Posted on 03/05/2009 7:27:47 AM PST by yoe
President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the Bush administration had tried to undermine organized labor and he assured U.S. labor leaders they would always have a "place at the table" under his presidency.
"We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests," Obama said in prepared remarks for a video address to the executive board of the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor federation, meeting in Miami.
Obama, who won strong backing from trade unions in his Democratic presidential campaign, said there could not be a strong middle class, the focus of his economic recovery plan, without a strong labor movement.
He reminded union leaders he had acted swiftly to start reversing some of the labor policies of his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, that unions have long contended favored employers over workers.
"We've reversed the ban on project labor agreements and we've overturned the previous administration's executive orders which were designed not only to undermine critical government work but to undermine organized labor," Obama said.
Within days of taking office on January 20, Obama signed three orders to bolster unions and workers' rights. The first will prevent taxpayer funds from being used to reimburse federal contractors who spend money to impede workers from organizing.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Obama is beholden to the unions and has in effect, closed out Americans who would prefer not to belong to a union.
Hurrah! Finally, ALL of US industry can have economic justice, like GM!
“level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests”
I don’t WANT a union representing me! I think I do just fine the way things are. The UNIONS need to get real and understand that some people don’t see a union as an improvement in their workplace! (stepping down from soap-box before I get in trouble.)
President Geo W was right ! All states should have ‘Right to Work’ laws.
Excellent Journalism on the part of MSNBC they totally neglect to ask the Union bosses why they are having a lavish retreat in Miami while the very companies that they represent are teetering on bankruptcy and are being bailed out by taxpayers...
Typical union idiots.... GET YOUR MONEY FOR NOTHING AND ITS ALL ON THE TAXPAYER>.
Obama and his unions are proceeding to strike the entire country shut.
jus’ look at gm, their table is being leveled by unions.
jus’ look at the state of california, their table is being leveled by prison unions, police and fire unions, education unions.
si.
What is is about low-class Democrat Presidents that they feel the need to trash their predecessors?
It has something to do with the 0bama worldview.
It doesn’t matter if he’s REDUCING the amount of choices,
he’s increasing freedom because he’s
removing the ability of employers to influence workers’ choices.
And when you remove the influence of A over B, you’re “increasing freedom”
in the f’d up mind of a leftist.
BUSH was right. Too bad he didn’t succeed.
Prayers to your Mom, W.
Other than the construction trades, there is no need for unions. They are a waste of money that can best be described as legalized mafia. If I did to my company, what unions do to their constituents’ companies, I’d be thrown in jail for extortion.
It comes from having a first class education, obviously.
It’s far worse than being “beholden to the Unions”. He is a communist and the Unions are beholden to him. They are like his brownshirts now.
Wait til the 2010 elections. Between ACORN, SEIU and the unions - your votes will never get counted. We need to get a BC case to SCOTUS once and for all.
The microcosms of socialism have eaten the hearts and brains of many a company.
Yep, payback time for the illegal union election activities.
My take, is that the unions have been drooling over the prospect of unionizing high-tech.
There’s a bunch of money they’ve never been able to get at, and the idea has floated around as long as I’ve been in the business(I’m not a spring chicken.)
Between card check and the health insurance fiasco .....
It will be interesting when they try and unionize Silicon Valley, but hey, it is in CA.
When it becomes apparent that our votes don’t count,
then the bastards have only left only one “box of liberty” for us to choose.
Socialism NEEDS unions. Unions are the tools of socialists. It’s the reason unions exist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.