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Individual liberty anywhere is a threat to the Progressive-Collectivist Cause everywhere.
In Ohio, the final vote on SB 5 was 53-44; it’s already passed the Ohio Senate, but changes made to the bill require another quick vote on the legislation either today or tomorrow. This particular legislation goes a bit farther than the groundbreaking Wisconsin union reform bill; it redefines collective bargaining privileges for public sector union employees to cover wages only, institutes merit pay for public sector union workers, and makes strikes by public sector employees illegal. Most interestingly, it extends collective bargaining reforms to police and firefighter unions, which is quite possibly a reaction to the rather contemptible activities and passive-aggressive threats done and made by Big Labor in Wisconsin.(from moelane.com)
Meanwhile, in Indiana the final vote on HB 1216 was 54-44: this reform bill will raise the threshold for union payscales for public work projects from $150,000 to $350,000, and will also no longer require non-union companies to guarantee union jobs on projects in order to bid on them. Entertainingly, this was one of the ostensible reasons that Indiana state representatives hid in Illinois for a month. Short version: it did not end well.
And, of course, a few days ago the Florida state House passed HB 1021, which bans the automatic collection of public sector union dues. Slowly but surely, reform is coming to help embattled states fight the entrenched partisan interests strangling trade and wealth generation from within…
Class struggle(in Marxist ideology) the conflict of interests between the workers and the ruling class in a capitalist society, regarded as inevitably violent.
(from mediatrackers.org)All across Wisconsin, the Wisconsin State Employee Union is circulating a letter demanding that local businesses post a sign in their window that declares their support for “workers rights.” The repercussions of failing to comply with the WSEU is the addition of that business to a boycott list.
After not complying with the union demands, one business received a letter that said:
“It is unfortunate that you have chosen ‘not’ to support public workers rights in Wisconsin. In recent past weeks you have been offered a sign by a public employee…these signs simply said, ‘This Business Supports Workers Rights,’ a simple, subtle and we feel non-controversial statement gives the facts at this time.”
Yeah, nothing controversial about that.
Jim Parrett, Field Representative for AFSCME Council 24, is quoted in the article complaining about “threatening phone calls.” The irony is striking given that Mr. Parrett is part of a mechanism whose main goal is to threaten, bully, and intimidate businesses.
In the article, Parrett directs all questions to Marty Beil, the now notorious head of the Wisconsin State Employee Union. This signals that this campaign of threats against businesses is orchestrated from the top and represents a statewide strategy by labor unions to pit Wisconsinites against one another using the rhetoric of class warfare.
By demanding that businesses place these signs in their window or face the consequences is something right out of Orwell. In these troubled economic times, Wisconsinites ought not be looking to hurt one another through vindictive actions such as boycotts that could lead to layoffs or even small businesses closing their doors.
This type of intimidation will not overturn the Budget Repair Bill, recall Scott Walker, or recall the State Senate. It will only serve to hurt people and drive a wedge further between the people of Wisconsin. It is now clear more than ever that this battle is less and less about workers, and all about union bosses and their fear of losing dues and power. Hence, these shameful tactics.
The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission to relieve rampant unemployment (1933)
German Gestapo organize the first deportation of 5,000 Jews from Stanislawow ghetto to Belzec death camp (1942)
The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first spaceprobe to enter orbit around the Moon (1966)
b: César Chávez (1927), Al Gore (1938), Barney Frank (1940), Patrick Leahy (1940); d: Eleanor Marx (1898), Bella Abzug (1998)
It’s been established that when the Obama administration can’t get part of its agenda legislated; they simply turn around and push it through the web-like bureaucracy at their disposal. Last year’s failed pro-union legislation was no exception; when ‘card check’ met a dead end in Congress, obscure government agencies like the National Mediation Board (NMB) put rules in place to ensure that unionizing elections swung in the unions’ favor anyway.(from biggovernment.com)The NMB was created by that union-hating, capitalist pig Franklin Delano Roosevelt to oversee union elections in the air and rail industries. Under Obama, the board made its first pro-active rule in over 75 years of existence, changing the way union votes are counted to enable an entire workforce to be forced to unionize by a minority of votes.
The House has an opportunity to pass legislation that will turn back the clock on the administration’s overstepping of its boundaries, and send a strong “game over” message to the union bosses counting on the Democrats to line their pockets. Namely, the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act, which includes a provision to overturn the NMB’s new rule and re-instate the system that has worked for decades.
The airline workers want this, and with a Republican majority in the House it should be a sure thing, right? Well, it’s not that easy. A handful of House Republicans, largely in union-heavy districts, are clearly more concerned with their re-election than with the mandate of fiscal responsibility and smaller government that put them in power in the first place.
Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH), along with Democrat Jerry Costello, is trying to tack on an amendment taking the teeth out of the legislation. In a letter to the other Members, they claim that rolling back the new NMB rule “would jeopardize the fairness of union representation elections.” So essentially what they’re saying is that a policy upheld under such Presidents as FDR, Truman, Carter, and Clinton was somehow unfair to unions?
Other key Republican fence sitters include Reps. Mary Bono-Mack (CA-45), Ilena Ros-Lentinen (FL-18), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21), David Rivera (FL-25), Joe Walsh (IL-8), Robert Dold (IL-10), Judy Biggert (IL-13), Bobby Schilling (IL-17), Ed Whitfield (KY-1), Jo Ann Emerson (MO-8), Jon Runyan (NJ-3), Leonard Lance (NJ-7), Michael Grimm (NY-13), Michael Turner (OH-3), Steve Austria (OH-7), Steve Stivers (OH-15), Jim Gerlach (PA-6), Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8), Todd Platts (PA-19), David McKinley (WV-1).
Gov. Scott Walker's administration no longer is collecting dues on behalf of state unions and, as of Sunday, is charging employees more for their pensions and health care, even though nonpartisan legislative attorneys say the changes are not yet law.(from jsonline.com)
Backing up the administration, the state Department of Justice argued that the new law - which eliminates most collective bargaining for public workers - is in effect and asked a judge to vacate a restraining order against the law. Meanwhile, a Dane County prosecutor asked a judge to declare that the law is not now in place.
Highlighting the different legal interpretations, some local governments are not implementing the new law for their employees. Officials with the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County said they are waiting for answers from courts before making any changes on benefits and union dues.
Troy Merryfield issued a statement the day after the Greater Wisconsin Committee’s ad was released, calling the ad "offensive, inaccurate and out of context." The statement said the sheriff’s 2002 investigation resulted in charges because he and his brother were able to provide more detailed information about Feeney’s actions than they did when Prosser handled the case in 1978, and that, as adults, they were more comfortable about testifying.(from politifact.com)
Todd Merryfield told PolitiFact Wisconsin he stands by his brother’s statement condemning the ad and agreed it should no longer be aired.
So, where does all of this leave us?