The Las Vegas Sun reports that internal disputes and struggles for power within some of the nation's top union monopolies have played a role in Big Labor's inability to force the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill through Congress.

This is largely untrue.  While internal union disputes may be playing a small role, the real story is that the National Right to Work Committee has led mobilized grassroots America to lobby against this toxic union boss power grab.  Of course, this bill would eliminate the secret ballot in union certification elections and empower federal bureaucrats to write and impose contracts on small businesses and workers.

But the current power struggle among UNITE HERE union chiefs is incredibly revealing:

Exhibit A: Unite Here General President Bruce Raynor resigned last week from the apparel and hotel workers union after six months of legal and verbal jousting with co-president John Wilhelm over union resources and the direction of Unite Here.

He said he decided to quit after Wilhelm’s allies, accompanied by nearly a dozen security guards, broke into his New York union office and stole personal files related to mediation sessions aimed at reconciling the two leaders’ differences. Raynor likened the incident to something one would see on the HBO mob series “The Sopranos.”

A bit of a thug himself, Raynor would know.  Sadly, union violence and intimidation is nothing new and it is usually committed against independent-minded American workers.  The Card Check Forced Unionism Bill would only increase union harassment of American workers.

Indeed, even comparing union operations to "The Sopranos" is common.  And it's no laughing matter, as we show in this Right to Work video report about an indictment of twelve Operating Engineers Local 17 union officials.

This week, National Right to Work Foundation attorneys filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida challenging the quid pro quo between Mardi Gras Gaming and UNITE HERE Local 355 union bosses:

Boca Raton, Florida (November 6, 2008) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, an employee at a Mardi Gras Gaming facility has filed a federal lawsuit to prevent UNITE HERE Local 355 union officials from obtaining illegal assistance in pressuring workers to unionize – including possession of workers’ personal addresses and other private information.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges that union officials violated the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) by entering into an agreement with Mardi Gras Gaming that allows the union access to information about nonunion employees, use of the employer’s property for organizing, and control over the employer’s communications with workers. The LMRA expressly forbids employers from giving “any money or other thing of value” to unions.

The LMRA’s prohibition on transfers of things of value from employers to unions is intended to prevent deals that induce union officials to place their own interests or the interests of employers above the workers themselves.

Read the rest of the Foundation's press release here.

If "UNITE-HERE" union officials have their way, employees of Donald Trump's new Windy City hotel may soon be hearing "you're fired" if they refuse to pay union dues. According to Crain's Chicago Business:

The Trump International Hotel & Tower offers both a high-profile target and an opportunity to bring 300 or more employees into the union fold. UNITE HERE wants Trump to approve a so-called neutrality agreement, which would permit organizers to try to persuade workers to sign cards supporting union representation.

So called "neutrality agreements"are anything but- they often require employers to assist union officials in organizing employees. Under such pacts, employers must often grant union organizers sweeping access to employees, hold "captive audience" meetings, and even hand out employees' personal information.

Notice too as you read the article, as is common in many similar situations, that union officials are targeting the hotel's employees rather than vice versa. Makes sense, since without a Right to Work law, union officials can force employees in Illinois to pay dues. Looks like it's all about the forced-dues cash.