Newly elected Republicans in state capitols launching strongest challenge to unions in decades

Star Tribune ^ | February 18, 2011 - 3:57 PM | By DAVID A. LIEB and SAM HANANEL

[hondact200]

Yea , right Rick Synder Governor of Michigan wants to work with the citizens of Michigan and the collective bargaining rights of the union. Being from the UP of Michigan screw you Synder, you just announced you will take a $1.00 salary for the year of 2010. More buinesses have moved out of Michigan because of the dirt bag Granholm ruined Michigan for 8 years. The unions have vitually stripped Michigan of any value. Collective bargaining rights is BS. The prisons in Michigan are being shut down, more and more each year and the prison guards are unemployed, the foreclosure rate on houses is going up and up. Yet the Michigan State Government irregardless of their being a republican or democrat are beholding to the union.

Here in the Up there people whom want to work, but guess what the jobs are either going or already gone to Mexico Emerson in Menomonee, Mi - 2006, other jobs are going to the southern US. state prison in newberry closed. KI Sawyer AFB shut down by the Federal government base closures years ago. there are manufacturing facilities that are left vacant. Ford Motors Plant in Kingsford, Mi is virtually empty, owned yet by Ford of dearborn, Mi, there are occupants utilizing some of the plant, but on a whole it is empty.

I can count the number of houses in my neighborhood which are abandoned - 17, the owners just walked away from the houses anmd took jobs elsewhere. the homes are awaiting foreclosre by the State for back taxes.

Rick Synder needs to rethink the issue of collective bargaining with the Union. Pretty soon he will have to sell the Up of Michigan to either Wisconsin or canada. Probably canada will buy it, because Wisconsin is broke too, just like Michigan

[RobertClark]

Unions are going to have to burn a lot of money fighting state budget battles over the next few monthsks. Thats less money they’ll have for the 2012 elections.

Thank God for the Citizens United case...we will be able to financially overwhelm the left in 2012.

We need to push the issue by ensuring that union members know that they don't have to have their dues used politically.

UnionRefund.org is a project designed to help educate, organize and assist union members nationwide in exercising their “Beck rights” as set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1988, the U. S. Supreme Court decided the landmark case Communication Workers v. Beck, which established the rights of employees working under union contracts to pay only those union dues or fees necessary for performance of a union’s employee representation duties. Under Beck, fees to support union expenditures unrelated to workplace representation, such as political, social, or charitable contributions, are not mandatory.

Several states, including Idaho and Washington, have enacted a measure known as "paycheck protection" to remedy these deficiencies in Beck rights enforcement. Paycheck protection safeguards worker rights by requiring unions to obtain up-front, written approval from individual workers before they spend dues money on political or other non-workplace-related activities.

Where the so-called “paycheck protection” legislation has NOT been passed, union workers are required to affirmatively exercise those writes in writing to their appropriate union local.

Freedoms of speech and association are important and fundamental employee rights protected by the Beck decision. Many workers, however, do not fully enjoy these freedoms because they are not aware that they have the right to withhold the portion of their dues expended on political, social, or other non-chargeable activities to which they object or are not interested in funding.

Neither unions nor employers recognize sufficient incentive to inform workers of these rights. Union leaders do not want to do anything that would risk losing precious dues money, and employers do not want to do anything that will antagonize the union leaders and possibly cause labor unrest.

The Beck decision merely respects each employee’s individual right to decide if he wants money deducted from his paycheck for non-workplace union activities. Exercising one’s “Beck rights” does not inhibit a union’s ability to solicit contributions and donations voluntarily by convincing workers that the union’s political activities are in their best interests. Union politics are not necessarily compatible with those of individual employees, who should have ultimate control over their own money.

The decision of a union member to exercise his or her Beck rights would allow workers the freedom to preserve their civil rights without sacrificing their economic interests or infringing upon the speech or association rights of other union members. It would guarantee a worker’s right to withhold his dues at their source, before they are transmitted to the union.

[Thom Pain]

"Obama Joins Wisconsin's Budget Battle...

Wash Post

[Oatka]

Republican Governors remember: “You WON!” This is what you were elected to do, you have the mandate now DO IT.

Hopefully, if Gov. Walker wins this one, the other governors will think, "Hey, he got away with it! I'll try it too!"

[DeaconBenjamin]

James Madison(”Little Jim’’) The Founder more responsible for the Second Amendment than any of the others.

Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

George Mason, Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)

[stevio]

I hope Corbett here in Pa has the guts. We’re on this list too.