A new National Labor Relations Board regulation that expedites elections for union representation will likely lead to dramatically higher rates of unionization, a new study has found. A majority of workplace union elections are decided by five or fewer votes, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis. What’s more, “cutting the time between a request for an election and the ballot increases the chances union supporters will prevail,” according to the study. “Unions win 87 percent of elections held 11 to 15 days after a request, a rate that falls to …
The Obama Administration’s decision to forego the Keystone pipeline has forced the country’s labor groups into a bitter civil war. At issue is the central purpose of the labor movement: those who feel it should represent workers in the workplace generally oppose the administration’s decision; those who see unions as primarily political organizations have generally supported it. Unions that had a stake in the Keystone decision were livid that the administration abandoned it, and equally angry at their fellow union members who had supported that decision, according to a Friday …
One of the officials President Obama illegally appointed to the National Labor Relations Board advanced policies in his position at a major labor union that hindered efforts to reform corrupt union locals. Incoming NLRB member Richard Griffin, formerly the general counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers, pushed a union rule in 2007 that barred union leadership campaign websites from being made available to the general public. We spoke with Mike Quigley, a member of IUOE Local 150, about his experience challenging a corrupt union official, and the difficulties …
“Occupy Wall Street” is being absorbed into the existing network of liberal grievance groups, turning what began as an unconventional, generally spontaneous amalgam of demonstrations into simply an apparatus for the professional left’s unending campaign of protests. The group Rebuild the Dream staged protests on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon, flying the figurative ‘Occupy’ flag, and plugging all of its standard talking points about income inequality and corporate political influence. Scribe reported recently on the increasing presence of Big Labor among Occupy protests. Rebuild the Dream will advance that trend, as …
It is an old saying that “Businesses get the union they deserve.” Workers whose companies treat them poorly unionize; workers who are treated well do not. President Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) wants to shorten this adage. His NLRB wants businesses to get unionized, period. This would hurt both workers and the economy. Only one in 10 nonunion workers say they want to unionize. Union membership has shrunk to just 7 percent in the private sector. It is easy to see why: In a competitive economy, unions have a …
American Airlines announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, making it the final large U.S. full-fare airline to seek court protection from creditors. One of the primary reasons? American is at a disadvantage because of high labor costs, proving that in a competitive economy, unions can’t do much for their members without sending companies into bankruptcy. American had struggled after 9/11 to avoid heading to bankruptcy as its rivals did in the hopes of securing favorable contract agreements with labor unions. The unions though, had other …
News that two major labor unions will co-opt an “Occupy” protest in Washington next month solidifies two facts about the waning protest movement: it is an entirely ordinary function of left-wing activism, and it is wholly unserious about addressing special interests’ influence over the political process. The Washington Post reports that the Service Employees International Union and the Communications Workers of America will stage a protest at the Capitol next month in conjunction with occupiers. The protest’s stated goal, according to SEIU president Mary Kay Henry: to intimidate Republicans into …
Apparently seeking to capitalize on a political movement that shares its general political vision, Big Labor has stepped up its material support for the “Occupy” protesters. Scribe noted this week that the AFL-CIO union had taken out advertisements supporting the protests. According to a report from the Washington Post, though, their support extends far beyond paid advertising. Labor groups are mobilizing to provide office space, meeting rooms, photocopying services, legal help, food and other necessities to the protesters. The support is lending some institutional heft to a movement that has prided …
The “Occupy Wall Street” crowd may be dramatically out of step with the American electorate, but Big Labor likes what it sees. The AFL-CIO union has bought two prominently-placed Google ads for a pair of initiatives supporting the protests. The search term “occupy wall street” turns up two sidebar ads that link to AFL-CIO websites, as seen in the screenshot below (click to enlarge). Google Adwords, the site’s advertising service, charges 10 cents per click for a prominently-placed ad on that search results page. The first ad points to aflcio.org/iam99percent, …
Two unions are on strike against Verizon Communications in protest of proposed company policies that the unions themselves helped bring about. The new Obamacare law, which both unions supported, dramatically hikes the cost of Verizon’s employee health care plan. Efforts to pass some of that cost on to employees have sparked outrage. Verizon’s health care plan is what President Obama commonly referred to as a “Cadillac plan” – expensive and luxurious – during his push to get health care legislation through Congress. The new law will levy a 40 percent …
