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 …
A Service Employees International Union “contract campaign manual,” recently released as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the union, reveals a host of unseemly tactics the SEIU recommends using against employers who resist unionization efforts. Those include efforts to undermine a business financially, intimidate individual managers, and use political pressure to increase the cost of doing business. Even more striking: the manual encourages workers to violate the law. “Union members sometimes must act in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King and Mohatma Gandhi,” the manual states, “and disobey laws …
The fight to balance Wisconsin’s state budget intensified yesterday as Governor Scott Walker issued an ultimatum to Democratic Senators who have refused to return to the capital to vote on the budget repair bill. The ultimatum comes as Wisconsin approaches a crucial deadline to restructure its debt. But while the fight has become more intense, there has never been a shortage of heat in this debate. Union leaders have been especially vocal, with SEIU President Mary Kay Henry characterizing Walker’s proposal to weaken collective bargaining, as part of a “struggle …
What happens when the going gets tough for unions? They protest, even if they don’t have a legitimate reason to do it (other than an inability to compete and their plummeting membership rolls). Take the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters (MRCC), for example. As The Mackinac Center for Public Policy reports, the union has been protesting Ritsema Associates, a Michigan construction company since last summer – even though its members don’t work there. Why? The union claims that the company pays “substandard wages and fringe benefits,” but they don’t offer …
The folks over at Reason.tv have produced a great video explaining how public sector unions are stifling economic recovery. It notes that unionized workers already made more than their private sector counterparts before the recession and that the pay gap has only grown since then. Government jobs don’t create wealth because all the money they spend comes from tax dollars that are taken from another part of the economy. Government union jobs are not a net gain like a private sector jobs are. With the Obama Administration hiring more and …
Last night, Politico reported that Service Employees International Union President Andrew Stern is expected to resign and, according to The New York Times, the resignation is about to happen very soon. If Stern does resign, he will be doing so while at the top of his game. Stern told The Las Vegas Sun last year: “We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama – $60.7 million to be exact – and we’re proud of it.” President Obama is well aware of his huge debt to the SEIU. That is why …
While most Americans were enjoying a weekend away from work, President Obama kept busy Saturday afternoon, appointing one of Big Labor’s lawyers to a post at the National Labor Relations Board. The recess appointment of Craig Becker was expected—despite the Senate’s bipartisan rejection of him in February. The White House knew media coverage would be minimal on the weekend, but Becker can’t escape the scrutiny. (Heritage’s Ryan O’Donnell wrote about the controversial pick last week.) Prior to his appointment, Becker served as associate general counsel to the Service Employees International …
It’s hard not to sympathize with organized labor—at least to some extent. After all, during the 2008 elections, unions donated roughly half a billion dollars to Democrats, and so far have few legislative victories to show for their efforts; the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), the Respect Act, and the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act have all stalled in Congress. Union leaders were further outraged by last month’s bipartisan Senate vote against Craig Becker, President Obama’s nominee to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Rather than accept another setback, however, …
There is no entity with closer ties to the Obama administration than the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). According to the White House visitor logs SEIU President Andy Stern and Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger visited the White House 58 times in 2009 alone, including 11 meetings with Obama and another with Vice President Biden. The SEIU is popular in the White House because no other union is as politically active as the SEIU. Stern told the Las Vegas Sun, “We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama — $60.7 million to …
The Service Employees International Union takes the top prize as President Obama’s favorite labor union. President Andy Stern and Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger have visited the White House nearly 60 times, including 11 meetings with Obama and another with Vice President Biden. The White House yesterday released more than 25,000 visitor records from Sept. 16-30. Included in the release were nearly 2,000 pre-Sept. 16 records based on specific requests. The records are publicly available on WhiteHouse.gov. SEIU’s Stern and Burger visited the White House three times in September; a fourth meeting …
