Comments on: 54% of WI AFSCME employees voted with their feet in 2011. #wirecall

By: Special Report: The Right To Work demonstrations in Lansing. | Jen Kuznicki

Special Report: The Right To Work demonstrations in Lansing. | Jen Kuznicki — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:55:24 +0000

[...] It occurred to me that the throngs of people I saw on the capitol lawn may be surprised to find that the people they left at the job site can’t wait to get out of the union. Forced unionization and the collection of dues for political action is described as the top reason why many union members are dissatisfied with their union. Only 7% of the entire nation’s workforce is unionized privately, and only about 7% account for public union membership. 93% of all union political contributions go to Democrat coffers, and 80% of union members disagree with their dues being used as political gifts. After Wisconsin freed public workers of forced unionization, about half of those county and municipal employees left AFSCME. [...]

By: Special Report: The Right to Work demonstrations in Lansing » The Right Scoop -

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:54:37 +0000

By: soljerblue

soljerblue — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:44:11 +0000

Very quietly, in 2011, the newly-flipped Republican legislature in Alabama banned the collection of dues for public unions by the government departments where members worked. Previously, the union dues had been witheld from employee paychecks automatically. The major target for that was the Alabama teachers’ union, the AEA, which had, for all intents and purposes, owned the Democrats in Montgomery and many Republicans, too. The union has lost dues, and dues-payers, but as far as I know hasn’t made any of the figures public. They’ve been unsuccessful so far in their efforts to get the law overturned in court. WI isn’t the only state where this is in process of happening or has, like Alabama, already happened. If Walker is vindicated next Tuesday, the handwriting will be on the wall.

(‘mene, mene, tekel upharsin’ — the moving hand hath writ, and having writ, moves on. And all your cries and tears can’t recall a word of it)

By: sulmak

sulmak — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:31:23 +0000

If a union should exist, it should be able to organize workers on its own, without the federal government .

By: acat

acat — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:01:15 +0000

Federal and State government workers should be allowed to form unions.

Define it *slightly* smaller, and you exclude police, fire, EMT .. i.e. the unions most often held up by the Left as “victims of union-bashing”, never mind there’s no police ore fire unions near the scale of AFCSME or SEIU.

Remove the tool from the toolbox, they can’t hit you with it.

Mew

By: ihateliberals

ihateliberals — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:56:56 +0000

It is bad enough they use my tax dollars to hire these useless workers and then let them pay a Union to further discriminate against me the tax payer by costing me more and more taxes with less and less service.

Unions in general are now just a way for the Mob to be legally Organized and protected. At one time Unions did serve the people that belonged to the Union. Now it is all about Power and Money.

If anything the Unions should not be for Profit and Salaries should be capped at $1 million combined maximum for all the executives of the Union. Secondly Union executives and immediate family should not be allowed to own any stock in any company they represent. I know all of what i have said here is just fantasy but a person can dream can’t they.

Right-to-Work should be a federal Law and that isn’t a fantasy.

By: rick57

rick57 — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:54:38 +0000

The NLRB needs to be redefined so it’s only pupose is to oversee union elections and to have unions re-certify themselves with the workers they represent every three years….or within six months of negotiating any new labor agreements, which ever is sooner. We currently have more than enough labor laws on the books we don’t need anymore. All arbitrtation should be handled at the State level unless of course it affects the nation as a whole ie; airline industry, railroads, truckiing etc.

By: zeprin

zeprin — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:18:00 +0000

State ‘Executive Order’ Decertifying any bargaining Org that looses 30%+ registered membership.

By: billstanley

billstanley — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:08:00 +0000

I don’t think so. From 1989 to 2011, each of 9 labor unions made political contributions between $15 million and $47 million, totaling $264 million. Each gave at least 89% of their contributions to Democrats and 2% or less to Republicans. www.newsandopinions.net

By: brojohn2

brojohn2 — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:28:05 +0000

I no longer live in New York City, between having to be in a union, and getting taxed to death. I am glad to live now in Texas, a right to work State, and one that this friendly to business.

I do hope that Scott Walker wins BIG in this idiotic recall election. It will show the rest of the country what can happen when sensible rules are in place. Workers deserve to be able to work where they want and not be forced to give up a chunck of their pay to the union so the union bosses can live high on the hog. So called high wages aren’t that high when you get taxed to death so that the government can pay your high wages, and the union raises dues to keep living high and mighty.

By: funwithknives

funwithknives — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:21:46 +0000

between Theoretical Math and Practical Math.

A few encounters with the real thing (a-la, Number Two ) and you tend to start wondering,about other “commonly held beliefs”, do you not?

…and you wind up at places like this one…………

By: wumingren

wumingren — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:41:49 +0000

I worked at a super store that sold everything from food to sporting goods, and the UFCW “represented” me. Once every three years, the union would enter contract discussions with the company. The last contract I fell under got us all a 5-cent an hour raise, but then the union raised dues $12 a month. Did you do the math? For a 40-hour week, that was $2 extra a week, or $8 extra per month. So, the end result was we lost $4 a month (part-timers saw a bigger nick in their salaries), but ended up paying more in taxes to Uncle Sam. Screw the unions!

By: bob570

bob570 — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:27:29 +0000

It’s not a surprise for workers to leave the Unions when offered a choice. I saw it happen in the private sector in the Seventies and Eighties. I personally saw a number of my friends go from $12,+ an hour to $4.00 an hour, just to get away from the Unions. Several told me they actually did better at the lower wages, because of no strikes, no walk outs, and no dues.

By: mikeymike143

mikeymike143 — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:56:32 +0000

walker and the taxpayers win and the union and dems lose. that works for me.

By: Freedoms Truth

Freedoms Truth — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 02:04:15 +0000

I saw that and smiled, thinking that Moe Lane is now in their heads and wont get out.

DOOM cant come soon enough, either in June or November.

By: ew88

ew88 — Thu, 31 May 2012 21:51:21 +0000

for the insider explanation.

As for the constitutionality of forced union participation, I suppose we’ll never see that come to Court.

By: tankertodd

tankertodd — Thu, 31 May 2012 16:23:32 +0000

From the article:
“Failure to oust Mr. Walker and overturn the Wisconsin law “spells doom,” said Bryan Kennedy, the American Federation of Teachers’ Wisconsin president.”

(Emphasis happily added.)

By: DerKrieger

DerKrieger — Thu, 31 May 2012 15:49:59 +0000

…and have asked the very same question. Forced unionization seems unconstitutional to me.

By: storminwgfp

storminwgfp — Thu, 31 May 2012 14:31:57 +0000

I’m in a union (ALPA) and the simple problem is that they don’t represent me. They don’t have to. They get my money every month no matter what they do.
There’s a difference between the union and the workers. What’s good for the union is not necessarily good for the worker. Mandatory dues is great for the union and lousy for the worker. Right to work is great for the worker and lousy for the unions. When they say that the Democrats support the unions, they are correct. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean they support the rank and file. It’s implied, but it’s mostly not accurate.
This change in Wisconsin should make the AFSCME spend more time representing their constituents and less time in bed with their political buddies, which actually might bring more workers back to the union.
Thanks Moe, I’ve been looking for those numbers. And you’re absolutely right, that is exactly what the fight was all about, the rest of it was fluff.

By: Tbone

Tbone — Thu, 31 May 2012 13:57:39 +0000

that they just may be a stupid union member a lot more will quit paying as well.