Free Republic

A "goon-squad" group named The Helpful Union Guys (THUG), members of Ironworkers Local 401 set fires, started riots, and took crowbars to the competition in an effort to protect union jobs. THUGs stalked women, took baseball bats to a Toys R Us site, and even torched a Quaker meetinghouse that dared to use non-union labor. Philly.Com reports 10 leaders of Ironworkers Local 401 charged in racketeering indictment. They called themselves "the Helpful Union Guys" - "THUGS" for short - and woe awaited any contractor who dared cross them by hiring non-organized workers. For, federal authorities alleged Tuesday, this "goon squad"...

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.

"According to The Wichita Eagle, the United Brotherhood Of Carpenters And Joiners Of America Local 201 began a standard protest outside Subaru of Wichita last week with a "Shame on Subaru of Wichita" sign legally placed on the highway right-of-way in front of the dealership. (The union, which has not specified its exact complaint, may have been upset that the dealership's contractor hired a non-union shop for renovations.) The dealership responded instead with its own sign, turning the union's charge into one of "having unbeatable prices."

Stacked with Obama-appointed bureaucrats back in December 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided that it was in the best interests of labor bosses to severely diminish the window of time for workplace elections to just a few weeks. This, after it was well established that the vast majority of union elections in the private sector take place within 38 days with labor winning significantly more than half. Known as the “ambush” or “quickie” election rule, it guaranteed that workers would only hear the union story during workplace elections. As soon as the NRLB announced its proposed rulemaking, it...

In Islamic countries we often hear of the three choices offered the non-Muslim, the kafir, the infidel. Three choices beginning with convert, pay the jizya poll tax and become a third class citizen or die. Liberals often employ this same Jihadists tactic with non-liberals. It is my experience that liberals are far more than simply gullible or ignorant. Their world view is one of self-deception and self-loathing. They are political and historical masochists. They feel so ashamed at the generosity, wisdom, beauty, and success of Western civilization that they have trained themselves to process everything through the prism of masochism....

While it’s a truism that for every finger you point at someone else you’ve got three pointed right back at you, for liberals it’s part of their laws of physics. It would be impossible for the laws of liberals to govern without this binding hypocrisy that keeps them in orbit. That’s why it shouldn’t surprise you that for all the leftist rhetoric about corporations and greed contributing the decline of the country, there’s one corporate outfit that’s really screwing up this country- and it’s a creation and a creature of the left. Like most Big Left organizations it is...

This is a problem for conservatives to overcome. First, unions give almost exclusively to Democrats. Of the remaining entities, some give to Democrats, some to Republicans. Second, the unions have a government-enforced source of cash. Public unions have taxpayer money to work with, and government (read: Democrats) can always use their power to get them more. Private unions have the dues money from their members, and use if for political contributions, whether the members want them to or not. And in non right-to-work states, government even forces non-members to give the unions their money. This is a giant machine, and...

The Subaru dealership in Wichita had the temerity to hire non-union drywall workers and the carpenter's union there described it as "desecration of the American way of life."This is how they responded...Get that? the freedom to hire whomever we want is un-American, and the unions are preserving freedom and liberty by preventing it from being exercised.That makes complete logical sense to the liberal mind.

~snip~ But the dealership took exception, and fought back: The result has been an outpouring of comment on Twitter that can’t be pleasing to the union bosses. Twitchy has a round-up The union went a couple of steps too far when it posted this union flyer on its website:

Obamacare will reduce the earnings of its 300,000 members by up to $5 an hour by requiring them to buy health insurance, according to a report by Unite Here, a union which represents chiefly lower-wage workers in service industries. The union said it “threatens the middle class with higher premiums, loss of hours and a shift to part-time work and less comprehensive coverage.” Americans who says they’ve been hurt by Obamacare outnumber those who say they’ve benefited from it by more than 2 to 1, according to recent polls by both Rasmussen and Gallup.

Subaru of Wichita isn’t letting a deceptive union protest go unanswered. Here’s a photo of the banner put up by protesters representing Carpenters Local 201 (viaSubaru of Wichita’s Facebook page):

The boss of the American Federation of Teachers is on a field trip — all the way to the Ukraine — on a visit paid in part by dues-paying rank and file members of her union. Randi Weingarten told FoxNews.com she arrived in Kiev on Thursday as part of a delegation of teacher union leaders from five nations, including the United Kingdom, Poland, Denmark and Bulgaria, as an act of solidarity and to “promote democratic values.” The tab for the trip was split by AFT’s 1.5 million members and the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine (STESU),...

Unite Here, which represents more than 300,000 workers in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse and gaming industries, was the nation’s very first labor union to back Barack Obama’s quest for the White House. It also was one of the foremost supporters of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the signature achievement — if it can be described as such — of Mr. Obama’s presidency. So a new report by Unite Here, “The Irony of Obamacare: Making Inequality Worse,” cannot be dismissed by the White House, by Democrats on Capitol Hill, or by the left-leaning punditocracy, as a politically...

eleste Kelly, Grace Granatelli and Stacey Kollman discovered a profitable niche in the animal therapy market when they found they could turn their passions into successful small businesses. They spent hundred of hours learning animal massage techniques, earned private certification and began their respective animal therapy ventures. Today, they have successful businesses and loyal clients. However, according the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board, Celeste, Grace, and Stacey are criminals facing jail time. A recent Arizona regulation requires these hardworking entrepreneurs to give up their professions, or pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to become licensed veterinarians (an education that...

Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement today after the U.S. Department of Education approved a grant package through the Department’s School Improvement Grant (SIG) Program worth $3,725,820 for low performing schools in Nevada. “This is terrific news for Nevada and our public schools,” said Senator Reid. “This money is vital for our children as we continue to see budget shortfalls throughout school districts across Nevada. This funding will go a long way to ensure more Nevada students have high quality teachers, to help improve instruction, and to help lift up many low-performing schools.”INFORMATION ON THE...

Three anti-union Volkswagen workers have sued the German automaker and the United Auto Workers in a U.S. court, alleging that VW and the union improperly colluded in the run-up to a union election in Tennessee that the UAW lost. The lawsuit marks the latest fallout from a hard-fought contest at VW's plant in Chattanooga, where workers voted 712-626 last month not to join the UAW. The union is asking federal regulators to scrap that result and hold a new election. Filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the complaint alleges VW provided "thing of...

Congressman Dave Camp’s recently released tax reform draft has stimulated a much-needed national conversation about the U.S. tax code, attracting praise, criticism and skepticism. Buried in the plan is one tax change that could significantly influence the pension reform debate now raging nationwide at the state and local level. Camp’s plan would require top earners to pay a surtax on previously untaxed municipal (muni) bond interest. Currently, state and local governments use tax-exempt muni bonds to fund capital projects such as bridges and new school buildings. The proposed surtax might negatively affect top bracket taxpayers’ willingness to invest in muni...

Culinary Workers Union Local 226 is pushing about a dozen of its employers to contribute more money to its health insurance fund to cover rising Obamacare costs. Currently, employers pay 100% of the premiums. The union, which is in contract negotiations, wants to keep it that way. But the spike Obamacare-related expenses could make it tougher to convince employers to pony up more money. Union workers picketed outside the Stratosphere over the weekend, ahead of a March 20 vote that would give the union the right to call a strike. At issue are Obamacare fees and mandates that have greatly...

Hatred for Charles and David Koch is now so pervasive among the far-left that unions are actually protesting a hospital that committed the cardinal sin of accepting a $100 million donation from the infamous billionaires–even though the money will likely create jobs for unionized employees of the hospital. The donation, made by businessman and philanthropist David Koch, is the largest in the New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s history, and will be used to build a new wing at the facility, according to The Washington Free Beacon. The Free Beacon’s Andrew Stiles pointed out that the donation “will presumably create a fair number...

You’ve got to feel bad for folks who go through life so distrustful and suspicious of their fellow citizens that they believe people are always trying to get away with something, trying to game the system. Like those millions of jobless workers who would rather lay back and collect $300 or so a week in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits than go out and try to find a job that pays a decent wage and gives them a chance to support a family, keep a roof over their heads and climb a step or two up the ladder.  Yep, you’ve got...