NILRR Weekly News Clips April 26, 2014
UPMC employees, beware of card check
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 21, 2014
This is where the SEIU’s theatrics come in. The SEIU and its allies have repeatedly attacked UPMC in an apparent effort to force management to agree to a card check unionization drive. Protests that block traffic, hunger strikes and public attacks on UPMC’s tax status are just the most visible examples of the SEIU’s card check campaign.
The left’s secret club plans for 2014, 2016
Politico.com, April 24, 2014
The courting of rich Democrats in Chicago comes as some of the party’s top names continue a discordant character assault on major conservative donors as eroding the very fabric of American democracy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has repeatedly blasted the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch as “un-American†and accused them of “actually trying to buy the country.â€
Union, United Grain deny agency’s allegations
The Columbia, April 23, 2014
In the NLRB’s complaint against the ILWU, Ron Hooks, a Seattle-based regional director for the federal agency, alleges multiple incidents took place in March, April and May 2013. One allegation is that the Longshore union physically assaulted people, made racial slurs and verbal threats, and blocked or “recklessly” pursued vehicles.
Hooks’ complaint against United Grain alleges the company’s decision to lock out as many as 44 union dockworkers on Feb. 27, 2013, violated the National Labor Relations Act, in part, because the action was intended to “discourage employees” from engaging in protected union activities. Before it locked out workers, Hooks alleges, United Grain also illegally fired nine ILWU workers, five of whom had raised safety issues with managers.
New Labor Contract Will Cost M.T.A. $525 Million
New York Times, April 23, 2014
Now, according to a newly released document, the deal has a price tag: $525 million over the next four years.
Labor board: Seattle University adjuncts can vote to unionize
Seattle Times, April 23, 2014
The National Labor Relations Board has cleared the way for Seattle University adjuncts and contingent faculty members to vote to form a union — although the decision is likely to be appealed.
Super PACs supersize union political spending
Pittsburgh Courier Online, April 23, 2014
Last month, a federal judge ruled that a new breed of political money machines—called “super PACsâ€â€”can get involved in Pennsylvania elections using an unlimited amount of union dues money. Well-known on the federal landscape, these supersized political action committees (PACs) will soon amplify the already dominant role unions play at election time.
Wall Street Journal Online, April 21m 2914
The United Auto Workers staged a face-saving strategic retreat on Monday in its campaign to organize Volkswagen’s VOW3.XE -1.83% plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That’s good news for workers and car makers in the South but maybe not for Detroit’s Big Three.
Congress Should Investigate UAW’s Neutrality Agreement & Works Council Scam At VW
Labor Union Report, April 21, 2014
Indeed, after spending millions of its members’ dues money—up to $8,000 per vote at VW—a UAW flyer handed out at Volkswagen’s plant gates later in the day stated that “The UAW is here to stay.â€
Signed behind Volkswagen employees’ backs on January 27th, the 22-page neutrality agreement (in full below) spelled out the procedures in which Volkswagen would remain “neutral†and allow the UAW access to its employees in order to unionize them.
Although there is currently a federal lawsuit filed over the union’s having obtained “things of value†from Volkswagen in exchange for neutrality, one aspect of the agreement deserves much greater scrutiny is the UAW’s quid pro quo in the agreement—the union’s seemingly unlawful agreement to violate the National Labor Relations Act by delegating its duties as “exclusive bargaining representative†to a Works Council that Volkswagen (and its employees) want.
JetBlue Pilot Vote Ends Run as Biggest Nonunion Airline
Bloomberg, April 22, 2014
JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) pilots voted to join the Air Line Pilots Association, ending the carrier’s status as the biggest U.S. airline without a union and erasing a gain in the stock.