Big Unions Cooling on Obama?

June 6, 2011 | Filed Under AFL-CIO, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, EFCA, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, President, Public Employees Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Bloomberg has another unions-are-mad-at-Obama story this week and, while there is no doubt that unions are a bit miffed at the big “O,” we should all be cautioned about where Big Labor will put its support in 2012. Miffed or not, and quite contrary to what Bloomberg wants you to believe, Big Labor will support Obama to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

Still, it is interesting to see the unions whine about Obama. This president has been the biggest booster to Big Labor than any other president in history. The business punishing regulations alone that Obama has saddled upon this struggling economy makes his efforts more destructive and favorable to unions than any two past presidents combined.

Obama is using his regulatory powers to force contractors to pay unions off to get federal work even if those businesses aren’t members of any union, he’s sallied forth from his castle to inform businesses about where they will be allowed to build businesses, his crony capitalist efforts have put big businesses all across the country under his thumb, and he’s eased as many regulations that keep unions in line as he can… and he plans to do even more.
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Ohio Senator Brown: Card Check is Dead

March 25, 2011 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, EFCA, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Labor Law, Liberals, Ohio, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, Senate, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Washington D.C. | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Hill newspaper has an interesting quote from Ohio Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown. He says the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), of the Card Check bill is a dead issue in the senate this year.

Senator Brown was being interviewed on WVIZ radio in Ohio when he was asked what he thought about the success of the EFCA in the Senate for the 112th Congressional session. “It’s not going to happen now,” the senator said.

If this is true then Big Labor should be extremely upset with President Obama and the Democrat leadership in congress. Will they take out their anger by withholding their enthusiastic support of Democrats in 2012?

One would think that this singular failure of the Democrats to get Big Labor’s most wished for legislation passed would be a deal breaker for labor. After all, labor has spent over $400 million in the last few years on getting Democrats elected and it seems that all that money went for no benefit to them. Labor’s loss of power has grown commensurately with its expenditure on Democrats, anyway.

Like old dogs that cant learn new tricks, though, it is likely that they will double down and try to pump more money than ever into the pockets of pliant Democrats. Like a beaten wife they keep coming back, it seems.
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Obama Using Regulatory Power to Force Card Check

December 14, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Capitalism, Card Check, Democrats/Leftists, EFCA, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, NLRB, President, SEIU, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Congress has failed to pass Big Labor’s long sought after card check bill, the Orwellian named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The reason congress has not passed this destructive law is because the voters have repeatedly spoken by urging their representatives and senators to stand against it. The voice of the American people, though, does not interest President Barack Obama because he is gearing up to use his power to control America’s regulatory regime to force card check on the people anyway.

One of the chief provisions of the card check bill eliminates the secret ballot and would force workers voting on union representation to make their vote publicly by signing a card that everyone can easily see. This procedure certainly leaves workers open to intimidation as union bosses learn just who voted for them and who voted against them.

There are also other bad parts to the EFCA. One of them is that the government will force automatic arbitration on union and employer alike if no contract has been arrived at in the very short time that the government is forcing on them by law.
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Rep. John Kline & the Secret Ballot Protection Act

December 13, 2010 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, EFCA, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Jobs, Liberals, President, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By LaborUnionReport.com

Congressman John Kline [R-MN] has been one of the House of Representatives’ most vocal opponent of SEIU’s labor board appointee, Craig Becker, as well as a vocal defender of workers’ right to choose by secret-ballot whether or not to become unionized. In that role, he has stood strong against union bosses as they have worked to strip workers right to a secret-ballot through passage of the job-destroying (and delusionally dubbed) Employee Free Anti-Choice Act.

On Wednesday, showing the change in leadership that will begin in January, Republican named Kline to be the Chairman of the House Education & Labor Committee. The HEL committee is the House committee that must approve issues affecting union elections (like EFCA). Upon being stated for the committee, Kline stated:

“Job creation and American competitiveness are vital national priorities. As Chairman, I will ensure they are at the forefront of the Education and Labor Committee agenda.”

Given the five year push by union bosses to rid employees of their right to vote by secret-ballot, as well as this week’s NLRB decision institutionalizing card-check by collusion, Kline and his fellow Republicans are well suited to re-introduce the Secret Ballot Protection Act….

Please read the rest at LaborUnionReport.com.

Secret Ballot Protection Wins Big in Four States

November 10, 2010 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Card Check, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, EFCA, Elections, Ethics, Free Trade, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, President, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Is card check dead? Not completely, but if the recent votes on various state ballot initiatives of four states is any indication it sure seems to be on its last legs.

Little noticed by the Old Media, the ballot initiatives of these four states is an important bellwether of how little support Big Labor’s favorite law will have going forward. On November 2 four states voted by great margins to protect the secret ballot and these reasserted protections would tend to deliver a blow to one of the Democrat’s important provisions of card check, a provision that would eliminate the secret ballot for prospective union members.

Card check is one of the main parts of Big Labor’s Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The provision would eliminate a secret ballot for prospective union members as they decide on representation. Under the EFCA, votes for union representation would be an open issue. Every employee’s vote would be clearly known by all involved. This open voting (or the public checking of a vote card or ballot) would clearly leave employees open for harassment by union officials who would be fully aware of each employees individual votes, if they voted for or against the union. For that matter, even the employer would have knowledge of who voted for what under the EFCA.
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As America Votes, Obama Angling to Take Vote Away From Workers

November 1, 2010 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, EFCA, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Labor Law, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Regulation, Right To Work, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

As Americans prepare to head to the polls to exercise their right to a secret ballot on election day, the Obama administration is poised to roll back that right in the workplace. By Obama’s orders, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is looking over a policy change that would undermine the protections for a worker’s right to a secret ballot vote in union elections in the workplace.

This elimination of a secret ballot is one of the policy changes that Big Labor has been pushing for several years now and is a chief component of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) — better known as card check – a policy that Big Labor has been desperate to force Congress to pass.

Card Check would take away the right that workers have to a secret ballot when considering whether or not a union will be awarded representation at the workplace. This elimination of the secret ballot would leave workers open to the intimidation of union operatives who would be able to identify precisely which worker does and which worker does not support them. The secret ballot is one of the oldest, democratic rights in free and fair elections but unions want this right summarily taken away by federal order.
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Sen. Harkin Promises Return to Card Check

June 25, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Capitalism, Card Check, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, EFCA, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Hill is reporting that Iowa’s leading Democrat, Senator Tom Harkin, is promising that the lame-duck Senate will again take up Big Labor’s favored Employee Free Choice Act, (EFCA), the famous card check act that is neither good for employees nor one that facilitates “free choice” of any kind.

Apparently, what’s bad for the nation is easier to push when Democrats already feel that the 2010 election will erase their giant majorities in Congress so they want to launch a last ditch effort to sneak this through before the people can speak at the ballot box.

And isn’t that just the thing, here? The people did speak in 2006 and 2008, after all. They spoke in favor of Democrats. Yet, even with all that support Harkin and his far left cronies couldn’t lead their overwhelming majority to pass the jobs killing bill. Even their fellow Democrats were against it because they knew the voters stood against it.
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Obama’s First Stealth EFCA Styled Rules Implementation

May 12, 2010 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Business, Capitalism, Card Check, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, EFCA, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Labor Law, Liberals, President, Public Employees Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

One of the aspects of the inaptly named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is the card check rule that is meant to make creating a union easier for unions and harder to resist for employers. But the EFCA is stalled in Congress as too many people understand just how bad this legislation really is. So, in order to help unions, both union leaders and President Obama have aimed to begin to push union aiding policies through the back door by changing federal rules governing the relationship between labor and business.

This week, Obama tossed unions a favor by changing the rule governing the way unions are ushered into the work place in the air transportation industry. By a 2 to 1 margin the National Mediation Board changed the percentage of “yes” votes that certifies a union from 75 percent of employees to a mere majority. The 75 percent rule has been in place for 75 years. (*NOTE* This is somewhat more complicated than the simple way I put it, so do go to the Fox story and see the particulars)
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Union News: Card Check Not Dead Yet

May 9, 2010 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Card Check, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, EFCA, Government, Government, Corruption, Public Employees Unions, Senate, Taxes, Tea Party, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Wondering if a bad liberal idea is dead is sort of an amusing prospect. After all, liberals have been carrying around the stinking carcass of socialism and communism like a dearly beloved child still maintaining that it could work because it just hasn’t been tried right yet. So, saying that card check isn’t dead is sort of a given because bad liberal ideas never die, they just lay in wait like a highwayman ready to waylay an unsuspecting public at a later date.

Still, card check isn’t, dead I mean. And AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka is reminding us of that in stark terms. He might realize that getting it passed legitimately and standing on its own like an acceptable idea is not going to work but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t still scheming to fool the public once again.
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Unions Cutting off Noses To Spite Their Faces

April 5, 2010 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Business, Capitalism, Card Check, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, EFCA, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Health, Jobs, Liberals, Pennsylvania, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Despite all our talk of CommieObamie being a socialist, it is a straight out fact that the far left in America are mad that Obama didn’t turn us into the U.S.S.R. lite the second he took office. His pace at selling us out and turning us into a social democratic system ala France isn’t happening fast enough for them. For unions the fact that Obama hasn’t summarily castrated the business community and forced card check down everyone’s throats yet is a downer. And with that in mind, unions have announced that they are taking their ire out on those mythical “Blue Dog” Democrats that are trying to run for reelection in conservative districts in the upcoming midterms.

Friend to the blog David Denholm gave us a delicious example of this cutting off of the Democratic nose to spite the union’s face going on in Pensylvania’s 17th Congressional District.

There the AFL-CIO is refusing to support “Blue Dog” Tim Holden. Why? Because he voted “no” on Obama’s take over of American healthcare, that’s why. Ridiculously enough, Pennsylvania’s AFL-CIO front man, Bill George said that Holden has “been good to us on a number of bread-and-butter issues,” but that they have refused to support him because Obamacare was a “revolutionary, historical vote.”

Viva la Revelucion.
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Union Hack Becker Gets Recess Appointment

March 29, 2010 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, EFCA, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, NLRB, President, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

President Obama is determined to misuse his office to payoff unions and to that end he has given union goon Craig Becker a recess appointment as the head of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency tasked with implementing fair and responsible federal rules to govern labor and employers.

The U.S. Chamber of commerce has slammed Obama’s appointment of union hack Becker to such an important position. The Chamber was disgusted by Obama’s actions. According to The Hill the Chamber slammed the decision because it “‘disregards the Senate’s bipartisan rejection’ of Becker and ‘contradicts the president’s claim to change the tone in Washington,’ said Randel K. Johnson, the chamber’s senior vice president of Labor, Immigration and Employee Benefits.”

“This is the first time since 1993 that the Chamber has opposed a nominee to the NLRB,” Johnson said. “The Chamber’s opposition is based on Mr. Becker’s prolific writings, which suggest a radical view of labor law that flies in the face of established precedent and case law and is far outside the mainstream.”

Now unions can likely expect Becker to re-write NLRB rules to allow the things that unions want to get implemented even though Congress has in a bi-partisan manner refused to do so thus far. Obama is, in other words, warping our process, subverting Congress, and using back doors to get his radical, left-wing agenda passed above the desires of the people’s representatives and the will of the voters.
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A Couple of Union Stories in the News

March 13, 2010 | Filed Under AFL-CIO, Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, EFCA, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Media, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, SEIU, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Three interesting stories on unions have hit the media this week that should be watched.

#1- Bush’s Union Transparency Rules Retracted Under Obama

The Washington Times reports that Obama is still giving favors and pay back to Big Labor. This time Obama is eliminating the transparency rules that Bush had put in to try to keep unions honest and legal. Saddly, Obama doesn’t care much if unions are held to the rule of law.
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‘Restoring’ Unions ‘Right’ to Bargain Collectively

March 9, 2010 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Congress, Economy/Finances, EFCA, Free Trade, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Jobs, Liberals, Lobbyists, President, Senate, Socialism, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Not long ago union advocate Stewart Acuff penned a piece for the Huffington website that was filled with soaring rhetoric about unions “creating the middle class” and pleading for voters to pressure Congress to pass the absurdly named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). He claimed that this piece of… legislation would “restore the right to form unions and bargain collectively.”

Despite Acuff’s urgent pleading, however, he misses an elephant in the room. No one has taken anyone’s “right to collectively bargain” away from them. Of course that wasn’t the only thing that Acuff was factually incorrect about.

Why is it that union folks have to lie about everything, anyway?

Acuff starts out with a whopper.
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Tags: Publius+Forum, Warner+Todd+Huston, Union, Corruption, EFCA, Employee+Free+Choice+Act