NILRR Weekly News Clips – March 01, 2013

 

National Right To Work Foundation Seeks To Bar NLRB Action Due to NLRB’s Lack of a Quorum

Seyforth Shaw, LLP, February 19, 2013

On Monday, February  11, 2013  the National Right to Work Foundation (NRTWF) filed its petition for writ of mandamus or prohibition with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals , seeking an order requiring the NLRB to cease adjudicating Petitioner Geary’s case until a “constitutionally seated Board with a valid quorum is in place.† In its petition, the NRTWF relied on both the Supreme Court’s 2010 New Process Steel decision, finding that the NLRB must have a quorum of at least three members to act, and the D.C. Circuit’s January, 2013 Noel Canning decision, finding that President Obama’s January 4, 2012 appointment of Members Sharon Block, Terence Flynn and Richard Griffin were not valid “recess†appointments under the Constitution.

NLRB Shenanigans

Wall street Journal Online, February 25, 2013

The National Labor Relations Board has carried on as usual since the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals declared President Obama’s January 2012 non-recess recess appointments to the board unconstitutional in Noel Canning v. NLRB. Now, a petition from the National Right to Work Foundation is asking the D.C. Circuit Court to prevent the NLRB from ruling in an ongoing case—and getting some traction.

Court orders NLRB to justify continuing operation in wake of recess appointee ruling

Washington Examiner Online, February 22, 2013

“We are not asking the court to shut down the Board, but it may have that effect. If the court shuts down the NLRB in this case, why not another other case? This will open the door for challenges in the other cases that have the potential to be invalidated by the court’s decision last month,†said Anthony Riedel, spokesman for the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation, which filed the petition.

Board Must Defend Recess Appointments, Court Says

Washington Free Beacon Online, February 22, 2013

The ruling stems from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s (NRTW) appeal to an NLRB ruling that forced non-union employees to pay for union lobbying costs. National Right to Work attorney Glenn Taubman said the board’s decision violates Beck Rights, which allow employees to opt out of union.

Teacher settles claim over forced union dues payment

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Online, February 23, 2013

Amy Ayana filed complaints last fall with the Wisconsin Employee Relations Commission with help from lawyers at National Right to Work Foundation. The foundation announced on Thursday that the complaints had been settled.

Ex-Greenwood school teacher settles claim of illegal union due deduction

WHBL.com, February 24, 2013

The National Right to Work Foundation announced the settlement. The group represented Anaya for free in a complaint she filed with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission.

Administrative Dissonance: National Labor Relations Board Decision Making In The Aftermath Of Noel Canning

Metropolitan Corporate Counsel Online, Saturday, February 23, 2013 

While the Board has indicated that it intends to keep issuing decisions, at least one lawsuit has been filed in an attempt to prevent further action by the current Board. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc., has filed a petition for writ of mandamus or writ of prohibition that would enjoin the Board from deciding a currently pending case. In In re Jeanette Geary,[4] the mandamus petition asked the Court to “exercise its supervisory powers … to halt all further efforts to adjudicate and decide Geary’s case until a constitutionally valid Board is seated.†In short, even if the Board has the power to keep issuing decisions — which is questionable — the right of appeal to the DC Circuit renders those decisions essentially unenforceable until the dispute over the recess appointments is settled.

WI teacher settles with union over forced dues claim

Wisconsin Reporter Online, February 22, 2013

 But the teacher’s legal counsel, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which took Anaya’s case for free, is claiming victory in the battle against forced unionism.

Missouri Lawmaker Wants to Make Right-to-Work Laws a Felony

National Review Online, February 27, 2013

Representative Jeff Roorda, a business manager for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, which is a union, has sponsored a bill that would make it a class D felony for any member of the assembly to propose “a piece of legislation that further restricts the right of an individual to bargain collectively.†In addition to his being a union employee, RedState reports that some of Roorda’s top campaign contributors were unions.

Terminal operator sues longshoremen’s union, says it was punished for resisting racketeering schemes

NJ.com, February 22, 2013

A former shipping terminal operator in Newark and Brooklyn is suing the International Logshoremen’s Association for $160 million, charging that leaders of the 65,000-member dockworkers’ union are organized crime associates who forced the company out of business after it refused to go along with their racketeering schemes.

Missouri Dems propose felonies for restricting union power

Washington Times Online, February 24, 2013

Missouri Democrats signed a bill making it a Class D felony for any legislator to even propose limiting the collective bargaining rights of unions.

Greenwood teacher settles in dispute over union dues

Western Wisconsin News, February 24, 2013

Amy Anaya is getting the entire amount back. The National Right-to-Work Foundation announced the settlement. The group represented Anaya for free in a complaint she filed with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission. Greenwood was among the school districts that extended their union contracts in the days before the 2011 limits on collective bargaining took effect.

Big Labor New York Senator Has Trouble Explaining Why She Opposes the National Right to Work Act

National Institute for Labor Relations Research, March 1, 2013

In February, a National Right to Work Committee member from the Empire State forwarded to Committee headquarters in Springfield, Va., a letter from Ms. Gillibrand in which she claimed the Right to Work Act “loosens penalties for employers who harass or fire employees for their desire to form a union.â€

Union Time on Your Dime

mackinac.org, February 25, 2013

A new federal report shows that the amount spent by taxpayers for union employees to do union work on government time is the highest it has ever been measured. Taxpayers now spend $155 million for this practice.

Larry Sand: If unions do so much for members, why bully?  

Orange County Register Online, February 20, 2013

My introduction to union coercion came in 2005, when, as a middle school teacher in Los Angeles, I joined the Prop. 75 campaign. That initiative would have prohibited public employee labor organizations from collecting the part of union dues which goes for politics without prior consent of the employee. Sensing a disruption in their forced dues gravy train, the California Teachers Association went into overdrive. It raised union dues on its members for a three-year period and mortgaged their offices in Sacramento, then used the millions they accumulated to scare teachers and the public – ominously warning them of imaginary horrors that would be visited on them if the proposition passed.

Maverick Maine Democrat signs on to public sector right-to-work bill

Bangor Daily News Online, February 27, 2013

Rep. Terry Hayes, D-Buckfield, will be the only Democratic co-sponsor of the bill, LD 786, proposed by Rep. Lawrence Lockman, R-Amherst. The bill is one of two pieces of legislation Lockman is introducing this legislative session in hopes of making Maine a “ right-to-work †state. Lockman’s other proposal would allow an employee to work at a unionized, private-sector business without having to support the union financially as a condition of employment.

Lengthy new school, university contracts latest lightning rod in Michigan right-to-work debate

mlive.com, February 27, 2013

Lengthy new staff contracts for Taylor Public Schools and Wayne State University have caught the eye of Republican lawmakers concerned that the deals may be designed to skirt Michigan’s controversial new right-to-work law.

Union Leaders Call on Obama to Fill Labor Board

New York Times Online, February 27, 2013

Gathering here for the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s winter meeting, union leaders on Tuesday called on Mr. Obama to immediately nominate a slate of five members to fill all of the board’s seats.

Labor leaders asserted that the court ruling could badly undercut unions because a paralyzed N.L.R.B. would not be able to intervene if employers engaged in unlawful tactics during unionization drives, including illegally firing union supporters or intimidating workers into voting against having a union.

Officials near border: Indiana is tough competition

Limanews.com, February 27, 2013

From the perspective of people who live on the border, Indiana continues to best Ohio at the economic development game.

Worker Strike, Union Dispute Force Nursing Homes into Bankruptcy Filing

Senior Housing News Online, News, February 27, 2013 

In 2011, HealthBridge failed to reach an agreement in negotiating contracts, claiming it cannot afford to comply with conditions under the expired 2004 agreement.

Workers belonging to District 1199 of the New England Health Care Employees responded with a strike, one that has lasted since July 2012 while HealthBridge and labor unions spent more than a year and a half prior to then trying to reach a deal.

 Editorial: Keep questions coming about L.A. candidates’ union cash

Daily News Online, February 27, 2013

But let’s make an exception for the 2013 Los Angeles city election when it comes to the sharp questions candidates are raising about opponents who are funded largely by labor unions. Instead of complaining about these kinds of negative messages, voters should welcome them.

Official records show union political action committees account for the vast majority of the more than $7.5 million spent on citywide, City Council and L.A. school board races so far in the form of unrestricted independent expenditures. Business groups can’t keep up.

Why Labor Is Fighting the Tamms Prison Closure

Chicago Magazine, February 27, 2013

AFSCME, the union that represents prison employees at Tamms, has been basically on its own—even in a fairly pro-union state—for digging its heels in on the closing of the underused supermax. The latest shot fired at the union comes from Mother Jones (named after a labor leader), in a piece entitled “Big Labor’s Lock ‘Em Up” mentality:

Workers worry the UAW will export Detroit’s problems to Mississippi

The Daily Caller Online, February 28, 2013

“With the history of civil rights issues here, it’s real easy to play the race card, says Corey Garner, a 36-year old African American production technician who opposes the union’s efforts. “They are making the union a civil rights issue.â€

If the union’s efforts sound desperate, there is good reason. The UAW is heading south because the best hope for finding new dues-paying members is in places like Canton, where foreign car companies employ thousands of non-union workers.

Eating Their Own: Angry Union Bosses Threaten To Attack Senate Democrats Over NLRB Inaction

RedState.com, February 28, 2013

Union bosses have a problem. After spending $4.4 billion on politics since 2005, and even with their very own union-funded President in the White House, for every step gained, union bosses have seen their agenda fall two steps back since Obama has taken office and–by gosh!–they’re not going to take it anymore!

From the failure to see secret-ballot elections effectively eliminated through card check to the collective bargaining reforms in Wisconsin, as well as the victories to end forced unionism in Indiana and Michigan, union bosses are having a darn tough time seeing their radical agenda fully implemented.