EmployerReport.com EOW: Is Change Afoot?

Dear readers:

Before sharing some of the top news we're posting for you on EmployerReport.com, we'd like to give a hearty welcome to our new e-mail update subscribers. As most of our readers already know, EmployerReport.com was launched on Labor Day 2006 to provide a free news-posting web site to awaken the public to the radical agenda of today's union bosses, including the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act. Although we strive hard to update EmployerReport.com daily (M-F), our updates are sent out only as time and news warrant.

To that end, we're pleased to announce that, over these past two years, we've had more than 27,000 hits to EmployerReport.com, as well as received many compliments from the readers of our blog (as well as the occasional misguided insult from the occasional union junkie). While we had hoped that more people over these past two years would visit EmployerReport.com, we are mindful that our site is not one of those compensable enterprises launched to be profitable and is run with minimal monetary investment and a whole lot time. Alas, unlike unions which are spending $1 billion to take over the U.S. government, ours is a labor of...er...necessity to do our part to counter the union-made propaganda.

Now, on to the news...

While we have far too many stories posted on EmployerReport.com to report on here, there are several that have piqued our interest:

On Politics...

• Today, Hillary Clinton supporters have even more to be angry about than the primary loss of their candidate as politico.com is reporting that the Democrat Dream Ticket of Obama & Clinton was never even under consideration as the Obama campaign never bothered to ask Clinton for a "single piece of paper" to 'vet' her for the position of veep.


• As Democrats conventioneers head to Denver for their party's party, it would appear that the DNC convention will be more union convention than a politcal party's convention, as the AFL-CIO is boasting that 25% of convention delegates will be union members, while we believe it is demonstrative of the DNC's abhorrence of American business, the National Review is reporting that not a single businessman, entrepreneur, or private sector innovator will be speaking during the DNC's confab.


• ...And in the who-would-have-thought-it-was-possible category, a new Reuters/Zogby poll has GOP candidate John McCain up by 5%...


• This leads us to an observation we've been making over the past few weeks: Unlike other presidential elections in the past, we've noticed a large lacking of political bumper stickers on cars, trucks and the like. In fact, after just returning from a 1,000 mile ride to Maine and back, among all of the vehicles we passed to and fro that chilly state, we counted a mere three Obama bumper stickers and NO McCain stickers the entire trip. (We'd like to know: Are you observing the same phenom?)


• Speaking of Maine: Our trip to Maine was taken for both business and pleasure (ie. the ability to ride the Harleys to points far away is a powerful motivator) and it pleased us to see within 30 minutes of hotel check-in three ads targeting the anti-secret ballot/pro-EFCA senatorial candidate in that state (you can view the ad by going here). This gives us some hope that people are starting to wake up to Big Labor's scheme to unionize America's workers through the elimination of a secret-ballot election. As many of our readers already know, and a few new ones may not, the battle as to whether the moronically-named Employee Free Choice Act passes may hinge on the ability for the GOP to filibuster this job-killing legislation while union bosses are trying to reduce the number of GOP senators to make the Senate "filibuster proof." [Note to those of you who, like us, slept through high school civics: If the GOP falls below 40 seats in the Senate and Obama wins the White House, EFCA will pass unhindered and you can expect markets to plummet and more jobs to disappear.]

EFCA Update:

• Yesterday, according to the NAM's ShopFloor, union junkies were up to their normal shenanigans trying to intimidate pro-secret-ballot ralliers.


• A video you need to pass along: Although we lean very much toward the Libertarian mindset, this video was posted by the NRSC a few weeks ago, we've been shocked that only 3,400 people have viewed it. If you haven't seen the video, you need to. Once you've seen it, you should pass it along...because it is the clearest video out there to demonstrate the importance of this election. This, by the way, is not an endorsement of the NRSC or that party, it is just an excellent video on EFCA. This and most other good EFCA-related videos are posted on EmployerReport.com' EFCA page.

As stated above, there are far too many stories posted on EmployerReport.com to list here so you are encouraged to peruse EmployerReport.com to read them. However, here are a few that you might find of interest:

• SEIU MEMBERS VOTE TO STRIKE LAX...


• 'SEIU is corrupt,' says rival union's ads...


• SEIU used students 'like pawns,' say student activists...


• Duuude: UNITE-HERE protests new luxury hotel in Santa Cruz...


• Another racist union member hangs another noose in Philly...


• FUNERAL HELD FOR STRIKER, AS PARTIES AGREE TO MEDIATION...


• Final Countdown: Boeing and IAM in round-the-clock negotiations...


• CARPENTERS' UNION THUGS BEAT MEMBER OUTSIDE OF CHURCH...

...and one from last week that we believe bears repeating and passing along to your friends in "right-to-work" states...

• EMPLOYER ALERT: BILL TO ELIMINATE RIGHT-TO-WORK STATES SECRETLY INTRODUCED IN HOUSE...

On our blog, you'll find this story around some others we've posted: BLOG: Wal-Mart's Fight For the Truth Should be YOUR Fight Too...

With that, dear readers, we wish you a very best of weekends.

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

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

CHANGE TO WIN SHAKE-UP-UPDATE: DEMOCRACY IN UNIONS IS DEAD...

THIS IS AN UPDATE ON THE POST FROM EARLIER TODAY:

Democracy is DEAD in unions. If anyone disbelieves this, all you need to do is point to today's actions of the union bosses controlling the Change to Win federation. Not only did they hand-pick the original leader of their federation, Greg Tarpinian, they got rid of him AND they hand-picked his successor--ALL WITHOUT THEIR MEMBERS VOTING OR HAVING ANY VOICE IN THE MATTER AT ALL.

According to left-wing writer John Tasini (on Tarpinian's own Labor Research Association's Working Life blog), Greg Tarpinian's replacement, Chris Chafe, the new-handpicked ED at Change to W(h)in(e), is a real mensch.

Apparently, Tasini received an e-mail from his "mensch" this morning before the rest of the world knew that Tarpinian was out and Chafe was in, boasting that he "will be announced as the new Executive Director at Change to Win, a labor federation of the SEIU, UNITE HERE, the UFCW, LIUNA, Teamsters, Carpenters, and United Farm Workers, representing six million workers across the US. My appointment will begin in July, and I am honored and excited by this new challenge, and humbled by the CTW Leadership Council's confidence in me."

Obviously, the six million rank-and-file workers represented by these politburo-bred, baby bureaucrats have no idea, no voice and no say on these appointments--as they didn't with the break-up of the AFL-CIO.

Additionally, in the off chance the six million members actually know who Greg Tarpinian or Chris Chafe are, if the recent dictator-like actions of SEIU boss Andy Stern against SEIU's internal dissidents are any indicator, the members have no ability to oppose these top-down decisions either.

Like most leftists, apparently today's union bosses don't get the correlation between themselves and other leftist leaders like Chavez, Castro, Mao, Stalin, Stern...and the list goes on.

It is little wonder they want to end workers' right to vote on unionization entirely through their hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act.

THE CURIOUS CASE AS TO WHY LABOR'S KARL ROVE GOT DUMPED: BIG Shake-Up at Change to Win as Tarpinian Steps Down

CHANGE TO WIN'S PROM KING GETS DUMPED.
Perhaps size does matter afterall?

Three years after orchestrating the biggest shake-up of the American labor movement in decades (yet producing very LITTLE results), the Change to Win federation announced this afternoon that Greg Tarpinian (pictured on left showing the size of something), the group's Executive Director since the union insurgency broke away from the AFL-CIO in 2005, will be stepping down.

TARPINIAN: LABOR'S KARL ROVE. Tarpinian, a labor union consultant who was not elected by any rank-and-file union members, assumed his appointed role in 2005 as one of the architects of the AFL-CIO break-up after hanging out with one of the bad boys of the union movement: Jimmy Hoffa Jr. Although Hoffa Jr is, admittedly, not as cool as his old man was, he's got good creds with his name, so Tarpinian grabbed onto Jimmy's coattails in 1996 and has been riding them ever since.

In addition to his role as the insurgent federation's executive director, Tarpinian is also President of the Labor Research Association and President of LRA Consulting and, according to Change to Win's Department of Labor filings, has been 'back charging' the union federation for his time as Executive Director.

According to the C2W top cheerleader and SEIU siren Anna Burger: "Greg Tarpinian's vision was instrumental in the creation of Change to Win. He has played a leading role in the development and unity of Change to Win over the last three years and has won the respect of labor leaders throughout the country for his leadership in shaping the movement to restore the American Dream."

Curious. Since Tarpinian was one of the original architects of the break-up of the AFL-CIO, we're wondering why it sounds to us like Ms. Burger and her clique got tired of Tarpinian and kicked him to the curb. (Maybe Biff couldn't deliver on his promises and Anna and the girls got bored?...Hmmm.)

To be sure, the whole break-up and union rivalry hasn't gone all that well for the Change to Win gang.

In fact, following the AFL-CIO's 2006 mid-term election victory, it would be safe to say that the Change to Win strategy has been nothin' but a Change to LOSE strategy. We've even pointed that out on a couple of occasions, urging quarterback Andy Stern to make amends with his old coach.

Maybe The Architect just got unpopular with the bosses?

Prior to his coronation to his prom king role as head of the Change to Win gang, Tarpinian was a staunch supporter of and advisor to current Teamster president, Jim Hoffa, Jr. (pictured on left with C2w'S Anna Burger and Tarpinian), as evidenced by his Letter to the Editor published in the Sept. 7, 2000 edition of the Nation, wherein he wrote:

As someone who has worked closely with Hoffa over the years, I always found it difficult to hear the trite stereotypes used by those who were bent on maintaining their power under a veneer of progressivism.

In addition to his ties to union bosses, Tarpinian also helped run Republican George Pataki's re-election campaign in 2002.

But, Tarpinian also had his detractors, like the rank-and-file members from the Teamsters for a Democratic Union who, in 2005, wrote:

Do you know Greg Tarpinian? If you careabout your union, you should. He’s
practically running it. And you are paying him millions of dollars to do it.

Tarpinian is a labor consultant in New York. He attached himself to Hoffa back in 1996 when he campaigned for him, along with another consultant, Richard Leebove of Detroit. He’s wiggled upward ever since.

His long time close associates have eased into key positions of power. Leo Deaner, a Tarpinian associate for many years, is Hoffa’s new Executive Assistant....

Tarpinian gets big bucks to do dog-and-pony shows at the IBT Convention and Unity Conferences, and he’ll get a lot more PR and “education” money now. In return, he holds banquets in New York to give awards to Hoffa and Tom Keegel, who sign the checks to his consulting company. What goes around comes around. What’s going around is your money.

Tarpinian wrote the plan and the script for the Teamsters to leave the AFL-CIO and join Change to Win, which also pays Tarpinian big bucks.

Most importantly, he is guiding the direction of the Teamsters Union. Remember when Jim Hoffa charged that Ron Carey had outsiders (“SEIU”, “mineworkers,” etc.) in positions of power?

Now we have a New York consultant running our union, who only bothers to speak to Teamsters when he has his hand out for money.

According to the Change to Win press release this afternoon, Tarpinian will be replaced by Chris Chafe, another non-elected staffer who served as Chief of Staff and Political Director from UNITE-HERE before becoming former presidential candidate John Edwards' senior adviser on labor.

While we're not exactly sure why Tarpinian, a Hoffa devotee, is being kicked to the the proverbial trashheap and replaced by another non-elected appointee from another union in the union federation, you can be sure EmployerReport.com will bring it to you as soon as we know.

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

CHANGE TO WIN BOSSES BLOW IT BIG TIME BACKING THE WRONG DUDE...

On March 5th, AFSCME boss Gerald McEntee told the AFL-CIO Executive Committee in San Diego: ``We kicked Andy's ass from one end of Ohio to the other, and in Texas, too.''

With that in mind, please allow us to be blunt: The Change to Win bosses (that Gang of Seven) got their asses kicked tonight in Pennsylvania (again).

After breaking up the House of Labor, their boss of bosses being accused of top-down management, anti-democratic hostile takeovers, and now embroiled in another inter-union fight, SEIU members and their "brothers" and "sisters" in the Change to Win federation have one more thing to be ashamed of tonight:

The union bosses have picked the wrong presidential primary candidate again...

Remember President Howard Dean? Oh yeah, the SEIU's Andy Stern (the ringleader in the Gang of Seven) bet big on him too during the '04 primaries.

Although the Pennsylvania primary results are still coming in, Hillary has beaten Barak in another big key state. The question is: By how much? (Click here to go Pennsylvania's Official Election Page.)

This evening, SEIU's website still has a page posted boasting SEIU Members: Making the Difference in Pennsylvania, then listing all of the actions that the SEIU has had its members do for Obama, such as:

• More than 3,000 SEIU members working directly to contact voters door-to-door or over the phone
• Extensive statewide TV ad featuring SEIU members and other workers on the air 4/17 through 4/22
• SEIU members leafleted at a Philadelphia gas station on 4/17 to inform voters about Obama’s plan to reduce gas prices
• More than 150,000 doors knocked and 17 waves of direct mail to hundreds of thousands of Democratic households
• SEIU President Andy Stern, Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger and Pennsylvania State Council President Eileen Connelly have been campaigning across the state to turn out the vote for Obama
• Stern, Burger and Connelly introduced Obama at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO 38th Constitutional Convention
• Burger and Connelly participating in an Election Day rally on Obama’s plans to turn around the economy
• SEIU members canvassing alongside thousands of Change to Win union members in numerous cities

Now, add the SEIU's partners in the Change to Whine federation, the Teamsters, UNITE-HERE, Carpenters, UFCW, Laborers, and UFW--all of them backing Obama--and that's a lot of members' time and dues money wasted. Obama outspent Clinton three to one in the Keystone State.

And, since 32% of Pennsylvania's union members dominated by Change to Whine unions, it appears that all their union dues have gone to back another candidate who starts strong and fizzles at the end...

Hillary should be happy that Change to Whine is in Obama's camp, as they haven't picked a winner yet, and it appears their track record at picking candidates may fail again

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.

Barak Obama Flirts with Union Workers Earning Poverty Wages

Flirting and sweet-talking women who make less than poverty wages (but pay their fair share of union dues) doesn't seem to be below Barak Obama's standards of campaign mores.

According to a Huffington Post, Hillary Clinton's uber-nemesis was visiting a company called Tama Manufacturing near Allentown, Pennsylvania yesterday when he decided to shed his decorum to 'chat up the ladies'...

Obama lavished compliments on dancewear manufacturer Marisa Cerveris, who gave him a black and pink leotard for [Obama's daughters] Malia and Sasha, explaining she was once in the New York City ballet. "You look like you might be a dancer," Obama told her, later adding: "You're big time."

"You're gorgeous," he told Cerveris after glancing at one of her old ballet photos.

"I was," she replied.

"You still are," he countered, asking the crowd, "Isn't she beautiful?" and answering
his own question: "Absolutely."

While this seems to be news to the Huffington Post, the real story is the fact that Tama Manufacturing Company is a garment manufacturer whose employees are represented by UNITE-HERE.

Unlike most garment manufacturers that have left the United States, Tama is still trying to survive in the good old US of A. However, like the majority of U.S. companies in an ever-increasingly unfriendly climate, Tama is facing ever-rising health care costs.

Last year, when it went to negotiate a new contract with the union, the Company asked the unionized workers to pick up a portion of their health care costs.

That did not sit well with the union or the workers so they struck....For 15 weeks.

Since, according to press reports, the average unionized worker at Tama makes about $18,000 a year, for a worker trying to support a family these union wages are lower than poverty level wages, according to the US Dept of Health & Human Services. For the Tama workers making $10.50 an hour, by striking, each worker gave up around $6,300 (not counting overtime).

Since the union ultimately settled the strike with the workers contributing $50 a month toward their health care--the Company had been asking for $170 a month in employee contributions--the union's strike still cost each striker around $2,000 more over the life of the contract than if they had accepted the Company's original offer. In addition to continuing to pay hundreds of dollars per year in union dues, the unionized workers lost a wage increase as part of the settlement.

For his part, though, Obama praised Tama Manufacturing as a success story saying, "I'm glad to see we still have a good company here with a good owner looking after his workers."

It's too bad their union wasn't doing the same.

Vegas union fix for Obama is in...

As most of our readers can attest, we're no fan of Her Highness Hillary. However, Obama and Edwards are not much better, in our opinion.

That said, even the most novice political observer should be able to recognize the rigging of Nevada's caucus by Obama's backers. Following Obama's first national union endorsement by UNITE-HERE, the union that essentially controls the Vegas strip, as well as the endorsement of Nevada's SEIU, Barak has almost assuredly won the Nevada caucus.

Here's why:

LAS VEGAS -- Next Saturday, gamblers at the Bellagio, the opulent Las Vegas casino immortalized in the George Clooney blockbuster "Ocean's Eleven," will be treated to an unusual sight.

Just before noon, the hotel's dishwashers, cocktail waitresses, porters and bellhops will go on break and gather in a 30,000-square-foot ballroom to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama or maybe John Edwards to be the Democratic nominee for president.

A similar scene will play out in eight other casinos on or near Las Vegas's Strip as Democrats caucus in Nevada, the next stop in the party's fiercely competitive presidential race.

However, this is not sitting pretty with Her Highness or her backers.

The same day, another union -- the Nevada State Education Association -- contended that Obama and the culinary workers are altogether too friendly, and asked a federal court to shut down the casino caucus sites because, the association said, they give preferential treatment to culinary union members.

Culinary officials have been prepping their union's members on caucus rules-- the doors close promptly at noon, and no late attendance, for example -- at meetings for months. Although their endorsement of Obama came late, they predict a near-united front for him, adhering to the labor movement's notion that division weakens a union's hand, whether in contract bargaining or politics.

(Excerpted from the Washington Post)

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

Change to Win is losing more elections than the AFL-CIO

An interesting statistic was recently reported by the Bureau of National Affairs that calls into question the whole Change to Win defection from the AFL-CIO.

Most readers may recall that the entire engineered split from the AFL-CIO that occurred in 2005 was over the issue of how unions spent money on organizing. Change to Win's chief architects, SEIU's Andy Stern, UFCW's Joe Hansen, UNITE-HERE's Bruce Raynor, and Teamsters honcho Jimmy Hoffa, as well as Laborers' boss Terry O'Sullivan (who defected later) all whined about how the John Sweeney regime was spending too much on politics and not enough on organizing.

Well, one would think that the Change to W(h)in(e) gang would be able to brag that its efforts are paying off. But, alas, this is not the case.

According to BNA, citing National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election result reports for the first half of 2007:

AFL-CIO-affiliated unions won 56.6 percent of the 350 elections in which they participated in the first six months of 2007, compared with 60.1 percent of 398 elections in the first half of 2006. Whereas Change to Win-affiliated unions only won 53.1 percent of the 343 elections in which they participated in the first half of 2007.

What makes matters worse for the Change to Whiners is the fact that they only unionized 10,912 workers, compared to the AFL-CIO's 12,493.

On top of that, Sweeney can now boast of expanding his control of the Democratic Party as a result of the November 2006 mid-term election.

To us, it appears as though Andy & Gang are wearing more than a little egg on their face, while Sweeney has earned a big belly laugh at his former protege's expense.

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Union Organizers are 'Salespeople,' says UNITE-HERE

What may seem to be obvious to some, a major union has confirmed for all: Union organizers are salespeople. Their job is to "sell" workers on becoming unionized.

This now-undisputable affirmation was the topic of a recent lawsuit filed by union organizers against their employer, UNITE-HERE, for overtime pay.

Trenette Savage, a union organizer with UNITE-HERE, along with seven other organizers (who either withdrew or had their suits dimissed) sued her employer for overtime pay.

According to Savage's attorney Gregory Lisi (as reported through Portfolio Media), people in Savage's position, who sometimes work 80-hour weeks, are exactly the type of employees that the FLSA is meant to protec.

“Their job is to go around and do the grunt work for the union,” said Lisi. “They don't make any policy decision for the unions or anything like that.”

“It's a funny case, in that the unions are supposed to be protecting their workers,” Lisi added. “But in this case, they're not.”

However, according to UNITE-HERE's motion for summary judgment (view here) Savage is an exempt outside sales person.

“Although union organizers are not usually thought of as salespeople in the conventional sense of for-profit retail sales, the essential duties of the position are functionally equivalent to those making outside sales people exempt from overtime,” according to UNITE HERE.

TELL US SOMETHING WE DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW...

MAYBE MS. SAVAGE AND HER FELLOW ORGANIZERS SHOULD HAVE JOINED A UNION INSTEAD OF WORKED FOR ONE.

Hillary Clinton: Her Highness' Hypocrisy is Incredible

According to Real Clear Politics, Hillary Clinton is still the Democratic front-runner, ahead of Barak Obama by a polling average of more than 8 points.

Yet, this lead still has Her Highness' advisors worried, as she stumps across the country jockeying for the house she once occupied.

In recent weeks, however, Her Highness Hillary has come under fire with one of her chief constituencies--union bosses--for her apparent hypocrisy.

It seems that one of Hillary's high advisors, Mark Penn, has been found to have a somewhat dubious profession--that of a union buster. To be fair, Mr. Penn has not himself actually been accused of union busting, only the firm of which he heads, Burton-Marstellar.

This has union bosses Jimmy Hoffa Jr. of the Teamsters, and Bruce Raynor of UNITE-HERE unsettled to the point they sent Her Highness a letter, stating that they found Mr. Penn's firm’s “activities in the effort to undermine workers’ right to organize at Cintas, a campaign our unions are involved in....particularly disheartening.” (To view the full text of the letter click here.)

To appease the union bosses, Mr. Penn--while refusing to step down from his lucrative post as CEO of Burton-Marstellar--has recused himself "from working on any management-side labor relations work."

How convenient...

One might ask: Is this forever, or only until he puts Her Highness into the White House???

Penn's move to distance himself from one of his firm's specialties smacks of more liberal hypocrisy. While he says he won't work on any union avoidance campaigns, he'll still reap the profits from his firm's work!

And what has been the response from union bosses?...SILENCE.

In the meantime, Her Highness goes out spreading her vision of "it-takes-a-village" brand of socialism.

This past weekend, Her Highness sucked-up to a bunch of AFL-CIOers in Michigan, stating that the nation must boost its manufacturing....(!)

"If we don't have a strong manufacturing base in our economy, it won't be long until we don't have a strong economy," the Democratic presidential candidate said.


WAIT A G**DAMN MINUTE!!!!


Wasn't it her husband that signed the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) into law while she was sharing the same White House and, presumably, the same bedroom???

Isn't NAFTA the law that unions claim caused the loss of all those union jobs in the manufacturing sector?

And now, Her Highness is saying we've got to build our manufacturing base??? Where was she when Bill signed NAFTA?...Out Smoking Puppy Chow?!?

And what does her union allies have to say about this latest splooge of Hillary Hypocrisy?

According to Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney, Clinton delivered a strong message.


"I think she set herself up as a very credible labor candidate," he said. "She showed she understands our issues, as well as agrees with our issues." [Emphasis added.]


NOW, THAT IS TRULY INCREDIBLE!!!


If union bosses are that stupid, they REALLY don't deserve to represent American workers!