Labor Union Picking On You?

A message from the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation

“I’m saying if you strike a match and you put your finger in it, you’re likely to get burned.” Long before becoming the top union boss at the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka’s reign as president of the United Mineworkers union was marked by intimidation against independent-minded workers who dared to defy the union hierarchy. The contempt on display in Trumka’s fiery rhetoric for those workers who refuse to toe the union-boss line remains widespread throughout Big Labor.

One of the National Right to Work Foundation’s latest free legal aid cases provides yet another example. Four West Virginia Constellium Rolled Product workers turned to the Foundation for help after United Steelworkers (USW) Local 5668 union bosses threatened them for exercising their right to return to work to provide for their families during a union-boss-ordered strike last year.

Union militants posted signs in public view containing the workers’ names, phone numbers, and addresses.

Not only that, union militants constructed an outhouse displaying nonstriking workers’ names next to a creepy decapitated doll’s head, as seen in the picture below.
union_outhouse
In March, the workers received letters from USW Local 5668 union bosses threatening massive retaliatory fines and placing the workers at the bottom of the seniority list.

Those threats are illegal under federal law. Workers who refrain from union membership are exempt from the union’s constitution and bylaws and thus cannot be disciplined for continuing to work during a union boss-ordered strike. Adding insult to injury, in violation of the Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court precedent Communications Workers of America v. Beck, union bosses continued extracting full union dues from the workers’ paychecks.

Because West Virginia lacks a Right to Work law, the workers can still be forced to pay some fees but cannot be required to pay for union activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as politics and political lobbying. Foundation attorneys filed federal unfair labor practice charges against USW Local 5668 union bosses last month.

Over the years, Foundation attorneys have won settlements for workers illegally threatened by union bosses with fines up to $40,000 simply for returning to work to provide for their families. Workers should not be forced to abandon their jobs and be denied their right to provide for themselves and their families at the whim of militant union bosses.

Your support helps the Foundation fight back in cases just like this one.

Thank you for helping us stand up for workers who face intimidation by union militants.

Sincerely,

Mark Mix

P.S. The Foundation relies completely on voluntary contributions from its supporters to provide free legal aid.

Please chip in with a tax-deductible contribution of $10 or more today to support the Foundation’s programs.

Bayou Texar Closed Again, v2.0

Not only Bayou Texar, but Bayou Chico and Bayou Grande as well. The Florida Department of Health officials advise against any water-related activities at those locations due to the potential for high bacteria levels.

Chamber bumper sticker . . .

Visit Pensacola, You’ll love our shit!

It is obvious that “the plan” that the mayor has to remedy this chronic contamination problem is not working.

Link: Three local bayou areas under health alert | Pensacola News Journal | pnj.com.

Venezuela, Government Knows Best

Have you noticed the competition between the current pols in the United States and Venezuela? If you are a statist that believes that the government knows best, and is obligated to assume (usurp) responsibility for running citizens private lives, so you don’t have to, then you might like the effort underway in Venezuela to ban no_bottlebottle feeding your baby. The only difference between them is that Venezuela doesn’t have a Constitution to ignore. That “charter of negative liberties” as Obama calls it.

To show they have compassion, they have an exception in the case of the death of the mother. But you know, their heart is in the right place. Can we legislate some love here?

Legislator Odalis Monzon said the proposal would “prohibit all types of baby bottles” as a way to improve children’s health.

We want to increase the love between mother and child because this has been lost as a result of these transnational companies selling formula.

Oh right. It’s those evil corporations. It’s activism of the kind to make Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama jealous.

Link: Venezuela considers taking bottles from babies mouths – Yahoo! News.