EmployerReport.com's Breaking News & Labor Day Update

Dear Readers:

While we're culling the news for the hottest stories to post for you, after watching the rock-n-roll extravaganza that was Barack Obama's coronation (...er...acceptance) speech last night, we thought we'd take a moment and share some breaking news:

After several hours of speculation this morning, the surprise is now official:

GOP Candidate John McCain has chosen Alaska's GOP Governor and Maverick Mom Sarah Palin to be his running mate...

Given the vast disappointment over Hillary Clinton's primary defeat by her supporters, McCain's pick of Palin for a partner makes the race for the White House much more interesting.

In other news we're covering for you this week:

Union Bosses to Members: If you don't for Obama, you must be a racist.

An interesting phenomena has been developing over the last few months that few (if any) in the media have picked up on and that is the fact that, for the last couple of months, union bosses are seemingly telling their members that, if you don't vote for Barack Obama, you must be a racist. While we know that several unions have a long history of racism (see related blog here), to imply that any union member who may disagree with Barack Obama's (union-controlled) agenda for America is a racist seems, to us, a bit over-the-top.

We first noticed this trend emerging back in July when AFL-CIO #2 Boss Richard Trumka spoke at the United Steelworkers convention and said: You see brothers and sisters, there’s not a single good reason for any worker — especially any union member — to vote against Barack Obama. There’s only one really bad reason to vote against him: because he’s not white.

Then, earlier this week, Teamsters' Boss Jimmy Hoffa made the comment: "There
are people who are not going to vote for him because he's black. And we've got to hope that we can educate people to put aside their racism and to put their own interests No. 1."

Not to be outdone, AFL-CIO Boss Trumka repeated his July sentiments this week by saying: "There are a lot of white voters out there, some of them union members, who think that he's the wrong race," Trumka told roughly 70 delegates and their guests. "As Democrats, we can't tap-dance around the fact that there are some faces out there just like that woman ... They're scared to death. They want change. They
need change. But they just can't get past the notion that voting for a black man
named Barack Obama is the only way to do that."

The UAW's Ron Gettlefinger was less blunt when he merely stated: Whatever
issues might keep union members from voting for Obama, they need to be addressed simply by education. He said, "We just want to make sure they know what they're doing" because once the election is over, it's over. [Apparently, Mr.
Gettlefinger (like many other union bosses) believes that union members can't
think for themselves--ed.]

Then, of course, there's AFSCME's Gerald McEntee who, before she dropped out of the race, was one of Hillary Clinton's more ardent supporters--even going so far as bragging that "We kicked (Obama-backer Andy Stern's) ass from one end of Ohio to the other, and in Texas, too.''

McEntee, despite spending tens of millions of his union's money to defeat Obama earlier this year, is now a full-blown Obama supporter.

McEntee, in his typical crude fashion, had this to say earlier this week: “There are some local union presidents that are afraid — yes, that’s the word, afraid — to hand out literature for Barack Obama,” said McEntee.

McEntee said union members need to consider Obama’s voting record on labor issues, not his race.

“You can’t vote for Barack Obama because he’s black? That’s bulls--t. Absolute
bulls--t,” said McEntee to a standing ovation from the crowd.

McEntee said that the race between Obama and McCain should not be close and that the Democrat should have a much bigger lead in the polls. “We have to wake up, wake up our own members,” said McEntee. “It’s a no-brainer, a no-brainer.”

He said unions will be in deep trouble if Obama is defeated for the presidency.“If
we don’t win those states — excuse my language, I know it’s early — but we will
be in the proverbial s--thouse for the next four years,” McEntee said.

There you have it folks. While we agree that voting for or against anyone due to their race (or sex) is wrong, what union bosses seem to be ignoring are these simple facts:

• Approximately 40% of union members are registered Republicans--many of whom may disagree with Obama's agenda.


• Union members are not necessarily racist, if they do not support a black candidate


• Many of the union members that union bosses are talking about may not be
  "union junkies" as union bosses wish they were, but are actually forced to
  belong to unions (or be fired) as a condition of employment. Therefore, for
  union bosses to expect a lock-step march from their forced membership is simply and presumptuously wrong-headed.

As a final message for you as you begin your three-day Labor Day weekend:

Every Labor Day weekend, the media bombards us with stories about unions and their past and current roles in society. This year, due to the union effort to take over the federal government and enact the anti-democratic (and hallucinogenically-named) Employee Free Choice Act, you will see more than the usual plethora of pro-labor stories in the media. As a result, and as we've done for the past several years, we offer you the following op-ed by Fredric Hamber: On Labor Day, We Should Honor Man's Mind, Not Men's Muscles, as the Real Source of Wealth and Progress... For those who know us, you already know that this op-ed has been a favorite of ours for a number of years and we thought many of our new subscribers would value its perspective.

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

On behalf of EmployerReport.com, we hope you have a safe and very relaxing long weekend.