Free Republic

Our View: AB350: Unreasonable and unfair - Legislation would dictate to employers which workers would make up their labor force.If you read Santa Ana Democratic Assemblyman Jose Solorio's explanation of his legislation, the controversial Assembly Bill 350, it's about helping low-wage workers keep their jobs in a tough economy. Don't be fooled. It's really about helping the sponsor of the bill, the Service Employees International Union, retain union membership and improve its bargaining position. The bill requires employers who win new contracts for building services — including janitorial, maintenance, security, window-cleaning and cafeteria services — to hire and retain the...

Early reports show the AFL-CIO spent $49 million (27 percent of its total annual budget) on political and lobbying activities but only $30 million (or 16.5 percent) to represent its members. That gap contributed to the breakaway from the AFL-CIO of the Teamsters, the Service Employees and other unions.

The bolt in Chicago from the AFL-CIO by the Teamsters and Service Employees International Union reflects a long-building reaction to John Sweeney's plans a decade ago when he muscled his way into the labor federation presidency. He wanted to restore union power through politics. His project was a total failure, and the AFL-CIO is in ruins 50 years after its creation. The scenario of the breakup was accurately laid out to me by Teamsters sources nearly a year ago. Sweeney would be offered a deal he could not accept. To keep the two big unions in the federation, Sweeney would...

...Most conservatives and libertarians have been giddy about the prospect of an AFL-CIO breakup, hoping that the schism would diminish labor's power and influence. Many liberals are worried about the same thing. That might indeed happen, but a more likely outcome is that a new labor federation rivaling the AFL-CIO and led by Andy Stern will actually reinvigorate labor and move it into the 21st century. Stern is a savvy leader who has a sophisticated grasp of the new economy and understands that, in order to survive, labor must be more than just an appendage of the Democratic Party. He...

Workers were trying to unionize, and they wore buttons showcasing their cause. Supervisors demanded the buttons be removed, and they disciplined a half-dozen employees who didn't listen. The workers filed a complaint with the federal government, saying their rights were being violated. Dissidents also claimed later that three ringleaders of the organizing effort were let go because of their activism. Employees trying to unionize often face resistance -- or retribution -- from bosses. But the employees in this instance weren't working at some factory or warehouse. They're actually employed by a union. They're organizers and clerical staff for the fast-growing...

Check out the photo from yahoo. Only Kerry Supporters would do something so low.

Three-year-old Sophia Parlock cries while seated on the shoulders of her father, Phil Parlock, after having their Bush-Cheney sign torn up by Kerry-Edwards supporters on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004, at the Tri-State Airport in Huntington, W.Va.