Is Walker Making the Sale? Heather Higgins, a supporter of Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union reforms, thinks his side–and the reforms–are in trouble, with the possibility that they could ”not only lose, but lose badly” in upcoming judicial and recall elections. She’s got some of her own polling data to back this up (which echoes other data trumpeted by the left). …Why the underwater polls? Higgins initially suggests that Walker’s personality is the problem. But would people think the governor was “dictatorial” and “radical” if they agreed with his reform? The bigger problem, as Higgins later notes, is that the case for defanging public employee unions is not an easy case to make in a blue state, where it indeed seems a radical step to take: (more)
It’s rare for a company with workers targeted by Big Labor for unionization to ask the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a unionization election. That initiative is usually taken by the unions themselves. (more)
During this past election cycle, labor unions invested over $200 million in support of Democrat candidates. Much of that money came from four of the country’s largest unions: the AFL-CIO and SEIU’s combined contribution was $88 million, AFSCME added $91 million and the National Education Association $40 million. This money was donated to Democrat candidates in hopes of helping them maintain a majority in the House. These hopes were crushed on November 2nd when the Republicans took back control of the House with a resounding win. This loss has effectively ended the unions’ dream of getting the Employee Free Choice Act (card check) enacted in the near future. (more)
For years, the subject of public sector pensions raised the ire of heard, but never seen, conspiracy theorists. As the years passed, public sector pensions continued to grow with no oversight and very little public pushback. In the shadows, they have grown into a ravaging monstrosity, a Frankenstein’s monster that is threatening the financial wellbeing of our local and state governments. It is pillaging and terrorizing the countryside. (more)
Earlier this week, President Obama confirmed what small business leaders and concerned workers fear most: that he will spare no effort to achieve Big Labor’s goals. The president admits that labor’s top priority, the job-killing, rights-stripping Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act (EFCA), does not have the votes it needs to pass in the Senate. And with his own words, the president acknowledged that he has unambiguously aligned himself with union bosses seeking to bypass Congress and cram their priorities down the throats of the American people. (more)
With Democrats fighting to hold onto their majorities in the House and Senate, they have enlisted their most ardent supporter — Big Labor — to help push back against a resurgent Republican Party. No interest group has been more vital to the Democratic Party’s recent success than organized labor, which spent nearly $400 million on Democratic candidates during the 2008 election cycle. (more)
Public sector unions have a crucial interest in the expansion of government, spending, and by extension, interest in laws that inhibit the free movement of workers and capital. Organized labor has become the antithesis of worker freedom, throwing millions of dollars against candidates and ballot measures that foster choice and competition. More subliminally, public sector unions’ constant advocacy for bigger government crowds out the private sector and erodes states’ free market principles. (more)
Service Employees International Union President Andrew Stern, one of America’s most prominent labor leaders, is set to resign, according to a member of the union’s board. (more)
Even as Congress is away for the Easter recess, the Obama administration and Congressional allies are busy working to reward union bosses at the expense of working families and small businesses. (more)
As if the Obama administration hasn’t given union bosses enough “payback,” it is poised to give them even more – only this time the gift is as dangerous as Big Labor’s other agenda items such as the Employee “Forced” Choice Act, and will result in more job loss. (more)
Yesterday, more than a month after we first reported that the White House is considering implementing the High Road contracting policy, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board weighed in on the subject: (more)
The White House has acknowledged that it is considering a proposal that would significantly alter the way it awards federal contracts, but said the discussions are in early stages and that no immediate policy changes are forthcoming. (more)
The annual Union Members Summary—the U.S. labor unions’ own State of the Union—encourages us to assess the state of the unionized workforce. And, much like the profit margins and job-loss the rest of America has experienced, the construction union outlook proves no better. (more)
