INK August 19, 2011

In this issue:

• Union Bailout Update
• US Airways Forced to Sue Pilots Union
• IAM Organizers in Charleston
• Teamsters Sell Out Their Own
• SEIU Watch, Sticky Fingers, Scoreboard and more…

The bottom of each story contains a link to the individual post on our site. View the web-based version of this newsletter (including links and graphics) by visiting: https://lrionline.com/ink-august-19-2011 NOTICE:  You can make a PDF of this issue of INK directly from the post.  Click below for instructions on how to do so. https://lrionline.com/easy-way-to-make-our-posts-and-ink-issues-into-pdfs Union Bailout Update There are a lot of decisions in life that, in retrospect, you wish you could take back. That perm you got in high school. The ill-advised car maneuver in front of the cop. Issuing that complaint against Boeing… (For the record, as far as we know Lafe Solomon is only responsible for the Boeing complaint – the others are almost entirely hypothetical). Lafe Solomon must be wishing at this point that he had pushed Boeing and the International Association of Machinists just a little harder to settle their unfair labor practice case about the opening of Boeing’s new operation in South Carolina. If nothing else it would have created a heck of a lot less paperwork. Solomon – the acting General Counsel of the NLRB – is in a dust-up with Representative Darrell Issa over a supboena issued as part of a Congressional Oversight hearing. Representative Issa, in his role as Chairman of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, asked Solomon to produce all documents related to the General Counsel’s complaint against Boeing on May 12, 2011. When Solomon failed to fully respond to that request, Issa’s committee issued a subpoena for the documents. As the deadline for turning over the documents came and went, Issa expressed his displeasure:

The National Labor Relations Board and Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon have thus far failed to comply with a lawful subpoena. This refusal by NLRB to abide by the law further heightens concerns that this is a rogue agency acting improperly. The integrity of NLRB and its leadership is clearly in question. The public has a right to know the truth about why a government agency would choose to take action to benefit organized labor, that threatens thousands of non-union jobs in South Carolina, while setting a precedent impacting manufacturers across the country. It is imperative that Congress get complete facts about NLRB’s decision-making process in this matter. Its continued refusal to fully cooperate will not deter this committee as it moves forward in efforts to determine what occurred and to hold NLRB officials to account.

Instead of complying with the subpoena Solomon has managed to get his agency up near the top of the list “rouge agencies” that Congressional Republicans and Presidential hopefuls want on the chopping block. Of course Congressional Democrats argue that asking for confidential documents about an active case is politically motivated and they want Issa to stand down. They may have a point, but the initial complaint in this case is unprecedented and just as politically motivated. So while businesses around the world watch to see whether the NLRB really means to force Boeing to flush a billion dollar investment down the toilet, the stock market is in free-fall and the country heads full throttle into a double dip. Now might be a good time for cooler heads to prevail. Solomon should accept Boeing’s last settlement offer, prove to companies around the world that America is still a safe place to invest, and tell the IAM to bail themselves out by acting like adults. We won’t hold our breath. Link to story ********* US Airways Forced to Sue Pilots Union The union representing the pilots of US Airways, including former America West pilots, has instructed its pilots to create illegal work slowdowns designed to cause delays and cancellations in an effort to secure a contract for the pilots. Since 2005, when US Airways merged with America West Holdings Corp., the pilots have been working without a contract. Negotiations have not been able to reach an agreement on how former America West pilots would be merged into the US Airways seniority list. In March 2009, United Airlines won an appeals court ruling barring pilots from a work slowdown that led to 329 canceled flights over two months, and when American Airlines pilots called in sick over 11 days in 1999, the 6,600 cancelled flights cost the company over $250 million and caused a huge congestion of US air traffic. Link to story ********** IAM Organizers in Charleston Union organizers are nothing if not creative and opportunistic. IAM proves this point as union organizers continue to visit the homes of Boeing plant workers in Charleston, attempting to smooth talk them into joining the union they already turned out. The pitch was a new one: “If you join the IAM, we’ll get the NLRB to drop the lawsuit against Boeing, allowing the plant to open, and you to keep your jobs.” Apparently, organizers are still in Charleston making this very pitch. Of course they really don’t care about those workers jobs, only the potential revenue of union dues. If the workers refuse the union, then union wants to see the NLRB shut down the plant and force those workers from their jobs. Link to story ********** SCORE BOARD Who are the winners (and losers) of the labor movement? Don’t guess, just check the LRI Scoreboard View this month’s scoreboard (archives also located here): https://lrionline.com/current-scoreboard/ Download a PDF of this month’s scoreboard: https://lrionline.com/wp-content/uploads/INK_Scoreboard_Aug_11.pdf ********** Grease Time Rahm Emanuel is imposing cuts on all city workers except the Teamsters, the one union that endorsed him for mayor. Seems even liberal die-hard Rahm Emanuel, former White House chief of staff and now Mayor of Chicago, has had enough of plush union work rules. Take this for example: When the city needs to change a light bulb, 3 highly-paid workers are required – one to drive the truck, another to ride the lift bucket up and change the light bulb, and a third to sit on the ground and do nothing but watch the lift-bucket rider. When a retailer in the same city changes out a similar light bulb in their parking lot, one person does it all. This is but one example of the methods used by unions to pad paychecks, and the practices are crippling the city budget. Emanuel is threating to can 625 city union workers unless such ludicrous work rules and restrictions are discarded. Inspector General Joseph Ferguson describes it this way, “It is commonplace, if you are a resident of the city of Chicago, to see work crews on which only a couple of people are working and others appear to be standing or sitting idle.” Ferguson continued, “The remarkable thing about this is they are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. We have basically codified wasteful overstaffing.” But hold on – seems Emanuel still has a soft spot for some unions – at least those unions that pumped tens of thousands of dollars into his campaign war chest. Of the nine proposed work rule changes, only one effects the Teamsters, and most of the 625 workers who’s jobs are on the line are from other unions. Link to story ********** When Liberals Attack: the Launch of Daily Kos Labor You may have often seen the Daily Kos as a source for stories covered in INK.  The liberal blog has now launched a new sub-blog titled “Daily Kos Labor.”  This new venture describes as its purpose

“to re-inject the voices and concerns of workers into economic coverage. In this, Daily Kos Labor pushes back against the trend of recent decades, in which, as corporations and their Republican allies have waged a class war against the middle class, the voices of working people have fallen out of the story the media tells about work, business and the American economy.”

The July 20^th announcement on The Daily Kos put it this way:

“We’re obviously not ashamed to call a spade a spade, and Daily Kos labor will focus heavily on this New Class War. Additionally, we’ll integrate much of this work with our activism efforts, to give a boost to workers fighting the good fight on the ground.”

Link to story ********** Social Media Spotlight The National Labor Relations Board issued a “clarification” regarding its review of social media policies. The review looks at 14 different cases where the Acting General Counsel’s office was asked to determine whether a social media post or company policy infringed on the Section 7 rights of employees. In about half the cases the Board found Facebook and Twitter posts were “concerted” activity and therefore protected by the Act. In the others the Board found that the posts were individual in nature and thus unprotected. Virtually all of the social media (and regular media) policies examined by the Board were ruled to be over-broad and unlawful under the Act. With the exception of a rule requiring media requests to be funneled to a corporate spokesperson, the other social media policies reviewed violated the Act in some part. You should download the document and read it to get a feel for how these cases are examined by the Board, but you can also find a good summary here. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has also produced an excellent summary of the social media issues currently in front of the NLRB. The Verizon strike is highlighting how unions are taking advantage of social media. One of the tactics being used to pressure the company is sending roving pickets out to customer locations in an effort to embarrass Verizon and disrupt service. These roving pickets are being organized through social media. As one good article summarizing how unions are pressuring the company they explain, “strikers are using creative tactics and organizing mobile pickets that move quickly to protest strikebreakers wherever they turn up. Text messaging and Twitter facilitate rapid communication among squads. This is strengthening the strike.” One thing should be abundantly obvious. If you haven’t had your handbook or policies reviewed recently for potential conflicts with the NLRA now would be a good time. As you can see, it isn’t just your social media policy that can get you in trouble – everything in the handbook is fair game. It is now standard operating procedure for Board Regions to request a copy of the handbook upon the filing of any unfair labor practice charge, even if the handbook isn’t an issue in the case. As soon as they find one of the offending clauses they amend the case to include the problem handbook provision. Link to story ********** SEIU Watch SEIU seems to have a full plate, as the NLRB just announced an order that will lead to a re-run of the huge Kaiser election in California. The election involved 43,000 employees, and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) charged SEIU with election improprieties that the NLRB upheld. The election was originally between no representation, representation by the incumbent United Healthcare Workers (part of SEIU), and the SEIU breakaway, NUHW. An administrative law judge ruled that SEIU improperly coerced workers caught in the middle of the high-stakes turf battle between SEIU and NUHW. SEIU launched a seven-figure media campaign in Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Virginia, targeted at African-American and Latino audiences. The campaign will include broadcast and cable television, radio, direct mail and phones and online advertising, and is designed to put pressure on Republican lawmakers. Seems those dues dollars tend to burn a hole in SEIU’s pocket. SEIU also found a new source of dues dollars: the “healthcare” workers of Planned Parenthood. In Oregon, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette became the first victim in a 97 to 43 win by SEIU. Link to story ********** Teamsters Sell Out Their Own Teamster organizers were about to force a vote at a FedEx Ground facility in Brockton, MA, when the International leadership pulled the petition two days prior to the vote. Local union sympathizers were incensed at the betrayal, but it is just another day of “business as usual” for the union. Although this drive at a local facility was in full progress weeks before the Teamsters national convention, the union used the convention to announce an all-out effort to organize FedEx Freight, another division of the company. International leadership was afraid that a loss at the Massachusetts facility would be bad PR, and when the local drive couldn’t “guarantee a win,” the International pulled the petition. The SocialistAlternative speculated that there were deeper, political reasons for the betrayal:

“It seems likely that Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa’s re-election battle against Sandy Pope, representing Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), had something to do with it! Hoffa is correctly criticized for his failure to organize unorganized workers, and he was likely concerned that a defeat in Brockton – after failing to provide serious resources for the union drive – would be another black mark on his record.”

Link to story ********** MILLION DOLLAR GIVEWAY! In response to DOL and the NLRB attempts to make it nearly impossible to remain union free, LRI is giving away $1,000,000 worth of card-signing DVDs. Even better, you can take any other videos from our entire catalog for only $179 each – that’s an 80% discount on anything in our store! We only ask that in exchange you do your part to stop the DOL/NLRB changes from becoming law by commenting against them. Don’t wait for the doors of your company to be pried open by the Feds. Act now to educate your employees on the value of a direct relationship and the realities of union representation. Go to https://lrionline.com/free-card-signing-dvd for details and to take advantage of this exciting offer! ********** Letter to NLRB re: Rule Making We thought this letter in response to the NLRB proposed streamlined elections rule was very well constructed, and the author, a former union member and organizer,  gave us permission to share with you: July 27, 2011 Lester A. Heltzer, Executive Secretary National Labor Relations Board 1099 14^th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20570 RE: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 3142-AA08 Dear Mr. Heltzer, This letter is to comment regarding the Board’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to “streamline” the NLRB election process.  The proposed changes are not simply unnecessary, they threaten workers ability to a freely and fairly decide on union representation. I have been a member of five unions and gone through four representation elections as an employee.  I was also party to a number of union elections as a union staff organizer.   And later, in my capacity as an organizing director, I trained organizing apprentices on what to say and not say to workers during a union campaign and how to agitate around workplace issues.  Now I proudly work as a labor consultant, educating workers during union elections on the laws, their rights, the collective bargaining process and the public record of the union that is asking for their vote. In 2002, I played a central role in organizing a union in my store while an employee of Borders Books.  We didn’t know to research the union we were joining.  We had no sense how collective bargaining actually works.  We placed all our faith in the union organizer and we understood so little about unionization it was beyond our scope to even know the right questions to ask him.  (And those who did challenge him were quickly ostracized and no longer invited to our meetings.)  I assure you the majority of us voted union believing we were somehow sending a message, not entering into a legally binding representational arrangement.  And we were well-educated booksellers in Michigan, many from union families. In my experience as a union organizer it is not unusual for an electorate to be so poorly informed on unionization as to effect their free and fair choice.  This is particularly true for unskilled and less educated workers unless the employer (because the union will not) offers fact-based information on unionization during an election campaign. In the public meetings held on the proposed changes, unions brought in activist members to speak, supposedly to provide the perspective of American workers in this debate.  As a former union organizing director I know the criteria I would have set for those speakers: must be utterly faithful to the union’s leadership; must have a “compelling story”; must have no history of asking difficult questions; must have an experience that fits the script and be capable of memorizing and delivering it. I write you on the behalf of those workers who unions won’t bus to Washington and who cannot be trusted to follow a union script, and who don’t have an outlier story that suits the union narrative.  I ask you to seek out and consider the opinions of those Americans who stand to be most impacted by your decision going forward, workers who may one day find themselves in an NLRB election campaign in their workplace that they never asked for. Before making this decision, the Board should seek the opinions of the potential undecided or “3” in future union campaigns, including those who would sign a card truly only to get more information. Survey non-unionized American workers who fall under the NLRA and ask:

1. Were a union to attempt to organize your workplace, should your employer to be required to give that union your personal cell phone number?  Your personal email?  Your work email?
2. If your workplace was going to vote on a union would you prefer more or less than ten days in which to make your decision?
3. If faced with a union vote, would you prefer to cast that vote with more or less information?  Would you prefer access to information only from the union, only from your employer, or both?
4. Do you feel capable of voting only in your own best interest in a secret ballot election, even if your employer strongly opposes unionization?
5. Before you vote for a union, would you want to see that union’s financial filings?  Charges brought against it by other members?  The union’s strike history?
6. Before voting on a union would you like to fully understand what a union contract can and cannot do?
7. Before voting, do you think it would be important for you and your co-workers to fully understand the legal process for removing a union?
8. Can you imagine a scenario in which your coworkers would vote impulsively for union representation and for emotional reasons that might resolve over time and with more information?

When a union files a show of interest it is just exactly that – a show of interest, not a statement of intent.  And it should be expected that if workers obtain information from both the union and their employer a significant percentage would decide a union is not in right for them.  It would seem there are those who would overhaul the current election process only because it allows time for workers to change their minds. Again, I would call upon the Board to go directly to American workers who fall under the Act and survey them to best understand the impact the proposed changes would have on their free and informed choice. Most sincerely, Nancy Jowske Link to story ********** NLRB Cannot Mandate Backpay Remedy From the NLRB website:

“The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision compels the conclusion that the Board lacks remedial authority to award backpay to undocumented immigrant workers whose rights have been violated under the National Labor Relations Act, even in cases where their illegal status was known to the employer at the time of hiring. A three-member panel of the Board – Chairman Wilma B. Liebman and Members Mark Gaston Pearce and Brian Hayes – issued the unanimous decision in Mezonos Maven Bakery, with Member Craig Becker recused. The Board cited broad language in the Supreme Court decision, Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137(2002), which made clear that “awarding backpay to undocumented workers lies beyond the scope of [the Board’s] remedial authority, regardless of whether the employee or employer violated” the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA).”

Read the entire entry and view the decision here. Link to story ********** Union Thugs Shoot Business Owner John King owns one of Toledo’s largest non-union electrical contractor businesses. This has earned him the distinction of being a special target for lawsuits and vandalism by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Over the years, he and his employees have been stalked and harassed, and John has regularly had to replace his tires from the typical union slash-attack. On August 10, King noticed union workers again about to vandalize his SUV, and yelled at one of the men to stop. The thug turned and shot at John with a pistol, injuring him in the arm. The vandals fled the scene, leaving a shell casing and a Swiss Army knife, which police content was probably going to be used to slash his tires once again. The union had recently declared “open season” on “managers and scabs.” A recorded message by the union declared, “It is open season. Follow them safely, but when you get to a location, torture them, torture them with chants and noise. Be so loud that they can’t concentrate and wish they never got out of bed.” Watch the local news report, including an interview with King, here.

Link to story ********** Sticky Fingers Current charges or sentences of embezzling union officials: Christy Riggs – Ironworkers: $18,000 Larry Brooks – USW: $5,500 Rodney Richerson – GMP: $100,195 Patricia Peoples – AFSCME: $36,020 Christy Nicole Freeman – IBEW: $9,538 April Franklin – UA: $400,000 Timothy Fisher – USW: $6,379 Loren Hanson – USW: $21,500 Jesse Daniels – USW: $19,500 Derrick George – BMWE: $19,287 Brandon Borders – UTU: $12,551 Thomas Chavez – USW: $13,966 Charles McDaniel – UTU: $81,519 Robert Cole – UWUA: $11,606 Robert Lauermann – BLET: $10,000 Katherine Jones – IBEW: $4,710 Nichelle Alstatt – POPA: $51,637 Gary Weightman – APWU: $780,000 Grace Isley – AFSCME: $12,000 Diana Frey – CODE: $750,000 Thomas Davis – IIGA: $4,717 Ernest Milewski – UFCW: $200,000 http://www.nlpc.org/union-corruption-update ********** Labor Relations INK is published semi-weekly and is edited by LRI Consulting Services, Inc. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up by visiting: https://lrionline.com/free-stuff/newsletter-signup/ If you use content from this newsletter please attribute it to LRI Consulting Services and include our website address: www.LRIonline.com Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger, Nancy Jowske and Shaun Fanning You are receiving this email because you subscribed to receive our labor relations newsletters and updates. You can manage your email preferences by clicking the link at the bottom of any of our email communications. NOTE: if you are using Internet Explorer v. 6, read the text version, as the html will not load properly in IE6. We recommend upgrading to IE7.