Free Republic

Via email, Ben VanMetre at the Illinois Policy Institute mentions huge tax hikes that Progressives are angling for. The tax hikes are so steep and so universal that even thinking union members are against the hikes. From VanMetre State Sen. Don Harmon and advocates for his progressive tax proposal argue that the progressive income tax will provide tax relief for Illinois’ middle class. Not only is the argument not true, but the progressive income tax was never about tax relief. The proof of that is in the numbers. Under Illinois law, the individual income tax rate will be 3.75% in...

Racketeering, assault, and extortion -- these are just a few of the crimes that union organizers have been accused or convicted of committing over the past few weeks and months. You would think Big Labor bosses would be concerned with their image and whether or not it affects their ability to maneuver with friends in the Obama Administration. Not so. In fact, they have been emboldened by the actions undertaken by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is currently seeking to expedite the unionization process so much so that workers and businesses will not be able to make informed...

Comrade Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, is starting to do all of the destructives things anyone with any brains could foresee. De Blasio is owned by two factions of the Left: the teacher’s union and the Working Families Party (WFP). The teachers union is closing in on an unheard of eight year contract. The teachers know they have to nail down their benefits now because things will be different when sanity returns to New York and de Blasio is shown the door. They looked at the stunts Wisconsin public service unions pulled and opted for guaranteed...

Last year, twenty one year old Northwestern University quarterback Kain Colter decided he could “…revolutionize the way collegiate athletes are treated” by forming the first players union in NCAA athletics. A union…”would put the athletes in a position to bargain, to demand things that college athletes have never had before — like stipends, continuing medical coverage after graduation, more concussion testing and even a portion of the profits of the multi-billion dollar windfall created by college football and basketball,” writes CNN reporter Sara Ganim of the benefits players might realize. (1) On March 26th, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)...

The best explanation of what the Yiddish word “chutzpah” means goes like this: A guy who has just been convicted of killing his parents begs the judge for mercy on the grounds that he is an orphan. “Chutzpah” is acting with extreme, barefaced shamelessness. When it comes to their handling of financial matters Democrats can be classified as acting either in extreme ignorance or with extreme chutzpah. We know Democrats align themselves with job killing unions and champion job killing regulations; but whether they are ignorant of how economies actually work, just practicing their usual level of chutzpah or a...

The National Labor Relations Board in Chicago has decided that college athletes – who are getting a subsidized education and a shot at a multi-million dollar career – have the right to unionize as employees. The Labor backed effort to unionize college students who play games as an “education”, according to the Chicago NLRB, now have a seat at the “bargaining table” in college athletics… Because, obviously, consumers of higher education (AKA: “students”) don’t currently have any seat at the “bargaining table”. The short story is that pockets of education consumers (which is the technical definition for individuals who voluntarily...

SEIU and other labor unions can accompany the government inspectors on site visits due to a quiet and contested Obama administration rule clarification issued last year in response to a request from a union representative. Maurice Baskin, an attorney representing the Associated Builders and Contractors and the National Association of Manufacturers, said in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections that OSHA’s clarification letter violates the OSH Act and the National Labor Relations Act. Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act holds that an “authorized representative” must be an agent from a union that a majority of the...

What do you do when a union vote doesn’t go your way? Well, if you are the United Auto Workers union, you ask for a “re-do”. The UAW has asked the National Labor Relations Board to reconsider their failed attempt to unionize Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, because… Well because they think it was unfair that anti-union voices were allowed to make their case on TV, highway billboards, and newspaper columns. In other words: the UAW feels they were unfairly outgunned by free-speech. According to the Wall Street Journal: The UAW has filed an election objection with the labor board alleging...

When the UAW failed miserably in Chattanooga and was not able to unionize the Volkswagen plant, even with a staked deck, it started a chain reaction and the next domino has fallen. The news that the AFL-CIO has decided to keep its money and not even try to save three Southern Democrat Senators comes as no real shock. The powerful union reviewed the polls and the political climate in North Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas and decided backing the Democrats in these states would be throwing good money after bad. The decision left Democrat Senators Mark Pryor in Arkansas, Mary Landrieu...

HOUSTON, TX – The nation’s leading labor union will plan to spend $300 million in 2014 trying to unseat Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and four other Republican Governors. More: AFL-CIO to Target Walker, Other Governors People’s World reported that the AFL-CIO announced on Thursday morning during a press conference in Houston that they would spend money trying to unseat Governor Walker. Other Governors that the labor organization is targeting are John Kasich (R-Ohio), Tom Corbett (R-Pennsylvania), Rick Snyder (R-Michigan), and Rick Scott (R-Florida). The American Federation of Teachers backed the AFL-CIO’s plan. President Randi Weingarten said: “In many ways it...

his is the type of story that gets you nodding your head and saying, “This proves the point.” A federal grand jury has just indicted ten Philadelphia area iron workers and their union for burning down a Quaker church in 2012 because the church was using non-union labor. All of the ten are members of Ironworkers Local 401. They were charged with the arson after an investigation pointed to their guilt. They are so shameless they called themselves THUGS, Those Helpful Union Guys and thought that was funny. Now the joke is on them. In its press release regarding the...

Feds Charge Philadelphia Ironworkers with Extortion, Arson and Racketeering Federal prosecutors today announced an indictment charging 10 members of the Philadelphia Ironworkers Union Local 401 with extorting and forcing businesses to hire their colleagues and defending their turf from non-union workers with violence. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Zane Memeger announced the charges at a press conference this morning after the 10 union members named in the indictment were arrested. According to the indictment, members of the Ironworkers would approach foremen at construction sites where iron work was being done and “implicitly or explicitly threaten the foreman...

Bernd Osterloh, who is the Volkswagen AG General and Group Works Council chairman, said that future investments in the South might be hurt if workers will not unionize, according to Reuters. The comments come days after Volkswagen Chattanooga workers voted against representation by the United Auto Workers Union. After years of quiet work by union leaders and a contentious campaigning period, officials announced Friday night that Volkswagen employees opted against UAW representation with a 712-626 vote. But at that announcement, Volkswagen Chattanooga President Frank Fischer said the vote wasn't against the works council and that there is still support for...

You won’t hear much about this week’s defeat for the United Auto Workers. The thugs were trying to unionize Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant workers. This was no ordinary defeat. It is best described as a death knell for the UAW’s efforts to unionize the South and forcibly use the increase in union dues to finance further destruction of America by their pals in the Democrat Party. That’s over now. There were a few important reasons for the kick in the teeth the union took, but one you certainly won’t hear mentioned is that “Jonah” Obama who brings defeat to Democrats wherever...

Put this in the when-pig-fly category: I’m finding myself agreeing with something the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) did. The UAW has long been seeking to organize workers at the Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the moment of truth has arrived. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has scheduled an election for February 12 to 14 where workers will have the final say. In the lead up to the vote, the union negotiated with the company to set the terms of Volkswagen’s neutrality in the election. Surprisingly, the union agreed to...

Liberal groups are agitating for another round of filibuster reform after Senate Majority Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) controversial triggering of the nuclear option last year has done little to alleviate Senate gridlock. A coalition of labor and liberal groups have pressed Reid to make additional changes to the Senate rules this year, something that senior Democratic aides say is very possible. “We strongly urge Majority Leader Reid and Chairman [Patrick] Leahy [D-Vt.] to consider reforms to floor and committee rules that will hasten the confirmation of President Obama’s talented and qualified set of nominees,” they said in a statement. The coalition,...

A Republican super PAC committed to defeating the tea party in 2014 congressional primaries is mostly funded by labor unions. The super PAC Defending Main Street, formed by moderate Republican and former congressman Steve LaTourette, has committed itself to destroying tea party challenges to establishment GOP candidates in the 2014 midterm elections. “Hopefully we’ll go into eight to 10 races and beat the snot out of them,” LaTourette said. His PAC has already committed itself to defending Republican Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson from tea party opponent Bryan Smith, who is backed by the conservative Club for Growth due to Simpson’s...

Labor leaders who have spent months lobbying unsuccessfully for special protections under the Affordable Care Act warned this week that the White House’s continued refusal to help is dampening union support for Democratic candidates in this year’s midterm elections.

77-year-old collapsed across street from DC firehouse (Newser) – Marie Mills' father collapsed Saturday afternoon in a shopping center parking lot across the street from a Washington, DC, firehouse—but firefighters didn't rush to his aid, despite repeated pleas for help, and Medric "Cecil" Mills, 77, died of a heart attack. Marie Mills tells WTTG that bystanders were "screaming and hollering" at a firefighter across the street, and three people even ran over to Engine 26, but they were told rescuers could not respond until 911 was called, the Washington Post reports. Sources say that when 911 was called, an...

Labor Law: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case that will determine if a Medicaid recipient caring for her child is a state worker required to turn part of her meager resources over to union bosses. Illinois resident Pam Harris is a 55-year-old mom earning less than the minimum wage who cares for her son Josh Harris, 25. He has Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, a muscular degenerative disease, compounded by physical disabilities and mental illness. Josh and his family qualify for an Illinois home-based support-services program that lets disabled adults live at home. He gets $721 each month from...