Trump should end government unions

Trump should end government unions: The unionization of the government workforce has led to inefficiencies, divided loyalties, and complicated management processes. Most succinctly, unionization moved “We The People” into third place behind the unions and their government overlords.

Teamsters REFUSE To Endorse Kamala Harris!

Teamsters overwhelmingly support Trump, but the union withholds its endorsement

Teamsters overwhelmingly support Trump, but the union withholds its endorsement: Faced with Teamster members who refuse to get with the program and support Kamala Harris, the union leadership has decided to refrain from endorsing anyone.

Libertarians to Democrats: Call off the thugs

America's third largest party has called on Barack Obama and the Democratic Party to end what appears to be "a budding campaign of union violence targeted at citizens who differ with the White House" over Obamacare.

The Libertarian Party opposes not only the White House's plans for government-run medicine, but the use of violence to achieve political or social goals, says Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director.

From a press release issued by the Libertarian Party condemning the Gestapo-tactics orchestrated by the White House to silence critics of Obamacare:

"The Libertarian Party is founded on one principle. We do not support the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals," said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. "Democrats seem to think differently. When the Obama administration ordered Democrats to 'punch back twice as hard' against citizens who question them, Democrats responded. This Chicago-trained White House has brought Chicago-style union violence to small towns across America."

A Tampa Bay Tribune story and a video posted to the Drudge Report both report physical assaults on dissenting citizens by union organizers brought to meetings by Democrats. In Tampa, union organizers blocked citizens who differed with the White House from entering a public town hall with Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL,) and allegedly scuffled with some of them. A video posted to YouTube appears to show union organizers physically attacking citizens who disagreed with the White House.

"The White House told Democrat leaders Thursday (Aug. 6) to 'punch back twice as hard' when citizens express disapproval. That kind of irresponsible rhetoric is never proper when discussing popular dissent. The also made it clear they will bend Senate rules and force through government-run health care whether or not America supports it. That is a frightening departure from the traditional American practice of governing though popular will," said Ferguson.

"If bringing in union thugs is an attempt by Democrats to scare citizens into not questioning them, it won't work. Union violence may be how communities are organized in Chicago, but the American people won’t stand for people who think violence is the proper response to the fact they no longer have majority support."

"Americans still believe in the consent of the governed. Libertarians urge Democrats to listen to the American people, call off their union enforcers and drop their wildly unpopular scheme of government-run medicine," said Ferguson.

For more information on this issue, visit Libertarian Party Web site at http://www.LP.org

Originally posted at TONY PHYRILLAS

Rendell vs. State Workers

With the state facing a projected $2.3 billion budget deficit in its General Fund budget, Gov. Ed Rendell is looking to save money by putting the squeeze on state workers.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News reports Rendell is giving the unions representing state workers until the end of March to come up with concessions or face furloughs or layoffs.

From a story by reporter Charles Thompson:

"We've agreed to give the unions a couple of more weeks to look at the options and get back to us," Rendell said during a Capitol press conference. "But by the end of March, if we don't have an agreement ... I'm going to have to act."

Rendell said again that he is leaning toward a system of "rolling furloughs," in which certain, nonessential aspects of state government would close for a day at a time, causing cuts in hours for thousands of state workers.

"If there's a way that I can do this and minimize the number of layoffs, I will take that way," Rendell said. "I think it's better for everyone to lose X percentage of their wages than for 2,000 people to be thrown onto unemployment."

Union leaders have vowed not to take wage concessions back to their rank-and-file, making the case that they have accepted wage freezes and sacrificed in other ways during past contract negotiations with Rendell.

Read the full story, "Rendell gives unions ultimatum," at the newspaper's Web site.

Originally posted at TONY PHYRILLAS

Obama moves to kill more U.S. jobs

Let's figure out a way to kill the construction industry during one of the worst economic slowdowns in U.S. history.

In another move designed to pander to the labor unions that got him elected, President Obama signed an executive order forcing projects that receive federal funding to use union-only labor.

That puts people out of work. That prevents construction from going up. That prolongs the recession.

"Today's decision to repeal Executive Order 13202 opens the door to waste and discrimination in federal and federally funded construction contracts," said Associated Builders and Contractors President and CEO Kirk Pickerel. "This action removes the safeguards that prohibited discrimination based upon union affiliation in the awarding of federal contracts.

ABC Denounces Executive Order That Discriminates Against 84 Percent of the Construction Workforce

Originally posted at TONY PHYRILLAS

Guest column: Dems want to strip away workers' rights

By Pat Toomey

The nation's most powerful labor unions have been lobbying heavily for a law, misleadingly named the Employee Free Choice Act, that would take away workers' basic rights to a secret-ballot vote on union representation. It would allow unions to organize through a poorly regulated "card-check" process instead.

Many politicians have been falsely characterizing the card-check law as an essential part of an economic-recovery program. In reality, it would deepen the recession.

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is the only Republican who has joined the Democratic senators voting to advance the legislation. That isn't the kind of leadership a state with a broad industrial base needs.

By stripping workers of their rights, the act would undermine businesses and workers, causing further declines in American employment and productivity in an economy that desperately needs both.

Labor unions can play a constructive role as bargaining agents for workers, provided they are accountable to their members through a democratic process. But compulsory membership, monopoly privileges, and unchecked power can harm the workers whom unions are supposed to help.

The Big Three car companies are a case in point. Unfortunately, if card check becomes law, some of the factors behind the collapse of Detroit's automakers may help ruin the employers in your town, too.

The Employee Free Choice Act actually would take away employees' choices by essentially forcing them to unionize. Despite the claims of this legislation's advocates, it is a relatively simple matter to form a union under current law. If there is authentic employee support for unionizing, then organizers need only win a majority of votes in a private balloting process.

The legislation at issue would replace the freedoms protected by fair elections with the intimidating, divisive card-check policy. Workers could be directed to sign authorization forms in public — in front of coworkers and union officials. The opportunities for intimidation and coercion are obvious.

As Americans, we know that the right to a secret ballot is a cornerstone of a democratic society. Any proposal to deny voters a secret ballot in presidential, congressional or local elections would be considered ludicrous. So why should workers voting on their fates in the workplace be denied the same fundamental right?

Once this card-check procedure puts a union in place, mandatory dues would be deducted from workers' paychecks. Surely, middle-class families can't afford to lose more of their hard-earned income against their will.

The law also would invite more of the kind of government overreaching we have seen in Detroit. For instance, it calls for government arbitrators to resolve contracts without votes by workers.

That's one of several ways in which our communities would be increasingly manipulated by outsiders under this legislation. Forget about small local unions with deep ties to local workers and businesses. With the lack of accountability that card check would bring about, directives would come top-down from national and international labor unions. Local unions could be subsumed by their national headquarters, which may be ignorant of local economic conditions, regional growth, or job creation.

That's one of the basic problems with the Employee Free Choice Act: It treats all businesses and all communities the same, regardless of the nature of local economies or the needs of local workers.

The card-check legislation takes what the private sector does best — job creation — and puts it in the hands of people who have never created a single job. Jobs aren't created by government arbitrators or union bosses; they're created by the small businesses and local entrepreneurs who would be hit hardest by this law.

Even though most Americans — and even a majority of union members — think fair workplace elections conducted by secret ballot are preferable to card check, Congress doesn't seem to be listening. And given the economic crisis, this is precisely the wrong time to be sacrificing the interests of American businesses and workers.

The government will likely step in to save the auto industry because of the prevailing belief that it's too big to fail. But if the auto industry can be brought to the brink by big labor, what about America's small businesses? By definition, they are small enough to fail, leading to lost jobs and investment.

That's why stopping the Employee Free Choice Act is an important part of any economic-recovery plan. Let's hope Congress realizes that before it's too late.

Pat Toomey, a former Republican congressman from the Lehigh Valley, is president of the Club for Growth, a conservative public policy group.