Unions

Conservative Talking Points believes that unions may have served a purpose 70+ years ago, but all they do now is brutally lobby to get more pay for less work with no worker ever being fired or laid off.  They confiscate wages for dues and force small companies into unprofitability which ultimately kills those jobs.

 

Union Violence

·        In 1993, the United Mine Workers (UMW) ordered the 16,000 miners to go on strike. Eddie York, who was a subcontractor and not a UMW member worried about supporting his wife and kids, crossed picket lines to get to his job. He was shot in the head as he left the job site on his way home. (Source: Orange County [Ca.] Register - Jan 2004)

·        Laborers Union Local 91 in Buffalo, NY utilized the violent talents of Andrew Shomers to work over and intimidate workers who weren't paying dues to the local.  In June of 2005 Shomers pleaded guilty to a number of crimes involving violence and sabotage.  (Source: Niagara Falls Reporter - Jun 2005)

·       Rod Carter, a former star linebacker for the University of Miami, announced that he did not support the strike that Teamsters Local 769 in Miami ordered against United Parcel Service in 1997 and continued working to support his family.  Carter was allegedly pulled from his truck by five union workers, kicked, beaten and stabbed six times with an ice pick. (Source: The Trucker News Services - Apr 2001)

 

Dwindling Numbers

·        The United Autoworkers Union (UAW) as of 2007 had a membership of only 190,000 workers which is down from 316,000 just four years previously in 2003.  In 1979 there were 1.5 MILLION UAW members. (Source: Bloomberg - Jun 2007)

·        Wage and salary workers who were union members dropped to only 12% of the work force in 2006. The number of American workers in a union was 20.1% in 1983 and about 35% in the mid-1950s.  (Source: AP - Jan 2007)

 

Card Check Trojan Horse

·       Currently, private ballots are held so worker's votes to join a union stay private so that no thugs can threaten them for making the "wrong" choice. The proposed open Card Check plan reveals their vote to both the company and the union which exposes workers to the possibility of retaliation.  (Source: Heritage Foundation - Feb 2007)

·       Bruce Esgar testified on an example of retaliation that occurred during a card-check campaign at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas when union organizers threatened that workers who did not sign union cards would lose their jobs when the union was recognized.  (Source: Subcommittee on Workforce Protections -  Jul 2002)

·       "Card check legislation tramples on the rights of the American worker and is a hindrance to rebuilding our economy," Mark Dobbins Chairman of the Arizona Manufacturers Council (Source: Arizona Chamber of Commerce - Mar 2009)

·       "...Card Check not only robs workers of a secret ballot, it deprives management of the right to express its point of view." Gov. Mitt Romney  (Source: Washington Times -  Mar 2009)

 

The Democrats’ Mob for Hire

·       Kenneth Gladney claimed while he was handing out flags and buttons and stuff that said "Don't Tread On Me", he was assaulted by SEIU union members (wearing SEUI shirts) outside a Town Hall meeting on the health care debate in St. Louis.  (Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Aug 2009)

·       The Russ Carnahan town hall meeting in south St. Louis had the Carnahan people sneaking in union thugs through a side door of the building while over 1,000 were kept outside.  (Source: YouTube.com - Aug 2009)

·       Kathy Castor Health Care Town Hall meeting In Tampa ended with SEIU pushing out voters. SEIU members were given reserved seating that took up at least half of the 250 seats and when people came in who visibly oppose the Democrats healthcare plan, SEIU members barred access to the room.  (Source: Red State - Aug 2009)

 

Non-Union = Right to Work

·      Average unemployment rates are substantially lower in the Right-To-Work states where employees have the final say on financial support for unions.  As of June 2009 the unemployment rate was 7.8% for Right-To-Work states, compared to 9.0% for non-right-to-work states.  (Source: Mackinac Center for Public Policy - Jun 2009)