Free Republic

The Senate’s top Democrat on Wednesday harshly condemned what he said were “inappropriate” attempts by Republican lawmakers to intervene in a controversial labor dispute now before the National Labor Relations Board. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said the GOP moves were an attempt to “poison the decision-making process” in the increasingly bitter dispute over plans by aerospace giant Boeing Co. to open a major new, nonunion manufacturing plant for its premier 787 Dreamliner fleet in South Carolina. The NLRB, in a move that has outraged leading business groups and South Carolina officials, has issued a complaint about the...

A decision by Boeing Co. to construct a $1 billion production facility in South Carolina — rather than in Washington State, where the company is based — has run into opposition from the National Labor Relations Board, which claims the move was motivated by the firm's desire not to deal with labor unions. Washington has a unionized aerospace workforce and South Carolina does not, and the NLRB is pursuing an order to keep the production line in the Pacific Northwest. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, however, is pushing back hard. Haley, a Republican, was in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday (May...

Washington (CNN) – South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and a group of Republican senators demanded Tuesday that the Obama administration weigh in on the National Labor Relations Board's complaint against Boeing, saying the complaint could jeopardize thousands of South Carolina jobs and the future of free enterprise in the country. The NLRB's complaint alleges that Boeing decided to build a new 787 Dreamliner plant in South Carolina, a so-called "right-to-work" state, in retaliation against union workers in Washington state who had engaged in past strikes. The NRLB's Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon is seeking an order to keep that production...

Big Labor: Can a union that workers voted out and a government agency with an anti-business agenda tell America's largest exporter in which state it can create jobs? Is this revenge for Wisconsin? Hell hath no fury like unions whose power is being challenged, and unions are not happy after Gov. Scott Walker's victory for democracy over angry union mobs in Wisconsin and similar moves by governors in other states such as John Kasich's Ohio. They want their pound of capitalist flesh. So they, in the form of the International Association of Machinists, have called upon their wholly owned subsidiary,...

A judge in Seattle today denied a former Microsoft general manager’s new attempt to carve out a role for himself at Salesforce.com, saying the revised job proposal would still run afoul of his non-compete agreement with the Redmond company, even if it didn’t precisely match his former Microsoft role. The preliminary injunction entered by King County Superior Court Judge Kimberley Prochnau includes a provision enjoining the former Microsoft GM, Matthew Miszewski, from “working in a marketing role in salesforce.com’s public or commercial sector anywhere in the world.” Despite the restrictions, Judge Prochnau said from the bench that she still could...

“Fiscal crisis hits the states,” has become this year’s most boring and repetitive headline. But what is largely overlooked is that some states are doing relatively well - such as my home state of Virginia - and are, in fact, balancing their budgets without draconian budget cuts or tax increases. What are the well-managed states doing right and the others doing wrong? And what lessons could those running the federal government learn from the better managed states? The United States is a federal republic, wherein the Constitution gives most governing powers to the states, not Washington. The beauty of this...

Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), introduced the National Right to Work Act to reduce workplace discrimination by protecting the free choice of individuals to form, join, or assist labor organizations, or to refrain from such activities. Seven Republicans joined Senator DeMint as original cosponsors to the Right to Work Act including Senators Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), James Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania) and David Vitter (R-Louisiana). During the 111th Congress, all Senate Democrats united to vote against workers’ rights but now they have a chance to protect American workers’ freedom...

Collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty. P>How ironic that Wisconsin has become ground zero for the battle between taxpayers and public- employee labor unions. Wisconsin was the first state to allow collective bargaining for government workers (in 1959), following a tradition where it was the first to introduce a personal income tax (in 1911, before the introduction of the current form of individual income tax in 1913 by the federal government).

Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Saturday he would push forcefully ahead with right-to-work legislation in his state, even if it means a Wisconsin-style fight with unions. In an interview at the National Governors Association, the Republican praised Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and couched his own proposal in the language of liberty loved by tea partiers. "He's got a big challenge, and quite frankly, once they start reading our budget they're going to leave Wisconsin and come to Maine because we're going after right to work," LePage told POLITICO. "I believe that the Declaration of Independence says 'life, liberty and the...

Unions have taken a big hit as their greed has become visible to more and more Americans. The most recent punch hit the unions in Wisconsin right in the breadbasket, and it must have felt like a Chuck Norris roundhouse. The unions seem to have found their fiscal hypocrisy steeping like a tea bag in hot water. Many unions have opted out of ObamaCare which was sold as a panacea, thanks to waivers granted by the Obama administration. Unions didn't want the Obama version of new health care, preferring instead to keep their old version. But it's not just...

16 States Going to War on Unions The Daily Beast Wed Feb 23, 11:52 pm ET NEW YORK – With Wisconsin locked in a union battle, The Daily Beast looks at the 15 states that could blow up next and crunches the numbers to find whether they're really on shaky financial footing—or playing politics. Revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt have toppled despotic governments, while Libyans are on the verge of doing the same. The stakes are not as high in Wisconsin and the 15 other states that have proposed or are expected to propose various levels of de-engagement from both...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Republican leaders at the Statehouse conceded Wednesday, killing so-called right-to-work legislation that prompted House Democrats to leave the state in protest. Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma confirmed that the legislation would not come back this session, and that he would not allow right-to-work language to be amended into another bill in the House, 6News' Norman Cox reported. Senate Leader David Long made the same commitment for the Senate. Right-to-work legislation, which prevents unions and companies from negotiating contracts that require non-union members pay a fee to be represented, had been at the top of the list of Democrats'...

Labor: If unions were formed to protect workers from employer abuse, right-to-work laws were created to protect taxpayers and workers from union abuse. States with such laws enjoy higher growth and purchasing power. With Wisconsin still under siege by the "angry mobs" of bused-in union workers, the Ohio of GOP Gov. John Kasich is the next target of those opposed to restricting the collective bargaining rights of public-sector unions that have bankrupted state after state. Ohio's SB5 also aims to address a similar Buckeye budget deficit in the billions and the anchor of state-funded union pension obligations. Bills in the...

Alternate headline: “Apparently, Mitch Daniels not running for president.”

It looks like Democrats have found a new strategy to block Republican majorities from enacting anti-union legislation: fleeing the state. Taking a page from Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin, legislators in Indiana have apparently fled the state rather than vote on an anti-union bill, a source told the Indianapolis Star on Wednesday. And they were headed to Illinois, the same state that Wisconsin Democrats fled to last week to block a bill that would limit the collective bargaining rights of public sector unions while forcing members to contribute more to their pensions and health care plans. In Indiana, Democrats could force...

INDIANAPOLIS — The absence of Democratic legislators from the Indiana House extended into the afternoon with several hundred union members at the Statehouse protesting Republican-backed labor bills. Speakers at a midday rally today told the union members that Republicans had declared a “war on labor” with proposals restricting teacher collective bargaining and so-called right-to-work legislation.

Mitch Daniels: Indiana Republicans Should Drop the Right to Work Bill Color me extremely disappointed with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels right now: Gov. Mitch Daniels signaled this afternoon that Republicans should to drop the right-to-work bill that has brought the Indiana House to a standstill for two days and imperiled other measures. Daniels told reporters this afternoon that he expects House Democrats will return to work if the bill dies. It would be unfortunate if other bills are caught up in the turmoil, he said. He will not send out state police to corral the Democrats, the Republican governor said....

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Union supporters shouted "lie" and "shame" at members of a Republican-led Indiana House committee who voted in favor of so-called right-to-work legislation, after impassioned arguments that it was aimed at weakening unions and would drive down wages.

INDIANAPOLIS -- State lawmakers will hear a bill Monday that would allow Hoosiers the right to refuse to join unions or pay dues. Republicans said the "Right to Work" bill would bring new jobs to Indiana. Democrats called the bill "War on the Rights of Workers" and said it would only benefits employers, 6News' Norman Cox reported. The Right to Work bill is just one of a number of bills seemingly targeting unions. Others include a reduction in unemployment benefits, restrictions on teacher bargaining rights, a permanent ban on future governors' ability to allow collective bargaining for state employees and...

My friends … threatening legislators by promising to withhold campaign cash if they don't vote the way union bosses tell them is nothing short of extortion. Virginians probably aren't surprised to see these union thug tactics in Chicago and Washington but we're disgusted to see this brand of politics practiced here in the Old Dominion. Unfortunately, this past week, House of Delegates Democratic Leader Ward Armstrong failed to answer questions from Delegate Tim Hugo as to why he would vote against HB2367, a measure that would reduce burdensome communications regulations in the Commonwealth. In the video below, Delegate Armstrong fails...