Labor Unions

If we start by examining some of the industries with major labor representation, we quickly see some similarities: Government workers. Teachers. Mailmen. Transit workers. Plumbers. Foodservice employees. Are these occupations inherently dangerous? Do those who work in these fields face uncommonly high mortality rates? Are they being taken advantage of by “The Man”? Or, are their unions designed merely to secure their jobs and give them an entirely undeserved advantage when negotiating their salaries, benefits and tenure?

The American education system is represented by Unions which overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party. In return, the Democratic Party supports the agenda of those unions.
Has this alliance been a success, and if so, for whom? What is the current state of the American education system?

We covered that in a previous chapter, but the short answer is: Not so good.

Having looked for (but not finding) a correlation between governmental spending and academic performance, what about the other side of the Education coin? What do we see when we examine the leadership of those who teach our children?

The NEA, or the National Education Association, is the largest labor union in America, with an annual budget of some 400 million dollars. In 2007. the NEA spent $80 million of that budget (about 20%) on “contributions, gifts and grants” to support left-wing and non-education-related causes. Among the recipients of the NEA union dues are ACORN, Democratic GAIN, Democratic Leadership Council, GLAAD, NAACP, National Council of La Raza, RainbowPUSH Coalition, the Sierra Club and, ironically, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Is it unreasonable to ask whether these organizations have more to do with the advancement of left-wing political causes or the education of our students?

The American automobile manufacturing sector is financially beholden to the United Auto Workers Union (UAW), which overwhelmingly supports the Democratic Party. In return, the Democratic Party supports the agenda of those unions. Again, let’s ask: What is the current state of the American automobile manufacturing sector?

In an attempt to continue forward under a long series of ill-advised contracts with the autoworker’s unions, automakers first undertook a sort of “second mortgage” by entering into an endless season of rebates and 0% financing. Hemorrhaging cash, the Big Three had to be aware that without a new business model, they were merely delaying the inevitable. However, instead of fixing the foundation or replacing the rotten wood they planted shrubs and painted the house.

Enter the U.S. Government.

After summoning the CEO’s to D.C. for a brow-beating -- where the irony was almost as thick as the hypocrisy -- Congress approved a bail-out – with strings attached. To the shock of absolutely no one actually paying attention, the Administration demonstrated a complete disregard for actually addressing the problems. Instead, the CEO of GM was fired, 50% of the company was handed over to the UAW, and numerous product lines were shut down.

Insert “As GM goes, so goes the Country” joke right about >here<. Chrysler, meanwhile, was betrothed to Fiat in what can only be described as a shotgun wedding. The U.S. Government is watching over the engagement and, it is assumed, will preside over the ceremony. The Ford Motor Company, apparently seeing the writing on the wall, said “Thanks, but No Thanks” to a U.S. Government bailout and is working its way back to solvency as of this writing. In case you missed it: Nissan is the #1 automaker in America. Another powerhouse is the Service Employees International Union. As their name implies, these guys represent everyone from bank tellers to fast food workers to janitors to security guards, and they are one of the biggest, baddest unions around. As such, they are on the cutting edge of the push for the Employee Free Choice Act, aka “Card Check.” This legislation essentially allows SEIU and other unions to organize within private businesses based upon employees signing an authorization card rather than by secret ballot. What this means is that the employees will no longer be able to cast their vote in private, like, say, in every other election held in the civilized world, but instead can be confronted by Union “representatives” and intimidated into signing an authorization card on-the-spot. Does this make it easier to create unions out of whole cloth? But of course. Why else would they be willing to throw out one hundred years of Labor law and precedent? Labor Unions also use their enormous pension funds to pressure corporations, via shareholder proposals and proxy votes, to support labor objectives ahead of initiatives to increase profit and/or shareholder value. For example, the AFL-CIO is pressing companies to offer more generous benefits to their employees, and wants to require companies to disclose political contributions so Big Labor shareholders can see if the company is supporting candidates whose views don’t align with that of Big Labor. A great gig, if you can get it. It’s a lot like three foxes and a hen sitting around discussing what to have for dinner. Such is the unbridled power of the Union. Much like the Mafia -- and this is no random analogy -- unions often use the power of their “collective” to strong-arm companies into a Faustian “bargain” which slowly but assuredly drains the company to the point where they are compelled to look overseas for more competitive environs. It happens every day, and it’s only getting worse. So, who are the other “foxes” in this equation? Who is in bed with these “capos” of industry? Why, the Democratic Party, of course. When was the last time you saw a major Labor endorsement go to the Republican Party? When was the last time you saw the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Teamsters, the Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), the American Federation of Teachers, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), Amalgamated Transit, Plumbers and Pipefitters, the UAW, the AFL-CIO, the NEA or any other union endorse the Republican Party? Ironically, many among the rank-and-file don’t agree with the politics of their Labor Management; after all, not all card-carrying union members are Democrats. Yet, about 95% of all Union Political Action Committee monies end up being funneled into the Democratic Party. Some might argue that such a practice is a form of taxation without representation, and others might point out that these tactics clearly violate the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, but Unionism has an answer, as always. You can bet that neither Big Labor or the Democratic Party get something for nothing out of their alliance, so what do they get from each other? About what you would expect: Political support for the Democrats and political expediency for Big Labor’s agenda. There are so many shady aspects that color Big Labor that when I hear or read about labor unions, I don’t think about how they were once needed to fight for better and safer working conditions -- OSHA and the many and various Environmental Safety & Health programs have long rendered the “knight in shining armor” routine stale. Instead, I see Big Labor and their Democratic partners-in-crime as run-of-the-mill crooks, as parasites who abuse their position by taking advantage of the Working Man to fund one crooked deal after another. I may be oversimplifying things, but if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck…it’s probably a duck. REFERENCES & ADDITIONAL READING “The New Labor Activism,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/8/08 “Union Blessings,” Chart, The Wall Street Journal, 2/16/08 http://www.teachersunionexposed.com/
http://www.opensecrets.org/