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Union bosses threaten Hurricane Sandy cleanup contractors, their families
“Unionized local employees repeatedly harassed and intimidated non-union workers of a private disaster cleanup firm that won a government contract to restore Long Island, New York, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
The vice president of the union even made threats against the wife and kids of one of the workers. That worker felt it necessary to call the police and pursue other security measures to protect his family, a source told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
After Hurricane Sandy devastated the New York and New Jersey shoreline in late October, Looks Great Services (LGS) won a bid to haul away debris, clear roads and remove damaged trees. New York’s Nassau County hired the company to complete $70 million worth of repairs.
Soon thereafter, representatives of Local 138, a union representing heavy equipment operators, began visiting construction sites, demanding that the company hire unionized employees to help with the job.”
Via The Daily Caller
GOV’T MOTORS BAILOUT: $10 BILLION LOSS
Treasury, UAW health care trust will sell 50 million shares of GM stock
“The U.S. Treasury said Wednesday it plans to sell 30 million additional shares of General Motors stock in a new public offering in conjunction with GM’s return to the S&P 500 index on Thursday.
The United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits Trust — which holds about 14 percent of GM — will also participate by selling 20 million shares, making the total offering size 50 million shares. It represents about 12 percent of Treasury’s outstanding GM stock.
The move may mean that Treasury completely exits in 2013, rather than by the end of March 2014. The return to the S&P will prompt significant demand for GM shares and the stock has recently traded near its highest level since February 2011. GM is filing a new prospectus ahead of the sale.”
Via Detroit News
Labor big a real heavy sleeper
“Union fat cat Mark Rosenthal spends more time sleeping at his desk than organizing labor, a series of damning photos reveals.
The 400-pound president of Local 983 of District Council 37 — the city’s largest blue-collar municipal-workers union — often downs a huge meal, then drops into dreamland in the early afternoon, members of the union’s executive board told The Post.
“He eats lunch when he arrives at work at 2 p.m. Then, like clockwork, he goes to sleep with a cup of soda on the table and the straw in it,” said Marvin Robbins, a union vice president.
“Then he wakes up, looks at his watch and says, ‘I have to get out before the traffic gets bad.’ He’s usually out by 4 p.m. after being at the office two hours.””
Via NY Post
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
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
