Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind (50 page)

26
Michael White, “L.A. Health Workers Vote on Unions,” Associated Press, February 26, 1999.

27
Ed White, “Michigan Child-Care Workers Suing to Break Free of UAW Union,”
Washington Post
, November 11, 2010,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/13/AR2010091300088.html
, accessed April 2012.

28
Ibid.

29
Varney and Company
, Fox Business Network, September 20, 2010.

30
Ibid.

31
The settlement with the state of Michigan ensures that the state cannot force home-care workers to financially support a union as a condition of receiving state assistance. “Homecare Providers Win Settlement with State to Permanently Stop Childcare Unionization Scheme,” press release, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation,
http://www.nrtw.org/en/press/2011/05/homecare-providers-win-settlement-st
.

32
Eileen Boris and Jennifer Klein, “Organizing Homecare: Low Wage Workers in the Welfare State,”
Politics and Society
34, no. 1 (March 2006), p. 83.

33
Smith, “The Publicization of Home-Based Care Work in State Labor Law.”

34
In her testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Sally Coomer explained how she was forced into a union in Washington State for being a Medicaid care provider to her disabled daughter Becky. Pursuant to an SEIU-supported initiative, she is now her daughter’s employee. She explained that while her daughter is considered her employer, “the Governor of the State of Washington is deemed the employer for bargaining purposes only”—in other words, she and other care providers are treated as “government employees” so that they can be forcibly unionized, but they aren’t given any of the benefits of government employment. Finally, she noted that not only did care providers have to pay union dues, but the new system meant that the parent providers “were no longer able to contribute to the social security system per IRS tax law…”

Sally explains that she really has no other option than to comply and join the union: “Some may argue that if you don’t want to be a union member, then don’t be a provider for your own daughter… Thousands of parents and family members are forced to be union members, just for the privilege of taking care of a love one.” (We might note here that Sally describes herself as being forced to be a union member, although more correctly, she was forced either to join the union or pay agency fees for representation.) House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, “The Right to Choose: Protecting Union Workers from Forced Political Contributions,” testimony of Sally Coomer, February 8, 2012,
http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1583%3A2-8-2012-qthe-right-to-choose-protecting-union-workers-from-forced-political-contributionsq&catid=12&Itemid=20
, accessed February 2012.

35
With this new model, providers would generally be state employees for the limited purpose of collective bargaining.

36
Boris and Klein, p. 93. In some states like California, public authorities were established on a county or district basis, while other states like Oregon established one public authority for the entire state.

37
“Andy Stern’s Go-To Guy,”
Wall Street Journal
, May 14, 2009,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124226652880418035.html
, accessed February 2012.

38
Wade Rathke, “Becker to the NLRB,”
Wade Rathke: Chief Organizer Blog
(blog), April 20, 2009,
http://chieforganizer.org/2009/04/30/becker-to-the-nlrb/
, accessed January 2012.

39
Ryan O’Donnell, “Craig Becker: Big Labor’s Big Ally,”
The Foundry
(blog), Heritage Organization, March 26, 2010,
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/03/26/craig-becker-big-labor%E2%80%99s-big-ally/
, accessed January 2012.

40
Ibid.

41
Matthew Boyle, “Obama Yanks Controversial Pro-Union Appointee from Labor Board,”
Daily Caller
, December 15, 2011,
http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/15/obama-yanks-controversial-pro-union-appointee-from-labor-board/
, accessed January 2012.

42
Becker was the key pro-union member of the NLRB in the Boeing matter, even though some claim he had a financial conflict of interest. W. James Antle III, “Craig Becker and Boeing,”
American Spectator
, October 2, 2011,
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/10/03/craig-becker-and-boeing
, accessed January 2012.

43
Rathke, “Becker to the NLRB.”

44
“The Right to Choose: Protecting Union Workers from Forced Political Contributions,” testimony of Sally Coomer.

45
Getting Organized
, p. 10.

46
An executive order in the State of Minnesota took away the rights of providers to vote in a union election even more overtly. The order called for an election to unionize home child-care providers. Providers who were regulated by the state but didn’t receive subsidies could be unionized in the election but weren’t permitted to vote. Because of publicity surrounding the Minnesota case, the election was put on hold, and its procedures are being challenged in federal court. Rep. Joe Hoppe, “Child Care Union Vote Anything But ‘Most Fair,’ ”
Fergus Falls Journal
, November 28, 2011,
http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/2011/11/28/child-care-union-vote-anything-but-%E2%80%98most-fair%E2%80%99/
, accessed December 2011.

47
“Public Sector Decertification Laws (as of 8/2010),” National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation,
http://www.nrtw.org/public-sector-decertification-laws-8-1-2010
. Generally, employees would have to file a petition with the state with the support of at least 30 percent of the employees stating that the union is no longer supported by a majority of the workers. Then, the state will hold another election to determine whether the union should be decertified. Often there are narrow time periods during which decertification petitions may be filed.

48
Tom Gantert, “Union Lawyer Admits in Court That Stealth Unionization Is a ‘Slippery Slope,’ ”
Michigan Capitol Confidential
(blog), Mackinac Center For Public Policy, July 14, 2010,
http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/13177
.

49
Ibid.

50
Don Loos, “21.1 Million Reasons Big Labor Pours Money into ObamaCare,”
BigGovernment.com
, January 7, 2010,
http://biggovernment.com/dloos/2010/01/07/21-1-million-reasons-big-labor-pours-money-into-obamacare/
, accessed December 2011.

51
Caralyn Davis, “Union Membership Grows among Healthcare Workers,” FierceHealthcare,
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/union-membership-grows-among-healthcare-workers/2010-02-22
, accessed March 2012.

52
William Messinger, “Does the First Amendment Allow States to Compel Recipients of Government Monies to Support State-Designated Representatives?”
Engage
11, no. 2 (September 2010), pp. 88–91, available at
http://www.fed-soc.org/publications/detail/does-the-first-amendment-allow-states-to-compel-recipients-of-government-monies-to-support-state-designated-representatives
.

53
Ibid., p. 90.

54
Executive Order 07-21 issued by Governor Kathleen Sebelius, July 18, 2007, Kansas State Library,
http://www.kslib.info/executive/documents/EO%2007-21.pdf
.

55
Messenger, “Does the First Amendment Allow States to Compel Recipients of Government Monies to Support State-Designated Representatives?”

56
The First Amendment provides, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and
to petition the Government for a
redress
of grievances
.” (Emphasis added.)

57
Illinois EO 2003-08 (app. 46s); EL 2009-15 (App. 49a); see Writ of Certiorari, Harris v. Quinn, Messenger, November 29, 2011, p. 10.

Chapter 9. Insurrection

1
See U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, “Compensation of Employees by Industry” (database SA06N),
http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=70&step=1&isuri=1&acrdn=4
.

2
Clay Barbour, “State Unions Fume over Betrayal, Prepare for Future Negotiations,”
LaCrosse Tribune
, December 17, 2010,
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/state-and-regional/wi/6dc723c4-09d9-11e0-976f-001cc4c03286.html
, accessed January 2012.

3
Patrick McIlheran, “A Progressive Fight to Rein in Unions,”
New York Post
, January 5, 2011,
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/progressive_fight_to_rein_in_unions_bKH3ZTRwbtQYRYJko5VFnL
, accessed January 2012.

4
Ibid.

5
Ibid.

6
Chris Tomlinson, “Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Gives Speech to Conservatives at Legislative Forum in Texas,” Associated Press, January 12, 2012, available at
http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/walker-gives-speech-to-conservative-group-in-texas/article_5f59cef0-3d3a-11e1-9db6-001871e3ce6c.html
, accessed February 2012.

7
Mike Johnson, “Wisconsin AFL-CIO Ads Attack Walker Plan on Collective Bargaining,”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
, February 13, 2011,
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/116114284.html
, accessed January 2012; Scott Bauer, “Wisconsin Governor to Outline Ultimate Intentions in Budget,”
Associated Press, February 28, 2011, available at
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=13017077
, accessed January 2012.

8
One report explained, “The governor said he could not risk public safety by potential strikes from law enforcement. But the governor said that he was prepared, should other state workers strike in protest.” Clay Barbour and Mary Spicuzza, “Walker Takes Broad Swipe at Public Employee Unions,”
Wisconsin Elections and Politics
, February 12, 2011,
http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/walker-takes-broad-swipe-at-public-employee-unions/article_c814c77a-3600-11e0-b9e0-001cc4c03286.html
, accessed January 2012. Another report suggested that the reason Walker left public safety workers’ contracts intact was “the unions for state troopers, Milwaukee police officers and Milwaukee firefighters all endorsed Walker, while most other unions endorsed his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.” Johnson, “Wisconsin AFL-CIO Ads Attack Walker Plan on Collective Bargaining.”

9
Dee Hall, “More Than 80 Threats Made against Walker, Lawmakers and Others, Records Show,”
Wisconsin State Journal
, May 13, 2011,
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_884e3352-7cf4-11e0-98ed-001cc4c03286.html
, accessed January 2012.

10
Mike Johnson and Jason Stein, “Justice Department Investigating Death Threats against Republican Senators, Representatives,”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
, March 10, 2011,
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/117738098.html
, accessed January 2012.

11
Bill Glauber, “Woman Charged with Email Threats,”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
, March 31, 2011,
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/119023079.html
, accessed January 2012.

12
Ed Treleven, “Woman Placed in First-Offenders Program for Bomb Threat to GOP State Senators,”
Wisconsin State Journal
, December 16, 2011,
http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_e8322b18-27e7-11e1-b21f-0019bb2963f4.html
, accessed January 2012.

13
Richard Moore, “Union Boycotts against Walker Supporters Sputtering, Fragmenting,”
Lakeland (Wisc.) Times
, April 15, 2011,
http://www.lakelandtimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=9&SubSectionID=9&ArticleID=13036&TM=55897.49
, accessed January 2012.

14
Mary Bruce, “Wisconsin Teachers Protest Ed Budget, Union Cuts,”
ABC News
, February 17, 2011,
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wisconsin-protests-news-wisconsin-governor-scott-walkers-proposal/story?id=12942012
, accessed February 2012; Adam Rodewald, “Sick Leave, Disciplinary Records Reveal Teachers’ Split Over Union Law Fight,”
(Oshkosh, Wisc.) Northwestern
, April 17, 2011; Stephen Stromberg, “Wisconsin’s Governor Is Not Hitler,”
PostPartisan
(blog),
Washington Post
, February 18, 2011,
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2011/02/wisconsins_governor_is_not_hit.html
, accessed January 2012.

15
David A. Keene, “A New Day for Wisconsin,”
The Hill
, February 28, 2011,
http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/david-keene/146555-a-new-day-for-wisconsin-
, accessed January 2012.

16
Bill O’Reilly, “Is Liberal America Going to Win Union Controversy?” video and transcript,
The O’Reilly Factor
,
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/transcript/bill-oreilly-liberal-america-going-win-union-controversy#ixzz1j5oFG63r
, accessed January 12, 2012.

17
“The Dick Morris Poll: American Voters Back Governors against Public Employee Unions,” PR Newswire, March 18, 2011, available at
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Dick+Morris+Poll%3A+American+Voters+Back+Governors+Against+Public…-a0251806124
, accessed January 2012.

18
The Savage Nation
, Talk Radio Network, February 18, 2011.

19
Andrew Breitbart, “I Repeat to the Trumka Obama Class War Cult: Go to Hell,”
BigGovernment.com
, April 16, 2011,
http://biggovernment.com/abreitbart/2011/04/16/repeat-to-the-trumkaobama-class-war-cult-go-to-hell/
, accessed January 2012.

20
Charles Krauthammer, “Union Owned and Operated,”
Chicago Tribune
, June 20, 2011,
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-06-20/news/ct-oped-0620-krauthammer-20110620-8_1_president-barack-obama-exports-union-address
, accessed January 2012.