Free Republic

In America, you have the right to remain silent, the right to rise—and soon the right to work. At least that is if you live in Wisconsin, or one of the other right-to-work states that allow private sector workers to opt out of union membership. Next week, it is expected that Gov. Scott Walker will sign legislation making Wisconsin the 25th state to pass right-to-work legislation. Interestingly, Walker didn't actively push for this legislation, but his signature will nonetheless guarantee one more feather in the cap of a Republican governor who has helped transform his state in recent years. You...

Welcome to government in Illinois, the worst-managed state in the country. The Land of Lincoln is buried under staggering debts, including a projected $6.7 billion operating gap for the next fiscal year and an $111 billion unfunded pension liability. Government unions and politicians engage in legal collusion that fleeces taxpayers. Between 2002 and 2014, 86% of Illinois state lawmakers received union contributions, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.

Moody’s Investors Service on Friday announced it had reduced its rating on Chicago Board of Education debt to one level above junk bond status. Moody’s downgraded the rating to Baa3 from Baa1 on the board’s general obligation debt. That rating applies to a total of $6.3 billion in outstanding debt held by Chicago Public Schools. That lowered rating, according to Moody’s, “reflects CPS’s continued reliance” on its reserves to cover ongoing operating expenditures, “particularly pension contributions, which will steadily increase in the coming years.” ... the lowered CPS rating also takes into account the city’s own credit rating, which also...

"...Regardless of whether you’d characterize the right-to-work law as fanatical or not, it’s remarkable the extent to which Madison kept mum about its passage. Besides a few dozen Democratic legislators and a few hundred labor protesters the day before, the famously liberal city was placid as the conservative legislation rolled along. The liberals who have faced Walker have lost, and lost,and lost again,and progressive Wisconsinites’ stores of outrage seem,at least for the moment,to be exhausted.That’s not to suggest the left has given up. But Walker and the Republicans in the Legislature have more ideas they plan to advance,including cutting funding...

On the final day of legislative debate over a proposed Right to Work law in Wisconsin, union protesters proved once again they are unable to replicate the massive crowds generated during Wisconsin’s historic 2011 Act 10 debate. While unions attempted to hold an outside rally during the midday, which mustered about 300 people, the hour long outside rally completely failed to move inside the statehouse and support Wisconsin Assembly Democrats as they debated against the bill. While Assembly Democrats were able to draw debate out to 24 hours by using poetry, claims of racism, and references to Moses delivering the...

Expected post-Lunar New Year cargo growth will accelerate equipment, cargo handling and other costs going forward, maintain ocean carrier executives. While the full impact on ocean carrier deployments to U.S. West Coat ports has yet to be measured, major players comprising the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) are standing firm on raising rates. According to TSA spokesman, Niels Erich, container shipping lines have begun the slow work of repairing their networks as U.S. West Coast congestion difficulties ease. “At the same time, forward bookings suggest that post-Lunar New Year cargo demand will resume after the week-long Asia holidays and continue to...

MADISON, Wis. – With Wisconsin almost certain to become the nation’s 25th Right to Work state within the next week, union attempts to protest the legislation have fallen flat in comparison to Wisconsin’s 2011 Act 10. With 62% of Wisconsinites supporting Right to Work — a number that increases to 77% when Right to Work is further explained — and 71% supporting the policy nationwide, unions have attempted to play the victim card to stop the legislation from becoming law.

Scott Walker’s likely pending victory over organized labor — passage of a right-to-work law in Wisconsin — will be just the latest milestone in a resurgent anti-union movement marching across the industrial heartland. With passage expected as early as Friday, right to work — which allows workers not to pay dues to a union that bargains collectively on their behalf — is progressing through the states more swiftly than at any time since the 1950s. And where once such measures were confined largely to the South and West, they‘re now taking root in Midwestern union strongholds like Indiana and Michigan,...

The National Right to Work Foundation announced Wednesday that three employees at LyondellBasell filed unfair labor practice charges against the United Steelworkers Union. The charges allege that union officials from Steelworkers Local 13-227 are harassing workers who are going back to work. The charges were filed Monday with the National Labor Relations Board, according to the foundation that is providing free legal help. The foundation accused an unnamed local union official of making threats toward workers who continue to work during the strike. The group also alleges that union officials have allowed a union Facebook page to threaten union-represented employees...

President Barack Obama’s lax immigration policies are inviting another massive jihad attack similar to the 9/11 atrocity, says Kenneth Palinkas, president of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees’ union. Obama’s deputies are “lessening the vetting of each and every alien who applies for permanent residency or citizenship in the U.S.,” Palinkas said in a statement Tuesday. “By not scrutinizing each and every applicant to the fullest extent possible to ensure America’s security, we invite an even more catastrophic event than what occurred on 09/11/2001,” he said. Obama’s rollback of security checks means that “it is more than likely that...

When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker compared labor unions to ISIS his audience cheered. At the end of the speech he got a standing ovation, reported FOX News in an article entitled “Walker draws standing ovation in CPAC address”. His wealthy audience hated labor unions that much. In fact, the 1% despises unions much more than they hate ISIS. Islamic extremists in the Syrian desert pose no threat to anyone in the U.S., while labor unions pose a direct threat to the profits of the super rich. Conversely, the average U.S. worker has much more to fear from Scott Walker than...

The latest example of cellphone video vindicating someone from false charges is a doozy. It comes from Washington Parish, La., and WWL TV. One of the worst days of Douglas Dendinger’s life began with him handing an envelope to a police officer. In order to help out his family and earn a quick $50, Dendinger agreed to act as a process server, giving a brutality lawsuit filed by his nephew to Chad Cassard as the former Bogalusa police officer exited the Washington Parish Courthouse. The handoff went smoothly, but Dendinger said the reaction from Cassard, and a group of officers...

Warren, who is closely aligned with progressive union groups, ripped Walker in a tweet Saturday for what some saw as a comparison between union members and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria: "If Scott Walker sees 100,000 teachers & firefighters as his enemies, maybe it's time we take a closer look at his friends.” In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, Walker said, “If I can take on 100,000 protestors, I can do the same across the world.” Walker, a possible 2016 presidential candidate for the GOP, tried to walk back his comments after his...

I HAVE A FAVOR to ask of the union members who've been picketing the Pennsylvania Convention Center: Leave the Philadelphia Flower Show alone. As in for real, guys. If you're planning to disrupt the show the way some members of the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters disrupted the Philadelphia Auto Show on Feb. 7 - don't argue they didn't; we're not idiots - please just don't.

Cruz channels his inner televangelist.If the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting is a sort of “American Idol” for would-be GOP presidential candidates, the contenders aren’t learning from the mistakes of previous losers. After the 2012 elections – when Republicans lost the White House to an incumbent under fire for the still-struggling economy – some sensible people in the party (South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is one of them) uttered an important truth: The Republicans, to be successful, can’t just be against things. They have to be for something, have to present a positive and innovative vision for America. We’re not...

Right-to-Work legislation is sweeping the Midwest. It's one of many reforms needed to makes states more competitive, reduce cost pressures on infrastructure projects, and hold down the necessity of tax hikes. Today the Wisconsin Senate Passed 'Right to Work' Legislation. The proposal would let workers opt out of paying mandatory dues. Many would do just that, preferring to keep money for themselves rather than for the priorities of union officials, including corruption, graft, and various political goals that workers may not at all agree with. The Wisconsin House of representatives is expected to approve the legislation making passage all but...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Best Applause Line: “We need a leader who will stand with Israel,” said the governor of Wisconsin. Crickets: Describing, early in his remarks, his longstanding interest in the founding fathers. Red Meat: Mr. Walker spoke at length about his record as governor and made broad references to foreign policy touchstones like Israel, Iran and the fight against Islamic terrorism. Toughest Question: From a heckler, who shouted about workers’ rights. But Mr. Walker turned it to his advantage, joking that protesters had followed him from Wisconsin. Entrance Song: “Coming Home,” by Avenged Sevenfold, a heavy metal band out of Southern California....

Pursuant to my earlier point about why liberals hate Governor Scott Walker with supernova fury: the Wisconsin State Senate passed a right-to-work law on Wednesday, sending it on to near-certain passage in the Assembly and signature by You Know Who.

"You fight the good fight against Walker and he beats you," said Seth Markgraf, a 34-year-old construction worker from Arlington, Wisconsin. "They beat us in the recall and they beat us in another general election. It's just apathy. How do we beat Scott Walker?" TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey's Chris Christie and Wisconsin's Scott Walker are getting ready to run for president, but they've still got day jobs as governors — and face another round in the ring with organized labor. For Christie, that means trying to reach a deal to fix New Jersey's underfunded pension system by working with...

February 25, 2015 America’s legacy of racism and racial injustice has been and continues to be a fundamental obstacle to workers’ efforts to act together to build better lives for all of us.  Racism has always been a key tactic of employers seeking to divide us. But we also have an ugly history of racism in our own movement. Yet at the same time the labor movement has a proud history of standing for racial and economic justice. When we have embraced our better selves we have always emerged stronger in every sense. And whenever we have succumbed to the...