LaborPains.org

Remember that little ol’ agency for the Department of Labor that union-funded politicians worked to downsize through a budget slashing? Well, enforcement data from the Office of Labor-Management Standards is a good reminder that union officials need oversight. Here’s the latest:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) today announced its criminal enforcement data for October 2007. OLMS obtained 16 indictments and five convictions during the first month of fiscal year 2008, and court-ordered restitution in October amounted to $63,499. These indictments and convictions primarily involve union officers and employees who have embezzled union funds.

Read the details. It won’t make you happy.

CBS News staff, the people who have helped Katie Couric to her staggering “success,” have authorized a strike … In other news, you in the eventuality of an actual strike you may enjoy this.

The Wall Street Journal‘s Kris Maher has an interesting read this morning in his story titled “Iowa’s House of Labor Is Split.” It’s worth a read, though you’ll likely need a subscription. In addition to some good details on which unions support which candidates in Iowa, there is this reminder:

Indeed, many members will follow their own instincts, ignoring the candidate backed by their union leadership. “I’ve had some of my own members say, ‘I’m not going to caucus for Hillary,’” says Mark Fallis, vice president of the National Association of Letter Carriers in Iowa. 

The New York Times‘ Steve Greenhouse took a look at the rash of recent labor strikes to read the tea leaves on the union movement’s relative power. It’s worth a read, but there is no hard and fast conclusion. But there is yet another reminder of how important political power is to union leaders who don’t want to do the heavy lifting of actually offering a better service to attract new members. Greenhouse quotes Richard Hurd:

“Unions have a tremendous amount of influence in the Democratic Party,” Mr. Hurd said. “Labor knows that the Democrats have a pretty good chance of winning the White House, but whether they can win a big enough majority in Congress to enact pro-labor legislation over a filibuster, that may be tough. A lot of unions are placing their future hopes on that.” 

Yesterday a representative for Smithfield published an article in the Charlotte Observer further explaining the company’s racketeering lawsuit against officials of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. Thought you should see it:

The truth is that Smithfield has agreed — repeatedly — to hold a secret-ballot election at Tar Heel. We have agreed to let the employees vote on whether they want the union. But the union has refused — repeatedly — to agree to an election.

Instead, the UFCW is running a “corporate campaign.” The campaign is designed to force Smithfield to recognize the union without an employee vote. The union is saying to Smithfield: We will hurt your business — we will even put you out of business — unless you give in.

If this campaign succeeds, the people hurt most will be the employees at Smithfield. If the UFCW puts Smithfield out of business, it will put the employees out of their jobs. That is morally wrong. And we believe it is illegal. In fact, we believe it is extortion. So we have filed suit against the union under the federal RICO law.

Of course, the union has also attacked a celebrity spokesperson for the company. Here is her response on Larry King Live:

You don’t hear about many business-minded folks operating out of Berkeley, California, but there are indeed some. One couple that makes lighting fixtures there, though, has been blinded by a thuggish union organizing drive by the honest-to-badness Socialists from the IWW (aka the Wobblies).

Here are the details of the ongoing picket, according to an opinion piece in the Daily Planet:

And the accusations from the picketers? Union busting, lockouts, ageism, toxic waste exposure, unsafe working conditions, unfair wages… you will see that these were all fabricated to support a plot which brings new meaning to the words “hostile takeover.” So, union busting. What would you do if several of your workers walked into a staff meeting one morning with a representative from the Industrial Workers of the World and announced that your store was now under their aegis? No discussion, no election, no communication with the National Labor Relations Board, no card check, no indication that the other employees wanted to join? What if they demanded a 100 percent wage increase? How about if they demanded that employment be unconditional—no performance requirements whatsoever? Amazingly, each of these things really happened.

That’s bad enough, but the author offers an important reminder that the very purpose of the IWW is to “organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, (and) abolish the wage system…”

Like many modern organizing campaigns, the Planet article’s author realizes: “Yes, the true intention of the pickets is not to improve their working situation; it is to take over Metro Lighting, or to drive them out of business trying.”

Ouch. Another company isn’t taking SEIU’s anti-corporate campaign lying down. As federal regulators clear the purchase of his health care chain by private equity firm Carlyle, a Manor Care spokesman said :

“We understand SEIU’s motives: they want to unionize our employees and they will do whatever they can to create the pressure needed to gain access to them”

Well, they’re cutting to the chase. Gotta like that.

A strike by 800 workers of La Scala opera house has forced the cancellation of a second performance of Verdi’s “Requiem” conducted by principal visiting conductor Daniel Barenboim, officials said Thursday.

In any strike, it’s always the culture that takes it on the chin. Our question: Who will chirp up for the concert-goers?

UPDATE: The Onion has the man-on-the-street interviews on the stagehand strike. Key thought:

“That’s a pretty weird tactic. Why not just drop a beam on an actor while he’s performing? Someone should have thought a little harder about this.”