NILRR Right to Work News
CNSNews Online, May 17, 2017
Today, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorney Bill Messenger will argue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on behalf of Illinois homecare personal assistants in Riffey v. SEIU. The case attempts to win back more than thirty-two million dollars in forced dues illegally seized by a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) scheme that the U.S. Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional in the 2014 Foundation-won Harris v. Quinn decision.
Iowa teacher asks to intervene in union lawsuit over collective bargaining
Des Moines Register online, May 12, 2017
[Bruce] Cameron told Judge Arthur Gamble on Friday that the revisions to Iowa’s collective bargaining law protect Rohne’s First Amendment rights not to be represented by a group he disagrees with on political and ideological issues. Rohne should be allowed to intervene in the case so that those perspectives are considered as litigation moves forward, he said.
“This does not create a new bit of litigation,†Cameron said. “This simply says this: ‘Mr. Rohne has a First Amendment claim here.’â€
Bill limiting VA union activity draws protest from Democrats, unions at House committee hearing
Stars and Stripes Online, May 17, 2017
Despite strong protest from Democrats, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs pushed forward legislation Wednesday to limit the time that Department of Veterans Affairs employees spend working for their unions on the job.
Republicans Will Turn the NLRB into a Force for Union Busting. We Can Turn It Back.
inthesetimes.com, May 17, 2017
And it is absolutely true that if more unions adhered to an organizing model that prioritized organizing committees made up of workplace leaders, face-to-face conversations and escalating actions that challenge the boss’ authority that more unions would win without having to resort to the NLRB as an umpire. But even that kind of organizing would only bring a couple thousand workers into unions—the ones unions are currently spending millions of dollars to put organizers into the field to organize—not the tens of millions of workers that we need to organize.
Union Activists Plan to Crash Yale Graduation
freebeacon.com, May 18, 2017
An organization called X-Campus Rank and File said it will assemble at Yale’s commencement ceremony to hold a “forum on resisting Ivy League-led union-busting in the Trump era.” The group hopes its event will drown out the cheers greeting commencement speaker Theo Epstein, a 1995 Yale graduate and baseball executive wh0 helped break World Series curses for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs.
Forced Unionization Will Only Make Life Harder For Uber Drivers
Daily Caller Online, May 18, 2017
Thankfully for me and all the other drivers who wish to keep their money and represent our own interests without a union, Freedom Foundation and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation have taken up our cause.
Union members don’t want to pay Norman Seabrook’s legal bills
New York Post Online, May 17, 2017
Members of the city prison guards’ union are demanding that the union stop paying for the legal defense bills of their troubled former leader, Norman Seabrook.Seabrook was arrested last year and charged with accepting $60,000 in kickbacks in exchange for investing $20 million of the union’s money in a hedge fund that has since gone belly up.
‘Right to work’ coming to the public sector
nwlaborpress.org, May 16, 2017
Yet Branch 82 manages to get over 96 percent of union-represented workers to pay dues voluntarily. How? First, by insisting in contract negotiations that the employer give the union a chance to meet with new hires. During new employee orientation, Falvey gets time to deliver an energetic pitch about how important the union is to letter carriers. The few he fails convince are later set upon by their coworkers — who don’t want to see their union weakened by freeloaders. The union publishes the names of non-members so all members can see who’s not paying their share. Branch 82 even offers a bounty to a member who signs up a non-member.
Workers win 4-year effort to drop union
washingtonexaminer.com, May 16, 2017
Because of the union’s appeals, the workers were obligated to continue to it pay dues to cover its representation costs. In effect, the workers were forced to subsidize the union’s efforts to undermine their effort to get rid of it.
Glasgow Daily Times Online, May 17, 2017
CEO, Craig Bouchard, made it clear during his remarks at the announcement that his company would not have considered locating here if Kentucky had not been a right-to-work state. Braidy, Amazon and others have also been very complimentary of our administration’s passion for recruiting businesses to Kentucky.
setexasrecord.com, May 16, 2017
Most residents thus assume that Texas has been spared the burden of excessively powerful public unions. This assumption, however, is incorrect: the dirty secret in Texas is that public employees, especially those working in public safety, education, and large cities, are represented by powerful unions that promote the interests of their members at the expense of unsuspecting taxpayers.
Fed judge sets trial date in ‘Top Chef’ Teamsters case
Boston Herald Online, May 18, 2017
After attempting to force their way onto the Bravo series’ set — and attempting to block others from accessing it — the men yelled racial and homophobic slurs at the crew and others, threatened the cast and shouted profanities in an attempt to bully them into hiring Local 25 drivers, prosecutors say.
Over 1,000 Construction Jobs and 550 Permanent Jobs Are Being Created in Northeast Kentucky
military-technologies.net, May 17, 2017
High-paying jobs are coming to Northeast Kentucky and the Appalachian region. Aluminum company Braidy Industries is constructing the first aluminum rolling mill to be built in the United States for more than three decades. This $1.3 billion investment will create 1,000 construction jobs, 550 permanent jobs and more than 1,000 jobs in supporting industries. This is the most significant project for the economy of Northeast Kentucky and Appalachia in decades and will be an incredible economic boost for the region.
spectator.org, May 19, 2017
The group that would suffer the most if Abood were overturned would be Democratic politicians, who rely heavily on campaign contributions from unions. According to the Wall Street Journal, which analyzed Federal Election Committee campaign-finance filings, labor unions spent almost $110 million on the 2016 election between January 2015 and August 2016. Only a couple of unions supported Trump during the election, i.e. the Fraternal Order of the Police.
The United States was founded on the belief that all citizens have the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Unions and politicians have eroded the liberty of workers for many decades. But maybe not for much longer.
Labor Racket Weekly: $71,523 in Dues for “Personal Useâ€
laborpains.org, May 18, 2017
Union dues are being used for union leaders’ personal benefits, not members’ benefits. Here are this week’s best rackets: