EmployerReport.com: UAW

Showing posts with label UAW. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

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:

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:

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.

Friday, June 20, 2008

EmployerReport.com End-Of-Week Wrap-Up

Dear Readers:

First and foremost: We offer a Welcome to our new subscribers.

We appreciate those of you helping to spread the word about EmployerReport.com, one of the web's only daily (M-F) news website's giving you news and views about today's labor unions from a pro-employer, pro-union-free worker viewpoint.

Now for our End-of-Week (EOW) Wrap-Up:

Sometimes the stories in the news are just too much! Sometimes they're hilarious, sometimes they're...well...incredible!

For us, our End-of-Week (EOW) Wrap-Up has left us feeling a little more incredulous than usual--delivering for us some real eye openers that may (or maybe not) have changed some of our opinions about today's unions...

For example:

WHEN IT COMES TO REPRESENTATION, SEIU SUCKS: In a show of union (un)solidarity, for those of you familiar with the SEIU, AFSCME's Arizona lobbyist Roman Ulman (whose union is facing a raid in the Grand Canyon State by the purple people eaters) declares that the SEIU "does a very good job of organizing, getting workers to sign up - and sign over a portion of their paychecks, but when it comes to representation, it sucks." [Okay, that, to us, is really NOT that surprising, but the fact that a union boss so brazenly put that in the press is.]

UNMADE MAIDS: THE UNION'S REJECTED US. In Las Vegas, it seems that our fundamental beliefs that unions will take anyone willing to pay them dues has been shaken to their core as UNITE-HERE's Culinary Union is refusing to unionize the maids at the Imperial Palace, despite the maids having delivered signature petitions to the union. States one maid who is upset with the union: “It’s sad when you have people who want their help, willing to pay union dues, and the union doesn’t want to hear anything.”

LIFES' TOO SHORT TO WASTE BEER: In yet another "what's up with that" union story, the Teamsters' union, which is locked in a bitter dispute with a West Virginia beer distributor, has lodged a complaint with the WV Department of Environmental Protection about the company's alleged dumping of old beer into the sewer system. Talk about an atrocity on both parties' counts! It's bad enough the company was dumping the old beer, but for the Teamsters to snitch?!? C'mon guys! Picket lines are hot in the summer time!...Go get your buckets! According to Kathy Cosco, a DEP spokeswoman, "We did receive a complaint from the Teamsters yesterday. An inspector went to the company today and found out they had, over a period of time, been disposing of their product in a storm drain. We of course informed them they cannot do that," Cosco said. "We suggested they talk with the city of Sissonville to work out something with their [liquid] collection system." [Editor's note: We have a few suggestions on how to get the parties back to the table and, if that doesn't work, we also have some suggestions for the old beer.]

TEAMSTERS ARE NAMING NAMES: Just when employees thought it was safe to affiliate with the Teamsters, one the union's representatives in Florida has sent the names of 12 of its employee-organizers to a county administrator, which has made its way to the press and all over the internet. To those involved in the union organizing (Ron Aliff, Kathy Connell, Mike Rollins, Donald Finn, Penny Oliver, Richard Longboat, John Burnett, Debbie Johnston, Henry Browning, Dan Oliver, Rachelle Jones and Jerome Golden), all we can tell you is: so much for confidentiality with your union.

ON TO MORE SERIOUS NEWS:

This just in from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: In May, employers took 1,626 mass layoff actions, resulting in 171,387 filings for unemployment insurance, seasonally adjusted. Both events and initial claims were the highest for the month of May since 2003. To view the PDF report, click here.
On Thursday, the US Supreme Court struck down a coercive California law that the National Right to Work Foundation's Stefan Gleason called "nothing more than an underhanded attempt by union officials to use public funds to corral California workers into their forced dues-paying ranks."
UAW (United Auto Workers aka United Against Workers) President Ron Gettlefinger is headed to Atlantic City, NJ this weekend to attend a rally for UAW-represented casino dealers who, taking a gamble with the failing auto workers' union, voted to unionize more than a year ago but have not been able to secure the UAW's promised brass ring--a labor contract. [Editor's note: If the UAW does for dealers and their casinos what it's done for the Big Three auto makers and their workers, the dealers should fold now.]
As part of its ongoing war against pork producer Smithfield, the United Food & Commercial Workers has launched an attack-ad campaign that the company describes as Misleading Consumers, Hurting Employees and Blocking a Secret-Ballot Vote at [one] Smithfield Plant.
In another UFCW-related story, a former UFCW member offers his compelling account of how paying mandatory UFCW dues took his grocery salary below the minimum wage.
In Chicago, the Teamsters have placed Local 714 into trusteeship AGAIN.

For you HR Professionals, HRCapitalist blogger Kris Dunn has a great piece on the effects that the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act may have on your career entitled A Career Killer for HR Pros. While we disagree that it is a career killer, in that there will be greater emphasis in avoiding unionization than ever before, we do believe that many of today's HR professionals are ill-equipped with dealing with the ramifications of EFCA.

In other EFCA news:

Those good folks at the Center for Union Facts are airing ads in Colorado, a key battleground state in the fight against big union bosses quest to eliminate secret-ballot elections. TV advertising is expensive and the battle is big but, if you're pro-private ballot, you can help by donating to the Center for Union Facts by going here.

In recognizing those who help the fight for the cause of freedom, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) presented U.S. Congressman John Kline (R- Minn.) with the Free Enterprise Legislator of the Year award. According to the ABC, in the 110th Congress, Kline has led the fight against the "Employee Free Choice Act" (H.R. 800), legislation that would rob workers of their right to a private ballot election when deciding if they want union representation.

For you political junkies on the...

Not-So-Right: In Chicago, in a move that will surely raise suspicion among an already suspicious conservative base, GOP nominee John McCain had a meeting with Latino leaders, pledging to push through immigration reform if elected. That said: In Senator McCain's home state of Arizona, the town of Cave Creek is trying to ban day laborers once again after a US District judge threw out an earlier ordinance.

Far-Left: As oil prices soar and the public clamors for relief, some Democrats in Congress are calling for the nationalization of the oil industry. You can watch the Fox Business Report video by going to EmployerReport.com.

Last but not least...

In what we're referring to as the world's biggest (and most expensive) union organizing campaign in history, Big Labor's presidential nominee Barak Obama met with his union backers on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. The AFL-CIO will be giving Obama their blessing within weeks, and yesterday AFSCME (who backed Hillary Clinton), gave Obama its endorsement, as well as having spent $543,000 ads with MoveOn.org targeting GOP nominee John McCain.

Well, folks, that's a bit of the news that has caught our attention this week. For more news, be sure to go to EmployerReport.com.

On behalf of EmployerReport.com, please have a GREAT week's end!

Best wishes,

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

Sunday, June 1, 2008

The UAW wants its smoke to blow both ways...

Whatever way the wind blows, the UAW will blow too...

First, it seems the United Auto Workers wanted to protect casino workers from the ills of smoking and second-hand smoke, even going so far as celebrating when Atlantic City banned smoking in casinos.

Blathering on their website in April that "Secondhand smoke is a serious occupational hazard for casino workers," the UAW fought to get the smoking ban in Atlantic City, which will go into effect Oct. 15.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut the UAW fought and, ultimately, failed to get smoking banned at the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos.

In Detroit, the UAW seems to be missing from Michigan's current debate on smoking bans. Perhaps the union, like the Detroit casino management, is finally realizing that killing smoking in casinos may just kill their jobs--smokers and non-smokers alike.

That said, last week the United Auto Workers did a hypocritical about-face on the whole smoking issue when heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar decided to ban smoking at all of its U.S. properties.

Instead of applauding the effort to snuff out Caterpillar's smokers, the UAW filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

After denying the right of smokers to puff away as they drop their nickels, dimes and dollars, the UAW has taken the position at Caterpillar that smoking has been a 'contractual privilege for 60 years'.

What's more, it's not like Caterpillar's ban caught the UAW with its pants down--the Company announced the ban last fall.

It sounds to us like the UAW is trying to have its smoke blow both ways...

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

Thursday, May 15, 2008

EOW: Labor Steamrolling its Way to Power & Other News...

Dear Readers:

We owe you an apology. It's been a couple of weeks since our End-of-Week (EOW) Wrap-Up and we're sorry. We've been somewhat swamped with fighting collectivism on the frontlines and keeping the dragons at bay. And while EmployerReport.com is updated daily (M-F), we are occasionally forced to neglect our duties in posting our weekly updates on the news of what's happening around the country. In this regard, we hope you'll forgive us.

This week, we have two brief announcements about EmployerReport.com for you:

First, we've begun "cross-posting" the EmployerReport.com blog to our main site. Now, you can view out blog postings and other rants by going here as well.
Second, as part of our ongoing effort to awaken Americans to the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act, we have updated our EFCA Page by posting numerous EFCA-exposing videos by such freedom fighters as:
The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace
The Heritage Foundation
National Right to Work Foundation
UnionFacts.com

We will be continually be adding videos and other coverage to this page, so we encourage you to visit EmployerReport.com's EFCA Page, and pass it along to your friends. If you see a video (or news story, op-ed, etcetera) that you think should be posted, let us know. It is not an overstatement to say that America's system of free enterprise and the future of millions of jobs are at stake, should this Orwellian law pass next year.

Now, on to what's happening:

While there are far too many stories on EmployerReport.com to post here, there are several this week that have captured our attention and one of which may come to serve employers whose employees are under attack by union organizers.

SEIU sues CNA over home mailers. The ongoing dispute between the California Nurses Association (CNA) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) took an interesting turn this week when the SEIU filed a lawsuit against the CNA for allegedly violating the Iowa Trade Secrets Act over the CNA's mailing of literature to SEIU member's homes. In its press release, the SEIU states:

"It's frankly scary that an out-of-state union like the CNA would have gotten their hands on our confidential, internal list," said Cathy Glasson, a registered nurse and President of SEIU Local 199. "No one in America should ever have to worry that their private information will be taken and used without their consent." [Emphasis added]

Now, as many of our clients, from construction companies to health care organizations, as well as grocers, often have employees complain of unsolicited mailings from different unions (even in the absence of a union petition and the submission of the requisite Excelsior List), our interest was piqued by this hypocritical action taken by the SEIU. Naturally, we began to ponder: If a union can sue another union for obtaining member/employee information, why couldn't an employer (or an employee) do the same?

Although we suspect there may be an NLRA preemption issue or some other exemption, we submit to you, it may be worth exploring. Additionally, as many of our readers are some of the top labor attorneys in America, should you wish to weigh in on this, please feel free to comment here and we will post your opinion on the EmployerReport.com blog.

A UFCW exploitive attempt to obstruct justice? The second story that has captured our attention is another ICE raid on another slaughterhouse, replete with allegations of ID fraud on the part of the captured illegal immigrants.

While that, in itself, is news, what came as a bigger point of disgust is the revelation that the United Food & Commercial Workers had asked ICE to refrain from raiding the slaughterhouse as it was attempting to unionize the workers(!).

Clearly, if the UFCW was in the process of unionizing this workplace and knew that at some point many of these workers would likely be deported, the union also knew that, if successful, the union would represent whomever the deported workers' replacements were. Talk about a cruel joke!

That said, it's not the first time UFCW bosses got caught in an illegal scheme. Last week, a former UFCW representative who helped illegal workers get jobs at a Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown was found guilty of federal immigration charges. We believe the slang word for this type of individual is "coyote."

For more background on this story, we found an excellent 2007 video of CNN anchor Lou Dobbs slamming a UFCW VP over the union's position on illegal immigration. You can view it here.

The highest-paid people on the unemployment line. The ongoing United Auto Workers' (UAW) strike at American Axle seems to have backfired on the union known today for its ability to kill of American jobs.

As the strike entered its 12th (or is it the 13th?) week, the company has announced that it will be closing a third UAW-struck plant. Upon hearing the news, the incompetent UAW bosses who have severely miscalculated the effects of this strike on the members and had already agreed to close two other plants(!), had very little to say other than: "It just blows me away..."

We're sure that provides some solace to the members who, instead of taking pay cuts that may have saved their jobs, were instead called out on strike and will now be unemployed.

The GOP can't seem to stop the hemorrhaging. Following another Democratic special election victory in a district that has been traditionally a GOP stronghold, the Republican Party is in a panic.

In fact, party insiders are worried that the GOP may lose another 20 House seats and five or more Senate seats. This of course, does not bode well for America's employers. In fact, with the announcement of former-GOP-turned-Libertarian Bob Barr announcement on Monday that he will be seeking the White House, it may be that, with 173 days to go before the general election, Senator John McCain is all but McFinished.

As Barr will surely serve as McCain's Ross Perot (1992) or Ralph Nader (2000), siphoning votes away from McCain, coupled with unions predicted to spend up to $1 billion on this election, the probability of holding back labor's disastrous legislation may come down to a Republican minority in this Senate, IF they can hold onto 41 seats (which is questionable).

On a Lighter Note, Sex Workers of the World are Uniting! While posting YouTube videos on our EFCA Page, we came across an "interesting" video from the Erotic Service Providers Union. Don't ask how we found it (we won't tell you)...No, really...It was truly an innocent search of union videos!

In any case, the PG-rated video (no nudity) is the mission statement of the Erotic Service Providers Union, which is, according to its website(!) affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World--those Wascally Wobblies of the early 1900's fame.

As stated above, there are many, many more labor-related stories from around the nation than could be posted here Therefore, please go to EmployerReport.com for all the latest and relevant news.

Last but not least, we offer you two Public Service Announcements:

EmployerReport.com PSA (part one): The Ayn Rand Institute will be giving a lecture on the Morality of Capitalism in Costa Mesa, CA on May 22, 2008. This is something that is sorely needed in today's socio-economic climate. To get more information, go here.

EmployerReport.com PSA (part two): As springtime is finally upon us, motorcyclists all across the US of A have dusted off their two wheels and have joined you on America's highways and byways. According to a USC study, 3/4 of all motorcycle accidents involved a collision with another vehicle and 2/3 of those involved the vehicle invading the motorcycle's right-of-way and causing the accident. Please keep a watchful eye for us, when making those left turns, lane changes, and pulling out of driveways.

With that said, dear readers, we hope you have a truly enjoyable week's end!

Best wishes!

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

Monday, April 28, 2008

Today's Unions: Stirring the Kool-Aid and Causing Collateral Damage

As former union leaders, there was a time when we admired unions and what they allegedly stood for. However, like many, the deeper we dug, the more we saw, and the more we experienced the betrayal of workers, the more disgusted we became with the union leaders of today. Like many people who are duped into believing in something, only to find out it is based on a false premise, a collectivist creed, and, in the end, causing more harm than good, we left in order to oppose that which we once preached.

There are several stories circulating in the media that offer prime examples of just what is meant by the above paragraph.

The first, of course, is the sordid battle going on between the SEIU and the CNA. There are enough stories floating around the internet for one to research on their own, so we won't spend any more time on it, except to offer you our opinion on What's Really Behind the SEIU vs. CNA Fight, which we posted on Friday.

The second story comes by way of the Detroit News and discusses a United Auto Workers' (UAW) strike against General Motors at one of its plants and several others that the UAW has threatened with strikes. The title of the piece is aptly titled: Motive in UAW threats unclear.

In the piece, the writer quotes a UAW striker, Michael Shrubbe, as saying: "None of us know why we're here."

Mr. Shrubbe, the article states, has been walking a picket line in Delta Township, where workers have been off the job since April 17 at the factory that builds GM's popular crossovers.

The article goes on to say:

GM believes the UAW threats, all against factories that either make critical models for the automaker or supply the parts to build them, are a tactic being used to draw the company into the strike against American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., according to several sources familiar with negotiations. Labor law prohibits the union from striking because of a dispute elsewhere; many think the union is using local negotiations to apply indirect pressure.

"There's a feeling among workers that their jobs are being jeopardized by things beyond their control," Gary Chaison, a labor specialist at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "Their expectations were when everything was tied up nationally everything would fall into place. Now it appears to be unraveling so fast."

The American Axle strike, in its ninth week, has created a parts shortage that has forced GM to idle or cut production at more than two dozen North American factories. But GM's bottom line has been relatively unscathed since the affected factories produce slow-selling large trucks and SUV that were backing up on dealer lots.

Now, besides strikers not knowing why they're unemployed and on the picket lines (that, by itself, is condemning enough of the union's leadership), the fact of the matter is, if GM's assumptions are correct and the UAW is trying to use local strikes as leverage to draw the car maker into the American Axle strike, then the UAW has become woefully inept at flexing its own muscle.

As every unionist (former or otherwise) knows, the strike is a union's only weapon and for a union to pull the trigger without making sure its gun is fully loaded and correctly aimed is not only irresponsible, but borders on a negligent dereliction of a union leader's duty--to care for his membership first.

In this case though, it would appear GM workers and their families are being sacrificed because of Ron Gettlefinger's poor calculations in dealing with American Axle and, if true, that is both reprehensible and inexcusable.

Our third and final story comes from the Los Angeles Times and deals with the aftermath of the 100-day writer's strike.

In the LA Times article, the reporter discusses at length the many hardship cases of the "collateral damage" caused by the strike. Namely, the crew members and other talent (mostly union members) that are facing financial ruin from the economic fallout from the writer's strike.

As the article states: Some are at risk of losing their homes. Some can't afford groceries. Others have filed for bankruptcy. Still others struggle to work enough hours to hold on to their health insurance.

Although hard figures are not available, union officials say that thousands of crew members who normally would be busy at this time of year are still idled because of the sharp contraction in television production. Some union locals report a quarter of their members are sitting at home.

Karen Hartjen is one. She can't bring herself to open the utility bills lying on her
kitchen table in Simi Valley.

The 53-year-old assistant prop master has been out of work since early November,
when a string of jobs on TV shows such as "CSI: New York" and "Medium" came to a halt after the writers walked out.Although Hartjen is accustomed to earning $100,000 a year, she is now $10,000 in debt and her home is threatened with
foreclosure. She has turned to her church and the Salvation Army for help with
groceries .

To add insult to injury, these workers who stood behind their union "brothers" and "sisters" are getting the shaft from their own unions who administer their health care...

Many crew members are in a race against the clock to keep their health insurance.
Union rules require that members work at least 300 hours every six months to
maintain their benefits.

After a four-month hiatus, foley artist Dominique Tabach of Valencia recently returned to work part-time on the CBS drama "Numb3rs." But she has nothing else lined up.

Without additional work, Tabach, 43, is concerned that she won't accumulate enough hours to keep her union health insurance beyond September. The insurance covers Tabach, her 8-year-old daughter and her husband, a former TV executive who recently lost his job.

Yet, in the face of an actors' strike that is certain to bring financial devastation to those teetering on the edge right now, NONE of these "victims" seem to question whether their "union solidarity" was worth it. None seem to wonder if "Hollywood is a Union Town" is really a good thing, or perhaps it is a bad thing.

Last December, we received a comment from a rather irate wife of a man who was unemployed due to the writer's strike (which is posted here). In her comment, she called she and her husband "collateral damage," to which we took her to task. In sum, if you place yourself in harm's way, then you cannot call yourself "collateral damage."

In closing, as was stated at the beginning of this post, when people realize that today's unions are based on a false premise, a collectivist creed and, in the end, causing more harm than good, perhaps they will stop allowing themselves to become the "collateral damage" to half-witted union leaders of today who only know how to lead people down a one-way path to self-destruction.

Monday, April 21, 2008

SEIU Battle with CNA Gets Deadly

During the SEIU's April 12th melee at the Labor Notes conference in Dearborn, Michigan, it was widely reported that a retired UAW member and conference attendee was knocked to the ground and suffered a head wound that required medical attention.

What hasn't been widely reported is that the SEIU's "rally" also led to the death of one of its own members. SEIU member David Smith apparently collapsed and later died on April 12th.

Based on its website posting, it does not appear the SEIU will be taking any responsibility for its member's death, which leaves one to wonder if Mr. Smith's family has retained counsel yet.

______________________

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

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Now THAT'S Customer Service...and other union news...

Dear Readers:

IN AN EFFORT TO TRY SOMETHING NEW, rather than commenting with our usual bluster, we're bringing the news headlines that are posted on EmployerReport.com, so that we can editorialize on our current (as in right now) travel travails...

Here's what you'll find posted on EmployerReport.com:

Our continuing coverage of the War Within the SEIU...

On a Customer Service Conspiracy Note: It's 'Them'...

If you're anything like we are, part of your job entails some (or a lot) of travel. And, if that's the case, you know how much "fun" it is sitting airports awaiting flights that are scheduled to depart at a certain time but, due to some unforeseen reason (weather, ATC* delays, sleepy or missing crews, etc.), you wind up sitting for hours longer than anticipated...

Well, here I sit...in one of those really busy Northeast airports...with a delayed flight...again.

Now, that, by itself, isn't news, as it happens almost every time I fly. It is also arguable whether or not this particular customer service issue is any different than any other routinely delayed flight. However, since several of our readers are in the airline industry (whose airlines shall remain nameless), I thought you (as I did) would find on this particular incident rather amusing.

Only moments ago, our flight was boarding (literally down-the-jet-way-boarding) when one of the gate agents coming from the aircraft, stopped us, turned us around mid-jetway and told us that our flight has been delayed for an hour and one-half.

Now, as previously mentioned, having a delayed flight is nothing new but, for many of us road warriors, the closer you get to a departure without any delay announcements--well, it's sort of like getting an extra birthday or something. You get a little flitter in your stomach as you think to yourself: "Wow! we might actually depart on time!...Oh JOYOUS DAY!"

So, you can only imagine what it feels like to get mid-way down the jetway only then to be told that you're delayed. Yeah...it was like the day your parents told you that Santa Claus isn't real...the tooth fairy is really your uncle Bob...and...well...you get the point. Shock, depression, anger...

Ordinarily, a 1 1/2 hour delay is a piece of cake. However, what made this day interesting is that, when I and a few other passengers arrived at the top of the jetway, one gate agent whispered to the other agent (in a rather conspiratorial fashion) that, instead of the 8:00 pm delayed departure, "it's really 9:30 pm...but don't tell the passengers."

Now, keeping in mind that our original departure was supposed to be 6:30 pm, perhaps I've become just too jaded of a traveler. Instead of getting angry, I found myself laughing.

In this day and age, not only does it seem to be okay to inconvenience your customer, but, more importantly, it's now apparently okay to lie to your customer. Not only that but, instead of merely lying to the customers, these employees didn't bother to take notice of the customers within earshot.

Now, to me, that's a completely new twist on customer service--lying to your customers so they can hear your lie.

However, that said, it occurred to me as I walked away from the boarding area that when workers wonder why customers become irate, stop coming to their particular store, purchasing their particular product, or eating at their particular establishment, perhaps they should look in the mirror before blaming their employer for their layoff, or "corporate greed" for their unemployment.

I dunno...It's just a thought as I sit here for waiting for another delayed flight to board in an hour and a half (which is really three hours).

So, dear readers, until tomorrow...When I have to board another flight from another airport with, presumably, another delay.

Best wishes for a delay-free week.

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

Friday, April 4, 2008

EOW: End-of-the-Week Union Wrap Up

Dear Readers:

Here's the EmployerReport.com End of the Week (EOW) Wrap-Up for your digestion.
[Following your digestion of this wrap-up, please feel free to regurgitate the news by forwarding this along...]

In a new poll showing how much Big Labor bosses and their political puppets are out of touch with Americans, American Solutions has released a new poll indicating that 79% of Americans support workers' right to decide on unionization through a federally-supervised, secret-ballot election. One surprising aspect of the poll's findings is that 82% of Democrats (5% more than Republicans) support workers' right to decide on unionization through a secret-ballot election. To view the poll results, click here.
Despite the aforementioned poll (and as we've been saying for many months to clients and colleagues), Labor Union Bosses will be spending about $1 BILLION to buy the 2008 election in order to advance their agenda.
This weekend, if you watch the weekend talk shows, you'll be hearing a lot about the Department of Labor's release of the March unemployment rate, which climbed to 5.1%. Given the political climate, we're sure that pandering politicians are going to be all over this, offering much blame with very little by way of meaningful solutions. One note that we've found interesting is that, for years, it was considered common knowledge that a 5% unemployment rate is considered "full employment," which makes one wonder: How much of this campaign-season driven angst is mere hyperbole?
In Virginia, the UAW and Volvo Trucks recently concluded a rather lengthy strike. Now that the strike is over, there is a video out from those good people at the National Right-to-Work Foundation that discusses the brutal intimidation workers suffered at the hands of strikers for choosing to cross the picket line.
In California, SEIU's internal battle for control of the West Coast is heating up as hundreds of SEIU members rallied to oppose a SEIU-imposed take over of United Health-Care Workers-West (their union local).
In Kansas City, proving once again that unions are more interested in dues than workers, unions have succeeded in killing hundreds of potential jobs. Yesterday, after intense union lobbying, the Unified Government Board of Commissioners "once and for all" rejected the latest Sands casino proposal for Kansas City, KS. The problem for the unions is the Sands alleged "anti-union" attitude. The problem for Kansas City residents is that Sands has vowed to take their casino project (and its jobs) to another county.
In New York, teachers at 10 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York have decided to strike over allegations of "unfair labor practices".

On our blog (below), we explore Barak Obama's flirting during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania with the unionized workers at garment-manufacturer Tama Manufacturing Company. While the candidate's flirtatious behavior seemed to catch the attention of Huffington Post bloggers, to us, the real story is how these workers' union (UNITE-HERE) took them out on a 15-week strike last year, costing them more money than if they had accepted management's pre-strike offer.

Additionally, we share with the blogosphere Why Unions Are No Longer Necessary...Or Good for America by drawing attention to James Sherk's superb article on how Labor Unions add to costs and discourage productivity. This article is great brain-food to feast on.

For these and many, many more labor-related news stories, be sure to go to EmployerReport.com.

Please have a great week's end.

Monday, March 31, 2008

It's the Economy, Stupid...

A good Monday to you:

As you begin your work week, we though we'd share some of the news we're posting for you this week:

In the 'It's the Economy, Stupid' Department:

This morning, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, as the Fed is apparently looking into a Nordic-style of nationalization of U.S. Banks, while the Treasury Department is set to announce a whole new slew of regulations we're sure will further encroach upon the already-overly regulated U.S. economy.
As the UAW strike at American Axle drags on well into its second month, causing the closure and unemployment of tens of thousands of GM workers, fears begin emerge that the strike is tipping the U.S. into further recession. Meanwhile, American Axle has begun advertising for replacement workers to begin filling vacancies.
In related news, the United Auto Workers lost another 73,500 members in 2007.
In the Mid-Atlantic states, it appears that grocery chains Safeway and Giant Foods have reached a tentative agreement with the UFCW, averting a strike that would have affected 25,000 workers and hundreds of thousands of shoppers.
In Hollywood, just as the effects of the 100-day long writers' strike begins to wear off, new strike fears emerge as the actors' unions begin their negotiations with conflict between SAG & AFTRA dividing the two unions.

On a Lighter Note...

The Teamsters must be foaming at the mouth right now at Barak Obama. It seems as though the rock-star candidate decided to have a beer while on his campaign swing through Pennsylvania. Problem is, the beer happened to be a Yuengling--a Pennsylvania-brewed beer that just happens to be union-free and the subject of a Teamster boycott.

And, Lastly...

It seems union organizers are so desperate today that they'll go after anyone...including carwash workers. That's right, carwash workers in the City of Angels (Los Angeles)--many of whom are illegal aliens--are being targeted by the AFL-CIO and the Steelworkers to become unionized. After helping to push the steel industry out of the U.S., it's just still too hard for us to imagine that carwash jobs are going to be the type of jobs that union organizers like to boast of as "middle class jobs". Seems more likely that the workers will just be a quick ticket for the union to siphon off more dues.

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

Please have a productive and prosperous week.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

John Dingell's Deadly Idea

During any election cycle, the populace must choose among political candidates, hoping that the candidate chosen will represent the public's views. Often, it doesn't happen. Candidates make promises, then, when elected, promptly ignore the public that elected them.

Here we have a case, well before the election, where the candidate makes a bone-headed proposal clearly designed to hurt the public he serves.

Such is the case of John Dingell (D-MI).

Today, the (dis) honorable Mr. Dingell stated that he wants to see Americans, who are already being strangled by much-too-high gas prices, pay a $0.50 more per gallon tax. All in the name of the saving the planet from those dreaded humans.

As this country is in the midst of economically calamitous times, Mr. Dingell's proposal is, at a minimum, irresponsible. More accurately, however, Mr. Dingell's proposal is a malicious idea designed to hurt American and, especially, his Michigan constituents.

As Michigan struggles more than most states to survive, its ailing auto industry saddled with the United Auto Workers (UAW) and sinking into oblivion, the last thing Michiganders need is a representative that is seeking to destroy more of their jobs. What's more, as American's, we don't need any more "representatives" in Congress that want to harm Americans.

This November, Michiganders need to recall this would-be destroyer of jobs from Washington permanently.

Vote Dingall Out, Michiganders!

Monday, March 3, 2008

NAFTA: The Democrats' Red Herring

As a former union worker whose job was outsourced to Mexico, it has been with some interest that I've been watching Clinton, Obama and the rest of the leftist creed rally the mobs in Ohio (and the rest of the midwest states) about the jobs lost due to NAFTA.

To be sure, there have been jobs lost to NAFTA. However, to use NAFTA in this current political debate is nothing more than a red herring...a politically expedient catchall phrase to get the blue collar class in a frenzied tizzy.

What's even worse is that Mexico is not even the place where jobs have been exported to as of late. The fact of the matter is, years ago, Pakistan, India and China have replaced Mexico as the hot spot for jobs to go.

Hell, if blue collar Americans really stopped to think about it, they'd begin to wonder that if Mexico were still the place for jobs to run to, then why are the Mexicans coming here???

So, why all this demagoguery about NAFTA?

Simply put: It's the left-wing politicians and their union handlers scraping the bottom of the barrel of Americans' xenophobia in an effort to stir votes.

As most (some?) may recall from high school history, America was, in essence, founded as a result of foreign trade. Remember the East India Trading Co? How about Columbus and his search for passage to get spices and such? Let's see, I think it was the Pinta, the Santa Maria and...and... (oh well).

And, for those of us who can remember back before NAFTA was signed, we'll recall that the exportation of jobs started long before Bill Clinton ever signed the treaty. In fact, union bosses know this too, they just don't like to admit it.

However, today, in this polticial season, it is far too convenient for left-wing politicians and their union puppet-masters to blame a trade agreement than it is to accept blame for what has really caused the exportation of jobs to begin with--the role that US labor unions have played in causing unionized companies to become uncompetitive in a global economy.

The term maquiladora has been around long before NAFTA, and the outsourcing of jobs to other countries long before that. [For a quick Wikipedia read on the history of maquiladoras click here.]

In fact, as to the outsourcing of the US steel industry, it began as a result of the Great Steel Strike in 1959--well before NAFTA. However, the Steelworkers don't like to admit that.

In the trucking industry, the advent of lost Teamster jobs wasn't NAFTA and the provision of Mexican trucks crossing our borders. Teamsters began losing membership as a result of Jimmy Carter signing the Motor Carrier Act into law in 1980. Yet Jimmy Hoffa Jr. won't admit that his union made hundreds of trucking companies close in the face of open competition.

How about the telephone industry jobs? NAFTA? Nope. That was judge Harold Green ordering the breakup of Ma Bell in 1983--a full 11 years before Clinton signed NAFTA.

How about the auto industry?....Didn't NAFTA destroy those jobs? Nope. Before Nissan today, there was Datsun in the 1970s, and Toyota isn't Spanish for anything (except maybe Toyota). Unfortunately for the UAW bosses, no matter how hard they try, they can't blame the Mexicans for the consequences of competition with the Japanese.

So, you see, by using NAFTA on the stump as they are, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are doing nothing more than pandering to get votes out of people who are hurting due to the realities of competition.

In the long run, it is these very people who will again be hurt, as neither Clinton nor Obama will be able to unwind the more-than-50-year-old-clock that is globalization.

Oh, by the way, if you're curious, our union jobs were shipped to Mexico in 1992--about a year and a half before NAFTA was signed.
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For more union-related news, go to EmployerReport.com

Sunday, February 10, 2008

KC Dealers Reject UAW Gamble

In a HUGE setback for the UAW (aka United Against Workers), dealers at Kansas City's Argosy Casino Hotel & Spa rejected representation by the ailing auto workers' union by nearly two to one on Saturday night.

The overwhelming 113-68 defeat marks the third time the UAW has been beaten back in its attempt to replace the dues lost in the auto industry with money earned by casino dealers.

Argosy Casino general manager Tom Burke said he was very happy about the results, stated Kansas City.com.

“They lost significantly,” he said. “We’re very, very pleased with the results tonight. Most of all, we are very grateful to our dealers for seeing through the UAW’s negative and divisive tactics in an effort to force its way onto our property, attempting to drive a wedge between us and our dealers.

The UAW's previous election losses in the Casino Industry include Trump Marina in Atlantic City, as well as the Atlantic City Hilton.

In 2007, in an effort to turn around its dramatic membership losses in the auto industry, the UAW began targeting the nation's casino dealers. Despite winning several NLRB elections nearly a year ago, the union has failed to negotiate its own contract for any of the dealers represents.

The one contract in the casino industry the UAW currently has is in Detroit, as the UAW is part of a coalition of several unions that negotiated representation of casino workers as a political deal in that city.

Clearly, the Argosy dealers apparently saw through the UAW's campaign and refused to let this union of unemployed auto workers gamble with their livelihoods.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Will the World End on Super Tuesday?

Depending on your point of view, tomorrow's Super Tuesday results may spell the End of the World as We Know It (and I feel fine), or it may signify the Second Coming of...Something (JFK?)...

In the Land of Obama, for example, there are rumors afloat that Barak Obama may be the reincarnation of (depending on the source) either Bobby Kennedy or John F. Kennedy. Which, if you really think about how it turned out for those two, may not be a good thing for the Left to taint Mr. Obama's karma with.

Of course, re-incarnation rumors are nothing new to the Left, as Hillary Clinton allegedly once reached out to the spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt during Hillary's first (and hopefully her last) years in the White House.

Today, of course, the Drudge Report is reporting that Hillary Health Plan Part Deux, may include garnishing workers' wages to pay for health insurance.

Can someone please click their heels three times and say: "Socialist." to send this lady back to arKansas....and tell her to take her dog Bill too.

Speaking of the Left. Ronn Gettlefinger, the union boss at the UAW, can't figure out which Left-wing candidate to support, so he's holding his cookies until after a nominations are done, so he can throw all of his members' confiscated money to the Democrats. According to the UAW boss, the most any GOP candidate got in the union's internal polling was two percent.

[Boy, we'd like to know how that poll was conducted!]

Speaking of liberals, what is up with John McCain possibly becoming the GOP nomination?!?... and calling himself a 'conservative' to boot!

Did you see the GOP debate last week? It wasn't a debate....It was a contest to see who could invoke Ronald Reagan's name the most. Can it be true that the GOP has nothing left of it but a bunch of goofballs trying to revive a dead guy's record from 30 years ago???

Seriously, is John McCain the best the Grand Old Party can do???

Repeating more times than a sane man should that he "was a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution", this moron of a Manchurian Candidate had the cojones on Sunday to tell the world: "I assume that I will get the nomination."

As they say in the land of the (Super Bowl-winning) New York Giants: "Are you freakin' kiddin me?...Fughedaboudit!"

Ann Coulter is right in saying, "I'd rather deal with President Hillary than President McCain." (Regardles of your opinion of Ms. Coulter, she has a good point, but you'll have to read her article to understand her rationale)

Maybe it is time to put the GOP into the morgue of the political past. Does anyone really think Mitt Romney or that other dude (Huckabug) has a chance against the angry mob that is the Democrat Party and their lunatic-fringe friends on the Left?

[Too bad Ron Paul doesn't have a shot in hell of doing anything other than looking goofy during his rants in the debates.]

We've heard that some libertarian-minded individuals are talking about high-tailing it up to Canada if any of the establishment candidates win...Problem is, Canada is as socialistic as the agenda being pushed here by the Left in the States. So, what good does moving up there do?

Oh. By the way. Why is it that disgruntled Americans always want to run to Canada, anyway? Keep it up, and Canada's going to put up a big wall to keep all of us illegal Americans out!

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