Free Republic

One for the hypocrisy hall of fame: Media Matters for America is apparently resisting an effort by Service Employees International Union Local 500 to unionize its staff.Last week, the union filed a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board, indicating that the nonprofit media watchdog organization rejected an effort by the union to organize MMFA’s staff through a Card Check election.A filing with the NLRB does not necessarily mean that the union and management are in direct confrontation. For example, although Volkswagen tacitly backed the United Auto Workers’ recent effort to organize its Chattanooga, Tenn., plant, the company still...

The hypocrisy could not be more evident as reports indicate Media Matters for America is resisting efforts by Service Employees International Union Local 500 to unionize its employees. Heck, next thing you know, they'll be asking them for a higher minimum wage. "...Last week, the union filed a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board, indicating that the nonprofit media watchdog organization rejected an effort by the union to organize MMFA's staff through a Card Check election..."

Media Matters for America is apparently resisting an effort by Service Employees International Union Local 500 to unionize its staff. Last week, the union filed a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board, indicating that the nonprofit media watchdog organization rejected an effort by the union to organize MMFA’s staff through a Card Check election. […] MMFA has regularly presented itself as a supporter of organized labor. It has argued that “economists point to declining union participation as one cause of the growing economic rift in America” and claimed it was a fact that “unions increase productivity [and] do...

Get your popcorn… The SEIU is petitioning the National Labor Relations Board to unionize the employees the employees at Media Matters. In response, Media Matters has hired a high priced law firm to represent the company. And, here we thought they supported unions? Weird, huh?

The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is “outraged” over a ballot measure to raise San Francisco’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, saying in a statement on Monday that it “flies in the face of collaboration and partnership.” The measure would lift base pay about 40 percent from its current $10.74, making San Francisco’s minimum wage the highest in the country. Activists were expected to file papers on Monday for the November ballot. The measure, designed by SEIU Local 1021, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, and other activist groups, would give companies with fewer than 100 employees until...

Two weeks ago, a video that I filmed of a radical guest lecture in a required sociology course at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater went viral. In it, intolerant SEIU member Eyon Biddle claimed that “politics is fueled by white rage” and that Republican success in 2010 was helped by racism. Appalled by what I was hearing, I took out my phone and began to record. Based off of how quickly the video spread, becoming national news in less than three days, as well as from the reaction I have gotten from people nationwide, it is clear to me that people...

Democrats and many in the media routinely complain about money spent in politics, and they regularly lash out at conservatives and big business. Turns out, unions are the top spenders in politics. Twelve of the top 20 political donors from 1989 to 2014 have been unions, which overwhelmingly support Democratic causes, according to an analysis done by OpenSecrets.org's Center for Responsive Politics. Seven of the top 10 donors overall give almost exclusively to politicians or groups on the left. ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for Democrats and progressive causes and features Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer...

SEIU and other labor unions can accompany the government inspectors on site visits due to a quiet and contested Obama administration rule clarification issued last year in response to a request from a union representative. Maurice Baskin, an attorney representing the Associated Builders and Contractors and the National Association of Manufacturers, said in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections that OSHA’s clarification letter violates the OSH Act and the National Labor Relations Act. Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act holds that an “authorized representative” must be an agent from a union that a majority of the...

The Service Employees International Union, the labor group behind the home health care dues skim, has been fined $199,000 for concealing that it bankrolled Proposal 4 in 2012, which would have locked a forced unionization scheme into the state constitution. The fine for campaign finance violations is the second-largest ever levied in Michigan, according to a press release from the secretary of state's office. Between 2006 and when the dues skim finally ended in early 2013, the SEIU took more than $34 million from home-based caregivers, most of whom were taking care of family and friends. Secretary of State Ruth...

The Service Employees International Union will have to pay the second-highest fine in Michigan history for its failed 2012 campaign to preserve forced union dues among home care workers. Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said that the politically powerful union agreed to pay the state nearly $200,000 for failing to properly disclose donors and file timely campaign reports. The union funneled more than $9 million into two 501(c)(4) non-profit groups, Home Care First Inc. and Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care, which served as the public face of a ballot initiative. “These organizations cannot be used as a means...

Gov. Scott Walker’s public sector collective bargaining reforms of 2011 have not prevented union officials from making hefty six-figure salaries even as some of their organizations struggle to retain members. A review of U.S. Department of Labor filings shows that at least 159 union officials in Wisconsin made six-figure salaries in fiscal year 2012. ... The SEIU has used its political clout to recently push for a minimum wage hike for some Milwaukee County employees and government contractors. While decrying the current minimum wage, the SEIU conveniently lobbied for a carve-out that exempted employers from the requirement if they joined...

LANSING -- The Service Employees International Union will pay almost $200,000 to settle alleged campaign finance violations from a failed 2012 ballot proposal seeking collective bargaining rights for home health workers. The settlement was announced Monday by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, whose office investigated a complaint that the union skirted campaign finance laws. The complaint was filed by political advocacy group Michigan Freedom Fund The complaint accused the principals behind Home Care First and Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care of intentionally delaying required filings with Johnson's office to conceal that SEIU had made substantial contributions to support the...

Bill Clinton accepted a $225,000 speaking fee from the nonprofit Washington Hospital Center smack in the middle of two big rounds of layoffs in 2012 — one of a number of tax-exempt organizations that have paid big money to hear the former president talk. The $225,000 payment wasn’t made public by the hospital on its annual Internal Revenue Service forms, but rather appeared among dozens of lucrative speeches by Mr. Clinton reported on his wife’s final ethics filing as secretary of state. “No disrespect to Bill Clinton, but that money could’ve gone a long way and been put to better...

PITTSBURGH--An estimated 300 workers and bused-in labor activists tied up Pittsburgh traffic when they marched downtown to rally outside the corporate offices of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Monday's rally follows demonstrations outside the same building last week when police cited nine demonstrators for trespassing. The activists from the Service Employees International Union, which is trying to organize some of the hospital network's workers, and others were also pressing for higher wages for cooks, custodians and other blue-collar health workers.

Connecticut's US senator, Richard Blumenthal, and a congress-person, Rosa DeLauro, have been subpoenaed in a case alleging that the SEIU's pressure tactics on nursing home managements during labor disputes amounted to unlawful extortion. Neither politician has been accused of any wrongdoing, but unless a judge grants a delay, both will be forced to produce any documents in their possession pertaining to the SEIU. Other Connecticut politicians will be subject to depositions, including Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, state Attorney General George Jepson, andConnecticut state senators John Fonfara and Russ Morin. All are Democrats. Again, none of the politicians has been accused...

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have been pulled into a lawsuit between two local chapters of the Service Employees International Union, which represent health care workers, and nursing homes. At issue is whether a campaign to pressure the management of the nursing homes during labor disputes crossed the line into extortion. ... both lawmakers are now in the uncomfortable situation of being deposed by lawyers representing the nursing homes and are forced to provide a wide array of documents relating to their interactions with the SEIU. The subpoenas, obtained by the Washington Examiner, require them...

HOUSTON, TX – The nation’s leading labor union will plan to spend $300 million in 2014 trying to unseat Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and four other Republican Governors. More: AFL-CIO to Target Walker, Other Governors People’s World reported that the AFL-CIO announced on Thursday morning during a press conference in Houston that they would spend money trying to unseat Governor Walker. Other Governors that the labor organization is targeting are John Kasich (R-Ohio), Tom Corbett (R-Pennsylvania), Rick Snyder (R-Michigan), and Rick Scott (R-Florida). The American Federation of Teachers backed the AFL-CIO’s plan. President Randi Weingarten said: “In many ways it...

Nice job ya got there So the union's leaders have come up with a backdoor way to force employees to fork over the dues money. It's a novel variation on the Living Wage/Minimum Wage campaign. Here's how it works: Milwaukee County officials approved a living wage requirement for local government contractors to pay at least $11.33 per hour. SEIU's Wisconsin Jobs Now campaign was the main backer of the requirement. But the new law includes a convenient way for contractors to avoid having to pay the living wage — they can agree to force their employees to join SEIU.

A California Democrat is looking to extend taxpayer-funded health-care benefits to illegal immigrants. State Sen. Ricardo Lara of Long Beach introduced legislation late last week that would extend health-care coverage to all Californians “irrespective of immigration status.” “The purpose of the Health For All Act is simple — provide health care coverage to California’s remaining uninsured by expanding Medi-Cal and creating a new health exchange where the undocumented can purchase coverage,” Lara said in a statement. Lara added that the fact that Obamacare expressly denies illegal immigrants coverage “hurts the overall health of our communities, and does not reflect California...

(Ballot) Initiative No. 39 seeks to limit nonprofit hospital executive compensation to 15 times the annual wage of the lowest paid employee. Current law sets no cap on compensation, but rather, it is considered reasonable if it is comparable to similarly situated executives, even those at for profit health organizations, according to a summary of the measure. The measure would limit the share the hospital may contribute when the compensation is paid by a parent corporation, health system or combination. It requires annual public reports and authorizes civil penalties for violation.