LEGAL ALERT: NLRB Order Overturned in Shopping Mall Case

THE FOLLOWING LEGAL ALERT WAS WRITTEN AND SENT TO US BY JIM SULLIVAN AND CAITHLIN SULLIVAN (no relation), ATTORNEYS WITH THE BUCHANAN INGERSOLL & ROONEY

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently overturned a 2006 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling against the operator of an enclosed shopping mall in Watertown, New York. Salmon Run Shopping Center v. N.L.R.B., No. 06-4961 (2d Cir. Jul. 18, 2008). The NLRB held that the mall violated the law by denying the Carpenters Union permission to distribute two flyers to the public inside the mall. One flyer listed the benefits of union membership and the second flyer alleged that a non-union contractor doing work for a retailer/tenant of the mall did not pay "area standard" wages.

The Second Circuit took a much narrower view than did the NLRB of the so-called "discrimination exception" to a private property owner's right to deny access to its property. The NLRB held that the mall was denying the union access merely because it was a "union seeking to engage in labor-related speech." The Second Circuit, however, disagreed that the mall's actions constituted discrimination. The court noted that the material the union was distributing could fall under federal labor law protections, but stated non-employee union organizers are permitted on an employer's property for the purpose of protecting the interests of the employees they are seeking to organize, not the union's own interests. Because the union's intended audience was not employees of the mall or of its tenants, but rather was the general public, the court held that the union's right to distribute the pamphlets was extremely weak under federal law.

Through this holding, the Second Circuit joins the Fourth and Sixth Circuits in taking a narrow view of the discrimination exception to the trespass rule. The Fourth Circuit, for example, has held that proving discrimination in this context requires a union to demonstrate that the employer favored one union over another or permitted employer material while banning union material. Meanwhile the Sixth Circuit has held that permitting limited charitable or civic appeals while banning union distribution is unlikely to constitute unlawful discrimination.

Property owners, especially shopping malls, are regularly inundated with requests from organizations to distribute materials on their property. Owners need to be diligent and consistent in their treatment of unions and other organizations seeking permission to distribute literature. A key consideration is the targeted audience: When a union is targeting the general public instead of a specific group of employees working on the property, the owner's right to deny access will likely be greater. Inconsistent treatment, however, will open the door to unfair labor practice charges by unions that are denied access.

Employee Free Choice Act on CNBC

As we said earlier this week: Unions are relying on ignorance to get the moronically-named Employee Free Choice Act passed.

On the video below, Home Depot Co-Founder Bernie Marcus explains that during a recent meeting with about 100 CEO, only seven had heard of the "Kill Americans Jobs Act" (or EFCA, as it's more commonly known).

This is the first video from notables that clearly states what's at stake with the dellusionally-named Employee Free Choice Act.

It's too bad more people like Orrin Hatch (GOP Senator from Utah) and Bernie Marcus (from Home Depot) are not all over the airwaves talking about how this law will kill American jobs in droves.



Hat tip to Jim G. and Phil W. for sharing this with us.
_______________________
For more union-related news, go to EmployerReport.com

EmployerReport.com Update: HR/LR Job Postings, EFCA & Other News...

Dear Readers:

Here's what's happening on EmployerReport.com

HUMAN RESOURCES & LABOR RELATIONS JOB POSTINGS...

Every now and then, even though we are not recruiters, we have employers and job seekers approach us and ask "if we know anyone"...

Last week, as sometimes happens, we were approached by a large company in need of a Director of Labor Relations. After thinking about possible match-ups, we offered to post the job posting on EmployerReport.com.

As usually happens, one idea begets another and so on and so forth...

Therefore, dear readers, we've started a new free service for you.

We've added a bulletin board page to EmployerReport.com for HR and LR job postings. If you or your company have an opening in human resources or labor relations and would like the position posted for free on EmployerReport.com, you can send it to us, and we'll have it up there for you within a few hours. The only catch, the resumes have to go to you directly (not us), as we don't have time to add 'recruiters' to our portfolio of services...(yet).

Although there is only one posting up right now, we hope to add more as word spreads. As stated, this service is free and, as long as it doesn't become a 'monster' to administer, we're pleased to do it for you.

IN OTHER NEWS, HERE ARE A FEW OF THE BREAKING STORIES THAT ARE POSTED ON EMPLOYERREPORT.COM:

• GM & FORD 'ON VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY'...
• FORD OFFERS MORE BUYOUTS TO SHED STAFF...
• Hundreds of UAW members flee American Axle...
• JUDGE TOSSES OUT SEIU SUIT AGAINST UNION DISSIDENTS...
• Locked out since Feb, Steelworkers vote to accept contract...
• NO ANSWERS IN POLICE SHOOTING OUTSIDE AFSCME UNION HALL...
• SEIU WILL SPEND "WHATEVER IT TAKES" TO GET CANDIDATE ELECTED...
• Foxwoods' UAW case one step closer to US Court of Appeals...
• AFSCME's illegal strike hinders efforts to get contract...
• City approves Ritz-Carlton over union objections...
• From 2.8 Billion to $22 Billion: Boston's Union-Only Big Dig Price Tag Balloons...

ON TAKING AWAY WORKERS RIGHT TO VOTE ON UNIONIZATION...
The hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act (aka "The Kill American Jobs Act") is garnering a bit more attention....but still not enough. On EmployerReport.com, we've posted the following stories for you:

• New poll findings: Majority of voters members oppose EFCA...
• With Employee 'No Free Choice' Act, Big Labor Bets Big on Obama...
• Barack Bows to Big Labor Bosses...
• Lars Larson: EFCA is "a travesty"...
• DeMint Aims To 'Build The Level Of Anger' On Union Bill...

On the EmployerReport.com blog:

Unions Relying on Ignorance to Get EFCA Passed...
As Stephen Colbert (of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report) often says: "Nation, we are in trouble..."Last week, we were invited to speak before a Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) chapter meeting. The meeting was well attended (between 50 to 75 HR professionals was our guess).At the beginning of the presentation, our co-presenter asked the question: "How many of you have heard of the Employee Free Choice Act?" A handful of hands were raised.Next question: "How many of you know what the components of the law are?" Only two hands were raised (and one of them was from a client and loyal EmployerReport.com reader!). READ MORE...

How Trade Unions Are Using Democrats to Kill the Union-Free Construction Industry...
On Tuesday, November 4th, Americans will learn whether U.S. labor unions’ spending upwards of $1 billion of their members’ money on the general election will have paid off. You see, unbeknownst to most Americans, American voters have become the victims of the largest and most expensive union campaign in history. If the union bosses in Washington and their hand-picked candidates within the Democratic Party succeed in taking over the nation’s federal government, it will have long lasting and, in many cases, devastating consequences to employers and their workers across nearly every industry. However, none will be more ravaged than the union-free construction industry. READ MORE...

On behalf of EmployerReport.com, we hope your summer is productive and prosperous, with some fun in the sun thrown in for good measure.

As always, visit EmployerReport.com for the latest on labor union news.

Unions Relying On Ignorance to Get EFCA Passed...

With unions spending about a $ billion on this year's political campaigns, union bosses seem to be relying on their ability to keep American voters ignorant on the facts surrounding the hallucinogencially-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

Unfortunately, their strategy to keep Americans in the dark may ultimately pay off for the union bosses if they succeed in getting their political puppets elected.

Although we've written extensively about this before, here are the facts with EFCA:

Even though unions win approximately 60% of all NLRB-conducted secret-ballot elections, unions want to effectively eliminate the secret-ballot to allow unionization purely through getting a majority of worker signatures on union authorization cards.

Since unions are legally allowed to trick workers into signing cards through a variety of tactics, such as:

• Making false promises
• Hiding facts from employees (i.e., the union's constitution, how unions spend workers' dues, union trials, etc.)
• Sending in union "moles" (paid organizers pretending to be employees, only to unionize the company from within)
• Telling workers that union authorization for to "get information" or "to attend a meeting"
• [And the list goes on and on...]

This procedure makes card-check recognition wholly corrupted from the start, disenfranchising 105 million Americans, and making the Employee Free Choice Act the Employee "NOT SO FREE" Choice Act.

However, to make matters worse, because unions presently fail to get contracts about 45% percent of the time for newly unionized workers, EFCA puts a procedure called "binding arbitration" into place, allowing for a government-appointed bureaucrat to set a company's wages and benefits. This puts employers and their workers into economic peril (see article here).

Now, as we stated to a Congressman last year, for those of us in the labor relations profession who are used to dealing with unions and their disingenuous tactics, EFCA only gives us job security and increases our value to companies. The problem is, however, EFCA will kill companies and kill jobs and, as former union leaders, this should be the chief concern.

"...You can Fool All of the People Some of the Time..."

As Stephen Colbert (of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report) often says: "Nation, we are in trouble..."

Last week, we were invited to speak before a Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) chapter meeting. The meeting was well attended (between 50 to 75 HR professionals was our guess).

At the beginning of the presentation, our co-presenter asked the question: "How many of you have heard of the Employee Free Choice Act?" A handful of hands were raised.

Next question: "How many of you know what the components of the law are?" Only two hands were raised (and one of them was from a client and loyal EmployerReport.com reader!).

This, dear readers, is frightening. If employers' HR professionals do not know that EFCA is around the corner, this nation is in trouble!

The problem is, to us, union bosses and their Democrat sycophantic puppets are relying on our country's ignorance and they stand a chance of fooling American into voting for candidates that will put them out of work.

After our SHRM presentation, our co-presenter received the following e-mail from one of the attendees:

Good morning,

I attended the SHRM seminar yesterday, and I thought I'd pass along some information for you to share with the other speakers. Last evening, about 20 young guys canvassed my townhouse development in (town name withheld) with a petition for the EFCA act. When approached I looked at the clipboard and counted -every person in my section had signed it - I am sure without realizing what they were signing, it was a petition to the Senate to pass the legislation.

Very concerning........

Following our presentation, only one of the attendees e-mailed to ask for a copy of the presentation to share with his executives. Very concerning indeed.

Sadly, American voters are being subjected to the largest and most expensive union campaign in history and very few realize it. One might say that union bosses and their Democrat dupes are treating Americans like the proverbial mushroom: Keeping them in the dark and feeding them with B.S.

__________________________

For more union-related news, go to EmployerReport.com

"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." -- Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

How Trade Unions Are Using Democrats to Kill the Union-Free Construction Industry

On Tuesday, November 4th, Americans will learn whether U.S. labor unions’ spending upwards of $1 billion of their members’ money on the general election will have paid off. You see, unbeknownst to most Americans, American voters have become the victims of the largest and most expensive union campaign in history. If the union bosses in Washington and their hand-picked candidates within the Democratic Party succeed in taking over the nation’s federal government, it will have long lasting and, in many cases, devastating consequences to employers and their workers across nearly every industry. However, none will be more ravaged than the union-free construction industry.

The reason unions are spending so much to buy their way into power is that they have gotten a 100% commitment from their Democratic political picks to pass the delusionally-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). EFCA is an extremely anti-business/anti-jobs bill that passed the House of Representatives on March 1, 2007 but later failed in the U.S. Senate.

EFCA is designed to strip workers of a secret-ballot vote on the subject of unionization, relying instead on a manipulative process of unionization called “card-check” which subjects workers to union exploitation, coercion and trickery. Following a union’s successful takeover of a company’s workers under EFCA’s card-check provision, the bill also states that, if a company cannot agree with a union’s demands (regardless if the demands are realistic or not), the employer is then forced into process called “binding arbitration,” which means the negotiating process is turned over to a federally-appointed arbitrator. The arbitrator’s duty will be to decide what the terms and conditions of the first contract will be between the union and the company—whether the contract is competitive or not.

When companies are destroyed, who will provide jobs? While so-called “card-check” will have a detrimental effect on American companies and the jobs they provide, the second component (binding arbitration) is what will kill a vast number of American workers’ jobs, as it will force many employers out of business and others to outsource in order to remain viable. In the construction industry, it will simply and quickly force union-free construction companies out of business.

Unions Like Herpes?

In the mid-90s, while his company Whole Foods was under siege by the United Food & Commercial Workers, company co-founder & CEO John Mackey made an oft-quoted statement that unions and many of their followers still find appalling today: “The union is like having herpes,” Mr. Mackey stated. “It doesn't kill you, but it's unpleasant and inconvenient, and it stops a lot of people from becoming your lover." Well, if unions are like herpes in the grocery industry, trade unions are like AIDS to the union-free construction industry—and just as deadly. For when a union-free construction company becomes unionized, it is all-too-often a death sentence for that company and its workers…And the death of a union-free construction company that becomes unionized usually comes fairly quickly.

There is no other industry in America where the difference between being union or union-free is as stark as night and day. In construction, you’re either union or you’re union-free. For the union-free contractor, he gets almost all of his work based on three things: 1) Price, 2) Productivity (union-free jobsites are rarely, if ever, shut down over such things as union jurisdictional disputes) and 3) because he and his workers are union-free (see numbers one and two).

Unionized construction work is largely uncompetitive. In fact, according to one recent study[1], the costs of building “union-only” can increase the costs by as much as 35%. As a result gross cost of having a union on a jobsite, as well as the separation of union vs. union-free in the industry, it is the union trades that have been on the losing end of the competitive marketplace, as union-free work has grown significantly in the last three decades.. In fact, today, 86% of all construction- industry workers in the United States are union-free.

General contractors that have chosen to use union-free subcontractors know that hiring a union subcontractor or having a union-free subcontractor become unionized will infect the other sub-contractors on his jobsite and, in most cases, put the job costs (or completion of the job) in jeopardy. And, because the construction industry is a fairly tight knit industry where companies know one another and which are unionized or union-free, there is a tendency for union-free general contractors to shun unionized subcontractors and vice versa.

Organize ‘Em Or Put ‘Em Out of Business

Years ago, the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Department recognized that the trade unions were losing market share to union-free construction companies. As a result, it was decreed that the unions must either unionize the union-free construction companies or put them out of business. Since then, and in large measure, the unions have failed to do either and the union-free construction industry has continued to blossom.

Today, the climate has become so abysmal for trade unions that many union locals have more members on their “bench” (out of work) than have working. As a result, many union pension funds have become underfunded and, in many cases, union workers are losing their paid health benefits due to the lack of hours working in order to maintain the benefits.

In many cases, trade unions have become so desperate for work that they have begun a questionable practice of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars from the union’s treasury to union contractors to enable to the contractor the ability to lower its price in order to get compete. The practice is called “job recovery” or “job targeting” and it is essentially unions subsidizing their own work.

EFCA: A Death Sentence for Union-Free Construction Companies

As stated above, the Orwellian-named Employee Free Choice Act has two main components that will have a damaging impact on the union-free construction industry: First, card-check recognition which eliminates secret-ballot elections, forcing a union-free companies to become unionized based solely on unions obtaining a majority of signatures from workers; Second, binding arbitration which forces a contract upon an employer.

Unionization under card-check makes bidding for new work impossible. Under card-check recognition, unions often use misleading and deceptive tactics to trick workers into signing union authorization cards. In fact, the majority of workers today sign union authorization cards without full knowledge about unions or the process of collective bargaining. In many cases, unions send in union “salts” or union “moles” (which are workers paid by the union to unionize a targeted company) into companies. Indeed, some unions even make “salting” a requirement for union apprentices before they can be sent to union job sites. Despite unions’ underhanded tactics, today’s system allows for workers to have a secret-ballot election wherein the workers can decide after hearing from both the union and the employer whether to unionize or not. Under EFCA, the union will decide if there is to be an election and the vast majority of unions will opt not to have an election, since they stand a greater chance to lose.

Unfortunately, under EFCA, a union-free construction company that becomes unionized under card-check will immediately be put into economic peril. The reason is the nature of the construction industry itself as most construction jobs are short in duration. Immediately upon unionization, the former union-free construction company will be unable to bid on new work as it will be unable to accurately predict its labor costs, since the company is either still negotiating or waiting for an arbitrator to decide its labor costs.

Binding Arbitration Destroys Free-Market Economics. Since 1935, one of the cornerstones of the National Labor Relations Act has been the process of collective bargaining between an employer and the representative of its employees. Under the Act, while it is mandatory for a company to bargain in good-faith with a union over wages, hours of work and other terms and conditions of employment, the Act does not require either party to agree to the other’s proposals. EFCA, however, effectively guts the collective bargaining process by using the state to impose a binding two-year agreement.

Since unions have been failing nearly 50% of the time to win contracts after unionizing workers[2], it is understandable why unions would wish to have state coercion. However, the issue becomes more complicated in the construction industry due to the fact that most trade unions have what are referred to as “area-wide” agreements. Area-wide agreements cover all of the local union’s members in the trade with the employers that are signatory to the union’s contract. Under area-wide agreements, most unions have agreements that contain what are commonly called “most-favored nation” clauses which state that the union will not agree to any other contract with any other employer that is different than what is contained in the union’s area-wide agreement.

Typically, under area-wide agreements, in addition to hourly wage rates, union provisions include such things as union pension, health and welfare benefits paid into the union’s fund, as well as the union’s hiring hall provisions (which mean that employers contract to hire workers through the union hall, as opposed to the open market). Since most trade unions cannot accept anything other than what is specified in its area-wide agreement, it is these provisions that will put the union-free construction company out of business.

Conclusion—Construction Workers’ Unemployment is in the Cards

As unions mount the largest and most expensive union organizing campaign in history, the union-free construction industry will be the first to suffer and fail if the unions and the Democrats succeed with their plans. Under the oxy-moronic Employee Free Choice Act and its coercive card-check provisions and binding arbitration, trade unions will be in a position to shut down companies within a matter of months of unionization, placing a greater number of construction workers on the unemployment lines. Unfortunately, too many union-free companies and their employees remain in the dark about the plan that unions have for them.

________________________________

[1] Project Labor Agreements and Financing Public School Construction in Massachusetts. David G Tuerck, PhD & Paul Bachman MSIE, Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University. December 2006.
[2] Source: Wall Street Journal 2006. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, 2004. Brent Garren, Chief Counsel to UNITE-HERE, before the American Bar Association’s Secion on Labor and Employment, August, 2003.

The Union Health Plan

...Union bosses and their socialist comrades on the Left (like Michael Moore, the Democrat Party, et al) have been demanding "Health Care for All" since we were among their union ranks. Their goal: Import the single-payer Canadian health system (or a variant of it) here to the U.S.

This election cycle, the union bosses are spending $45 million of their members' money to promote socilaized medicine. [Note: While they can call it what they like, it will be socialized medicine...if not sooner, then definitely later.]

After seeing the video below, we're sure you'll agree that Ted Kennedy should have gone to Canada to have his brain surgery...The nation would have been much better off....Canada that is. Imagine having a big US mega-star politician sitting on your waiting list to get medical attention.

[We also think the union bosses should have their medical care done in Canada for...say...three or four years (long enough for the waiting lists to cure them of their their delusions, or they die off...one or the other would be just fine)...]

In any case, check out the video below and you'll see why the AFL-CIO, Change to Win bosses, and their Democrat puppets are wrong on this issue.



Also, check out the producer's website, Free Market Cure, it seems to have a bunch of good reading on there.

As always:

"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." -- Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

THE HOUSE OF LABOR: WASHINGTON'S HANOI HILTON-Union Bosses' "Swift Boating" of John McCain will make the North Vietnamese look like amateurs

We've written how American Voters are the Victims of the Largest and Most Expensive Union Organizing Campaign in History. We've also noted why unions are winning the PR war against business. It's all about the tactics. Namely, it's all about demonizing your enemy.

Unfortunately, the John McCain campaign does not seem to understand that McCain is the target of not a political campaign, but a union campaign. Why else would those Kool-Aid drinking union protesters be at every appearance made by John McCain?

Unless and until the McCain campaign gets it, McCain is destined to lose.

Now, the AFL-CIO is targeting McCain's biggest strength--his military service and torture in the Hanoi Hilton, and the labor behemoth is focusing their efforts on some of his strongest allies--U.S. Vets.

Unfortunately, by the time Big Labor's character assassination on John McCain is done, today's union bosses are going to make the North Vietnamese look like amateurs.

Even though Newsweek is reporting that the AFL-CIO's facts are wrong in the ad (not that we think for a minute that the union bosses will spend any effort in correcting their errors), the following is just the first of what we're sure will be many salvos from Sweeney and his comrades at the AFL-CIO:



Good luck, John. You and your campaign need it.

An Obamanation: Barack Bows to Big Labor

We've been blogging constantly about the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act for the last year and a half and, unfortunately, there have been a few normally-rational readers who have doubted our motives in opposing the tide of union-bought-and-paid for Democrats.

However, the video below of Barack Obama paying homage to his union bosses and swearing to sign this union-backed, moronic bill into law if he is elected POTUS should leave no doubt in your minds about what this election is really about....

It's not the War in Iraq. It's not the Oil Prices. It's not the Mortgage Crisis. This election is all about today's Big Labor bosses taking over the federal government. If you don't believe it, see for yourself...



For more union-related news, go to EmployerReport.com

Hat tip to TheUnionNews blog, for posting this.

Company Discriminating Against Union-Free Construction Workers Targeted for ABC Ad Campaign

Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc. Launches Campaign Against Discriminatory Practices of Almac and Skanska USA Union-only Project Labor Agreement

[Listen to the radio spot here]

East Norriton, PA - Southeast Pennsylvania Chapter Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC SEPA) announced today that it has launched a comprehensive marketing campaign to increase the awareness of the discriminatory practices of Almac, an Irish company serving the pharmaceutical industry and its general contractor, Skanska USA. Almac and Skanska are building a new 240,000 square-foot headquarters for Almac in Lower Salford, Pa. They have elected to utilize a discriminatory device known as a union-only Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the project.

Most people are unaware that more than 75 percent of construction workers in the greater Philadelphia area are Merit or open shop and only 25 percent have elected to join a union. Additionally, $20 million in taxes subsidies is being allocated to this project by the Township of Lower Salford. If Almac opened the bidding to all qualified contractors, the cost of the project would be reduced and there would be no need for a public subsidy.

"We believe a construction job should be based on value, safety, training, quality and experience and be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, regardless of their labor affiliation," said Geoffrey Zeh, president and CEO of ABC SEPA. "Obviously, Almac and Skanska don't have these same values. They are discriminating against the majority of construction workers in the area who are helping to fund the project with their hard-earned tax dollars. Townships, like Lower Salford, need to understand the impact of such decisions and we are hoping that this campaign will heighten the awareness of all the parties involved in this un-American practice."

The awareness campaign includes print advertisements that are titled "My Daddy Can't Work on the Almac/Skanska Project in Montgomery County", as well as 60-second radio commercials, a traveling billboard, an online petition, a resource section on ABC SEPA's website, hand bills, letters to township officials, among other marketing and public relations tactics.

ABC is a national association representing more than 50,000 Merit construction employees in Pennsylvania and 14,000 from the Greater Philadelphia region.

The Southeast Pennsylvania Chapter represents almost 500 member companies from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

____________________

Kudos to the ABC for highlighting the all-too-often overlooked practice of discrimination against union-free workers by extortionate unions and their union-puppet politicians.

They never learn...

While the following has often been attributed to Abraham Lincoln, it was written in 1916 by a Reverend William J. H. Boetcker. And, although, it was reportedly used by Ronald Reagan, it bears repeating here considering our current political morass:

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

William J. H. Boetcker, 1916

Our Day at a John McCain Meeting & Those Dimwitted Union Protestors

If you follow EmployerReport.com, you've no doubt seen the articles we've posted from time to time about the union junkies who show up at McCain events to protest and picket and later post their "experiences" on line.

Note: Unlike rank-and-file union members, Union Junkies can be easily defined as your typical Kool-Aid drinkers who follow their union masters with blind obedience, chanting their mindless chant without examining reality--think Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom. We were once union junkies, but after extensive reality therapy and intense doses of reason, we kicked that bad habit.

Well, this past Monday, we had the opportunity to attend a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania with the Senator from Arizona, Mr McCain. Not being ones who are enamored with celebrities or politicians, we went more out of curiosity than anything else. In addition, although we had some questions we wanted to ask Mr. McCain (see blog posting below), it was a great day for a ride.

In any case, the McCain stump speech wasn't anything that you can't see on C-Span or Fox News (CNN won't cover him), so we won't delve into the substance of the actual meeting, as you can watch a video of the speech here.

However, beside the ride, here are some of the more interesting observations we made:

About a block before our arrival, as we were making a left onto the street where the event was being held, we saw about a dozen or so pro-abortion protesters with mostly pink signs stating something about McCain wanting to end abortion (or something like that)...

[In all fairness to the pro-abortionists, it's hard to remember what their signs said verbatim, as it was more important to watch the road with the traffic in front of us.]

As we arrived at the site of the event, which was held at in the rather large warehouse of an employer known as Worth & Company, there were probably a couple of dozen local police officers directing traffic and a lot of people being ushered up the sidewalk to a parking lot where the lines formed to get into the event.

This was going to be a much bigger event than we thought it was going to be.

Parking, it turned out, was a large field--not exactly conducive to Harleys, however, we did find a patch of pavement to throw our kickstands down.

Then came the trek across the field and down the sidewalk where the mostly union protesters had been cordoned off on the side of the street.

Although the AFL-CIO takes credit for 70 protesters, politickerpa.com estimates several dozen, and we only saw maybe 50 protesters at most...PLUS a few thousand (give or take) non-protesters there to see McCain.

Unfortunately, the non-protesters had to pass the protesters to get to the end of the line to go through the Secret Service gates. Not that that was anything special, as most protesters were not unruly. A few, however, did make some anti-McCain remarks to the passers-by and made a few mothers with children nervous.

That said, it wasn't until we stood in line for the next hour and a quarter that we were able to listen and observe the union protesters in all their dimwitted glory.

The make-up of this motley crew consisted of about eight to ten yellow-shirted UFCW protesters of whom we were not entirely sure if they were actual UFCW members or merely paid homeless protesters, as unions are wont to do these days. Another half a dozen or so AFSCME members were in attendance as well as a stray SEIU-er or two and a menagerie of other union reps. Some building trades' guys who weren't actually holding anti-McCain signs but, rather, anti-Worth & Company signs (the host of the event) were also there.

[More on the lack of protester representation from the building trades later.]

As the line slowly moved in a large 'S' curve through the parking lot, we'd hear a chant or two and a few snide remarks rise up from the foppish flock of fools. Most of the union comments were rather incoherent, but here's a few that made it to our ears:

From the cabal of Kool-Aid drinkers: "We blame McCain!..."

For what?...

"The WAR!" Comes the answer from one among them ...

"We blame McCain!" chants the gaggle of goofballs...

For what?...

"No health care!" Comes another answer... (Apparently their union contract doesn't provide them with health care.)

"We blame McCain!" blabs the boors...

For what?...

"No jobs!" crows the dolt (who doesn't realize the irony of his statement...a bunch of union guys standing on a sidewalk complaining about no jobs...talk about playing to your own stereotype!)

"We blame McCain!" shouts fewer of them...

For what?...

Silence...

we wait...

more silence...

and we wait...

Obviously, the dopes can't think of anything else...OR, they finally realized the stupidity of their last outcry....they've gone quiet it seems.

"The Lindbergh kidnapping," suggests one from our side of the lot.

Behind us in line is a Vietnam Vet and (presumably) his wife. We hear the guy explain to his significant other that he thinks one of the protesters is his union steward from work.

"He doesn't do s**t when he's working," the guy explains, "and he always leaves to go on 'union business.'"

[And unions wonder why they have such a bad rap...this coming from a dues-paying member!]

A little while later, some guy is hawking (no pun intended) McCain T-Shirts and hats and one of the protesters calls out: "Buy that shirt and it'll have blood on it!"

A threat?... No, an obvious but in-poor-taste-reference to McCain's position on Iraq. Apparently, for all of their rhetoric about 'dignity and respect' union protesters have very little of respect for the kids of Republicans--many of whom were very young and there with their parents.

A moment later one of the union guys yells out: "Vote for McCain, get the draft!"

Murmurs of assent follow from the goons.

[Obviously, no one has bothered to tell the union boobs that it has been the Democrats (particularly Charlie Rangel from New York) calling for a draft.]

After about an hour of standing in line listening to half-hearted and poorly-rehearsed chants, the line moved on and, at last, we were inside.

We saw some friends, exchanged a few pleasantries and tried to find ourselves some seats in the overcrowded building. Ultimately, after finding some folding chairs to sit on, we then let them go to a couple with three young children and wound up standing and waiting...and waiting...

Finally after about an hour, McCain and his wife Cindy came out. After speaking briefly, McCain's wife introduced the candidate.

While, overall, McCain's speech was average, the questions from the audience were anything but....

The first question was from a guy who was part rocket scientist (from the '60s) and part loon who prattled on for about five minutes about the NASA space program (in the '60s) and Boeing (in the '60s) and something about energy. After about five minutes, the crowd started to the guy and finally McCain had to politely tell him to ask his question.

The second was from a Vet who encouraged McCain not to put up with any of that negative "bulls**t" from the other side. Although the man seemed a bit intoxicated and was a little incoherent, the audience got his point and applauded.

The third was from a woman who didn't like having to press #1 for English (that drew a huge applause) and a not so crowd-pleasing response from McCain.

The fourth was from an RN who didn't like the idea of socialized medicine (we don't either, sister!)...

By this time, after standing for three hours and drinking several bottles of water, we were just hoping the event would end soon and...

It did.

While it was certainly entertaining and Worth & Company (and their employees) did a FANTASTIC job of hosting the event, providing water and superb accommodations for what could have been an unruly mob, it was a long day.

As we exited the parking lot to get back on the road, we couldn't help but notice that all the union protesters were gone.

It seems they didn't have the wherewithall to stay for the whole event.

As former agitators ourselves, we thought it would have been only appropriate to heckle people as they left. Oh well. As we've been saying for years, today's unions aren't like your grandpappys' unions.

This bring us to our last point...

Upon entering the event, as referenced above, the building trades were very under-represented. This struck us as odd.

The reason it appeared strange to us was that, whenever the building trades in Philadelphia want to amass a bunch of protesters, they have no trouble doing it. Just try building a building without using union labor in Philadelphia, the building trades unions will put a hundred unemployed guys on a line without any problem. Granted it usually dies off after the first day, but for five or six trades guys to be at a protest?...C'Mon! That's NOTHING!

Then it occurred to us. The trades guys aren't there because, in Philly, they really don't support Obama. McCain's their man!...They just can't let their union bosses know that!

You see, in Philly, the City of Brotherly Love, the unions have a bit of a problem loving their brothers (it's called racism) and unfortunately they just can't seem to help themselves from having their dirty laundry (make that white sheets) exposed again and again.

As the day drew to a close, and we got back on the bikes, we asked ourselves, was it worth it?

It took a while to answer, but in the end, we diecided it was worth it--if only for the ride and to blog about those dimwitted union protesters!
____________________

For more union-related news, go to EmployerReport.com
____________________

As a post script: The unions decided to post a video about their protest on YouTube.com. As you can tell, we don't think their union protest is something to brag about (especially if you're the union holding the protest), but apparently they do, so here it is...