Free Republic

When the Wisconsin General Assembly voted to pass Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, the Democratic legislators made themselves indistinguishable from the protesters surrounding the assembly floor. They wore the same pro-union orange T-shirts. They behaved in the same sophomoric way, breaking out in a noisy demonstration. They chanted the same ubiquitous word: "Shame!" They might as well have brought guitars onto the floor for a Woody Guthrie sing-along and touted "Walker = Hitler" signs. In Wisconsin, it's less that Democrats act to protect a special interest than that they belong to a special interest. A complete identification has long...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri House committee considered legislation Monday that would require labor unions to get written permission from their members before deducting dues from their paychecks. [Snip] Schoeller, R-Willard, said workers should not be forced to give money to union campaigns that might support a candidate the worker does not like. "It's a matter of our Constitution protecting our political freedom," he said. "I think that a person ought to be able to consent whether or not that (political expression) happens."

FREEP THIS POLL!!! Q: SHOULD WORKERS BE ABLE TO REFUSE TO JOIN A WORKPLACE UNION?

When hard-working employees object to paying forced dues for politics, they mean it. But despite such opposition, union officials will try to find every way possible to demoralize and hamstring employees so that their forced dues money continues to follow into union political coffers. Take a look at Robert Prime from Pensacola, Florida. Mr. Prime works at the Naval Air Station. In December 2003, he filed charges with help from attorneys at the National Right to Work Foundation after IAM union officials told him he had to object every single year to paying for union political advocacy. IAM union officials...

16 year-old Danielle Cookson took a job at an Albertsons grocery store so she could save money for college. She soon saw the ugly face of forced unionism when UFCW union bosses sent her a letter saying she had to pay up or be fired: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-hJU04Kf7Q

Washington State Labor Council president Rick Bender recently released a commentary blasting state employees who want to make their own choice about union representation. In an attempt to “educate” these workers, he makes several startling admissions about labor’s unique brand of democracy. Here are the lessons we’ve identified, Bender’s exact quote, and our response. Lesson #1: Coercion equals democracy. “Some people call [union security] ‘compulsory unionism.’ I call it democracy.” Samuel Gompers, the father of the modern labor movement, thought otherwise: “[T]he workers of America adhere to voluntary institutions in preference to compulsory systems which are held to be not...

Is it right to force an individual to pay money to an employee organization for the “privilege” of working in Washington state? Union officials are asking state workers to do just that. Hundreds of state employees in at least 12 bargaining units are working to decertify the unions representing them in order to avoid paying mandatory union dues. Representatives from several of these groups staged a rally on the Capitol lawn in Olympia on March 22. These employees are fed up with union representation before it has even started. The Personnel System Reform Act of 2002 allows public-sector unions to...

The Washington Education Association's definition of success appears to be as strange as its definition for fair. Someone get the union's leaders a dictionary, asap. A Nov. 11 press release from the union said, "WEA members celebrate election success on Saturday." It goes on to say that the union's 77,000 members (public educators in this state are forced to pay dues to the WEA if they want to teach here) helped elect "strong, pro-public education leaders and defeat charter schools." In addition to the charter school legislation's defeat, the union cited victories in six of seven "priority races" in the...

OLYMPIA, WA – The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) published a magazine today titled “Barrier to Learning: How the National Education Association prevents students and teachers from achieving academic and professional excellence.” The magazine shows what EFF’s extensive investigations have uncovered about the NEA’s tactics and goals, and analyzes the union’s impact on teachers and students. The release of the magazine coincides with the NEA’s annual convention, which starts today in Washington, D.C. and continues through July 7. EFF, a non-profit public policy research organization based in Washington state, began investigating the NEA in 1996 at the request of teachers. Since...

Bush Ban on Discriminatory Union-Only Contracting Upheld by Appellate CourtNational Right to Work Foundation helps to successfully defend Bush Executive OrderFOR RELEASE: July 15, 2002 WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 15, 2002) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has upheld the Bush Administration’s Executive Order 13202, which bans discriminatory union-only contracts, also known as project labor agreements (PLAs), on federally funded construction projects. In support of the Bush administration, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation filed an amicus curiae (Friend of the Court) brief with Associated Builders and Contractors and the U.S. Chamber...