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!

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.