LaborPains.org

It would appear that the Occupy movement is now being co-opted by labor unions. For unions, the freshness, energy, and publicity surrounding the movement is a rare opportunity to make news for reasons other than declining membership rolls.

Union leaders are wrapping themselves with the Occupy banner both rhetorically and literally. SEIU President Mary Kay Henry casts the Occupiers as natural allies reading from a script the unions wrote long ago.

“We have been talking about the increasing inequality in this country for a long time,” she said last October. “I think what’s wonderful about the Occupy movement is that they captured this with…’We are the 99 percent.’ I feel like what we are doing is echoing a very smart thing that the occupiers began with.”

Unions are more than echoing. As Townhall.com details, they’re organizing Occupy protests and voicing official support for demonstrators—using the movement as a springboard for their own efforts and agenda. In Chicago, Boston and Orange County (Calif.), area affiliates of the AFL-CIO organized protests for Occupiers and union members.

This is more than a casual relationship forged by fellow travelers. While labor leaders tout the Occupy movement’s economic themes, they quietly allow front groups to do the dirty work of collaborating with Occupiers on disruptive protests. As The Daily Caller reports, Occupy groups are connected to unions across the country by personnel and funding.

Last November, an SEIU front group, Good Jobs LA, joined with Occupy LA in demonstration against Bank of America. (Twenty protestors were arrested.) In Pittsburgh, the local Occupiers hooked up with another SEIU-linked group, One Pittsburgh, to protest against Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.).

The demonstration was billed as an anti-Wall Street event, but with SEIU’s influence it became a protest against Toomey’s “no” vote on advancing President Obama’s American Jobs Act legislation — a failed bill that would have benefited unions. (The Daily Caller, 3/8/12)

Meanwhile, one Seattle-based group, Working Washington, that mentions nothing about its ties to SEIU was co-founded by union executives and organizers and incorporated by an inside-the-beltway law firm tied to the union. In a logical next step, unions have now arranged to start training Occupiers in so-called “direct action” tactics.

Whatever sort of radical change Occupiers seek, most must never have imagined that they’d be facing assimilation into stale old union hierarchies.

Recently, authors Richard Kahlenberg and Moshe Marvit raised the idea of a “civil right to unionize” in a New York Times op-ed. For Kahlenberg and Marvit, it’s not enough that workers have the opportunity to organize if they think it is in their interests.

AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka agreed. “Everybody should have the right to come together to better their economic lot,” he told a reporter at The Daily Caller. “It is a civil right.”

Critics, however, took a different view. “It’s not that workers are being prevented from unionizing,” wrote Prof. Antony Davies of Duquesne University. “The problem, as unions see it, is that it is too difficult to force workers to unionize.”

Some of the disagreement surrounds uncertainty over why union membership has declined so steeply and consistently over the past decades. While the authors attribute the decline to “weak and anachronistic labor laws, they fail to mention that the pinnacle of union membership in America – over 27 percent of private sector employees in 1954 – was built up under the same rules in existence today.

The current drop off in membership is due to union abuse, using dues money for political purposes without regard to employee wishes, and the hijacking of employee rights in other areas.”

From this standpoint the right that matters most to union members is the “basic democratic right of a secret ballot vote” on whether to recertify current unions and to unionize in the first place. The Employee Rights Act, a piece of legislation sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC), includes that right as part of a broad set of proposed federal labor reforms.

Current law may not extend to the workplace the same level of ballot secrecy that citizens routinely enjoy in modern democracies, but it does already provide workers with strong protections against discrimination.

Kahlenberg and Marvit’s call to add a right to unionize to the Civil Rights Act raises interesting questions—not least of which is whether the Employee Rights Act’s measures afford a more substantive reform that workers are able to enjoy the benefits of unions that serve their interests.

It’s ironic that labor leaders are invoking the Civil Rights Act – a piece of legislation that helped enfranchise millions of Americans – when they don’t provide their members with the same liberty, and often try to force unionization through card check and intimidation.

What’s true in Nevada is all too true around the country – employees often can’t vote by secret ballot on basic issues such as whether to recertify their unions, or to unionize in the first place. They have almost no control over whether their dues money is funneled into political campaigns or the pockets of unions’ political allies. The SEIU, for instance, recently spent $86,000 on radio ads in Nevada and Florida to criticize Mitt Romney.

That’s why the Center for Union Facts (CUF) has launched a new Las Vegas ad campaign promoting the Employee Rights Act in print and on television. CUF’s full-page ad comparing the lack of representation in unions and in North Korea ran in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. And CUF’s “Repair Shop” and “Class Elections” commercials have been on the air.

The Vegas blitz continues CUF’s $10 million campaign in support of the ERA. CUF executive director was invited on “Face to Face with Jon Ralston” last week to discuss the campaign and the merits of the Employee Rights Act.

(Jump to 9:10 for interview)

Union leaders and their Democratic allies may oppose the bill, but momentum and the public mood is on the ERA’s side. The status quo is beginning to crumble even in our nation’s capital.

For too long, the labor reform debate has been bogged down in a big business versus big labor mindset. The ERA isn’t about attacking unions, but rather ensuring that they function the way their dues paying members want them to. More democracy in the workplace is an idea that protects workers, squares with America’s values and promises real economic benefits – in Nevada and across the country.

In New York, the head of the Elmira’s teachers’ union has admitted to plagiarism. The Star-Gazette reports that Ric Lombardini’s opinion piece “Teachers are held to unrealistic standards,” which was published in the Star-Gazette, was plagiarized nearly word for word. Students in the district found guilty of plagiarism could be suspended, but Lombardini will face no disciplinary action from the district since, according to the superintendent, the issue is a union matter. The irony of the headline shouldn’t go unnoticed, and it’s worth asking to what standards if any this sixth-grade teacher and union president will be held.

In another example of union leadership run amuck, last week the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) leadership endorsed Kathleen Falk as the Democratic challenger to Gov. Scott Walker (R). Should a recall election take place, the WEAC endorsed Falk on the condition that she promises to veto the budget reforms instituted by Gov. Scott Walker. Just hours after the endorsement was announced a petition on change.org was posted demanding that the union rescind its endorsement. Liberty News Network reported WEAC members were not pleased with the endorsement, because Falk has previously lost two statewide elections, finishing dead last in one and telling blatant lies about her opponent in the other. According to petition comments WEAC members also were upset that a candidate was endorsed so early and that they did not have a voice in the decision.

Members of the Hartford County Education Association (HCEA) in Maryland also have a good reason to be upset with their union leaders. According to The Baltimore Sun, County Executive David R. Craig offered a $1,250 bonus to each county employee after finding a surplus in the FY12 budget. Eight of the county’s employee unions quickly accepted the offer, but the HCEA rejected the offer because Craig did not run it by the union first, undermining the union’s collective bargaining rights according to the HCEA’s president. Craig said he is willing to negotiate the bonus with HCEA, but that if an agreement is not reached by March 1 the money will be returned to the general fund and the teachers’ union members will not receive their bonuses. In a union-free environment an employee would be happy to receive a bonus. The same is probably true in a unionized job as well, but at the end of the day it’s the union’s, not the employee’s or employer’s decision.

If you’re planning to attend Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend, you might have some unpleasant company. The local AFL-CIO has planned to ‘Occupy’ the conference and protest the greed of the wealthy 1%. The union has organized an official joint event between member and Occupy DC to protest the conservative activist.

There have also been reports that the AFL-CIO has booked rooms for Occupiers at the Marriott hotel, allowing them to bypass security measures at the door. This is extra nice of the union considering Occupiers recently lost their home in McPherson Square. The AFL-CIO has also helped Occupy DC by  storing their belongings at its headquarters in advance of the National Park Service’s enforcement actions.

With workshops like “Return of Big Labor: What Can We Learn from Wisconsin & Ohio,” and “Taking back Wall Street: The Tea Party vs. Occupy Wall Street,” it’s obvious why unions would want to disrupt the conference, but how just how far will they go?

On Sunday, the Center for Union Facts (CUF) aired a high-profile television ad in Washington, D.C. promoting the Employee Rights Act (ERA) during the Super Bowl. The ad airs as labor law reforms are being advanced from Minnesota to Indiana, where Governor Mitch Daniels enacted legislation that was fast-tracked to prevent disruptive union-organized protests and threats to “Occupy” the Super Bowl.

“An overwhelming number of employees in private sector unions have never had a say in whether or not to join the union they’re in,” said CUF Executive Director Rick Berman.

Under current law, employees are grandfathered into an archaic system where mandatory dues are automatically deducted from their paychecks, some of which are passed along to politicians the employee may not support. In fact, fewer than 10 percent of employees in private sector unions have actually voted to join their union.

Did You See It?! Group Airs Super Bowl Ad Promoting the Employee Rights Act

Center for Union Facts Amps Up $10 Million Nationwide Campaign

Washington, D.C. – Sunday, the Center for Union Facts (CUF) aired a high-profile television ad in Washington, D.C. promoting the Employee Rights Act (ERA) during the Super Bowl. The ad airs as labor law reforms are being advanced from Minnesota to Indiana, where Governor Mitch Daniels enacted legislation fast-tracked to prevent disruptive union-organized protests and threats to “Occupy” the Super Bowl.

The ad depicts a group of union members complaining about the dues coming out of their paychecks, and trying to figure out whom among them actually voted for the union. It turns out, the ad reveals, that none of the workers currently subjected to the union’s rules had actually voted for the union.

“An overwhelming number of employees in private sector unions have never had a say in whether or not to join the union they’re in,” said CUF Executive Director Rick Berman.

In addition to requiring secret ballot elections for unionization and recertification, the ERA guarantees paycheck protection. Current labor law allows unions to trap workers as cash cows, using their dues to fund the campaigns of elected officials who ensure the scheme remains legal. Meanwhile, less than 10 percent of employees in private sector unions have actually voted to join their union.

In addition to airing the ad, CUF is educating the public with the launch of www.EmployeeRightsAct.com and the release of the results of a poll conducted by ORC International on CUF’s behalf. The poll shows strong support in both union and non-union households for measures in the bill, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and U.S. Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC). Eighty-three percent of union households, for example, agreed that workers should have the right to an election every three years to determine if they still want union representation.

To see the polling data or speak with a CUF representative, you can reach Michael Moroney at 202-463-7106 or by email at Moroney@unionfacts.com. To view the ad, visit www.EmployeeRightsAct.com.

The Center for Union Facts is a non-profit organization supported by foundations, businesses, union members, and the general public. We are dedicated to showing Americans the facts about today’s union leadership.

# # #

Gov. Mitch Daniels signed right-to-work legislation into law yesterday, solidifying Indiana as the 23^rd right-to-work state. Once Democrats in the House ended their boycott and gave Republicans a quorum, it was smooth sailing. Despite the noisy protestors, the Senate passed the legislation Wednesday and Daniels signed it almost immediately. The Band-Aid approach was hoped to quiet the protestors before the Super Bowl on February 5. The tactic could be working, since an AFL-CIO spokesman confirmed that no large protests are planned for Sunday.

Much to the dismay of Big Labor, Indiana’s success has sparked hopeful chatter in several other states. The victory marked the first time a right-to-work law has passed in more than a decade and the first time in traditionally union heavy “rust-belt” states.

Michigan is a state many are watching for signs of right-to-work support, even though Gov. Rick Snyder has called it too divisive. Michigan State Sen. Colbeck showed his support for the legislation saying, “It’s good for Indiana and bad for [non-right-to-work neighbor] Michigan, but at least some of our working youths will have shorter drives now when they come back to visit Michigan for the holidays.” House Speaker Jase Bolger also supports a right-to-work debate declaring it isn’t something that should be feared or run from.