New Twinkie Maker Shuns Union Labor

Wall Street Journal Online, April 25, 2013

Chief Executive C. Dean Metropoulos said the company will pump $60 million in capital investments into the plants between now and September and aims to hire at least 1,500 workers. But they won’t be represented by unions, including the one whose nationwide strike sparked the 86-year-old company’s decision to shut down in November.

 

Time for public employee unions to pick up the tab

Los Angeles Times Online, April 23, 2013

It’s time for public employee unions to wake up and take a look around. Government services are shrinking, cities are crumbling, and they’re enjoying pay and benefit packages that many in the private sector would kill for. They need to give a little back. Yeah, I know, some of them already have. But it’s time for a little more.

 

The Education Blob’s Revenge

Realclearpolitics.com, April 24, 2013

I wrote recently how teachers unions, parent-teacher associations and school bureaucrats form an education “Blob” that makes it hard to improve schools. They also take revenge on those who work around the Blob.

 

MEDIA ADVISORY: RULING HALTS TAXPAYER-FUNDED UNION ACTIVISM

Goldwater Institute, April 23, 2013

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday against the practice of “release time†in a Phoenix labor contract with the local police union, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA). Release time is a provision in government labor contracts allowing public employees to collect taxpayer-funded salaries and benefits while being “released” to do union work, including lobbying, electioneering, and other forms of political activism.

 

Unions ask court to block Scott Walker’s enforcement of Act 10 bargaining bill

Milwaukee Journal-sentinel Online, April 23, 2013

Madison – Unions for City of Milwaukee workers and Madison teachers asked a Dane County judge Tuesday to block Gov. Scott Walker and his appointees from enforcing parts of his labor law that were found unconstitutional last year.

 

Late Union President’s Astonishing $800K Theft

Education Intelligence Agency Online, April 23, 2013

When former Auburn Teachers Association (ATA) president Sally Jo Widmer passed away last November after more than 35 years at the helm of the small New York teachers’ union, former Auburn mayor Guy Cosentino eulogized her as “a true union leader who put her union first and personal niceties second.â€

 

Judge criticizes teachers union in lawsuit filed by Indiana

Indianapolis Star Online, April 23, 2013

A federal judge ripped the legal arguments of the National Education Association, one of the nation’s most influential labor unions, in a court order that keeps the NEA as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the State of Indiana.

 

Poll: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder running even with two Democrats (who most voters don’t even know)

mlive.com, April 23, 2013

LANSING, MI — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is locked in a statistical dead heat with two Democrats who could challenge him in 2014, according to a new statewide poll, even though a majority of Michigan voters don’t even know who those potential Democratic challengers are.

 

The Illinois jobs crisis

Chicago Tribune Online, April 23, 2013

Laugh all you want about Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign to recruit businesses from Illinois to the Lone Star State. We don’t know whether Perry will succeed in prompting a commercial exodus from the Land of Lincoln to the land of droughts, fire ants and deadly fertilizer-plant explosions. Yet Perry’s stunt is another serious wake-up call for Illinois politicians and the inhospitable business climate they’ve created.

 

Senator Baucus to Retire in 2014

The Corner Online, April 23, 2013

Senator Max Baucus of Montana will retire in 2014 rather than face a tough reelection battle, according to the Washington Post, which cites Democratic strategists familiar with his plans.

 

Should Ohio voters support a right-to-work ballot issue? Yes

Dispatch.com, April 22, 2013

With the new additions of Michigan and Indiana, 24 states now protect their residents from having to pay forced union dues or fees to keep their jobs. Ohio should become the 25th.

 

General Assembly should pass right-to-work legislation

semissourian.com, April 22, 2013

The Missouri Legislature is considering SB29, which would give public employees a right to choose whether labor unions can withhold dues or use fees for political purposes.

 

Unions preparing for right-to-work showdown

CBC News, Windsor, Canada, April 22, 2013

Organized Labour is gearing up for a fight with the federal Conservative government, and the provincial Tories.

Unions worry the governments are considering right-to-work legislation and changes to the Rand Formula.

 

State House drops penalty on schools that ducked right to work

Detroit Free Press Online, April 23, 2013

LANSING — Controversial language that would have punished public school districts, universities, community colleges and local units of government that approved union contracts before the right-to-work law went into effect was dropped by the state House of Representatives as it began debating the budgets for schools and the rest of government Tuesday.

 

Maine House rejects right-to-work legislation

Bangor Daily News Online, April 25, 2013

A divided House on Wednesday shot down two Republican-supported bills that aimed to make Maine the 25th state with “right to work†laws on the books.

 

Playing Political Chess with the NLRB

hreonline.com, April 22, 2013

The National Labor Relations Board has historically been used by presidents as a pawn in a game of political chess, but that game could soon come to an end. Labor lawyers, however, advise employers to keep playing, and to keep following the rules.

California Teachers Association Fights to Maintain Political Orthodoxy

Union Watch Online, April 23, 2013

CTA sponsors a resolution demonizing what it perceives to be faux Democrats.

At last week’s California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento, the California Teachers Association went into attack mode, sponsoring a resolution suggesting that two organizations run by prominent Democrats are backed by dastardly corporate Republican types.