Archive
Union Boss Blasts Walmart for . . . Hiring Vets?
“From the “What On Earth Where They Thinking?” files: Union boss Rich Trumka, head of the powerful AFL-CIO, has taken the White House to task for the president’s support of a Walmart program to expedite hiring of military veterans, according to the Hill. Seriously.
You may recall that, in January, Walmart announced a hiring initiative to provide jobs (at least part-time) to any veteran who passed a basic background check. I wrote supportively of the program at the time.
It may not be a comprehensive and enduring answer to the problem of veterans’ unemployment, but it’s a start, and it’s driven entirely by private-sector initiative. To their credit, the Obama administration offered praise for Walmart’s effort.”
Via National Review
Sequester? Department Of Labor Using Taxpayer Money To Fund Labor Unions Worldwide
Senate Republicans say the Labor Department appears to be spending millions in taxpayer dollars to establish labor unions and promote collective bargaining in foreign countries and are asking top Obama administration officials for a full audit.
The request was sent by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the leading Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, the top Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
“At a time when our federal budget is deteriorating rapidly … it is troubling to us that the department appears to be spending millions of dollars of taxpayer funds to establish labor unions and promote collective bargaining in foreign countries,” they said in a letter to acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris.
The purported activities were conducted by the agency’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs.
Via Weasel Zippers
Fire Them All (Memphis)
The police union billboards feature the warning, “DANGER: Enter at your own risk; This city does not support public safety,” MyFoxMemphis.com reported.
Mike Williams, the president of the MPA, said the billboards are meant to target city leaders and are about protecting union’s jobs and benefits.
“But when you read on you find that the issue is not about staffing levels. It’s about this:”
Wharton said Memphis instituted a 4.6 percent pay cut to protect jobs, as opposed to issuing layoffs, but police officers want their pay reinstated and Williams said the signs are just the start of the union’s public campaign.
“Oh, so the more you pay a given cop the better job he does? That sounds kind of like extortion to me — “gimme more money or I let the crooks go free.”
The union has the right to free speech.
The Mayor ought to fire them all and go out and reinstitute a Sheriff system with deputized officers, all working on an “at will” basis, and get the public involved in protecting themselves and the community as well.
I bet Memphis could cut the cost by 50% and improve public safety at the same time, while rendering all of those liars unemployed.”
Via Market Ticker
Union greed lawsuits Act 10 lawsuits have cost taxpayers nearly $850,000 – and the bill is climbing
“Taxpayers have spent nearly $850,000 defending lawsuits over Act 10, the 2011 law that all but ended collective bargaining for most public workers.
The lawsuits aren’t over yet, so the bill is sure to climb.
To date, taxpayers have paid the Michael Best & Friedrich law firm $846,959 for its work defending Act 10, according to Gov. Scott Walker’s office. The firm is billing the state up to $300 per hour.
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) criticized the expense and said it was part of a larger pattern. The state has already spent about $2 million on redistricting litigation and is expected to face costly lawsuits over a mining law that was approved earlier this year.
“If their goal was to generate litigation for the state, this may be one where they made us No. 1 in the country,” Barca said of Republicans. “The taxpayers are paying mightily and for no good reason.”
But Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie argued that Act 10 saved taxpayers far more than it cost because it required public workers to pay more for their health care and pensions. He said the unions were responsible for the big legal bills.
“It’s important to remember that the main reason we had to make these payments was because big-government, special-interest groups filed multiple lawsuits against the taxpayers,” Werwie said in a statement. “As with the case of Act 10, the state of Wisconsin will continue to defend laws that put the power back in the hands of the people again.”"
WI public union thug teachers harass conservative student
15 Year Old Wisconsin Conservative Meets Bullying From Teachers
“As a 15 year old, I never imagined my activism in politics would translate into controversy for me at school.
My name is Benji Backer and I attend a public high school in Appleton, Wisconsin. I have always supported the public school system and plan to do so for the rest of my life. Many Americans who stand up for the public school system and the unions believe there is no attempt to sway opinion or that students with opposing beliefs are singled out. Unfortunately, experiences I have had with harassment and bullying prove that wrong. This is a timeline of the most extreme cases of harassment and indoctrination I have had in the three different public schools I have attended over the last three years.
I am currently in my freshman year of high school and the incidents are happening more frequently and I believe are more severe. As you can imagine, the ongoing pressure and bullying has been disturbing to me, my friends and my family.
Just before the 2010 Midterm election, I was on the front page of the local newspaper for my political volunteer work and my teachers noticed. One of my seven teachers made it very clear that she dissaproved of my civic engagement. In a period of two months, my Geography teacher frequently would take me aside after school for a few minutes and tell me how stupid, wrong and misguided I was for being Republican. The harassment with this specific teacher got so bad, I had to switch schools halfway through the year. At this time I was only 12 years old. To my knowledge, this teacher was not disciplined at all for her actions. “
Via Freedom Works
Chicago teachers union president Karen Lewis laughs about lying to parents, turning students into ‘hostages’
“Why is our government education system so dysfunctional? Perhaps because parents often don’t get the truth and administrators and teachers are constantly fighting each other.
That much can be discerned from the words of Karen Lewis, president of the radical Chicago Teachers Union.
Lewis appeared before the New York Collective of Radical Educators (an appropriate audience, to be sure) March 16 to give the keynote address at the group’s annual conference.
Lewis reminisced about her teaching days, when she would lie to parents when it came time to discuss their child’s performance. She then said – because of her lies – the student became her “hostage” who would do what she wanted.”
Via EAG News
Acting Labor Secretary Mocks ‘Small-Government’ Conservatives, CEOs
“Acting Labor Secretary Seth D. Harris addressed the Annual Legislative Conference of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) on Monday. As part of a scathing attack on attempts to reform public employee labor unions, Harris told a joke that he said was “making the rounds a few years ago”:”
A unionized public employee, a small-government conservative, and a CEO are sitting around a table with a plate that has a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the conservative and says: “Watch out for that union guy, he wants a piece of your cookie.”
Striking teacher heckles black substitute: ‘Rosa Parks would be ashamed’
“The teachers of the Strongsville, Ohio school district went on strike because the school board is not offering automatic raises based on years worked or degrees obtained.
This video, produced by Cory Shaffer of Sun Newspapers, shows the vile tactics unionists resort to when some want to continue educating children.
Towards the end of the video, one protester can be heard yelling at a black substitute teacher, “Rosa Parks would be ashamed!” The video also shows the substitute teachers being escorted through the union mob by police officers.”
Via EAG News
Neenah teachers plan suit over loss of $170,000 retirement stipends
“For years, Neenah’s teachers enjoyed one of the most generous retirement plans in Wisconsin. Many who were hired in the 1990s could retire at age 55 if they had 15 years with the district and get big stipends on top of their regular state retirement, plus health care coverage until they were eligible for Medicare.
The payment was based on 10 annual payments of one-half the starting teacher salary in the district, which last year was $34,319, or about $170,000. Teachers hired after July 1, 1998, had to work 20 years and reach age 57 to collect eight annual payments. Those hired after 2003 were eligible for less lucrative retirement enhancements.”
Teacher settles claim over forced union dues payment
“A former teacher in Greenwood who had $750 deducted from her pay for union dues, even after she declined to join after the passage of Act 10, has won the money back after filing complaints against the union and her former employer.
Amy Ayana filed complaints last fall with the Wisconsin Employee Relations Commission with help from lawyers at National Right to Work Foundation. The foundation announced on Thursday that the complaints had been settled.
According to the foundation, when Ayana was hired in August, she told officials she did not want to join the local teachers union. Greenwood Education Association officials twice told Ayana she had to join the union, in September and December. ASpanish teacher, Ayana resigned in 2012 at the end of the school year.”
