NC Protests the Latest Showing of Big Labor's Push Into South

National Legal and Policy Center, by Paul Chesser, February 13, 2014

A Saturday march in Raleigh, NC, that consisted of participants from dozens of left-wing groups – many bused in from more than 30 states – marked a new level of effort by national organized labor to assert itself in the South.

The recognized leader of the demonstration is the president of the North Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Rev. William Barber (in photo, on right), who recently received national media attention for his remark that black conservatives – such as South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott – are “ventriloquists’ dummies” for the Tea Party. Barber last year conducted a series of “Moral Mondays” protests in the state capital against changes in state law that lowered taxes and limited the growth of government.

But unions have provided extra forces in opposition to the newly Republican-controlled state legislature and governorship. North Carolina, the most ardent right-to-work state in the nation, has become a top target for Big Labor, which has a stated goal to “Organize the South or Die.”

CONTINUED! 

The Washington Times: Union fight pits rights of free speech, private land

With a full complement of members after President Obama’s recent recess appointments, the National Labor Relations Board could soon rule on a closely watched labor law case with major implications for property rights, union organizing tactics and even what workers can write about on their company email accounts.


In 2005, Roundy's Supermarkets Inc., ordered members of the company’s construction union, the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council, to leave its parking lots for urging customers to boycott the stores and shop elsewhere in the midst of a fierce labor dispute.

The union was upset that nonunion contractors, which the union claimed was not paying prevailing area standard wages and benefits, were building stores and expanding or remodeling existing stores for the Milwaukee-based chain.

The union set up protests in the parking lots at 26 Roundy's stores, both leased and company-owned sites. Protesters distributed handbills and offered coupons redeemable at competitor grocery stores.

After Roundy's officials ordered police to remove protesters who were not company employees, the union filed a complaint with the NLRB. The case has bounced between an administrative law judge and the agency, and legal analysts say the NLRB could issue a ruling this year. The agency declined to comment because the decision is pending.


Labor and management groups are closely watching the case, which pits basic rights to free speech and public protest against equally fundamental rights regarding private property.

The ruling is likely to set precedents for organizing battles.

CONTINUED:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/12/union-fight-pits-rights-of-free-speech-private-lan/

Morning Bell: Beneath Growth, a Sea of Poison

January 6, 2012

Today’s jobs report from the Department of Labor was encouraging news for the U.S. economy. It shows that 200,000 jobs were created and the unemployment rate ticked down from 8.7 percent to 8.5 percent. Jobs were created in every sector of the economy save one — government! This report is consistent with other economic indicators and shows that the economy is finally coming out of its malaise. But like any reports, they must be put into context. The creation of 200,000 new jobs is solid growth and above the 130,000 to 150,000 new jobs that must be created to keep up with population growth. However, this doesn’t mean happy times are here again.


There are not enough Americans working or looking for work. In fact participation in the labor force is at its lowest point in 30 years as many potential workers are not yet even attempting to find jobs. Moreover, at this stage in a recovery, new jobs should be surging instead of averaging less than 140,000 for the last three months. So all is not well and President Obama should not check the “mission accomplished” box. In fact, Obama’s painful economic policies will only serve to further hamstring America’s economic engine, thereby preventing a truly strong, vibrant economy that the country is capable of having.

The President single-handedly unleashed another poison pill on Wednesday with the White House’s announcement that he will exact another illegal, unconstitutional end-run around Congress with the appointment of three new members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) without Senate approval, all of whom are union officials. Here’s why that matters.

The NLRB is a five-member board that is responsible for investigating unfair labor practices, creating labor-related rules, and conducting elections for labor union representation. Last year the NLRB enacted measures shortening union elections to as little as 14 days, limiting employees’ ability to hear from both sides before they vote, allowing unions to cherry-pick which workers in a company can vote on unionizing, and preventing workers from insisting on a secret ballot in union drives, as Heritage’s James Sherk explains. These measures will make it much easier for unions to organize workers — but at the expense of workers’ rights. If workers want to join a union they have that right — management gets the union it deserves — but the government should not limit their rights in order to press workers into unionizing.

Prior to the President’s appointments, the NLRB had only three sitting members, with the one member’s term ending at the end of 2012. Were the NLRB to go down to two members, it wouldn’t have a quorum to conduct its business, meaning that the President’s Big Labor agenda couldn’t be enacted. Now, though, the President has appointed three new members who will undoubtedly carry out his agenda without any checks or balances.

And that agenda is to bolster America’s unions — a key constituency and political force standing behind the President. Unfortunately, their goal is not primarily to protect workers. The trouble is that the Big Labor agenda is fundamentally at odds with the pro-growth agenda that America is so thirsty for. Sherk explains:

CONTINUED:
http://blog.heritage.org/2012/01/06/morning-bell-beneath-growth-a-sea-of-poison/

N.C. GOP presses Democrats to hire locals for convention

The Democratic National Committee's pledge to use union contractors at its 2012 convention in Charlotte, N.C., is getting pushback from Republican state lawmakers who say the practice is undercutting local companies.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/4/nc-gop-presses-democrats-to-hire-locals-for-conven/

ACTION ALERT FROM AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY

AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY

Despite overwhelming public opposition, the NLRB plans to move ahead with its “ambush” union elections rule. Recently, they announced they will finalize the rule on November 30, which is this Wednesday.


Congress must STOP the NLRB from imposing “ambush elections”! Supposedly designed to “streamline” union election procedures and limit unnecessary litigation, the NLRB’s rule would in fact cause the timeline for a union election to shrink from an average of 38 days to as little as 10 days. This would effectively deny employers time to reach out to their employees when union organizers can work behind the scenes for months beforehand, and it would deny employees time to consider all the arguments in favor and in opposition to organizing into a union.

The NLRB, currently packed with former union attorneys, believes unions aren’t winning enough elections across the country, and are imposing these new rules to dramatically tilt the playing field in favor of their former union pals.

Rep. John Kline (R-MN) and other members of the House of Representatives are fighting back. In October the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, H.R. 3094, was introduced to put a stop to these “ambush” elections, and now the bill will likely receive a vote in the House as soon as THIS WEEK.

Congress must STOP the NLRB from imposing “ambush elections”! Click below to take action!

http://prosperityactions.com/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=5oJELSPwFhJWG&b=6074153&aid=516909&tr=y&auid=9915546

‘Forced Unionization’: SEIU Collects Union Dues From Disabled Kids’ Medicaid Checks

November 16, 2011

Robert and Patricia Haynes take care of their two children, who at the ages of 30 and 34 are more like children in adult bodies. That’s because they both have cerebral palsy, and rely on their parents to feed and change them — and likely will for the rest of their lives.


The Haynes family receives monthly checks from the state through Medicaid, allowing the parents to care for their son and daughter themselves instead of institutionalizing them. But because a Michigan law classifies Robert and Patricia as “home health care workers,” they are considered public workers and therefore automatic union members — meaning the SEIU gets a $30 cut of the family’s Medicaid subsidy as union dues.

“We’re not home health care providers — we’re parents taking care of our children,” Melissa Haynes told Detroit Fox affiliate WJBK-TV:  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/forced-unionization-seiu-collects-union-dues-from-disabled-kids-medicaid-checks/

Obama Stands In the Way of Job Creation, Where Does Governor Perdue Stand?

Will Governor Perdue Stand Up to Obama and Labor Unions to Protect North Carolina’s Economic Future?  (I think we know the answer to that!)

For Immediate Release Contact: NCGOP Press Office
Thursday, July 28, 2011 (919) 424-5555

RALEIGH, NC – President Obama’s appointees at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have sued Boeing to prevent it from building a new plant in South Carolina, a right to work state. An editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal highlights the battle pitting Boeing, a private company committed to creating jobs, against the White House, the NLRB and their labor union allies.


In a statement, North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes urged Governor Perdue to step up and join other right to work governors in rejecting President Obama’s and the NLRB’s meddling with private companies and right to work states: “A number of governors in right to work states have stepped up to protect jobs. What is Governor Perdue waiting for? Now is the time for Governor Beverly Perdue to show real leadership by calling on President Obama to oppose the NLRB’s gross overreach and protect North Carolina’s economic future.”


The White House vs. Boeing
Wall Street Journal Editorial


July 28, 2011


Teenagers in the 1960s listened to Beatles records backwards in search of hidden meanings—a trick akin to the task of deciphering President Obama's statements on the battle between Boeing and the National Labor Relations Board. Since the NLRB sued the airplane company in April to prevent it from building a new plant in South Carolina, Mr. Obama's position has alternated between silent and incomprehensible.


At a press conference in June, the mellifluous one said he felt that "as a general proposition, companies need to have the freedom to relocate." In case anyone mistook that as a full-throated defense of a business's right to expand its operations and hire workers in any state it likes, Mr. Obama also emphasized that the NLRB is an "independent" agency and that the issue is being decided by a judge.


Finally on Tuesday, we got the straight story. In a formal statement of Administration policy, the White House opposed a bill sponsored by South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott that would reduce the power of the NLRB and prohibit it "from ordering any employer to relocate, shut down, or transfer employment under any circumstance." Translation: Mr. Obama intends to guard the NLRB for his union allies, but if no one notices, all the better.



In opposing the bill, the White House says "The [National Labor Relations Act] does not restrict the location of company operations, provided companies comply with the law." But companies don't live in this land of hypotheticals. The NLRB lawsuit is an explicit attempt to block Boeing from opening its new South Carolina factory, and either the Administration believes the NLRB is appropriately enforcing the law, or it believes the NLRB has exceeded its mandate and needs to be reined in. Now we know it's on the side of the NLRB, which is run by Mr. Obama's appointees.


As politics, the NLRB issue is a doozy for Democrats, who know that few voters will countenance a policy of punishing business for building plants and creating jobs in their states. In Virginia, Republican George Allen has been pressing the question with Tim Kaine, his opponent for an open Senate seat next year. If Mr. Scott's bill passes the House, Senate Democrats running for re-election will also be on the spot.

The NLRB's campaign against Boeing has captured political attention—and created business anxiety—because it is a government attempt to restrict the free movement of capital. It attempts to punish workers merely because their states passed right-to-work laws.

This strikes millions of people as contrary to the kind of freedom that America was founded on. The Administration has thrown its lot squarely with the unions, and full marks to Mr. Scott for forcing Mr. Obama finally to declare himself.


URL: http://www.ncgop.org/Stand-Up-to-NLRB