NILRR Clips August 1, 2014


A black and white image of an eagle with its wings spread.

Labor leaders say from now on union organizing will be different

People’s World Online, July 31, 2014

When he came out of a closed door session of the council here July 30 Larry Cohen, the chair of the AFL-CIO’s organizing committee, said that from here on out union organizing is going to take on a different face: “You’re going to see, as you did with the auto workers in Chattanooga, the establishment by workers of more and more ‘membership organizations,’ groups that workers join voluntarily to fight for their rights, groups that don’t, at first, have collective bargaining contracts in place but get there after they grow.”

Members Of Philly Ironworkers’ Union Hit With More Charges

Expert: Walker’s key reform survives to embolden would-be reformers

Wisconsin Reporter Online, August 1, 2014

“I think the court’s decision will encourage legislators across the country to see how they might reform (collective bargaining) in states across the country,†Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation told Wisconsin Reporter following the Supreme Court decision.

Appeals panel Does Nothing To Stop Minnesota union drive

Mysanantonio.com, July 31, 2014

“The court’s ruling today means that the homecare providers’ suit is indeed ripe for review because those providers are under imminent threat of unionization, with the unionization election starting tomorrow,” group president Mark Mix said.

Illinois extends Supreme Court Harris v. Quinn ruling to daycare providers

Washington Examiner Online, July 31, 2014

The decision means that an estimated 50,000 people previously legally required to pay dues to the Service Employees International Union for the first time now have the option of leaving the union if they want.

Top Senate Republican calls for repealing union-backed wage law

Washington Examiner, July 30, 2014

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., called for repealing the federal government’s Davis-Bacon Act, which sets wages for federal contracting work. Alexander called the law wasteful and counterproductive, saying it hurt unskilled workers and cost taxpayers money.

Why Paul Gessing says a right-to-work law is key to economic recovery

Albuquerque Business Journal Online, July 31, 2014

Recently, site-selection expert John Boyd was interviewed about New Mexico’s chances for getting the Tesla “gigafactory.†His comments were very enlightening. He said that manufacturing companies seek reasons to eliminate states when considering where to build major facilities, and the lack of a right to work law is at the top of the list. In the interview, Boyd again reiterated the need for right to work stating, “I can’t underscore how critical right to work status is.â€

Vos doesn’t intend to pursue right to work

Channel 3000.com, July 31, 2014

Vos spoke Thursday after the state Supreme Court upheld the 2011 law known as Act 10, which effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers.

Vos said he remains a backer of right to work, but he does not think this is the time to try it in Wisconsin.

Labor rolls out its plan to defeat GOP in November

People’s World Online, July 31, 2014

The first priority, according to Saunders, who is also president of the 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is the state elections in four key states – Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Florida where unions aim to defeat sitting right-wing governors. In Minnesota, the goal is to keep it Democratic and in two additional states just added to the list, Illinois and Connecticut, the goal is to protect Democratic incumbents in the governors’ mansions.

Indiana labor supporters optimistic as lower courts find Right to Work unconstitutional

PR News Channel Online, August 1, 2014

Last week, Lake County Circuit Court Judge George Paras ruled that the 2012 legislation was unconstitutional due to the fact it forces unions to provide services to workers without payments. In his ruling, Judge Paras declared the law was immediately “null and void.

Duff on Harris

lawprofessors.typepad.com, July 25, 2014

In the post, Duff puts forth what is a fairly controversial view for a union supporter: that reliance on agency fees is a bad idea for labor, which would not be mortally wounded had the Court gone all the way in Harris and declared public-sector agency fees unconstitutional.

Michelle Malkin: Delphi workers contend Obama robbed them

Townhall.com, July 31, 2014

Two court rulings this summer have given the victims hope. Their plight must not be forgotten. Remember when Washington rushed to nationalize the U.S. auto industry with $80 billion in taxpayer “rescue†funds and avoid contested court termination proceedings? – See more at: The federally backed Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which had the fiduciary duty to represent the best interests of all the Delphi workers, helped sacrifice the nonunion employees at the UAW altar.

30 cited for blocking street at union rally at UPMC facility

Pittsburgh Tribune Online, July 30, 2014

More than 400 protesters gathered at Mellon Square Park at the corner of Sixth Avenue and William Penn Place before marching to UPMC’s corporate headquarters in the U.S. Steel Building at the intersection of Grant Street and Strawberry Way where they planned to be arrested.

NLRB Reviews Teamster Petition to Expand Definition of ‘Dual Employer’

National Legal and Policy Center Online, July 30, 2014

If the board rules in favor of a Teamsters local in California, unions everywhere could have a powerful organizing weapon. The union had filed a petition back in July 2013 to represent workers at a San Francisco Bay Area recycling plant. A labor contractor, Leadpoint Business Services, handles hiring, wages and other personnel issues at the plant on behalf of the plant owner, Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) of California Inc. The union wants the board to classify Leadpoint and BFI as a dual employer for collective bargaining purposes. The local failed to convince the NLRB at the regional level last August – and not without reason.

Sen. John Thune aims at union corruption

Washington Times, July 30, 2014

The bill by Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, would bring back three sets of Labor Department rules that were designed to crack down on union corruptions by required unions and their leaders to disclose more details of their finances.

The rules were proposed under President George W. Bush but rescinded after Mr. Obama took office, one of several moves he made to benefit unions that were strong supporters of his presidential campaign.

Democrats push making labor organizing a ‘civil right’

washingtonexaminer.com, July 30, 2014

The NLRA already protects the right to form and join a union. Ellison and Lewis’ legislation would dramatically expand the powers individual workers have under the act by allowing them to sue their employer in federal court under the Civil Rights Act.

Boeing to Build Biggest 787 in the South

New York Times, July 30, 2014

Boeing said on Wednesday that it would assemble the largest of its three 787 Dreamliner jets only in South Carolina, rather than splitting the work with a plant in Washington State as it has for the first two models.

The decision, which was widely expected, expands Boeing’s commitment to its newer facilities in North Charleston, a right-to-work state where its machinists are not unionized. The company has battled with its unions in Washington State.

Study estimates unionization cost workers in some states $11,000

washingtonexaminer.com, July 29, 2014

Heavy unionization cost the average worker in Michigan about $11,000 over the last 50 years. It cost workers in Nevada about $9,000 over the same period and Ohio workers about $8,600.

Steelworkers Union Hierarchy Schizophrenic About Members-Only Bargaining

nrtwc.org, July 28, 2014

But lately union lawyers have had more success in contending in state courts that Indiana’s Right to Work law denies them employee money to which they are entitled. At least, union lawyers have now successfully made this argument twice in circuit courts in Big Labor-dominated Lake County.

Former Treasurer of Amtrak Police Union Arrested, Indicted

nlpc.org, July 28, 2014

It didn’t have far to look for the source of the problem. On June 24, Eric Givens, a longtime Amtrak police officer, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York with one count each of wire fraud, embezzlement and making a false statement related to his alleged theft of at least $100,000 in funds from the Amtrak Police Labor Committee, and a Fraternal Order of Police affiliate, each of which he had served as treasurer. He had been arrested earlier that day.

Malloy and the strange case of the two new unions

Journal-Inquirer.com, July 28, 2014

You might ask why a public official was organizing labor unions.

You’d be asking precisely the right question.

It gets stranger still.

None of these in-home workers are state employees, yet the two new SEIU unions negotiated their pay, benefits, and work rules with state government officials — not their actual employers.

It gets even more bizarre.

Forced-Unionism States Are Missing 1.7 Million People in Their Peak Earnings Years

www.nilrr.org, July 28, 2014

Considered together, recently released U.S. Census Bureau data for 2013 and comparable data for 2003 indicate that, as of last year, roughly 1.7 million people in their peak earnings years (ages 35-54) were missing in the 26 states that do not have Right to Work laws barring the exaction of compulsory union dues and fees as a condition of employment

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