Free Republic

Sept 4, 2014  Statistically, minimum wage earners tend to be young, and don't have the experience or knowledge to predict the outcome of a federally mandated $15 minimum wage. If they understood the incentives of corporate  investors, inventors, endemic Washington cronyism, or even basic economics, they might think twice about doing "whatever it takes". One of the interesting things about life is that no matter how backwards our culture or government is, technology marches on, and the latest foot soldier is this: (picture at http://www.6foot2inhighheelshoes.com) Along with automated credit card kiosks, fast food is about to change, and probably for...

A Coral Springs police officer turned himself in at the Broward Main Jail early Thursday on charges of pilfering more than $1,500 from a police union and spending it at the supermarket, home improvement store and several restaurants. Doug Williams, former president of the city's police union, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 87, was charged with a grand theft, a third-degree felony. Williams, 56, began his career in Coral Springs in 1981 as an investigator, retired in September 2009 to collect his pension and was re-hired the same day as a part-time police officer. He has been suspended from...

Dozens of fast food workers have been arrested at protests around the country where they are demanding higher pay at popular restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King and Domino's. Fast food workers in New York City, Chicago, Detroit and possibly more cities were arrested for blocking traffic in front of restaurants early Thursday morning, while thousands more continued protesting peacefully, according to news reports. Backed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), fast food workers in 150 cities are walking off the job and picking up picket signs to demand that they be paid no less than $15 per hour....

NEW YORK (AP) — Police handcuffed dozens of protesters in cities around the country on Thursday as they blocked traffic in the latest attempt to escalate their efforts to get McDonald's, Burger King and other fast-food companies to pay their employees at least $15 an hour. The protests, which were planned by labor organizers for about 150 cities nationwide throughout Thursday, are part of a campaign called "Fight for $15."

The SEIU represents hundreds of thousands of health care workers and is now encouraging them to march alongside fast-food strikers, according to the New York Times. Union officials also want home-care aides to join protests in six cities – Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Seattle. Union leaders say the hope is to expand to more cities in future strikes. For The Record says: According to a study commissioned by the agency overseeing home caregivers in Michigan, 75 percent of those home-care aid workers the SEIU is urging to strike are taking care of a relative or close friend. Might...

President Barack Obama says he’ll press Congress to raise the minimum wage in the same way he courted his wife — never taking no for an answer. Obama brought a buoyant Labor Day message to Wisconsin, telling union members on Monday that he sees, quote, “engines are revving a little louder” in an economy coming back from a near-depression five years ago. Now, he says, quote, “America deserves a raise.” He promises his administration will keep pushing for one. Obama told the crowd to great applause that he would join a union for job security.

Vice President Joe Biden railed against corporations in a combative Labor Day Parade speech in Detroit with union bosses and their members in attendance – speaking with such passion that even when he made up the name of a fictional historical American president the crowd applauded. Biden delivered his speech at the site of the demolished Tiger Stadium ballpark, standing onstage with local Democrats including embattled anti-Obamacare Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa Jr., who handed the vice president water and got first-name references in what basically amounted to a Biden stump speech.

MILWAUKEE (AP) - President Barack Obama renewed his push for Congress to raise the minimum wage Monday in a buoyant accounting of the economy's "revving" performance, delivered on behalf of Democrats opening their fall campaigns for the midterm congressional elections. "America deserves a raise," he told a union crowd in Milwaukee, vowing to keep a hard sell on Congress in much the way he once courted his wife. "I just wore her down," he cracked. Timing his push to Labor Day, the traditional start of the autumn campaign, Obama aggressively drew attention to recent economic gains, setting aside past caution...

A group of Fresno farm workers is accusing the state of California of forcing them into the United Farm Workers union. Workers at Fresno-based Gerawan Farms held an election in November to determine whether or not they would remain in the UFW. However, those ballots were never counted. The Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) seized the ballots until it could investigate UFW allegations of voter impropriety. “We direct the regional director to forward to the Board and serve on all parties to the election all challenged ballot declarations and all other evidence in his possession relevant to the eligibility of...

Now that Michigan is a right-to-work state, more and more educators who chose to leave the Michigan Education Association are turning to professional organizations to get legal protection and liability coverage. The American Association of Educators says calls are coming in daily and membership in Michigan has doubled. “The new climate in Michigan is proof that when teachers have the right to choose, many decide to flee the unions in favor of professional associations that provide similar benefits, at a fraction of the cost,” said AAE spokesperson Alexandra Freeze. Her organization is getting particular attention this month because the MEA...

Vote tallies on whether Minnesota home care workers will create a large union should come next week after a federal judge ruled Wednesday that an ongoing union election can continue. In July, nine home care workers brought a challenge in federal court against Gov. Mark Dayton and other state officials, claiming that unionization efforts in the state are violating constitutional guarantees of free expression and association. Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is trying to organize some 27,000 home care workers, also was named as a defendant in the case. Plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction to block a union election...

The Michigan Education Association is asking some members of its union who have inquired about opting out under the state's right-to-work law to initial a "Nonmember Informed Consent Form" which lists "benefits" they’d be giving up. Though misleading, the form is entirely optional and has nothing to do with the actual right-to-work process. An attorney compared the list to something people hear from telemarketers when trying to change phone services. The Association of American Educators, a professional organization for educators, called the MEA’s informed-consent form a scare tactic. “We’ve seen tactics like this in other states,” said Alexandra Freeze, spokeswoman...

ALLENDALE — Support staff and technical workers at Grand Valley State University are negotiating their first contract since decertifying from the Michigan Education Association in January. The group formed its own independent union called the Alliance of Professional Support Staff (APSS). President Coreen Bedford said employees are much more favorable to the new union. "We have fewer members exercising right-to-work than we had fee payers with the MEA," she said. Bedford believes had the group not formed its own union, many more members under the MEA would have opted out. She believes that over the years the MEA failed to...

Video surfaced on Thursday showing Michael Mulgrew, president of New York’s United Federation of Teachers, as he unloaded a hateful rant against critics of the Common Core Standards Initiative. “If someone takes something from me, I’m going to grab it right back out of their cold, twisted, sick hands and say it is mine!” Mulgrew bellowed clownishly. “You do not take what is mine!” The union boss also challenged opponents of Common Core and union control over education to a fist fight. “I’m going to punch you in the face and push you in the dirt because this is the...

Putin's Secret Message to ObamaI’m Andrew Klavan and this is the Revolting Truth. Ever since President Obama took office, he’s been making friendly overtures to the Russians, trying to “press the reset button” in relations between our two countries. In 2012, the president was even caught on an open mike promising he’d have more “flexibility” to cave in to Russian demands after he was re-elected. Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded warmly to Obama’s gestures by warmly cheating on our arms treaties, warmly supporting our enemies in Syria, warmly annexing Crimea, and warmly abetting the destruction of a Malaysian airliner...

Would you like to own a small business someday? If so, sorry — the Service Employees International Union would rather you didn’t. SEIU has convinced the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to eviscerate the franchising model that many small-business owners rely on. Under the current model, these small-business owners pay for the right to use a corporate brand. The franchising corporation researches appealing products. It also does marketing to promote the brand. In return, the local franchisees agree to produce those products to fit certain price and quality specifications. The local franchisee handles all the hiring and employment. This division...

The teachers’ union representing the Douglas County school system has lost one-quarter of its membership since last year, signaling a growing frustration within the ranks that dues are used to finance politics instead of professional development. The significant drop in membership of the Douglas County Federation (DCF) was revealed in a July 21 letter from the board of education to Courtney Smith, union president, and was based on the union’s most recently released tax returns. The letter pointed to the drop in membership as undeniable proof that teachers had chosen the district over the union and the need for major...

Boeing will build the 787-10 Dreamliner exclusively in North Charleston, the Chicago-based aerospace giant announced Wednesday. The 787-10 is the largest of the Dreamliner family and the announcement of its construction at the North Charleston site has been expected for months. Design of the 787-10 is underway in Everett, with final assembly of the first 787-10 scheduled to begin in South Carolina in 2017. "We looked at all our options and found the most efficient and effective solution is to build the 787-10 at Boeing South Carolina," said Larry Loftis, vice president and general manager, 787 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes....

The economic effects of state right-to-work laws are important, but these laws are significant for other reasons, too, namely the fact that employees cannot be forced to contribute money to a union they disagree with as a condition of their employment. This is especially significant because many labor unions, particularly in forced unionism states, are political organizations that spend money on issues that most people would consider partisan and contentious. Allysia Finley of The Wall Street Journal recently covered the National Education Association’s annual convention and explains how that union chose to spend its membership dues. The Michigan Education Association,...

A division of the Michigan Education Association's political action committee, which is funded in part by teachers, is urging its members to cast votes in Michigan's 47th House District Republican primary even if they consider themselves to be Democrats. In a letter labeled: "IMPORTANT!," the MEA/Livingston County PAC Screening and Recommending Committee pressed union members to cast votes for Handy Township Supervisor Henry Vaupel, a Fowlerville veterinarian who is one of five candidates on the GOP primary ballot. A designation at the top of the letter reads in bold print: "To: All MEA members residing in House District 47," then...