LaborPains.org

Union violence is far from a new story, but sadly, it’s a recurring one.

Police in Philadelphia say that the vandalism and arson — notably $500,000 in damage done to the site where a Quaker meetinghouse is being constructed by a nonunion company — is “absolutely” related to a union dispute. Michael Resnick, the public safety director in Philadelphia, said that the union members “have a First Amendment right to stand out with their signs and say what they want to say, but they do not have a right to destroy property or hurt people.”

Union members, of course, are feigning surprise that they are being implicated in the investigation of the December 21, 2012 incident. One leader told the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“Getting asked these type of questions is like being asked, ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ ” said Pat Gillespie, business manager for the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council.

The “union thug” is a reputation that labor has long tried to shed: The “Hug-a-Thug” events this summer wanted to portray a kinder, gentler labor union member. And certainly, the vast majority of union members are average citizens, individuals who can think and act (and donate to political causes) without a union boss telling them what to do.

But the reputation is also one that labor has capitalized on, because it makes their threats all the more credible. Karen Lewis of the Chicago Teachers Union even recalled labor’s heyday, memorializing that “The labor leaders of that time, though, were ready to kill. They were. They were just–off with their heads. They were seriously talking about that.” But it isn’t something she disavows — she followed that up with a quick “I don’t think we’re at that point.” Hopefully she’ll give us a “heads up” when she’s there.

Dennis Duffey, a labor boss in Toledo, Ohio, declared just last week that the City Council President should be “removed, tarred and feathered, or de-nutted” according to reports from the Toledo Blade. There are no reports of an apology from Duffey, but there are plenty of references to Duffey’s image: In 2005, the Blade referred to Duffey as a “union strongman” and a local Democratic Party leader characterized Duffey’s tactics as “twisting arms” in 2011.

The title of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s piece standing alone is also instructive: “Meetinghouse vandalism brings look at tactics in labor disputes.” [emphasis added]. Violence and threats are just items in labor’s toolbox. And thanks to lax federal and state laws, criminal activity by labor unions is too often ignored.

The Employee Rights Act would criminalize union threats of violence — threats that today often evade prosecution.

It also bears mentioning that this report is coming from the Philadelphia Inquirer– a paper that is ensuring it’s own labor strife. It’s sister paper, the Daily News, reports that the two publications, along with the website Philly.com, are facing liquidation on Friday if their unions don’t come to a new agreement with their parent company.

In an attempt to soften their image, labor unions are running a “Hug-a-Union-Thug” event in Charlotte, NC as the Democratic National Convention goes on. Union bosses think they’re being terribly clever:

This year, rather than sponsoring convention events, the North Carolina State AFL-CIO said it would have a “Hug-a-Union-Thug” booth at a concert affiliated with the convention. The organization says in a statement it hopes union members offering free hugs will help erase stereotypes.

Needless to say, unions have a long way to go before that “stereotype” is eliminated in the public’s mind. One doesn’t even need to look back to the racketeering or Mob ties of the past to get that impression. Here are the greatest hits of union thuggery since Labor Day 2011:

1. The employees and families of a non-union construction site in Philadelphia had to deal with stalking, nail “bombs” that punctured tires, and assaults. Union thugs have been caught on camera while they poured oil near the loading dock and got into an altercation with a security guard.
2. South Carolina’s AFL-CIO President Donna DeWitt was videotaped taking a baseball bat to a piñata with Gov. Nikki Haley’s face on it. (We hope Ms. DeWitt will be able to make the short trip to Charlotte so that huggers get a more authentic experience.)
3. David Ferrara, a high school teacher in Neshaminy, PA, wrote an open letter to other members of the teachers union explaining that he was concerned that union members were being told to “confront or shun” anyone who would not toe the union line. A day later, his car tires were slashed in the high school parking lot.
4. In Washington state, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) attacked the port of Longview and took security guards hostage while they dumped grain and pushed a security vehicle into a ditch. Other members of the ILWU decided to strike in solidarity with their brothers. When reporters went to ask them about it—let’s just say it didn’t go so well.
5. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka already told us his own membership was racist, but an actual example of racism might help explain it. AFL-CIO members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers’ International Union who were locked out of American Crystal Sugar in North Dakota have hurled racist slurs at the replacement workers, many of whom are black. A “monkey-like figure hanging from a noose” was also a featured symbol of the union’s picket lines.

A recently released report on several state laws that protect violent labor union organizers from prosecution is incredibly telling. Egregious conduct, ranging from making a “credible threat to cause serious bodily injury” to engaging in stalking that causes a person to “fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third person; or suffer other emotional distress”, is OK if it’s done in the course of labor activity.

As the United States Chamber of Commerce report explains, there’s bad legal precedent for protecting employees and employers from violent union organizing activities:

State carve outs from the criminal code are likely an outgrowth of a United States Supreme Court decision from 1973 [United States v. Enmons, 410 U.S. 396], in which the court ruled that violence in pursuit of union demands cannot be prosecuted under federal law. In the Enmons case, workers on strike at Gulf States Utilities Company were charged with “firing high powered rifles at three Company transformers, draining the oil from a Company transformer, and blowing up a transformer substation owned by the Company.”

The case was decided based on statutory interpretation of the Hobbs Act. The Supreme Court’s syllabus statement for the case is telling:

The Hobbs Act, which makes it a federal crime to obstruct interstate commerce by robbery or extortion, does not reach the use of violence (which is readily punishable under state law) to achieve legitimate union objectives, such as higher wages in return for genuine services that the employer seeks. (emphasis added)

It turns out that these actions may not actually be criminally punishable.

Legal commentators on both sides of the aisle have complained that many criminal laws that exist at the federal level could be more effectively handled by the states. But here is one instance where the states have fallen short by making exceptions for conduct that is wrongful, but for the favored actor.

It’s because of these shortcomings in federal legislation that the Employee Rights Act (ERA) prohibits union violence in organizing activity. The ERA would preempt these outrageous state law exemptions and protect employees from violence and threats.

We’re supposed to have equality under the law in America, and giving union organizers a free pass on criminal activity flies in the face of this basic right.

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?

A news report tells the story of a union member who was roughed-up by Teamsters while protesting then-president Clinton. Adding further insult to injury, some Teamsters filed suit against the plaintiff and were apparently helped—and even encouraged—by Governor Rendell: 

A union staffer’s 2002 court declaration asserted that current governor and former Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell (D) encouraged Teamsters to pursue assault charges against a nonviolent protester, The Bulletin has learned.

Testimony Mr. Rendell offered earlier that year differed markedly from the account. The differing versions emerge from the saga of assault victim Don Adams’s arduous legal battles.

After the Teamsters agreed in March to settle his almost decade-long civil action, Mr. Adams found the justice he received welcome, if incomplete. 

John Powell has the story from Alabama:

“…the employees attempted to return to their jobs Tuesday morning. Wise officials said Steelworkers union employees were being intimidated at the employee entrance to the plant by employees who are still on strike.”

“Wise officials also reported, however, that a former employee, who was demonstrating in the picket line, dived onto the hood of a vehicle that was entering the plant.” 

Some striking nurses (that is, nurses on strike) in West Virginia are alleging that a union rep there had his car torched. There’s no evidence that it was related to events at hand, but that hasn’t stopped a breathless, righteous statement from the union. And we agree: it’s not OK to use violence or intimidation to win a labor dispute.

But it’s awfully funny to be hearing this from the union leaders’ side.

Remember that SEIU-backed group called ACORN, which supposedly wasn’t really tied to voter fraud (even though troubling incidents have popped up in more than a dozen states)? You can add another state to your play-at-home Rotten Acorn map. Here’s the latest out of Washington State:

Prosecutors in King County are looking at possible criminal charges related to a voter-registration drive in 2006, echoing the controversy that erupted after voting irregularities in the razor-close gubernatorial election of 2004.

Acting prosecutor Dan Satterberg is reviewing 1,829 voter-registration forms turned in last year by people working for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a national activist group.

This is a huge embarrassment to the union bosses who fund the group, which is why so many are doing their darndest to say “this is not the fraud you’re looking for.” C’mon, get real.