Majority of Workers at JCIM Grand Rapids Plant Seek Ejection of UAW Union
Grand Rapids, MI – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Johnson Controls (JCIM) employee at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood has filed a decertification petition seeking an election to oust the United Auto Workers (UAW) union as the JCIM workers’ monopoly bargaining agent.
The development is another blow to the UAW union hierarchy which has taken a major public relations hit in recent months because of its role in driving the Big Three automakers to the brink of bankruptcy.
JCIM worker Dawn Lambert filed the decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which should conduct a secret-ballot election to determine whether or not a majority of the workforce wants to retain the UAW union as their monopoly bargaining agent. Under federal labor law governing the private sector, once the NLRB grants union officials monopoly bargaining status, it is illegal for any present or future employees – whether they are members of the union or not – to negotiate with their employer for themselves unless they can prove that the union hierarchy does not retain majority support.
Because a clear majority of the employees at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood have expressed their intent to remove the UAW, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have also sent a letter to JCIM management demanding that they cease further contract negotiations and also withdraw recognition of what is now a minority union. Under the law, recognizing and negotiating with a union that does not have majority support is an unfair labor practice.
The decertification drive against the UAW in Kentwood comes amidst a UAW campaign to unionize JCIM workers in nearby Holland. In Holland, UAW union bosses are pressuring JCIM to provide union organizers with access to company facilities and personal information about its employees, including their names, phone numbers, and home addresses. Numerous employees at the JCIM Holland facility have responded by sending JCIM a letter asking that the company not release their personal information to the UAW union. To view a sample of the letter, click here.
Union bosses use this information to pressure employees to sign union authorization cards at work and at home. History shows that during “card check” campaigns union organizers frequently harass and even mislead workers into signing these cards. Once union officials collect signed cards from a majority of the workers, JCIM in Holland could be forced to recognize the union as the monopoly bargaining agent of all employees in the bargaining unit, even for those workers who would prefer to negotiate their own wages and working conditions based on their individual merit.
“Employees are apparently sick and tired of the UAW bosses’ role in fomenting conflict in the workplace, job losses, corruption, and Far Left political activism,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation.
Children Be Damned: Strike-Happy Pennsylvania Teacher Union Bosses Inducted Into Hall of Shame
Speaking of the Wall Street Journal, its editorial on Pennsylvania teacher union bosses’ pathetic and disgaceful practice of ordering teachers to abandon schoolchildren during frequent strikes is also quite informative:
Teachers unions routinely claim that the interests of students are their top priority. So we would be interested to hear how the Pennsylvania affiliate of the National Education Association explains the proliferation of teacher walkouts in the middle of the school year.
According to a recent study by the Allegheny Institute, Pennsylvania is once again the worst state in the country for teacher strikes. No less than 42% of all teacher walkouts nationwide occur in the Keystone State, leaving kids sidelined and parents scrambling to juggle work and family, potentially on as little as 48 hours notice required by state
law.The strikes take place despite the state’s ranking in the top 20% nationwide for teacher salaries in 2006-2007 — the most recent data available — with an average of $54,970. Those paychecks go even further when adjusted for the state’s cost of living compared to top-spending school districts in places like California.
Unsurprisingly, the status quo is perpetuated by the unions’ corrupt relationship with local politicians:
Pennsylvania taxpayers aren’t pleased. Last year, a bill to prohibit teacher strikes was introduced in the state legislature by Todd Rock and 28 co-sponsors, only to be sidelined thanks to union opposition. According to a group called Stop Teacher Strikes, 75% of state legislators between 2004 and 2006 received teacher union money. The office of Governor Ed Rendell, who received more than $500,000 in teachers union political action committee cash for his 2006 re-election bid, called the strike ban a "radical response" to the problem.
Simon Campbell, president of Stop Teacher Strikes, explained the connection between compulsory unionism and failing schools at this year’s Concerned Educators Against Forced Unionism (CEAFU) conference:
Obama-Solis Transition Team for DOL is Already Making Plans to Gut Union Boss Accountability Measures
The Wall Street Journal has a good editorial up on the incoming Secretary of Labor’s skewed enforcement priorities. Key quote (emphasis mine):
From day one of the Obama era, union leaders (sic) want the lights dimmed on how they spend their mandatory member dues. The AFL-CIO’s representative on the Obama transition team for Labor is Deborah Greenfield, and we’re told her first inspection stop was the Office of Labor-Management Standards, or OLMS, which monitors union compliance with federal law.
Ms. Greenfield declined to comment, citing Obama transition rules, but her mission is clear enough. The AFL-CIO’s formal "recommendations" to the Obama team call for the realignment of "the allocation of budgetary resources" from OLMS to other Labor agencies. The Secretary should "temporarily stay all financial reporting regulations that have not gone into effect," and "revise or rescind the onerous and unreasonable new requirements," such as the LM-2 and T-1 reporting forms. The explicit goal is to "restore the Department of Labor to its mission and role of advocating for, protecting and advancing the interests of workers." In other words, while transparency is fine for business, unions are demanding a pass for themselves.
Thank goodness we’ll finally get some budget cuts at DOL! After all, union corruption is such a "minor" problem…
New Right to Work Video: Houston Nurses Fight Union Bosses’ Secret Backroom Deal
The Foundation’s latest Right to Work video report features two outstanding and principled nurses from Houston, Texas. When California Nurses Association union bosses and the Tenet Medical Corporation cut a backroom deal to unionize several Houston-area health care facilities, they set up sham election procedures and imposed a gag rule to block any discussion by nurses of the downsides of unionization. Several nurses turned to the National Right to Work Foundation for help:
The Foundation’s previous coverage of the case is available here and here.
Hey UAW Union Bosses: How About Mopping Up Your Own Problems?
As Freedom @ Work readers are aware, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union wants its very own federal bailout. On Friday, UAW president Ron Gettelfinger, expressing frustration that his union doesn’t own everybody in Congress, indirectly blamed the mess in Detroit on the fact that the National Right to Work Foundation fights for voluntary unionism while protecting its donors’ from being harassed by union goons.
But rather than worrying about the Foundation’s funding sources and demanding the American taxpayers to bail out his pension scheme, perhaps Gettelfinger should examine his union’s financial mismanagement. The DC Examiner has more:
What do UAW executives and workers do to relax? They play golf at the union’s highly touted championship caliber Black Lake Golf Club, designed by Rees Jones. The UAW golf club is in secluded Onaway, MI, as part of the union’s Walter and Mary Reuther Family Education Center. Also part of Black Lake are a learning center, a practice facility with practice bunkers, chipping and putting greens, and a small, nine-hole par-three Little Course.
Golf Digest named Black Lake as one of top “upscale public courses.” And Michigan Golf described the course as a “classic” that includes “wide, well-groomed fairways [that] provide ample room for big hitters.” But some big hitters get special privileges at Black Lake. Tee times can be reserved up to two weeks in advance by UAW execs, compared to only three days for non-UAW duffers. Cost to play Black Lake is $95 per round.
Remember all the much-deserved bad press Detroit’s high-paid Big Three executives received last month when they flew in their corporate jets to beg Washington for a tax-paid bailout? Has anybody in Congress or the media bothered to ask UAW head Ron Gettelfinger about his union’s assets and perks like Black Lake Golf Club?
Michelle Malkin points out that the UAW union’s golf course and education center have managed to lose $23 million over the last five years, even though both are supposedly run as for-profit businesses, according to an independent audit.
Fox News: Foundation President Mark Mix On Solis’ Selection for Secretary of Labor
Right to Work President Mark Mix discusses Obama’s upcoming appointment of forced unionism activist Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor with Neil Cavuto of Fox News:
For more on Solis, here’s some background on her career and political views.
Statement: “Solis Nomination Slap in the Face to America’s Independent Minded Workers”
The National Right to Work Committee has issued a statement on the announcement that Barack Obama intends to name Hilda Solis as the next Secretary of Labor. National Right to Work president Mark Mix had the following to say:
Obama’s appointment of Hilda Solis is very disturbing news for America’s independent-minded workers.
Congresswoman Solis is a die-hard forced unionism activist who apparently believes that all workers should be gathered into union collectives – whether they like it or not. Throughout her political career, she has unfailingly carried water for Big Labor and voted in favor of every forced unionism power grab that has come before her. In fact, she had a 100% voting record from the AFL-CIO, in support of their radical forced unionism agenda.
Hypocritically, she advocated for a secret ballot election in 2007 for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus elections, yet she cosponsored and voted for a bill (H.R. 800) to strip America’s workers of this same right, instead subjecting them to intimidation by union organizers when choosing whether to unionize.
She also cosponsored and voted for another bill (H.R. 980) that would have subjected every police officer, firefighter, and EMT in the country to Big Labor’s forced unionism regime.
The U.S. Department of Labor is not supposed to be the U.S. Department of Big Labor. The Labor secretary should be on the side of workers, not union bosses who seek to trample workers’ rights.
As Secretary of Labor, we fear she will gut the Office of Labor Management Standards, the one division of the agency that works to root out corruption and make unions accountable to workers. Her track record indicates that she will allow the AFL-CIO to use all the tools of the Department of Labor to pressure companies until they hand over their employees to forced unionization.
This appears to be the first in a long line of paybacks that Big Labor expects from President Barack Obama.
You can download the entire statement here.
Obama’s DOL Pick: Secret Ballot Process “Unquestioned And Above Reproach,” But Only When It Protects HER
Today, President-elect Barack Obama named his pick for Labor Secretary, California Congresswoman Hilda Solis. Unsurprisingly, union bosses are rallying behind the pick.
Solis is a prominent supporter of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (a.k.a. the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill), which would replace the secret ballot with intimidating "card check" campaigns in which union goons repeatedly harass workers at work and at home to sign union authorization cards. Once the union collects a simple majority of these public "votes," every worker in the bargaining unit loses the right to negotiate directly with the employer.
But in January 2007, Solis joined other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to protest the lack of a secret ballot in the election for CHC officials. The San Diego Union-Tribune has a good summary of their complaint (emphasis added):
On Wednesday, Sanchez did not elaborate on the claim of election rules violation. However, in a letter to Baca earlier this month, she, her sister, Solis and Velazquez contended the vote did not follow procedure because secret ballot votes were not taken.
The letter requested a new vote, by secret ballot.
“While this request is not likely to change the results, and while it may seem like a mere formality, it is important that the integrity of the CHC be unquestioned and above reproach,” it said.
There you have it — incoming Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is on the record favoring the secret ballot as "unquestioned and above reproach." But only when it protects her from intimidation.
For more on the selection of union-label Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor, click here to read the statement issued by National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix.
Washington State Appeals Court Upholds Teachers’ Right to Restitution for Dues Illegally Spent By WEA Union Officials
Washington State Appeals Court Upholds Teachers’ Right to Restitution for Dues Illegally Spent By WEA Union Officials
After securing U.S. Supreme Court victory, National Right to Work attorneys pick up the pieces of an otherwise impotent campaign finance regulation
Seattle, WA (December 17, 2008) — A recent decision by a Washington State Court of Appeals, Division 2, has ruled union officials can be held liable for illegally spending teachers’ forced union dues under a now-effectively defunct campaign finance regulation.
The ruling means that thousands of Washington State teachers may receive restitution for the amount Washington Education Association (WEA) union officials illegally docked their paychecks to pay for union political expenditures. The ineffective campaign finance law at issue had been adopted in 1992 and has since been voided by the Washington State Legislature.
The teachers are receiving free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys. In 2007, Foundation attorneys successfully brought the Davenport v. WEA case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned an earlier Washington State Supreme Court decision using the campaign finance law to undermine the First Amendment. The state appeals court ruled Friday on a number of issues, including upholding the teachers’ tort claim for restitution and approving the certification of thousands of employees as a class.
Before it was gutted by amendment in 2007, the Washington law had required union officials to obtain the prior consent of nonunion public employees before spending their mandatory union dues on a small fraction of what the union actually spends on politics. According to an amicus brief filed by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, the amount of political expenditures actually covered by the law was “miniscule… less than one quarter of one percent of the WEA’s total expenditures.” However, in striking down the law, the state Supreme Court had erroneously found a constitutional “right” for union officials to spend the money of non-union employees who are compelled to pay union dues as a condition of employment.
Washington State Appeals Court Upholds Teachers’ Right to Restitution for Dues Illegally Spent By WEA Union Officials
Seattle, WA (December 17, 2008) — A recent decision by a Washington State Court of Appeals, Division 2, has ruled union officials can be held liable for illegally spending teachers’ forced union dues under a now-effectively defunct campaign finance regulation.
The ruling means that thousands of Washington State teachers may receive restitution for the amount Washington Education Association (WEA) union officials illegally docked their paychecks to pay for union political expenditures. The ineffective campaign finance law at issue had been adopted in 1992 and has since been voided by the Washington State Legislature.
The teachers are receiving free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys. In 2007, Foundation attorneys successfully brought the Davenport v. WEA case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned an earlier Washington State Supreme Court decision using the campaign finance law to undermine the First Amendment. The state appeals court ruled Friday on a number of issues, including upholding the teachers’ tort claim for restitution and approving the certification of thousands of employees as a class.
Before it was gutted by amendment in 2007, the Washington law had required union officials to obtain the prior consent of nonunion public employees before spending their mandatory union dues on a small fraction of what the union actually spends on politics. According to an amicus brief filed by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, the amount of political expenditures actually covered by the law was “miniscule… less than one quarter of one percent of the WEA’s total expenditures.” However, in striking down the law, the state Supreme Court had erroneously found a constitutional “right” for union officials to spend the money of non-union employees who are compelled to pay union dues as a condition of employment.
“Ineffective ‘paycheck protection’ campaign finance laws such as this have unfortunately opened a Pandora’s Box, creating an opportunity for activist courts to award new privileges to union officials and even to jeopardize state Right to Work laws,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “While the underlying law was deeply flawed, the National Right to Work Foundation had a duty to limit the broader collateral damage done to employees’ rights by the state court’s response and to fight for the return of dues illegally seized under the now totally ineffective law.”
“Ultimately, Right to Work laws are the only way to protect workers from the misuse of their funds. By making membership and the payment of dues entirely voluntary, Right to Work laws allow employees to prevent the theft in the first place,” stated Gleason.
