Posts tagged corruption
How did 50K dockworkers strike at US ports with only 25K jobs?
October 7, 2024 // There’s a massive gulf in the numbers between those who show up for work and total membership in the powerful International Longshoremen’s Association, which won a deal late Thursday for a 62% wage increase over the next six years. That’s because half of the dockworkers at the East and Gulf coast ports are allowed to sit at home collecting “container royalties” negotiated decades ago to protect against job losses that result from innovation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Workers at Mt. Clemens tooling company are on the way to decertifying the UAW
October 4, 2024 // Most workers at the factory believe the union does little for them, Patrick Semmens, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation, wrote in an email to Michigan Capitol Confidential. “Yet without right-to-work, union bosses are empowered to have these employees fired if they refuse to pay for the union’s so-called ‘representation’ that they oppose.”
Harold Daggett: How union leader who fought mob tie allegations is holding the US economy to ransom
October 2, 2024 // Despite his eminent blue collar credentials, the union baron earned $728,000 last year from the ILA, plus another $173,000 as president emeritus of a local union branch, Politico reported. He previously owned a 76-foot yacht, the Obsession, and has been spotted by his members riding in a Bentley, according to The New York Times. The Justice Department, which has reportedly lost two cases against Mr Daggett, has accused him of being an “associate” of the Genovese crime family — one of the infamous “Five Families” of the US Mafia.
Opinion: The Dangers of Union Expansion in Missouri
September 25, 2024 // Consider the fact also that the UAW has spent lavishly on travel, hotels, and executive salaries over the past several years. For example, from 2013 to 2018, the UAW spent $43 million on hotels and resorts and $4 million on restaurants and bars. Two past UAW Presidents have been convicted of felonies involving financial mismanagement. Meanwhile, current President Shawn Fain is under investigation by a federal court-appointed watchdog. Fain has been accused by two union officials of retaliating against them when they refused to take actions that would have benefited Fain’s fiancé and her sister.
In California, There’s Hope for IHSS Workers Facing Rampant Union Abuse
September 19, 2024 // As Olivia attended the IHSS provider orientation necessary to obtain state funding to meet her son’s medical needs, she didn’t expect a closed-door meeting with officers of the United Domestic Workers of America (UDW). If Olivia declined to sign up for union membership, the union representatives threatened, she would be unable to complete her timecard and lose payment as a result. Though Olivia had a “gut feeling” to refuse, she signed a union membership card anyway, yielding to “peer pressure” and an optimistic belief that the UDW officers were acting in accordance with their promise to defend IHSS provider rights.
Op-Ed: Labor unions are turning into roach motels for generations of workers
September 17, 2024 // So, if you're stuck in a union, the odds are you probably didn't vote for that union to be there -- someone employed by the company years ago voted for them based on different circumstances, but you have to live with the consequences as an employee of a company with a union stuck onto them like a barnacle. Only five percent of workers throughout the entire private sector voted for the union that supposedly represents them. Everyone else is their hostage, paying the extorted union dues whether they like or not, as a sort of ransom, yet never, ever, getting released.
Cop who refused to honor the “get out of jail” cards that NYPD officers sell wins $175k settlement after retaliation
September 16, 2024 // The police department declined to comment, deferring questions to the law department. The Police Benevolent Association, NYPD's largest police union, didn't respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. The city's police unions have long faced scrutiny over the cards because of the appearance of corruption and their appearance for sale on eBay. Bianchi said Tuesday that he's since moved to a dayside shift but that his efforts to advance his career have been limited by the lawsuit.
Commentary: The Media Are Doing Free PR for Big Labor
September 13, 2024 // According to a new report from the union watchdog Freedom Foundation (where I work), Big Labor’s return to the spotlight coincides with unionization efforts that have taken newsrooms by storm, securing one in six American journalists as dues-paying members. With journalists “more knowledgeable and sympathetic to labor issues” than ever before, recent union reporting insists that Big Labor is making a comeback; “that unions are good not only for individual workers but also for America itself”; and that legislation meant to ensure union accountability is a threat to democracy.
Majority of Workers at Detroit-Area Hydraulic Tooling Firm Seek Vote to Oust UAW Union Bosses
September 12, 2024 // Production and maintenance employees at Hydra-Lock Corp. a hydraulic tooling company based in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, have just submitted a petition seeking a vote to remove United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 155 union officials from power at their workplace. Hydra-Lock employee Keith Woody submitted the petition to National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 7 in Detroit with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Journalists are hyping up a supposed golden age for unions while ignoring their corruption and declining popularity.
September 12, 2024 // The mainstream media’s coverage of Big Labor clearly misses the mark. Beyond recent labor reporting centering on hot-button events such as organization efforts at Starbucks and Amazon amid 2023’s “hot labor summer,” coverage of unions creates a false sense of reality. Headlines such as “Unions targeting Big Business: Disney, Mercedes-Benz, CVS face organizing campaigns,” for example, suggest sweeping unionization efforts across the private sector. But in the pharmacy industry, just 30 CVS pharmacists in Rhode Island and Las Vegas voted to join the Pharmacy Guild, a fraction of the 30,000 employed by the drugstore giant.