What a Union Is All About

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 10:19 AM PDT Today’s lesson comes courtesy of Bernadette Marso, president of the Leominster Education Association in Massachusetts. Her members just voted down, by a 305-47 margin, a five-year, $856,000 grant from the Advanced Placement Training and Award Program. The program, among other things, pays teachers of Advanced Placement courses bonus money “if they successfully recruit more students to take AP courses and if the students perform well on the end-of-the-year AP exam.” Some district officials and parents complained about the union decision because the bonuses were just one part of the program, which includes professional development and a subsidy to offset the AP exam fee for the students. But the union stood firmly opposed. “We understand that some people will not understand the vote, but we confronted this from a union perspective,” Marso said. “We have a fair and equitable contract with the district, and to have a third party come in and start paying certain teachers more money than other hard-working teachers goes against what a union is all about.” Intercept 6/30/09 Bravo!

Howdy to Baum Sigman

I just wanted to say "Howdy" to the folks at Baum Sigman, a Chicago based law firm representing labor unions "throughout the midwest".

I'm a cooperative kind of guy and have no desire to cost the "union brothers and sisters" any extra money so if you made a paid visit to First Transit Employee Rights Blog, just let me know which union(s) you represent and I'll email you any post you might be interested in. Save a little money.

The problem I have is there's so much union corruption around Chicago, I can even begin to guess at who your clients are. Would someone like all past and future posts on any midwest union?

The Times They Are A-Changin'

A short while back I did several posts on the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA), the National Education Association (NEA) imposed trusteeship and the bankrupt Indiana State Teachers Association Trust Fund (blog search ISTA if interested).

I followed by posting a link to the Department of Labor Critical and Endangered Status Notice Page which list the Multi-employer Pension Plans (mostly union) reported to DOL as "critical or endangered" Is that a euphemism for broke?

I received a response telling me to keep my eyes open because this is just the tip of the iceberg and we'll see some radical changes in the government - labor movement -corporation - worker consanguinity. Hmmm - I thought we already had seen some radical changes with the government/UAW partnership in control of GM and Chrysler.

But the warning was deeper and more dire - I was told that many unions would need massive government hand-outs just to stay out of bankruptcy and that the union controlled pension funds were all on life support. Hell, we've bailed everyone else out, why discriminate against the unions?

Perhaps it's not PC to say that labor tried to buy government in the 2008 elections but what else do you call it? It might have even been a good investment - payback has already started and the indications are it will continue as long as Obama can come up with the candidates and bucks the unions need. Welcome to the Brave New World!

One thing I find ironic is my perception that the unions are attacking their own pension funds. I'm sure there are many reasons for the dismal state of the funds, mismanagement and corruption immediately come to mind, but I wonder how many of the funds include stock from the very corporations labor seems intent on destroying?

As an example, Joe Hansen of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) is behind a massive effort to organize WalMart, which is profitable, employs about 1.4 million people and plans on creating 22,000 new jobs this year. According to the UFCW, the evil giant is responsible for every malady know to mankind - including my beer gut and balding pate (thank gawd - I thought it was heredity and overindulgence)! One might wonder how much of the large UFCW investment portfolio, albeit down from $67,607,164 to $38,515,570 in 2008, is WalMart stock?

It all makes me shake my head in amazement and I only hope I live long enough to "See The NEW USA In My Government Motors Chevrolet"

"Ladies and Gentlemen - This is your pilot speaking - we've encountered turbulence, please fasten your seat belts".

Win, lose or draw, it's gonna be a hell of a ride!

Union Corruption Update

Back when I was a new and naive blogger (a few months ago) and just learning about all the corruption that exist in the labor movement, I would dutifully comb through the reports and post the stories of the latest union criminals.

Now, as a grizzled veteran, I leave that task to the experts like Carl Horiwitz, blogging at the National Legal and Policy Center. It's still interesting but geez, I wish you crooks would slow down; Mr. Horiwitz's post is twelve (12) pages long this week! Give us a break and put your hands in your pocket instead of the till until we recover from our carpal tunnel syndrome.

Times are tough for us all - but we don't have a union piggy bank to raid.

Speaking of tough times, Mr. Horiwitz reports that poor ole' Andy Stern, President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is desperately trying to nurse his financially strapped union and critically ill pension fund, SEIU National Industry Pension Fund (NIPF), back to to health. Both are on life support and the feds were notified March 31st, 2009, that as of January 1st, 2009, NIPF was critical.

Andy has enough problems and we hate to pile on but how many brains does it take to figure out that spending $60.7 million dollars to buy a president isn't a smart move during a depression. Drop by some day Andy, I still have enough to left in my pocket to buy you a cup of coffee.

Mr. Horiwitz also tells us that SEIU may be on life support but still strong enough to take on the Terminator to see who actually controls California. Arnie, baby, you still have those big muscles and more money - kick his butt!

caricature by James Hungaski

Another Union Lie

In my 62 years on this planet, I have been through one union organizing campaign and belonged to one union, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1001.

Thankfully, I'll never have to endure the ordeal again!

I will NEVER again be forced to pay to pay tribute to a labor union and would turn down any job, regardless of how otherwise attractive, that required union dues as a condition of employment.

My disclaimer is that I can only describe, as fact, my experiences and conclusions with regard to public transit in the Denver Metro area but I'd guess that all U.S. public transit systems have at least looked at the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) and considered a public-subcontractor model in an effort to save taxpayer money.

First, I'd like to dispel the myth that ATU Local 1001 lawyer Bill Jones and others have been spreading for years:

"The whole thing has been a sham since the start," says Bill Jones, a lobbyist for the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1001, which represents bus drivers employed directly by RTD. "Privatization might sound good for the taxpayer except for the crappy service we've gotten. We've always said that the privatized buses should be painted bright yellow, because we want people to know the difference between them and us." Johan Shikes - WestWord January 31st, 2002

"We're obviously not big fans of the privatization laws, since there is virtually no oversight by RTD," says Bill Jones, a spokesman for the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1001, which represents bus drivers employed directly by RTD. "We would prefer that all of the private buses were painted fluorescent orange, so that our riders could tell at a glance that they were different." Julie Dunn - WestWord July 11, 2002

RTD is NOT privatized; the laws require that RTD contract a percentage of the RTD bus routes in an effort to save public money. There is talk of privatizing RTD's FasTracks, i.e. a public & private partnership to inject private capitol into the system but the bus routes are not now nor have they ever been privatized.

Lawyer, spokesman, lobbyist - Bill Jones does it all so no wonder the union pays him the big bucks. He may be a good lawyer but perhaps he missed class the day they talked about the difference between privatization and subcontracting. One might also ask lawyer Jones if he ever regrets any of his derogatory comments where the subcontractors were concerned; First Transit (At the time ATC) employees were union brothers and sisters (ATU Local 1755 - now only a memory because of sticky fingers) and all subcontractor drivers now pay dues to ATU Local 1001 for "representation". Not to worry Bill, we know you were only being a good union soldier and mouthing the party line - we won't hold it against you.

God Bless The Internet! It's now much more difficult to weasel out of what you say.

Back to the story. In 1989, the Colorado Legislature passed a law requiring RTD to subcontract 20% of it's routes, raised that to 35% in 2000 and finally pushed it to 50%, where it stands today, in 2004 (about the time the voters also approved a RTD sales tax increase to pay for it's disaster, FasTracks). It's a noble idea - save the taxpayer money. Hey, I vote for that!

It works and RTD saves money by contracting routes. The private contractors save RTD money but at what cost? RTD owns all the buses and pay for all the fuel so how can a contractor run a route cheaper? Lower labor cost! The private subcontractor employees earn much less, with fewer benefits, than the RTD public employees.

Here's the 2007-2008 union lie: "Join the much better paid RTD employees in Local 1001 and we'll fight to get you better wages and benefits. You do the same job, you deserve it". Like sheep we believed the lies and all joined ATU Local 1001.

The subcontractor employers, First Transit (owned by First Group, Scotland), Laidlaw (owned by First Transit - First Group) and Veolia (owned by Veolia, France), cannot offer the same wages and benefits as RTD and make a profit. Repeat, cannot! Cheaper labor = lower cost = profit.

I'm not upset about the foreign ownership, the wage/benefit disparity or even the union treating the subcontractor members like red headed stepchildren - it's the lies!

I'd like to send a message to lawyer Jones, Dan Sunquist, Yvette Salazar, Holman Carter, Howard Alton, Julio Riveria, Rudy Trujillo and the rest of the crew feeding out of the Local 1001 member money trough - you really want to help the members?

Quit giving the member's money to groups like Protect Colorado's Future ($120K in 2008) and use the money to lobby the Colorado legislation and taxpayers into repealing the RTD contracting provisions so all drivers are public employees, wear the same uniform and receive the same wages and benefits! It's actually a win-win, the second class citizen subcontractor employees get to take their rightful place in line and more of Colorado's money stays in Colorado - no more sending taxpayer money to Scotland and France! How can that be against the union's interest? As an added benefit, Bill Jones would be rid his pet peeve - subcontractors.

Above all - quit lying! We'll get along fine.

P.S. Let's expose another union myth/lie - Before they were union, both Laidlaw and Veolia started their employees at a higher hourly rate than unionized First Transit employees. So much for "The Union Advantage"

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore"

The line, of course, is from the diatribe delivered by anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) in the 1976 film "Network". Replace the bogeyman reference to the Russians with "terrorist", add the internet and the Beale rant seems amazingly prophetic:

"I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street, and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it.

We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be!

We all know things are bad -- worse than bad -- they're crazy.

It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out any more. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone."

Well, I'm not going to leave you alone. I want you to get mad!

I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street.

All I know is that first, you've got to get mad.

You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!"

So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell,

"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Yesterday, someone left a comment that referred to me as a Nazi and I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the utter stupidity of the comparison. I would suggest something more original next time, perhaps "contemptible, unholy spawn of the devil" rather than Adolf Hitler. At least someone was angry enough to leave a comment so I don't consider the day wasted.

As a side note, I was able to visit Dachau some 42 years ago and it was an eerie place at best. I might suggest actually reading the Holocaust accounts and at least looking at pictures of Dachau, Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, etal. before throwing around terms like Nazi.

Based on the post that was commented on, I'd suspect that the anonymous poster was a UFCW Local 7 union toady and so, once more, I'll state: First Transit Employee Rights Blog is not anti union, anti Democrat government nor is it pro big business. I'm scared and and I don't know what to do other than write about something I believe, based on personal experience, is a little piece of the problem. Pissing into the wind? Perhaps, but I have to do something.

I'm not an economist and I don't know what all the indicators mean or if we're in a recession, depression, the beginning of a recovery or whatever. I do know that there are a lot of good hard working Americans families in dire straights and that government, the labor movement and business are failing those workers. Common sense tells me that the pie is only so big and too many greedy special interest want it all for themselves; the workers be damned!

I'm getting old and I'll be fine but what about my daughter, grandkids and the rest of the current and future generations? The America I love and went to war for is changing in ways I hate to the very core of my existance and I'll protest those changes as long as I can draw a breath.

You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!"

Anonymous said...

I found the following comment on my June 5th Safeway, King Soopers -Poised to "Bust" The Union post and it's so well stated I decided it deserved a post to immortalize it:

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

The author is a true nazi in training, I'll bet this piece was written by adolph hitler himself!

June 22, 2009 1:30 PM

Bravo! Three stars. One minor criticism: Nazi, Adolph & Hilter should be capitalized. Ya'll come back now, ya hear!

Die anmerkung wurde durch einen hirnlosen smuck geschrieben

Union Toady "Public Service" Non-Profit Slime Factor

I.R.S. code 501 (c) 5 "provides for the exemption from federal income tax of labor, agriculture and horticultural organizations" Hence the common reference to a "501 (c) 5 non-profit". On March 31st, 2002, the I.R.S. recognized 58,962 organizations under the code. Any bets that the number is considerably higher in 2009 and that very few have anything to do with agriculture or horticulture?

The majority are exactly what they claim in public: International, national, district or local labor unions with a stated purpose of "representing the member workers". I would suggest that the true purpose of these labor unions is to stay in business at any cost; regardless of the damage they to to the majority of members and the economy. But why split hairs, everyone can make up their own mind.

I am dismayed at the rampant corruption that exist within big labor and I take particular exception to the liars at the "public service" labor union non-profits trying to blow smoke up the public's butt! For the most part their claims and campaigns are laughably ineffective but politicos go after big labor money as rabidly as a stallion after a mare in heat and the potential for real harm exists (Employee Free Choice Act).

When I read an article about one of these clowns going after so-and-so, I apply the "mama test" to assess the worthiness of their claims; if Mama would have disapproved, I afford them no credibility. Mama grew up poor in the Great Depression and loved the unions but hated hucksters, flim-flamers and liars. For her sake, I'm glad that Mama isn't alive today.

My own minuscule contribution to the effort trying to expose these "wolves in sheep's clothing" is to start locating and publishing these frauds yearly I.R.S. tax returns, form 990. There is a new section on Union Disclosure Blog titled "Labor Union Funded Non-profits {501 (c)} form 990". Many of these organizations are covered by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act and must file a yearly disclosure (LM-2, LM-3 or LM-4) with the Department of Labor. I'll continue to post these disclosures as I get time.

Perhaps there is a need for a "Public Service" Hall of Shame and my candidates for today are Chris Chafe - CTW (Change To Win), Bob Balgenorth - CURE (California Unions for Reliable Energy) and James L. Wilson - Laser, Inc. (Legal And Safety Employer Research).

Change To Win (CTW) deserves at least a honorable mention for the "CVS - Unlock The Condoms" campaign. CVS, a pharmacy giant, is being attacked as racist because, in certain areas, they put "at risk of walking out of the store" condoms in locked displays. Mr. Mike Angelis, CVS Director of Public Relations:

"In stores where condoms have been heavily shoplifted, a selection of condoms may be kept in a locked display to ensure that there is a stock available for customers to purchase," he said in the statement.

"In stores that have a locked condom display," he continued, "we maintain a selection of condoms that are not locked and are available for customers to purchase without asking for assistance from store employees."

Apply reason and logic and see what makes sense. A store, in business to make money, would make buying rubbers difficult for people of color (perhaps a vast Zionist conspiracy?) or they're trying to protect easily shop-lifted items in stores with a history of losing certain brands?

CTW's Chris Chafe, Executive Director, and the Leadership Council, a rogues gallery of union heavy hitters, deserve an award for comming up with this idea. I find the suggestions by CTW insulting and racist - and I'm an old white guy.

California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE) headed by life-long union supporter Bob Balgenorth are proud of their labor union ties and deeply concerned about the environment as shown by their relentless pursuit to protect California's short noses kangaroo rat and the ferruginous hawk as reported in the New York Times and The Union Label Blog.

I agree, Ausra should not build a solar power plant if it's going to harm the short nosed kangaroo rat, they're cute little buggers! But, Bob, ole' buddy - why would you throw your full support behind the BrightSource Energy plan to build an even larger solar power plant in your state?

What? You're kidding me; Ausra's "ecological" damage was a refusal to commit to union labor?

"One big difference between the projects? Ausra had rejected demands that it use only union workers to build its solar farm, while BrightSource pledged to hire labor-friendly contractors."

N.Y. Times

I searched for either a form 990 or LM-2 from CURE and could find neither. My assumption is that CURE is a 501 (c) 5 labor union and should have filed both forms at some time. I'm not particularly surprised there is no form 990 because the requirement is only that the non-profit keep it on hand for public perusal but I did expect to find an LM-2. Perhaps the LM-2 is hidden somewhere?

My personal favorite "Bonehead Idea of the Century" (the envelope, please & a drum roll) has to be the claim, by James L. Wilson of Legal And Employer Research (LASER), Inc., that a Nevada mine construction project they opposed "would drive off game and harm members who hunted there". I get confused when thinking about LASER - it's either a dupe of the NRA, pretending to be a labor union pretending to be a public safety advocate OR someone actually thought that the claim the mine would harm hurting would hold sway with the court. It didn't work and LASER was found to have no standing in the case.

Save the rat, kill the deer and unlock the rubbers!

Certainly causes that benefit union members. Perhaps all members need a dues increase; I'm sure there are many other worthy causes the unions need to address.

Laser, Inc., James L. Wilson & 30 Pieces of Silver

Under the guise of "public service", Mr. Wilson, President of the labor funded non-profit Legal And Safety Employer Research, Inc., may have earned at least a part of his "30 pieces of silver" when the Franklin Board of County Commissioners, Ohio, first awarded then withdrew a contract to low bidder non-union TP Mechanical and instead gave the work to the unionized W.G. Tomko, Inc.

The contact in question was for work at the, in part, publicly funded Hungington Park Baseball Stadium and under Ohio law, the bid must be awarded to the "lowest and best bidder". "Best bidder" is subjective but there is no doubt, TP Mechanical was the lowest. Not that TP Mechanical was the only non-union contractor to get the boot, OHIOREDNOVEMBER'S WEBLOG was reporting on the Huntington Park Baseball Stadium project and The Franklin Board of County Commissioners as early as January, 2008 and writes that the commissioners planned on rejecting a low bid from non-union The Painting Company of Plain City, Ohio. In fact, OHIOREDNOVEMBER'S WEBLOG reports that an attorney (identified only as Mason) for The Painting Company made the following statement:

“If ever Franklin County taxpayers wanted to know that the county commissioners were trying to enforce a union-only agreement by underhanded agreements, then this is it, plain and simple. Hopefully, they will see the error of their ways and stop.”

We don't know who writes OHIOREDNOVEMBER'S WEBLOG but we'd bet (s)he is not a Democrat Party supporter and it's obvious that (s)he is not a fan of freshman Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OHIO District 15). Congresswoman Kilroy was a Franklin County Commissioner when Huntington Park was being build and seems instrumental in awarding contracts to union companies. Really? Please, not another labor union lapdog politician! She ran for Congress (and won) in 2008, so information is easy to come by:

Itemized Individual Contributions $1,365,066

Non-itemized Individual Contributions $438,299

PAC Contributions $704,250

Party Contributions $10,290

Federal Election Commission Information

Perhaps OHIOREDNOVEMBER is on to something with the critical Kilroy posts; her contributors reads like a who's who of labor union heavy hitters. The same as with Obama, time will tell if we have the best government big labor can buy.

Charles Dudley Warner told us "Politics makes strange bedfellows". Old Charlie died in 1900 and didn't get to see the 2009 labor movement so perhaps we need to take the liberty to update his quote: "Politics and labor movements make strange conspirators"

Strange indeed to link a union toady California 501 (c) non-profit, LASER, Inc., that advocates for Nevada hunters and attacks non-union contractors to a big labor lapdog County Commissioner turned Congresswoman.

Legal or not, it feels slimy because the unholy alliance was bought with the sweat of unwitting American Workers!

ATU Local 1001 IRS/DOL Fraudulent Filing Alert

Can you believe that it's June 18th already? Yup, getting closer to the July date where I can quit messing around with Amalgamated Transit Union International and the boys over at the local in Westminster. I suppose it's time to take the gloves off and make a statement:

The officers of ATU Local 1001 have filed fraudulent documents with either the IRS, DOL or both!

I am well aware of the libel laws and would never make that statement without proof. Private employer labor unions are required to file a yearly Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) disclosure form with Department of Labor and as a non-profit, they must also file a yearly form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service. A lot of the same information is required by both agencies so common sense would tell you the figures and other information would match. No one ever claimed they were real bright over at the hall:

ATU Local 1001 2007 LM-2

ATU Local 1001 2007 form 990

Once again, I suggest the "I'm Stupid & Incompetent Defense". Even I'd be smart enough to make sure the forms matched.

P.S. ROFLMAO

P.P.S. If I ever offend anyone to the point where they feel the need to sue, I think libel is sort of "ho-hum". How about tortious interference or intentional interference with contractual relations?

Animation courtesy of the AnimationLibrary

Condolences To James L. Wilson At LASER, Inc.

It's only 8AM in California and I've just gotten some horrible news; someone sent

me the Legal And Safety Employer Research, Inc. 2007 form 990! James Wilson

took a 24% (union) salary hit between 2004 and 2007. I know it was tough to live on

$72, 608 and we feel your pain. The only good news is that his LASER (union) pension

contributions went up to $1220 a month.

Filed under "I'm Amazed"

I've looked at a lot of union toady salaries and I've NEVER seen one drop. I wonder if salaries at LASER

are performance based? After careful consideration, I'm withdrawing my job application. I didn't want to move

to Gridley anyway.

Keep plugging away Jim, I keep reading that the recession is almost over and things will get better!

Legal And Safety Employer Research (LASER), Inc..

LASER, Inc.

654 Kentucky St.

Gridley, CA 95948

ON THROWING STONES IN GLASS HOUSES

What is LASER, Inc. and what goes on in the nondescript building at 654 Kentucky St., Gridley, California? For that matter, where the hell is Gridley? Never heard of it and and maybe you can't even get there from here! As I learned, Gridley is a small town (population 6250) 60 miles north of Sacramento. I've heard of Sacramento.

Casual research on LASER turn up little more than a slick, professional website devoted to attacking the construction industry:

"LASER is publishing information that contractors do not and will not publish about themselves."

The altruistic stated goal of LASER is:

"an effort to promote safety, productivity and honesty in the construction industry."

Very commendable and fair since Laser has a policy to allow the targeted contractors to reply:

"These contractors have been given the opportunity to review this material for errors and inaccuracies."

I'm just an ole' country boy but dawgonit, call me skeptical. I always ask whose ox is getting gored and searching LASER's websites doesn't give a clue as to who is doing the research and more importantly, whose dime is paying for it. I'm proud of my efforts and take every opportunity to shamelessly self-promote myself. You might guess the folks at LASER are very modest or intentionally trying to fly under the radar but you'd be wrong.

No one is trying to deny LASER their First Amendment Rights but dig a little deeper and it looks like LASER is trying to fool us, nay, not just fool us but treat us like idiots with their transparent scam to convince us they're in the "public service" business. First Transit Employee Right Blog makes no comment as to the accuracy of their contractor criticisms, I'm certain the companies targeted have the resources to protect their names if need be. We just insist on knowing who LASER actually holds allegiance to. As Peter Boyles, a local radio talk show host, likes to say, "Please don't pee on my neck and try to convince me it raining"

I'll not spent an inordinate amount of time on LASER since I asked Mr. Brett McMahon, VP - Miller & Long Concrete Construction (a company in the LASER cross hairs at one time) , for his comments and received the following reply (published with permission):

Brett McMahon to me

show details 4:32 AM (3 hours ago)

Reply

They are paid by LIUNA in our case. I have searched California's Non-Profit database and have found some of their 990's.

The really funny part about them is their total ineffectiveness. Other contractors that have been pursued by these clowns have considered suing them. However, none of the contractors have been able to show a loss in market share as a result of a LASER attack. In fact, most contractors actually think that their business has improved after the attack! Talk about a counterproductive waste of money!

EBM

Funded by Labors' International Union Of North America?

***"Say it ain't so Joe?".

Mr. McMahon was kind enough to attach the LASER 2004 IRS required form 990. My old Southern Baptist preacher used to tell me you'd go to hell for lying, the same as for murdering or stealing. In fairness, perhaps it's not a lie when you cross your fingers for the public and disclose your true identity to the IRS (where do I find this information on the LASER website?):

It doesn't matter, just a little white lie, so what other information is available? LawKT.com in their secondary boycott publication writes the following:

Proactive Labor Strategies To Site
...(iv) LASER Legal and Safety Employer Research, Inc. ("LASER") is a group based in California which has engaged in letter writing, leafleting and boycott campaigns against owners and developers who utilize selected contractors, such as The Industrial Company ("TIC"). Owners or developers who wish to combat such interference may also file charges with the NLRB alleging that they have engaged in an unlawful secondary boycott of the owner or developer pursuant to Section 8(b)(4) of the National Labor Relations Act.

Unfair labor practices? - it can't be; unions are democratic, fair and balanced, looking out only for the welfare of their members and workers in general. Wouldn't attacking the major construction employers, for personal gain, potentially hurt the workers?

As Mr. McMahon points out, LASER doesn't seem to be very effective but we do have to give them at least a B- / C+ (changed my mind, C- at best) for effort. The earliest mention I can find is an attempt to interfere in a Nevada Bureau of Land Management case that seems to have began in 1991:

LASER identifies itself in its notice of appeal as "a non-profit group that reviews many large industrial projects throughout the Western United States, including many mines." It contends that "its members and supporters will be exposed to human health harms" as a result of the project. (Request for Stay at 3.) It also avers that many members and supporters of LASER frequent the area in and near the mine for recreational activity, including hunting, so that they would be harmed because game would be driven off, causing a loss of hunting opportunities.

DENIED for lack of standing but PETA members take note - LASER is a pro-hunting group! Strange bedfellows, indeed. What's next? Additional funding from the NRA?

It's even more interesting because this action is from 1991 and according to the California Secretary of State, LASER wasn't incorporated as a California non-profit until May 26th, 1994. Laser has had the same address since the beginning so no wonder their attempted interference was denied, they hadn't even bothered to incorporate yet.

The major players are a bit shadowy but we're able to identify James L. Wilson as the Agent for Service and current President of LASER. According to MANTA, James L. Wilson is the President, LASER has eight employees at the 654 Kentucky St. location and "sales" of $580,000 per year. Hmmm, what are they selling? Perhaps sales is a euphemism for "labor union toady". Regardless, it pays pretty well - James reported his 2004 LASER income as $94,930 - whee, dogie! I wonder if they're hiring?

One last place I looked was the domain registration record for laser-inc.com. The terms of use indicate that it's not legal to "repackage" the information provided so rather than post the results, I'll just say that anyone interested can do a "whois" for laser-inc.com and find it for themselves. Hello, Jackie Sweet - are you still the administrative contact? If they're still around, I'd also like to say hello to William Wright, Rod Cameron & Joe Thompson, the unpaid board members - does your momma approve of the way you do business? Mine wouldn't!

I'll email a link to this post and give LASER, Inc. an opportunity to reply, with an unedited post, if they have anything to say. I'm an open book with regard to my motives (strongly pro-American worker & anti-union corruption), blog funding (my pocket) and my friends (anyone who'll publish or promote me). Pony up, LASER - tell us which labor unions are footing the bills for your operation!

This is a public service post in the interest of public awareness.

***Attributed by the newspapers to a young baseball fan whose dreams were crushed when he asked the question of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Jackson admitted he had conspired with other players on the 1919 Chicago White Sox to throw the World Series.

When Joe Jackson left criminal court building in custody of a sheriff after telling his story to the grand jury, he found several hundred youngsters, aged from 6 to 16, awaiting for a glimpse of their idol. One urchin stepped up to the outfielder, and, grabbing his coat sleeve, said: "It ain't true, is it, Joe?" "Yes, kid, I'm afraid it is," Jackson replied. The boys opened a path for the ball player and stood in silence until he passed out of sight. "Well, I'd never have thought it," sighed the lad.

The heavily favored "Black Sox" lost to the Cincinitti Reds in the series and even though Jackson and eight other White Sox players were acquited at trial, all were banned from major league baseball.

Image from Google Maps

Mr. Brett McMahon - VP Miller & Long on the EFCA

I spoke with Mr. McMahon, VP of Business Development at Miller & Long Concrete Construction and he gave permission to reprint his article in it's entirety.

I'm an outsider with no ties to Miller & Long and in fact, never heard of the company until a couple of days ago. The Internet is a wonderful thing and information is at everyones fingertips. What about Miller & Long?

First, you can Google "Miller & Long Concrete Construction" and find NOTHING negative, other than posts by LASER, Inc. (Legal And Safety Employee Research) publishing on The Concrete Facts. Call me skeptical but these folks run slick, professional websites and I suspect I'll have to "follow the money" to see where the bias's are. Not for a second do I believe it's all "public service". I take the lack of negative information as a pretty good sign the company is doing business the right way.

The company was formed in 1947 (the year I was born :-) and is now the largest concrete contractor in the U.S. Miller & Long has received numerous awards including the Engineering News Record Number One Concrete Construction Company in the U.S. for the last four years in a row. I know nothing about concrete but it seems pretty impressive to me.

I'll sum up my feelings by saying I see a profitable company, in business for 62 years, with thousands of employees, being threatened because unions don't want to compete on a level playing field. If the majority (50% +1) of the employees wanted a union, they'd have one. Seems pretty simple to me.

Mr. McMahon:

The Employee Free Choice Act Could Kill My Company

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 by Brett McMahon

My company has been operating for more than sixty years — six decades — to build the American dream. We have been named America’s top concrete construction firm in four of the last five years. So take it seriously when I warn:The Employee Free Choice Act could kill my company, and many like it.

EFCA, known by many as the “card check” bill is an absolute abomination. Its card check provision would allow union organizers to harass thousands of my company’s employees. Its “binding arbitration” provision would substitute the judgment of a government-imposed busybody for decades of practical know-how developed during the building of a successful company within the free enterprise system. That’s why this fight is personal for me, my family, and thousands of our employees.

The fallout from EFCA could be severe. From a business perspective, it would make the already-difficult economy even tougher because the labor market would be much less flexible. And the notion of having the government dictate terms of private contracts is mystifying. But from an employee’s perspective, there is worry that the large economic effect of EFCA will be massive job loss.

That this issue is alive at all is a testament to the fact that workplace issues are complex and arcane. Most people have no daily experience with union organizing laws — and it’s an area that’s still misunderstood by those who do deal with the subject. Many people wrongly believe unions do not have fair access to “pitch” employees on their service. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Organized labor has relied on these misperceptions because it desperately needs to pass EFCA (or some form of it) to usher in millions of new members and their dues dollars. Of course, if a private business like mine asked the government to pass a law virtually forcing people to pay for my service, there would be unstoppable outrage (much as we have seen from citizens and editorial boards who are aware of EFCA). In part, organized labor needs to continue to fund its political operations. A lesser known concern is that many union-run pension funds have run out of sufficient membership to keep the funds solvent and, consequently, unions are seeking ways to get more people “in the door” to stay afloat.

Whatever the reason EFCA is pushed by a special interest, it is not in the interest of working Americans or the free enterprise system. We, and our elected leaders, must continue our promising fight against EFCA and any “compromise” that harms employee rights and the health of our economy.

ATU Local 1001 - RTD Contract Update

Sorry, there is no update on the contact arbitration between Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1001 and Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) - local President Holman Carter insisted on secrecy.

Given that fares account for less than 20% of the RTD operating budget and that the other 80%+ comes from the public trough federal/state funding and an RTD District sales tax, one might think the public, who pays for the system, has a right to be kept informed of how their money is spent but Holman doesn't see it that way.

A little background: the contract between RTD public employees and RTD expired February 28th, 2009. ATU Local 1001 notified the state they intended to strike (they actually didn't, as Holman admitted) and the state barred a strike and ordered binding arbitration, the actual goal.

It's no surprise that Holman and the boys insist on secrecy, cock-a-roachs scramble when you shine a light on them!

I'm still asking about the 2008 $120k ATU Local 1001 donation to Protect Colorado's Future (formed only to defeat 3 "anti-union" ballot proposals) that I, as a member of ATU Local 1001, was never given the opportunity to fight against. Democracy be damned, do what you want with the members money and tell them what a great job you're doing after the fact.

I still have to chuckle at the irony of the situation; ATU Local 1001, representing only the RTD public employees, had no Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) reporting requirements until they recruited the First Transit (my employer at the time) private employees in July, 2007.

Had the boys not gotten greedy and just left me alone, it would have been a win-win for both of us - I'd still have two years of dues in my pocket and the union would still be free to stay in the dark and leave little cock-a-roach pellets laying around for the members.

Be careful what you wish for - your wish may come true.

Critical and Endangered Union Pension Funds

In the wake of the Indiana State Teachers Fund Insurance Trust failure, it's time to turn our attention to the union/employer management of many multi-employer pension funds; pensions that thousands of union members are depending on for some security when they're no longer able to work (or perish the thought, perhaps even "early" retirement).

Department of Labor regulations require that the trust managers report "endangered" (assets below 80% of liabilities) and "critical" (assets below 65% of liabilities) and the stats are scary at best:

Kevin Mooney, reporting for the washingtonexaminer.com informs us that, according to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, "the average union has resources to cover only 62% of what is owed to participants" and "less than 1 in 160 workers is covered by union pension with required assets".

Perhaps Mr. Mooney's article should be required reading for those members covered by the failing pension plans; he paints a very grim outlook and and it certainly doesn't look like President Obama, Labor Secretary Solis or the Congress are overly concerning with the members who could lose much of their earned retirement.

On a positive note for union members, please Google "Labor Union Pension Bailout". Many of the large unions are already begging for government bailouts and who knows, feeding at the public trough may be the answer. Obama certainly owes a large debt for his election - repayment is expected.

image courtesy of work-for-food.signgenerator.net