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Saturday, June 07, 2008
http://www.freeworkplace.org/aboutus/unionstoday.php#aggressive
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Unions Today
Although the most recent figures available from the government disclose that American unions represent only 12.5% of wage and salary workers and just 7.9% of such workers in the private sector, unions have an impact on the society, economy, and government out of all proportion to their relative size measured by these statistics. Tax exempt union revenues exceed $19 billion annually, much of it in the form of dues coerced from members.
In 2004, union PACs (Political Action Committees) donated $61 million in “hard money” to candidates for federal office and contributed $111 million in “soft money” to “527 committees” promoting a leftist agenda. Even more significant, when in-kind contributions are figured in, such as phone banks, “volunteers” campaigning door-to-door, political mailings, and the like, total union spending in the 2003-2004 election cycle probably exceeded $900 million!
At the same time, facing declining membership rolls, unions have resorted to ever more aggressive, unfair, and undemocratic tactics in union organizing methods. These include
“Salting.” Through this tactic, especially common in the construction industry, unions attempt to place professional organizers on company payrolls to organize from the inside. In addition, they file frivolous lawsuits, as well as meritless charges with government agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to drive up legal and other costs for the nonunion employer.
“Neutrality Agreements.” Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), incongruously, employers rather than employees have the right to decide whether union representation is decided in a fair, secret ballot election conducted by the government. As a result, unions have been so successful in pressuring employers to recognize unions based upon unreliable “authorization cards” from a purported employee majority that, today, that 80% of new union members are recruited without ever having a secret ballot vote. Neutrality agreements also often require the employer to refrain from giving its views on the merits of unionizing to employees, to turn over employee names and addresses to the union, and even permit the union to solicit workers on employer property.
“Corporate Campaigns.” A corporate campaign usually involves several tactics designed to pressure an employer into recognizing a union without an election, including filing groundless charges with government agencies like the NLRB, OSHA, and EEOC; bringing harassing lawsuits; blocking regulatory approval needed for a project, pressuring bankers, suppliers, or customers not to do business with the target company; launching negative campaigns with shareholders or investors to frustrate corporate management; stirring up bad publicity in the media; and inciting community and religious groups against the employer.
Furthermore, unions continue to enjoy numerous special privileges written into law that seriously infringe employee and employer rights and harm the taxpayer and the general economy. These include
Right to collect forced dues. Laws in 28 states permit unions, under agreements with employers, to exact dues, or their equivalent, from all employees in bargaining whether they wish union representation or not; laws in 37 states subject public employees to the same unfairness.
Monopoly bargaining. Under the NLRA, a union representing a bare majority of employees in a bargaining unit becomes the “exclusive” representative of those workers for purposes of negotiating with the employer over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. No such employee may deal directly with the employer on these matters as an individual, through an agent, or through a different union. And, under existing law, it is next to impossible for employees to oust an unresponsive, corrupt, or tyrannical union.
Exemption from federal law enforcement. In a misguided 1973 decision, the Supreme Court effectively exempted unions from the reach of the Hobbs Act, specifically drafted to curb union violence and racketeering. As a result, federal law enforcement cannot reach acts of violence and sabotage causing death, personal injury and sabotage. Based on media reports alone (which probably tabulate a tenth of the problem), since 1975, there have been 203 deaths, 5,669 incidents of personal injury, and 6, 435 acts resulting in property damage caused by unions or their supporters.
“Prevailing wage” laws. These laws outrageously inflate the cost of federal construction work (Davis-Bacon Act) and service work (Service Contract Act) by requiring the payment of so-called “prevailing wages.” Many states and localities have similar regressive laws. The losers are not only the taxpayers (Davis-Bacon adds $1 billion a year to federal construction costs), but nonunion and minority contractors and their employees who are effectively denied the opportunity to work on public projects.
“Project Labor Agreements (PLAs).” Under pressure from Big Labor, states and localities through the country have entered into PLAs with construction unions. PLAs require that a construction project be performed solely with union labor, and that union wages, hours, benefits, and restrictive work rules and job classifications be observed, frequently increasing costs from 5% to 20%.
Finally, union corruption is endemic in America today. In a recent six month period, U.S. Department of Labor investigations resulted in 337 criminal indictments and 191 convictions, as well as $55.6 million in monetary recovery.
Ends: Agenda for Reform
With Republicans in control of the executive and legislative branches of the federal government, the Alliance believes the time is right to pursue an aggressive agenda to challenge and repel the Big Labor juggernaut before it causes irreparable harm to employees, employers, taxpayers, and our democratic political system. We also believe that a similar agenda should be pursued in individual states, for example, fighting to enact additional “right-to-work” laws that would prohibit the collection from workers of forced dues and seeking repeal of wasteful state “prevailing wage” statutes.
We intend to assist Members of Congress and state legislators in repealing outdated labor and employment laws and regulations as well as in enacting new legislation and rules to advance the freedom of workers and employers and enable the American economy to flourish in the worldwide marketplace. Similarly, we will oppose attempts by Big Labor to pass new regressive legislation and regulation.
We intend to pursue these ends by providing technical and policy expertise to legislators, executive branch officials, and staff; by publishing issue briefs on individual topics; by stimulating grass roots support from key legislative districts; by lobbying legislators and administrators personally in Washington and in state capitals; by building popular support for initiatives through print, radio, and television advertising; as well by obtaining “free media” attention through interviews, conferences, op-ed pieces and editorials. We also intend to file amicus briefs in courts and administrative agencies to defend and promote worker and employer freedom, and to file comments on proposed regulatory changes that would be desirable or offensive. We will also support popular referenda to achieve our goals in states where the legislative option
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