SEIU's Andy Stern and Cronies Just Can't Admit They Were W-W-W-WRONG

In These Times, a rather um...shall we say..."progressive" rag has run an article about the Change to Win federation's lack of "win" entitled Has the Change Led to Wins?

Well, here's our take on the article and what it didn't point out...

Despite the all of the hoopla surrounding the break-up of the AFL-CIO in 2005, Andy Stern's Change to Win Federation doesn't have a lot of new members to prove that John Sweeney's political-spending strategy was wrong.

Remember, the whole power play in breaking up the AFL-CIO was the alleged frustration that Stern had with Sweeney over how best to utilize the federation's money--Sweeney likes spending money on politicians, while Stern felt the money would be better spent on organizing.

Well, as of November '06, it looks like Sweeney's strategy has won the day. The old labor boss has gotten himself a liberal and labor-friendly Congress. And, today, all nine of the Democrat candidates are so busy trying to out do each other on getting union endorsements that they've completely left any semblance of moderation behind.

Even so, Stern and his buddies don't want to admit they made a mistake. Although Joe Hansen, the Big Kahuna over at the UFCW came pretty close to it when he said:

“I can’t argue with the numbers. If I didn’t think we’d significantly changed UFCW, I’d say that we’d made a mistake. But we have [changed], and a lot of that is due to Change to Win. We haven’t had immediate success and I can’t say how fast that will come.” [Emphasis added.]

Wow! That's pretty damn revealing if you ask us! And this guy controls 1.3 million workers' lives?!?

Nevertheless, Old Joe still "hopes" he'll add two million more workers dues to his union's coffers in the next 10 years.

[As a friend once said: If hopes and dreams were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas.]

Despite Joe's wishy-washiness, break-up artist Andy Stern still has high hopes. At Change to Whine's convention in September, Stern apparently stated:

"We’re at the beginning of another historic moment. We have changed our unions. If we pass the Employee Free Choice Act, these unions will grow by 1.5 million members a year, not just for five years but for 10 to 15 straight years.”

Okay. Let's see if we get this straight, Andy. You and your co-horts broke away from the AFL-CIO because your old boss Sweeney was spending too much money on politics. You allegedly have changed your unions, but the C2W unions really aren't adding any more members. Now, however, you're saying that you'll be able to add more members when the Orwellian Employee Free Choice Act passes?!??

But, doesn't EFCA need politicians to pass it? And, to elect those politicians doesn't that mean you'd have to spend money on...politics? [Gasp!]

Why, Andy....That would mean that the Old Geezer Sweeney was...r-r-right. And, more importantly, Andy, that would mean that you were w-w-w-wrong. Oh my!

Why, Andy, we think you owe John Sweeney an apology.

You see, you really didn't split from Sweeney....You spit on him.

Isn't it time to admit you were wrong? Or, is your ego just too big?

Why companies move away and jobs disappear...

"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes."

When founding EmployerReport.com, we chose the above quote by Thomas Paine for our tagline for this simple reason:

No matter how hard some people may try, one cannot fake the truth or fake reality.

For example, when businesses move away (whether to another state or to another country), they do so because doing business in their current location has become either too costly or too burdensome.

Despite whatever the sycophants on the left try to convince you of, whatever names they call it, it is an economic reality.

Now, then, comes yet another proposal from those stupid union bosses that will, if enacted, surely cause more Ohio businesses to look elsewhere to relocate and cost more Ohioans their jobs.

Ohio Group Pushes for Sick Days
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A labor-led coalition pushing for mandated paid sick days for workers at larger businesses said Monday it has gathered enough signatures to put the issue before lawmakers.

The Ohio Healthy Families Act, which is backed by the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO, would require businesses with 25 or more
employees to give full-time employees seven sick days per year. Part-time employees could earn sick days on a pro-rated basis.

The coalition has gathered around 140,000 signatures and will continue to gather more before submitting the proposal to the Legislature in January, campaign manager Brian Dunn said. The issue needs at least 120,683 signatures-equal to three percent of the vote in the 2006 gubernatorial election-to be put before lawmakers. If lawmakers fail to act, the coalition can then gather more signatures to place the measure on the 2008 ballot.

The group will continue to gather more signatures because the number found to be valid by the secretary of state's office is generally lower than the total number of signatures submitted.

Uh...Detroit...We Have a Problem...

Problems are afoot for the top brass at the United Auto Workers.

Perhaps Gettlefinger and the boys at UAW's Solidarity House thought the Chrysler workers would just fall into line after walking out on strike for a mere six hours on October 10th. However, that now appears unlikely as ratification of the Chrysler deal is in serious trouble.

Almost immediately following one of the shortest strikes in the history of Big Three negotiations, questions arose about whether the UAW's strike was mere 'showbiz' than a real showing of strength and "solidarity."

Unlike their counterparts at General Motors (who ratified the GM deal without a hiccup), UAW members at Chrysler seem to be rebelling at their own union leaders. So much so that one UAW member stated: "The UAW is trying to be a big powerbroker on Wall Street at our expense. They must think that we are illiterate and unable to read what the contract says."

At present, a larger-than-expected number of UAW locals have voted against the tentative deal. If the final numbers come in later this week, and members fail to ratify the deal, this will leave more egg on Gettlefinger's face and prove to be tougher for the UAW to negotiate a better deal with Cerebrus-owned Chrysler, not to mentioned Ford.

The heart of the disgruntlement seems to be three-fold: 1) members' concern over the lack of job security* in the contract, 2) the two-tier compensation package and 3) the VEBA (Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association) the contract establishes.

*Note: Less than two weeks after GMs ratification, it was announced that GM would be cutting more than 750 jobs at one of its plants.

As former unionists, all of these are rife with problems for the rank-and-file-minded individual... even though they may be necessary to ensure Chrysler's viability for the future.

However, as the UAW expands its membership away from representing just autoworkers and takes on new customers (aka members) like casino dealers and graduate students, it seems the UAW may be less interested in the auto industry workers themselves anymore and may be more interested in the lucrative financial opportunities the creation of a VEBA presents.

For a good insight into the issues the rank-and-file have with the new contract, go here.

On a different, but related subject...

There was recent op-ed in the Washington Post about the American consumer not caring about whether or not a product is union-made.

For us, nothing could have illustrated that point more appropriately than driving along the interstate last week.

Alas, we came across a car with a union bumper sticker. As avid bumper sticker readers, we believe that bumper stickers can say a lot about the people driving the car. As a result, we always take notice of what people have on their bumpers.

Well, in this particular case, the bumper sticker was an IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) sticker that had only about two words (along with the IBEW logo) on it: Productivity. Craftsmanship.

Okay, although debatable in many circles, those words are pretty normal on union bumper stickers. So, that wasn't what was too shocking...

What was shocking is the fact that the dude wasn't driving a union-made vehicle. He was driving a Suburu!

At that point, in a startling moment of repeating clarity, it became all too clear.

If unions can't even attract their own members to buy union-made products, then why do they think the rest of America is going to buy their products?...

Talk about not walking the talk!

That's like those morons who put bumper stickers on their cars that say "Live Better, Work Union." Yet, when you look at the car, 95% of the time it's a piece of crap!

[If you don't believe us, start looking at the cars that are festooned with that particular bumper sticker!]

For the record: We at EmployerReport.com drive Fords. Yeah, they're union-made...but we don't hold that against the Company or its employees.

When Cavemen Strike...

They've been outside the Kennedy Space Center for nearly four months (since June 14th), picketing to their collective hearts' content.

By and large, they've been replaced, at least temporarily...for now.

They're members of the Machinists and they're 'fighting mad' at their employer, United Space Alliance (a joint venture between giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing).

Problem is, according to a flyer put out by their replacements a couple of months ago, their jobs appear to be 'so easy a caveman can do it' and their employer seems to be getting along just fine without them.

Instead of working to feed their families, they sit with their pickets under umbrellas and palm trees, drawing $150 a week in strike pay from the union. It's a life.

Unfortunately, either they or their union leadership appear to be too...um...shall we say...er...dense to read the writing on the wall (pun intended).

Especially when you read about the apparent idiocy of a guy, whose wife is missing her cancer treatments because they have no health insurance...because he's out on strike!

So, this neanderthal will let his wife die, so he can sit out with his "brothers" and watch his job evaporate into the paychecks of his replacements?!?

Is it any wonder that evolution replaced the caveman...

And that unions have been dying off?!?

The sad fact of the matter is that when these workers realize too late that they've lost, they'll blame everyone else but themselves.