LaborPains.org

Just in time for campaign fundraising season, Democrats are lining up to support unions and fill their campaign coffers. As campaigns file their year-end reports with the Federal Election Commission, it becomes much more obvious who’s in bed with whom.

State Rep. Sal Pace’s (D) campaign for Congress finished 2011 with a surge of money, collecting $207,632 in the final three months of the year. Running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CA), $62,500 of Pace’s haul came from political action committees (PAC) representing labor unions.

Priorities USA PAC – a Super PAC supporting Obama – received a $1 million donation from the PAC arm of the Service Employees International Union and another $215,234 from its non-profit sister organization Priorities USA.

The same Super PAC is also spending vast sums to run ads in Nevada and Florida that accuse Republican Presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney of having “two faces” on immigration issues.

Earlier this week, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) received thunderous applause when he announced that he will continue to work to pass Employee Free Choice Act during the annual legislative-political conference of the Communications Workers of America. Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said he plans to introduce a comprehensive bill to that includes at least one element from EFCA in the coming weeks.

As the 2012 election season heats up, we expect to see a much closer relationship between Democrats and Big Labor. What for that last couple of years has been and dangerous dance, now looks like it’s intensifying into a torrid affair.

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.

War drums are beating all over the country as Big Labor gears up for the fight to stay relevant in the American political landscape. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka began expanding his political operation last summer with a super PAC for the purposes of funding multi-cycle, issue advocacy as well as get-out-the-vote efforts. The new super PAC, “Workers’ Voices”, has announced its small, yet respectable haul with $3.7 million raised, and $3 million cash on hand.

The battle may be coming to a head in California, where labor organizations are fighting tooth and nail to protect their source of revenue. If a new ballot initiative passes this November, unions would need to get written permission from their members each year to use dues for political purposes.

“This could change the balance of power long after the governor’s taxes are expired,” said Thad Kousser, a political-science professor at UC San Diego. “Defeating this has got to be the top goal of labor. If they don’t, they could become almost extinct in California politics.”

At this point, unions are desperately looking for a win. Today, as thousands of protesters packed hallways and shouted their disapproval, the Indiana Senate voted 28-22 to pass a right to work bill. The bill will now go to Gov. Mitch Daniels for his signature.

On a national level, there is legislation with a similar provision. The Employee Rights Act, sponsored by U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and U.S. Representative Tim Scott (R-SC) contains a measure that would give employees the right to require unions to get their approval before dues money is spent on behalf of political parties or political candidates.

It should be noted; exit polling from 2010 by shows that 42 percent of union households voted for Republican candidates, yet more than 93 percent of union political support went to Democratic candidates. There is a serious disconnect between Big Labor’s political agenda and the personal ideology of its members.

With the Indiana House passing right-to-work legislation, and the expected quick approval from the Senate and Gov. Mitch Daniels, Indiana might be the first, but possibly not the only state to trim back union influence this year. Other states including Minnesota and Rhode Island, to name a few, have joined the trend to scale back union influence in one way or another.

Minnesota’s 2012 legislative session began on Jan. 24, and interest in right-to-work legislation is already heating up. The Pioneer Press reports State Sen. Dave Thompson (R) plans to introduce legislation in the coming weeks, and the conservative think tank Center of the American Experiment released a report claiming if the state had prohibited closed union shops when the majority of other right-to-work states had, then on average Minnesota workers would have made from $2,260 to $3,072 more in 2008.

Providence Eye Witness News reports that Rhode Island State Sen. Nicholas Kettle (R) has plans to introduce a right-to-work bill for teachers. The current laws mandate public school teachers must pay union dues or agency fees as a condition of employment. “The National Education Association uses questionable tactics when dealing with our legislature… harming the reputation of many fine teachers and placing our children at the bottom of our priority list,” said Kettle.

While these bills may not find the same success as Indiana, they are sure to face the same critics – unions. In response to Kettle’s legislation in Rhode Island, NEA government relations director  Pat Crowley said, “The results are always the same: more profits for the 1%, more work for the 99%.” This is a bizarre response considering that giving teachers the option to opt out of union membership doesn’t create profits for anyone (though it would take money away from union leaders). If anything it could reduce the cost to the tax payer (the 99%).

While the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has always maintained the façade of being neutral, the emboldened new chair has decided to let his true colors show by publicly disclosing a very pro-union agenda. Despite heavy opposition from business groups and Republicans, Mark Peirce, NLRB chairman, will push for new rules that would make it easier to organize new members.

“I knew this was going to happen,” said Rep. Trey Gowdy, (R-SC) , a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. “The NLRB has lost all pretense of objectivity in my judgment.”

In what seems like a complete invasion of privacy, Pearce wants to implement new rules requiring businesses to hand over lists of employee phone numbers and emails to union leaders prior to an election. Pierce also hopes to speed up the process for holding a vote to unionize after signatures are collected.

“If they’re going to go forward on that basis, I think that removes any pretense at all that they are not in the back pocket of the union movement,” said Randel Johnson, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s vice president on labor issues.

Pearce says he wants the NLRB to become “a household word” for all workers, not just those affiliated with organized labor. If he continues down his path of hyper-partisan politics and power grabs, he might just get what he’s wishing for. However, most households probably won’t be talking about the agency in a positive light.

In order to avoid giving Indiana House Republicans the quorum necessary to vote on right-to-work legislation, most House Democrats have been skipping work since the start of the 2012 legislative session. Yesterday, tax payers finally got their money’s worth when the Democrats showed up to the State House to do their job.

After a flurry of passionate floor speeches, House Bill 1001 passed 54-44. The bill will now move to the Senate, where it should easily pass and move on to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ (R) desk. Daniels has already indicated his approval of the bill, so it could be signed into law before the Super Bowl in Indianapolis next weekend.

Once Daniels signs the bill, Indiana will become the nation’s 23^rd right-to-work state, and the first in the traditionally union-frieldly Rust Belt. The last state to pass right-to-work legislation was Oklahoma in 2001.

The win in Indiana should be very encouraging for other states like New Hampshire and Michigan as they weigh their options regarding right-to-work legislation. A right-to-work bill has already passed the NH State House for a second time and could end up on Gov. John Lynch’s (D) desk again soon. Last November Republicans were only 12 votes shy of overriding Lynch’s veto for a similar bill.

The right-to-work battle is heating up in Indiana, and labor unions look desperate. So desperate in fact, that union leaders are contemplating disrupting the Super Bowl, which will be played in the Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Associated Press reports that around 50 Indiana labor leaders met this week for the AFL-CIO’s “labor Table” to discuss a strategy. With all eyes on Indiana on February 5, Big Labor wants to cash in on the free publicity and use the opportunity to bash right to work efforts in the state. The Teamsters are considering blocking the streets around the NFL village with truckers willing to risk arrest for their cause, and other union members could flood the streets marching in protest.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said they don’t expect the game to be disrupted, likely because the unions representing stagehands, carpenters, electricians and painters have a no-strike agreement with the board that runs the Indianapolis Convention Center. But other unions key to the overall success of the super bowl, such as hotel employees do not fall under the no-strike agreement.

It is clear from the hostile attitude of one Teamster organizer saying, “You can tell them we’ll take the Super Bowl and shove it,” that the good of the community might not be Big Labor’s number one interest. With Republicans in the state House and Senate hoping to vote on right-to-work legislation in the upcoming weeks, the half-time show might not be the only controversy at this year’s Super Bowl.

Driven by opposition to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal passed last year that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for nearly all public sector workers, unions have been extremely active in the state’s campaign to force a recall election. In a recent statement, the AFL-CIO praised the Wisconsin union members for collecting over a million signatures throughout the last two months.

However, not all of the action will be in Wisconsin. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a bold plan to overhaul pensions for future city- and state-government workers. The New York chapter of the AFL-CIO is mobilizing its 2.5 million union members to oppose the plan.

“How they can be against adjusting future benefits just boggles my mind,” Cuomo told the New York Post. “It’s just unbelievable to me.”

The AFL-CIO is making waves on a national level as well. On Wednesday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka slammed the White House jobs council’s latest report. As one of the two union leaders on the council, Trumka said the body is too narrow to provide recommendations to President Obama that are balanced between the interests of business and labor.

For a group that just launched a new ad campaign touting how “work connects us all” the AFL-CIO sure doesn’t seem to work well with others.