Free Republic

This week marks the 25th anniversary of one of the most devastating strikes in modern U.S. labor history. On Aug. 3, 1981, more than 12,000 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) walked off their jobs. It was not the first illegal strike by public-sector workers, but conventional means of resolving such cases failed to impress President Ronald Reagan: He discharged and permanently replaced those who would not promptly return to work. The U.S. labor movement has never recovered, and working families across the nation continue to pay the price. In the immediate aftermath of the PATCO strike,...

Nice work, SEIU. A Chicago sandwich shop closed its doors after several employees rallied for $15 an hour wages. ... The River North Snarf’s shop was closed for four days, from December 5 until December 8, as employees went on striking for higher wages and better benefits. Now they’re out of work

Late Tuesday night the Hudson Board of Education meted out punishment for teachers who called in sick in protest against Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, causing school to be closed on Feb. 18. Board president Barb VanLoenen read a resolution that included several categories ranging from one-day unpaid suspensions up to 15 days. All categories included letters of reprimand and warning in the teachers’ personnel files. The suspensions went up based on actions a teacher was believed to have taken. The longer suspensions were for teachers who encouraged colleagues to call in sick and who conducted or discussed union...

I don't think anyone really considered the actions of the Wisconsin Teachers Union and their members in last months protest of the Wisconsin budget battle as anything other than a sick out. The only thing lacking was proof, but in an odd quirk of fate that is exactly what fell into the lap or voicemail of concerned citizen. Blaska's Blogs has the sordid details including an audio recording of a pre-meditated, union authorized job action consisting of a phone tree with teachers calling other teachers for the express purpose of closing down schools. This type of action is prohibited by...

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) accused President Obama's political supporters of "meddling" in the ongoing protests against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) controversial budget plan. The Speaker said the president's political organization is "colluding" with special interest groups like labor unions to stifle Walker's proposal, which would limit collective-bargaining rights for state workers and make them pay for their pension and health benefits. Obama "has done nothing to offer solutions" to the nation's fiscal woes, Boehner said in a statement Friday. "The president should make it clear to his friends that the people of Wisconsin, and states across America, can...

In a move highly unusual for nonunion workers, more than 500 employees walked out yesterday at the Smithfield Packing Company’s hog-killing plant in Tar Heel, N.C., the largest pork-processing plant in the world. Workers involved in the walkout said it was fueled by anger over Smithfield’s recent decision to fire several dozen immigrants who the company said had presented false Social Security numbers in applying for a job. Several of the workers said their action had largely crippled production at the plant, which employs 5,500 people and slaughters 32,000 hogs a day. But Smithfield officials said production had merely been...

NEW YORK - The union president who called an illegal strike that halted New York City's subways and buses in December should be jailed for 10 days and fined $1,000 for criminal contempt, a judge ruled Monday. The judge said he would allow union president Roger Toussaint to remain free for the next 30 days so he could appeal the decision. The judge also fined Toussaint's two top deputies $500 each. In staging the 60-hour walkout during the holiday shopping season, the union violated the state law, which bars public employees from striking. A Transport Workers Union Local 100 spokesman,...

Transit Talks Continue Past Midnight Deadline DECEMBER 16TH, 2002 There will be no transit strike - at least not yet. With the morning plans of millions of commuters hanging in the balance, the MTA and New York City's transit workers are negotiating past the midnight hour in a last-ditch effort to avert a mass transit strike that could cripple the city at the height of the holiday season. Ed Watt, the secretary/treasurer of Transit Workers Union Local 100, announced at midnight that negotiators had made sufficient progess to continue their efforts past the midnight deadline. The progress, said Watt, had...