.
(source: Michael O’Brien, The Hill)
Despite failing legislatively to gain enough votes for the Big Labor agenda in Congress, the union boss power grab is proceeding administratively according to investigative reporter Kevin Mooney.
But Federal Forced-Unionization Scheme Is Bound to Reemerge Soon
It is growing very clear that Big Labor politicians know the American people do not support their scheme to establish a new federal mandate imposing union “exclusive representation” (monopoly bargaining) over state and local police, firefighters, and other public-safety employees nationwide. Jus t be fore the U.S. House adjourned last month, forced-unionism cheerleader Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her cohorts plotted to sneak this legislation through their chamber while attracting as little public attention as possible.
Behind the scenes, Ms. Pelosi, Big Labor Congressman Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), and others worked on a plan to tack Mr. Kildee’s House version of the Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill (H.R.413) onto H.R.3326, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill.
And Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Kildee et al probably would have succeeded in securing a House rubber-stamp for a huge expansion of union bosses’ monopoly privileges without facing major resistance – but for the efforts of the National Right to Work Committee and its allies on Capitol Hill.
Committee Staff Alerted Leaders of Allied Groups
On December 14, within just hours of learning from a key Capitol Hill source that Big Labor House leaders were preparing to bring up H.R.413 as an amendment to H.R.3326, Committee legislative officers began sending faxes and e-mails and making personal visits to key Capitol Hill offices.
Right to Work staff also alerted leaders of several organizations representing the interests of local governments and public-safety departments, such as the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), that is also opposed to H.R.413 and its U.S. Senate counterpart, S.1611.
House members from key swing districts who were already edgy as a result of the intense public controversy over ObamaCare thus began receiving calls and e-mails from an array of groups urging them to resist all efforts to attach the monopoly-bargaining bill to the defense spending measure.
Moreover, congressmen and their staff members certainly knew from previous showdowns over forced unionism legislation that, if H.R.3326 emerged with a monopoly-bargaining amendment, their offices would quickly be flooded with calls from Right to Work members mobilized by the Committee’s phone operation.
And on Wednesday, December 16, it became clear that Speaker Pelosi and co. had decided to heed, for the moment, concerned congressmen when H.R.3326 was formally introduced without the public-safety monopoly bargaining provision.
Vast Majority of Americans Reject Monopoly Bargaining
Of course, Big Labor House leaders are virtually certain to try again early this year to smuggle H.R.413 through their chamber. And there are still several pending FY 2010 appropriations bills to which this destructive measure could be attached. H.R.413 and the nearly identical S.1611 would force countless policemen, firefighters and EMT’s to accept as their monopoly-bargaining agent a union they personally never voted for, and want nothing to do with.
Moreover, H.R.413 and S.1611 do NOT protect the Right To Work without being forced to pay union dues or fees either of the public-safety employees upon whom Congress is imposing a union monopoly, or of the public-safety employees who are already subject to one.
“Americans overwhelmingly oppose monopoly bargaining, period,” noted Committee President Mark Mix. “The public certainly has no interest in backing legislation designed to help Big Labor grab monopoly-bargaining privileges over hundreds of thousands of additional employees.”
Mr. Mix cited a recent scientific nationwide survey conducted by veteran pollster Del Ali and his firm Research 2000. The poll found that 81% of Americans who regularly vote in statewide elections believe that employees in unionized businesses should retain the right to bargain for themselves. Just 17% of regular voters believe employees should not have that right, while 2% are unsure.
“Forcing union nonmembers to accept public-safety union officials as their monopoly-bargaining agent is what H.R.413 and S.1611 are all about,” explained Mr. Mix. “Any state law or local ordinance authorizing public-safety union bosses to bargain on behalf of their members only would get tossed in the scrapheap if either measure became law.”
And government union bosses actually see this legislation as just a first step toward enactment of a federal mandate corralling state and local employees of all kinds into unions. “H.R.413 simply can’t withstand public scrutiny. And Nancy Pelosi knows it.”
Big Labor-Appeasing West Virginia GOP Congresswoman ‘Should Heed Her Own Mayor’
Mr. Mix continued: “Federalizing union monopoly control over public safety employees would be ill-advised at any time, but at a time when taxes are already poised to skyrocket and cities and towns across America are already facing their worst fiscal crisis in decades, enactment of H.R.413 would be incredibly reckless.”
Pervasive public-sector union monopoly bargaining helps government union bosses build up giant political machines, which in most cases are fueled by workers’ compulsory union dues and fees. “
Government union officials use their electoral machines to bankroll Tax-and-Spend state legislative and executive politicians. And the onerous taxes such politicians foist on families and businesses sharply suppress job and income growth.
“Responsible local elected officials across the country have recognized the danger and are urging Congress to defeat H.R.413 and S.1611.”
For example, just this past November, Danny Jones, the mayor of Charleston, W.Va., publicly expressed his concern that this legislation could “bankrupt” his city. In an interview with Charleston’s Daily Mail, Mr. Jones starkly predicted of H.R.413/S.1611: “It’s going to change things. The relationship [between the city and the police union] will become adversarial. “. . . If you look around the states, the most unionized states are the ones that are most broke.”
“Unfortunately,” noted Mr. Mix, virtually every Democrat in Congress and dozens of Republicans are choosing to back the Police/Fire Monopoly- Bargaining Bill in spite of what concerned mayors, city council members, and public-safety officials have to say. “For example, West Virginia GOP Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, who resides in Charleston when she isn’t in Washington, is a cosponsor of the very bill her hometown mayor charges could bankrupt their city.”
Ms. Capito should heed her own mayor and withdraw her support for H.R.413 immediately.”
Right to Work Committee And Its Members Will Keep Turning up the Heat
“Enactment of H.R.413 or S.1611 would be disastrous, not just for independent-minded public-safety officers and Right to Work advocates, but also for taxpayers and citizens who depend on their local police and fire departments,” Mr. Mix continued. “That’s why the National Right to Work Committee and its members can’t afford to rest on our laurels for a minute. We will keep turning up the heat in preparation for the next Capitol Hill showdown over H.R.413/S.1611.
“I urge all Right to Work members to maintain and expand their support, both lobbying and financial, for our campaign. Working together, we can stop the federalization of public-safety monopoly bargaining in 2010.”
March 10, 2010
National Right to Work Vice President Blasts the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill in Testimony to Congress
Big Labor power grab would be a disaster for workers, taxpayers and struggling state economies
Washington, D.C (March 10, 2010) – National Right to Work Committee Vice President Doug Stafford, urged members of Congress to oppose H.R. 413/ S.1611, the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill in a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions this morning.
As detailed in Mr. Stafford’s testimony, if it becomes law H.R. 413 and S. 1611 would force monopoly bargaining on every police officer, firefighter, and emergency medical technician (EMT) in the country, putting them under the monopoly control of union bosses. Mr. Stafford blasted the bill as “yet another bill in a long line of paybacks to union bosses,” in his testimony before the House HELP Subcommittee:
“First, let’s be clear. The ultimate goal of this legislation is to force every firefighter and police officer in the country under union boss control, whether the individual public safety officers want it or not. And whether state and local governments want it or not.
“Under monopoly bargaining, individual workers lose the power to speak for themselves in dealing with their employers, to the detriment of workers and taxpayers. In addition to imposing monopoly bargaining on countless workers, H.R. 413 and its companion bill in the Senate, S. 1611, would override state labor laws across the country.”
Currently, state and local governments have the authority to enter into monopoly bargaining agreements. Many have chosen to do so and many have not. But H.R. 413 and S. 1611 would grant the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) oversight of the labor-management laws of public safety workers in political subdivisions across the country, stripping localities of the right to govern themselves.
Mr. Stafford’s testimony also demonstrated how monopoly bargaining strains the already-vulnerable budgets of state and local government:
“This power comes with a price — H.R. 413 and S. 1611 would also have a detrimental impact on the budgets of state and local governments. Last year, Vallejo, California — where union bosses have already been granted control over public safety workers — went bankrupt after nearly 75 percent of its budget was spent on unionized police and firefighters. And today, despite a $26 billion state budget deficit, out-of-control public sector union bosses aren’t shouldering cuts or taking blame for the problems they’ve caused — they’re threatening strikes!
“In other states where union bosses have been granted monopoly bargaining privileges over public sector workers, we’re seeing the exact same thing. In fact, the Mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania recently stated that these struggling cities are ‘handcuffed’ by public sector monopoly bargaining.
“Put simply, passage of the Police and Firefighter Monopoly Bargaining Bill could be the last economic straw for already struggling communities. During these troubled economic times, the last thing Congress should be considering is a Big Labor power grab that would hurt workers and bust state budgets.”
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Big Labor is targeting failed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Senate seat as the “firewall” in their strategy to keep the pro-Big Labor congressional majority in power this November. Five other states including California, New York, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania will be ground zero for political spending this Fall.
The Wall Street Journal’s Kris Maher reports:
The AFL-CIO is planning its biggest political campaign ever this year, surpassing the $53 million spent in 2008 to help elect President Barack Obama
Trying to avert a Republican takeover of both the House and Senate in the November midterm elections, the labor federation is focusing on a “firewall” of six states with key congressional elections and relatively high numbers of union households: California, New York, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Thomas Molitor is a candidate for the state House of Representatives in New Mexico who understands the importance that Right to Work laws play in job creation and economic growth:
Freedom of choice is a far better system. If a worker feels the union can represent them and they agree with the politics (or do not care), they are free to join the union. Likewise, an employee can choose not to join a union at all.
In fact, a freer market will open up, giving employees a choice of which union will best represent their interests with the dues they pay.
But at every stage the agreements should be voluntary. Employees should be free to join or not to join, and employers should be free to bargain with unions or not. Let freedom of choice and a more competitive market sort out value. The free and open market, not the heavy, restrictive hand of the government, will determine the best employment atmosphere, allowing for maximum freedom for employers and employees.
As it happens, right-to-work states have higher disposable income and faster economic growth. They create more jobs, and have more income equality and lower poverty rates than non-RTW states.
For these reasons, I am strongly in favor of New Mexico becoming a right-to-work state.”
The National Institute for Labor Relations Research reminds us that labor union exclusively bargained labor contracts have a deleterious effect on job prospects for younger workers. Fortunately, the Right To Work laws of 22 states help provide younger workers job opportunities and a place to go according the study:
Low Union-Monopoly States Furnish ‘Safety Valve’ For Americans Aged 25-34 Who Can’t Find Decent Job Opportunities in High Union-Monopoly States, Census Bureau Data Show
The OC Register has a story on the attack of a hospital worker by an SEIU operative:
A 31-year-old union employee could face misdemeanor assault charges after she pushed another union worker who was meeting with employees at Garden Grove Hospital’s cafeteria, police said.
The incident, caught on video and posted on YouTube, shows a woman talking to a hospital employee in a high-pitched, emotional voice. Then the man holding the camera remarks: “Blame it on the members, blame your incompetence…” At that point, the woman charges toward the camera mouthing obscenities at the man and knocks the camera out of his hands, the video shows.
Unfortunately, incidents like this are becoming more common. Here is a video of an SEIU operative assaulting a health care worker.
Sue Lowden (R-NV) is the leading challenger to forced unionism loving Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid and that makes her a target for the union bosses that will do anything to keep Reid at the helm of the Senate. The Las Vegas Review Journal reports “The AFL-CIO also is gearing up to help Reid and hit Lowden.”
