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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined a federal lawsuit Monday against a new union organizing rule. The Chamber filed a motion to intervene as a party-plaintiff in the Air Transport Association’s (ATA) suit against the National Mediation Board (NMB). The business lobbying group opposes a rule change finalized by the board earlier this month that makes it easier for workers at companies covered by the Railway Labor Act to unionize. Under the rule, workers who don’t vote in a union election are not counted as votes either for or against forming a union. Such non-votes previously were counted as votes...

Richard Trumka exited the Labor Caucus at the California Democratic Convention and I asked him his thoughts on Glenn Beck. The Labor Caucus was jammed with supporters and candidates asking for support. It was so full they asked some people to leave so they would not violate the fire code. It was very clear from the candidates speeches Labor controls much of the Democratic party. They all had their hand out making promises to the crowd on how they would help organized labor if elected. VIDEO LINK

NPR and Fox News contributor Juan Williams does not see vitriolic blanket-statements condemning conservatives as "racist," "homophobic," heartless, anti-intellectual, and depraved (to name a few), as divisive or erroneous in the least. Aside from possibly race and identity-politics, there are few things more toxic and effective than the poisonous doctrine of class warfare - no matter how many times leaders may promise heaven on earth. In his April 7 speech at Harvard University, AFL-CIO leader (and corrupt money-laundering extraordinaire) Richard Trumka did his part to perpetuate fear and hate of conservatives - repeatedly inciting the "righteous anger" the "working class"...

He may not be the future former president's most frequent White House visitor (that would be the SEIU's Andy Stern), but AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is one of Obama's most loyal comrades. Echoing the party line during a toxic speech at Harvard on Wednesday night. Trumka described "radio voices" as "forces of hate" for creating an us-versus-them mentality that can divide the country and hinder enacting economic policies to fix the economy. "There are forces in our country that are working hard to convert justifiable anger about an economy that only seems to work for a few of us into...

Not long ago Andrew Breitbart issued a challenge to the anti-tea party left to show proof that the "N" word was thrown at black members of Congress by Tea Party protesters in their walk to Congress just prior to their passage on Obamacare. In fact, Breitbart has offered $100,000 for video or audio proof of any racism during that incident. No one on the left has been able meet the challenge. On the April 7, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka was giving a speech at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and in the audience was one Andrew Breitbart. During the question...

Union Influence: The White House picks its most frequent visitor to sit on its deficit commission. He believes in big government, in big spending, and that the workers of the world should unite. What could go wrong? Computer security firms have been known to hire the best former hackers because they know best how to stop others like them. But the appointment of Andy Stern, president of the Service Employee International Union (SEIU), to a bipartisan commission to come up with ways to deal with the rapidly rising federal budget deficit is like having a serial arsonist organize Fire Prevention...

Major Garrett tweets this response from AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on the defeat of Craig Becker: "A Republican-led filibuster has put political interests over the needs of America’s working families," Trumka said. "We support President Obama’s expressed willingness to make recess appointments of critical posts in the federal government if that’s what it takes to get around minority delay and obstruction."

For organized labor, if there's anything better than a federal takeover of health insurance, it's a federal takeover of health care with a major tax break for union members. Union leaders, led by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (see photo), this week gave the country a first-hand lesson on how to play behind-the-scenes political hardball. Yesterday, following a three-day marathon negotiating session, the nation's top labor officials announced they had reached an agreement to delay introduction of a federal excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans on their rank and file. While a number of Republicans are calling the deal a...

Speaking at the National Press Club this afternoon, AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka made a bold prediction: The Employee Free Choice Act--the flagship legislation of the labor movement--will pass in the first quarter of 2010. "I think you'll see the Employee Free Choice Act pass in the first quarter of 2010," Trumka said. "You'll have it have some real effect. We'll start creating and making new jobs in this country again."

AFL-CIO leader: Democrats inviting repeat of 1994 over economy woes By Kevin Bogardus - 01/11/10 01:01 AM ET The Democratic Party could see a repeat of their epic electoral defeat 1994 when Republicans won the House unless they institute dramatic changes in economic policy, the leader of the AFL-CIO said Monday. In prepared remarks at the National Press Club, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the majority party needs to end its coziness with the financial sector and step up and take action for workers to avoid losing control of the House. “In 1992, workers voted for Democrats who promised action...

The presidents of about a dozen labor unions will meet with President Barack Obama on Monday to push him to limit the scope of a proposed tax on high-cost insurance plans. Labor sources acknowledge they will not succeed in completely eliminating the tax, but they hope to raise its threshold so that fewer labor households feel the impact. “At the end of the day there’s going to be a compromise,” said a labor official. Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), told The Hill on Friday that the final bill would likely include some form of the...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has made several significant concessions to organized labor in the healthcare reform bill he is preparing for the Senate floor, according to a source familiar with the legislation. Reid has increased the threshold of high-cost insurance plans that would be subject to taxation to pay for healthcare reform. Legislation passed by the Senate Finance Committee would impose a 40 percent excise tax on family plans costing more than $21,000, a provision estimated to raise $201 billion for healthcare reform. Under heavy pressure from unions, Reid has increased the threshold so that only family plans...

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka warned Senate Democratic leaders not to include a tax on high-cost healthcare plans in a bill that is expected to reach the floor in coming days. Trumka dismissed the notion that Democratic leaders could placate the powerful union by raising the threshold on plans that would be subject to the tax. Under the Senate Finance Committee’s bill, plans costing more than $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families would be hit with a 40-percent excise tax. “Working families struggling to pay for healthcare should not be required to pay even more in the form of a...

The AFL-CIO's new president on card check, health reform and the challenges facing the union movement.Pittsburgh The new boss looks the part. There's the Walesa-esque moustache and burly former linebacker's physique. The Polish-Italian roots in the southwestern Pennsylvania mining town of Nemacolin where he went down the coal shaft at 19, following his grandfather and father, before rising up union ranks. There's the reputation for toughness, a short fuse and gruff sense of humor. To supporters, Richard Trumka boasts the right résumé to head up America's largest labor federation; to doubters, inside the movement and out, the AFL-CIO went with...

President Barack Obama’s address to the AFL-CIO on Tuesday will shed light on a precarious friendship that will be tested in the near future. Though the president is expected to celebrate his relationship with unions that fervently supported his 2008 campaign, differences between Obama and organized labor will be at the forefront during his address at the AFL-CIO’s convention. On healthcare, Obama has voiced support for a public insurance option but is not insisting on one. Organized labor wants a public option to drive down healthcare costs, and the AFL-CIO is expected to approve a resolution that backs a government...

"Thank you Cincinnati. Thank you, Ohio. Thank you labor," yelled President Barack Obama over the cheers of roughly 4,000 as he took the stage at the PNC Pavilion next to Coney Island moments ago. This followed fiery speeches by labor organizers at today'a annual AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati. This is the first time a sitting president has addressed the annual picnic, the largest of its kind in the nation. White House officials estimate roughly 10,000 tickets were distributed to the speech, which was moved to the pavilion from the park grounds because of rain. "This is a unique...

Almost nobody doubts that come September, Richard Trumka will become the AFL-CIO's next president, replacing the retiring John Sweeney. Having occupied the labor federation's secretary-treasurer position for nearly 14 years, he's done everything his boss and the ideological faithful could ask of him. That's a major reason why he and his slate are running unopposed. But more than Sweeney, Trumka, a trained lawyer, has a palpably combative edge, much of it honed during his tenure as head of the United Mine Workers of America. His far Left populism was on display Thursday in his written denunciation of the "mob rule" allegedly...

Almost nobody doubts that come September, Richard Trumka will become the AFL-CIO's next president, replacing the retiring John Sweeney. Having occupied the labor federation's secretary-treasurer position for nearly 14 years, he's done everything his boss and the ideological faithful could ask of him. That's a major reason why he and his slate are running unopposed. But more than Sweeney, Trumka, a trained lawyer, has a palpably combative edge, much of it honed during his tenure as head of the United Mine Workers of America. His far Left populism was on display Thursday in his written denunciation of the "mob rule"...

The Washington Post has published a glowing article about likely incoming AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka (photo), titled "Trumka Hopes to Mend the AFL-CIO." Writer Chris Cillizza asks in the very first sentence of his story, "Can Richard Trumka reunite the labor movement?" Cillizza portrays Trumka as genuinely puzzled over the reason for the big split in the labor movement: With Trumka's election virtually ensured, the central question is whether he can heal the rift that occurred four years ago when the Service Employees International Union and the Teamsters (among others) left the AFL-CIO to form a new labor coalition known...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog_post/beyond_the_echo_chamber/ Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 12:55 pm Advice from "beyond the echo chamber" We just learned the economy lost another 600,000 jobs last month. It's a staggering number, and it underscores just how deep this crisis is – and, as the President pointed out this morning, it’s accelerating. That's why he created the Economic Recovery Advisory Board -- to solicit ideas from "beyond the echo chamber of Washington, DC." "I’m not interested in groupthink, which is why the Board reflects a broad cross-section of experience, expertise, and ideology," he said. "We’ve recruited...