LaborPains.org

In what is being described by CNN as a landslide by women, Blanche Lincoln managed to hold off labor-backed Bill Halter in the hotly (and nastily) contested Democratic primary race in Arkansas. The AFL-CIO called the loss a “tremendous victory” for working families, and SEIU stood by their man as well. If this is what a “tremendous victory” looks like and feels like, I hope that labor unions get “tremendous victories” more often. Reminds me of how they called losing to Scott Brown a “victory”. I see a pattern.

Labor groups poured about $10 million dollars into the primary run off after the May primary results. They spent the last few weeks hemorrhaging cash. The Hill ran through cash and boots by numbers yesterday:

“The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has spent more than $3 million on the race, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, while the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has spent more than $1.5 million. Labor groups are also putting activists in the field for what is expected to be a close election. The AFL-CIO has sent staff from its Washington office to help Halter supporters get to the polls, as has Working America, its community affiliate.

Working America’s 41 paid organizers in Arkansas have made 315,000 phone calls and knocked on 120,000 doors, canvassing voters in 27 cities and 17 counties in the state, according to spokeswoman Alison Omens. The group has also spent more than $1.3 million on ads…”

Politico’s Ben Smith got the most damning quote of ‘em all from the Lincoln-backing White House:

“Organized labor just flushed $10 million of their members’ money down the toilet on a pointless exercise,” the official said. “If even half that total had been well-targeted and applied in key House races across this country, that could have made a real difference in November.”

Sorry. No matter how many times these unions burn through their coffers, lose, and call it a “victory,” I don’t think that Lenin’s “A lie told often enough becomes the truth” applies. If I want to see some real victory, I think I’ll just watch the World Cup.

–The SEIU sees blood in Arizona, and a chance to cash in. They put together a hotline for anyone traveling to Arizona to call in and get travel advisories. The hotline, if set up by anyone not far left of center, would result in pejoratives being hurled at them by ….everyone.  But because the SEIU is in a category of scandal all its own, nothing has come of their activities….yet. Want to see how uncomfortable the hotline is? Call it at 1 (800) 958-5068 or just read the text here. Oh, I almost forgot to mention:  Call the hotline number from the cellphone of a coworker you hate.  The SEIU is using the hotline to collect phone numbers.

–Organized Labor has been particularly laborious and organized this primary season. Need a primer on today’s primaries? Check out the Daily Caller’s here. Pay attention to Arkansas.

–The SEIU has abandoned the “legalize pot” campaign [I-1068] in Washington State, and the head of the campaign had some terrible colorful things to say about the SEIU:

“F*** them all,” he said of the three groups his campaign is now directly or partially blaming. “I don’t know what happened or why they (SEIU) walked away,” he added. “But in the end… they’re afraid to support us because they’re either politically afraid or because they’re mommies will find out they smoke weed. A bunch of chickensh** rich people.”

–The SEIU workers who have been picketing the Red Cross have ended their 5-day work stoppage. Yay for sick people.

–Ohio’s home care and child care workers were effectively unionized by gubernatorial order. Now some workers aren’t so happy that dues are coming out of their pay checks:

“…some workers are not happy about joining a union, and other critics say Strickland is helping the Service Employees International Union and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees collect millions of dollars in dues and fees that can be used to support the governor’s re-election bid and other Democratic Party campaigns.

Patricia Griggs, a nurse from Loveland in Hamilton County, said she doesn’t want union representation, nor does she want money withheld from her paycheck for union fees to be used to support candidates or causes she might oppose. “I’m self-employed. Why do I want to be (in) a union?” Griggs asked. “The state will begin to take (union fees) out of our checks without us signing anything. … It’s stealing.” [...]

Griggs said she will pay $12 a week. Even though she hasn’t joined the SEIU, Griggs is covered by the union contract and must pay an assessment to the union.

Doubt the power of the National Labor Relations Board to create an environment for business that feels a lot like EFCA? Here’s a rude reminder.

Peter Kirsanow, a “labor attorney at Cleveland’s Benesch Friedlander Coplan &  Aronoff law firm and former pro-business member of the powerful five-member National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C” had a lot to say in a Crain’s Cleveland Business this morning:

Mr. Kirsanow isn’t even focused on EFCA these days — because he says the threats of EFCA-like changes in the relationship between business and labor now will come from the NLRB, which has rule-making authority over much of the unionization process. Card check is probably dead, he said, but that doesn’t mean the NLRB couldn’t tilt the playing field in favor of unions, possibly by speeding up the certification and election processes, Mr. Kirsanow said.

The U.S. Senate must confirm NLRB appointments, but after that they enjoy tremendous autonomy, Mr. Kirsanow said, so their rulemaking authority is a potent force. “For example, now it’s around 37 days (between when workers notify a company they intend to vote on a union and when an election is actually held). They could make it 21 days or even 14 days or less,” Mr. Kirsanow said. “That would effectively deprive employers, especially smaller ones, of the ability to communicate with their employees in advance of the election.”

Tomorrow, a number of unions will find out if their blood, sweat, tears, and cash–lots of it– paid off in Arkansas when Blanche Lincoln faces off to labor backed Bill Halter. According to the New York Times, labor in Arkansas has “knocked on 170,000 doors, made 700,000 phone calls, sent 2.7 million pieces of mail and spent almost $6 million on television and radio advertising.”

If you are still not convinced of how serious they are, here’s a round up of quotes from some major unions:

Communication Workers of America in the New York Times:

“We’re sending a message here,” said Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America. “Our members have had it — not just in Arkansas, they have had it across this country.”

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees president Gerald McEntee in the Wall Street Journal:

“We go out and work like hell” to elect Democrats in 2008, “and yet we’re getting screwed,” said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Mr. McEntee said he was especially unhappy to see Mr. Clinton, who benefited from labor support in the past, attacking unions in the Lincoln ad. “To see him in full form in Arkansas bleeding us out, we felt was a disgrace,” Mr. McEntee said.

A state level A.F.L.-C.I.O worker says that the level of mobilization is extreme:

“This is pretty new for Arkansas,” said Justin Nickels, the communications director for the state A.F.L.-C.I.O. “It’s sort of like we’ve been thrown into the N.F.L.”

And the SEIU, who’s pumped millions into a state where they have a mere 1,000 members, is running ads that will make any voter who pays attention to the news…..blanch.

Layoffs are an unfortunate fact of life in times of economic strife. The public sector is no exception; with budget shortfalls hitting school districts around the country, some administrators are faced with the difficult task of deciding who to let go. The process is rendered vaguely absurd by the fact that seniority, and not competence, is the most important factor in determining who will stay and who will go in many school districts.

Cleveland’s superintendent is running headfirst into the seniority wall. Faced with a failing district but provided a glimmer of hope by superior charter schools, Eugene Sanders is having a hard time getting his way:

Sanders can’t captain reform unless he vanquishes onerous rules on seniority and other contract provisions that keep the district from dumping ineffective teachers.

Faced with a $50 million deficit, Sanders’ negotiating tactic has been a blunt club of threats that, if wielded, would ruin chances of reform: If teachers don’t accept pay cuts, he vows to lay off 546 classroom teachers, many of them new teachers in the district’s promising specialty schools, who lack seniority.

Those specialty schools are indeed promising, as a series in the Plain Dealer showed last week. Here’s their take on two of the schools and their success:

South and East, which will close next week, are large, traditional and failing. Ginn Academy and two schools at the John Hay Campus are small niche programs that have had success.

The Cleveland School of Science and Medicine and Cleveland School of Architecture and Design, both at John Hay, and all-male Ginn will present diplomas this weekend to a combined 171 seniors. The count would have been higher, but two seniors failed to pass all five sections of the state graduation test. …

Impending district layoffs, poised to take a high toll among the three schools’ hand-selected teachers, fuel the scorn. News accounts of the heavy hits cause surviving colleagues in other buildings to feel less valued.

Urban systems face a dilemma: Large high schools are ineffective, but smaller models can be expensive and need union consent for the flexibility that proponents say is essential.

Without changes to the seniority system, a successful school will be gutted and a failing one propped up. How is this fair to our children or their futures?

Photo courtesy of msmail

The notion of using seniority as the basis for determining layoffs for educators is an odd one.  Teachers vary dramatically in quality — some older teachers benefit from years of experience; some younger teachers benefit from the latest in educational knowledge –and those differences have huge impacts on the lives of students. Why does it make one iota of sense to simply adhere to a “last hired, first fired” mindset when it comes to our children’s education?

The media is finally waking up to the antiquated notion of seniority based layoffs. The latest outlet to highlight the practice is National Public Radio:

School districts around the country are planning massive layoffs as they struggle to bridge big budget deficits.

And as they select which teachers go and which ones stay, many can only use one factor as their guide: seniority. Many districts will have to cast out effective teachers, because local contracts and even state laws require it. …

“This is my first year in the district, and because of layoffs my last,” says Christa Krohn, one of those perky, vivacious teachers every parent wants for their child.

She’s actually been teaching math for eight years total, but her service in other districts does not count here. The RIF, or reduction in force, is all the more painful, because she and other promising teachers were specially recruited to work in an innovative science-focused school, Cleveland’s best hope to improve student performance.

Photo courtesy JamesJYu

What is it with the American Red Cross?  Last December, the Teamsters were picketing facilities of the American Red Cross in Philadelphia. This time around, shift one state over–to West Virginia–and now its the SEIU employees striking.

The Red Cross won a court injunction to get them back to work in December. No word yet on whether that will happen this time around, but reports say the strike will end today. From WOWK:

American Red Cross employees around the region say they are picketing due to months of poor management, thus raising concerns of blood and donor safety. From Parkersburg to Huntington, members of the Service Employees International Union District 1199 began striking at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

In a statement released by the SEIU, members say they have finally had enough. “Cutting jobs, slashing wages and benefits of employees and cutting corners are affecting the safety of our blood supply.”

The only person I see affecting the the “safety of our blood supply” is the SEIU, and oh wait, the other unions that are involved:

Stiltner said the strikes are part of a national coalition with work stoppages in five other states. She said there have been stoppages in California, Connecticut, Michigan, Georgia and Buffalo, N. Y. “Our coalition includes the AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), the CWA and Teamsters,” she said. ” This affects 15 workers locally, 32 in Huntington and thousands across the country.”

Their mothers would be so proud. They’ve shut down mobile units in three states for this particular strike:

Because of the strike, the American Red Cross has to close its doors and halt its mobile units in 34 counties:

West Virginia: Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo, Putnam, Roane, Wayne, Wirt and Wood

Kentucky: Boyd, Bracken, Carter, Floyd, Greeup, Johnson, Lawrence, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, Mason, Pike and Rowan

Ohio: Gallia, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Pike, Scioto and Washington

Image courtesy of a visual invasion.

Here’s the first thing you need to know about Senator Casey’s event on March 22, 2010, introducing the Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act of 2010, is who was in attendance at the announcement:

“Senator Casey was joined at the event in Carlisle by representatives from YRC Transportation, ABF Freight Systems and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.”

Folks these days know that if you put the phrase “Create Jobs” at the beginning of a piece of legislation, its easier to yell at your opponents about how they opposed a “jobs bill.” There are about one hundred cliches, mores, and epithets that would work  right about now, but I think sticking with the old favorite “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover.”

Borrowing from the Wall Street Journal, the bill would better be entitled “The Union Pension Bailout.” Because that’s what it is. During the health care legislation reform debacle, part of the bill was section 164 that bailed out failing pension funds to the tune of $10 billion USD.  It passed in the final version of the bill relatively unnoticed, giving Jimmy Hoffa a taste of sweet, sweet success.

Ten billion dollars is a drop in the bucket compared to how much money this legislation would cost. From the Wall Street Journal:

“Mr. Casey is claiming his multi-employer-bailout scheme will cost a mere $8 billion, but Moody’s estimated last year that multi-employer plans were $165 billion underfunded.”

“The tab is likely to be much higher given the moral hazard Mr. Casey would create. As Hudson Institute economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth notes, the bill creates “a vicious circle. Once PGBC took over some plans, other employers would want to declare bankruptcy, unload plans on the PGBC, and reorganize under another name. The incentives to do this would be enormous.” [...]

Union chiefs prefer the power that comes with managing huge pension investments—even if they’re failing. They are now counting on Mr. Casey to preserve their power by making taxpayers pick up the tab for years of pension mismanagement. With the union priority of “card check” stalled, word is that the Casey bailout is Big Labor’s consolation prize. Taxpayers should let Congress know they don’t want to pay.”

If Hoffa wins this one, perhaps it will be enough to fend off the attacks from within his own ranks. Vice President Fred Gegare is vying for the number one spot, according to reports, in the upcoming election in 2011. Interestingly enough, the reason Fred Gegare cites for breaking ranks with Hoffa is all about pension funds:

Gegare especially points to the decision to let UPS out of the Central States Pension Fund, saying that move has led to employers “lined up” to get out of the pension fund, with Central States losing two-thirds of its participants. Gegare is the union chair of the Central States Pension Fund. He also alleges that the union is experience financial difficulties because of some Hoffa decisions. “I cannot understand some of your decisions in the last four years regarding some of your expenditure that you were questioned about,” he writes.