Posted on 11/04/2012 12:26:45 PM PST by markomalley
There’s been a lot of denials going on since last Friday when it came to light that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) may have turned away non-union crews from helping in hurricane ravaged New Jersey because they did not carry union cards.
Despite a denial by the union’s international president, Ed Hill, a statement made by New Jersey’s governor Chris Chistie, it turns out, the IBEW has demanded unionization of the non-union crews.
On Friday, Ray Hardin, General Manager of Decatur [AL] Utilities appeared on Fox Business News and stated that his crews were being turned away from Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts because they were not unionized.
The report of a union demanding that only union workers aid in the recovery efforts was immediately met with a general outcry, then a ‘clarifying’ statement from the IBEW’s Ed Hill:
It is the policy of this union and the companies we represent to welcome assistance during major natural disasters – regardless of union status. [Emphasis added.]
At a press conference on Friday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie stated:
“I’ve been on the phone with PSE&G [Public Service Electric and Gas Company], JCP&L [Jersey Central Power & Light] and the union, and they’ve all absolutely promised me they would never turn away a single worker whether they were union or nonunion, and I wouldn’t allow it,” Christie told reporters shortly after 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.
Despite the IBEW’s statement to the contrary, as well as Chris Christie’s assurances that non-union workers are welcome, it appears the IBEW throughout the New Jersey and New York areas are attempting to make sure that non-union crews become unionized before being allowed to assist in recovery efforts.
For example, according to the Daily Caller:
A business coordinator at a power company in western Georgia told The Daily Caller Friday afternoon that workers from his electric-utility employer were not permitted to help restore power to New York consumers because they would not join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).
Then, of course, there’s the smoking gun [via The Daily Caller as well] where the IBEW would “permit” Florida linemen to assist in the recovery efforts if Florida’s utilities agreed to paying into the IBEW’s funds:
In a two-page Oct. 29 contract, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) local 1049 demanded union dues, pay hikes and benefit contributions from Florida electric utilities before its workers would be permitted to help reconnect power to Long Island communities. The demand came as Hurricane Sandy was bearing down on the Northeastern United States, stranding tens of millions without electricity.
The “Letter of Assent,” which The Daily Caller obtained from the Florida Municipal Electric Association, demanded 11 separate financial commitments from municipal power companies and electrical cooperatives in the Sunshine State. The agreement, for any utility that decided to sign it, would have been in force from Oct. 29 to Nov. 29.
Here is the letter:
While the term ‘extortion‘ often comes to mind when unions exhibit this type of behavior, it is worth remembering that unions are often exempt from laws that would land others in jail.
Nevertheless, the IBEW’s behavior during Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts are no less repulsive.
___________________
I hope the Northeastern US voters remember this kind of crap from the allies of Liberal Democrats when it comes to voting.
But they probably won’t.
The unions could care less about the post-storm recovery. All they are thinking about is how much money they can make from it.
Makes me glad that as of July, I am NO LONGER a member of the IBEW.
If you aren’t happy...go to your utilities commission there in the state and whine about how something like this could happen. But don’t expect the commission to do anything except listen and grin. Priority in fixing something isn’t number one....being union and eventually fixing something is higher on the list of things to do.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/sandyunion.asp
Snopes hasn’t updated their page on this yet.
(I’m surprised they have this page up so quick)...wonder how fast they’ll add this info to that page...
If I were governor of say MA, CT, PA, or NY I would publicly sate all crews are welcome and Union members trying to interfere with non-Union crews will get arrested.
Yes, they put their evil insanity in writing
I'm certainly not surprised. Snopes is owned and operated by the left as a means of deceiving the American public. They maintain and spread the Left wing party line.
What does surprise me are the numbers of people who think that Snopes is a reliable source for fact checking and rumor control. My friends will frequently go to Snopes to check some urban legend floating around and are amazed to learn what they really do. Some of them keep going back to the well long after I have demonstrated to them that Snopes is a spreader of left wing propaganda and not a debunker of it.
Unions exist for one reason, and one reason only: to screw everyone not in the union.
It’s long past time for people to rise up and march on the offices of IBEW everywhere and burn them to the ground. It’s the least we can do to remedy this treasonous, indecent, anti-American, vile behavior that has probably led to many deaths and untold misery. Down with IBEW!
If I did the math right, that is 29.31% of their hourly (whatever that is) plus $9.75 an hour just in union demands before any taxes. No wonder their “leadership” likes it like that.
Once again, regular Americans from other parts of the country have to rescue and bail out demonrats, the unions and their public sector failures.
The union's have screwed up almost everything they come in contact with. Their efforts during WWII against the country were a real eye opener for me. Their alliance with the communist party was another eye opener.
We are an amazing country to have been able to survive such determined efforts to overthrow our Constitutional republic for this long.
But, after studying the record, I don't see how we'll ever be a great country as long as the unions have any influence. We succeed in spite of them, not because of them.
However, the Chinese owe "our" unions for much of their success, for our having sent so much of our manufacturing and industrial base to them.
is there any way the homeowners can sue the IBEW? class action maybe???
They have the backing for the corrupt liberal progressives in Government, who believe that people should be at the mercy of the politicians and their allies.
RATS eating their own...
Let’s not forget how proud the union leadership was when they took credit for putting Eastern Airlines out of business.
How many jobs did that cost union members?
Unions once did some good, but those days are long gone. Today, especially “government worker” unions are nothing more than legalized organized criminal enterprises, designed to fleece the taxpayer.
Mark
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary. - Wealth of nations, Book I, Ch 10
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