Help Us

Tools

Find Your Union


Blog

Blog

  • Strange Bedfellows? Not so much.

    Just in time for campaign fundraising season, Democrats are lining up to support unions and fill their campaign coffers. As campaigns file their year-end reports with the Federal Election Commission, it becomes much more obvious who’s in bed with whom. State Rep. Sal Pace’s (D) campaign for Congress finished 2011 with a surge of money, [...]

    Posted February 3, 2012

  • Twenty-Three Right-to-Work States

    Gov. Mitch Daniels signed right-to-work legislation into law yesterday, solidifying Indiana as the 23rd right-to-work state. Once Democrats in the House ended their boycott and gave Republicans a quorum, it was smooth sailing. Despite the noisy protestors, the Senate passed the legislation Wednesday and Daniels signed it almost immediately. The Band-Aid approach was hoped to quiet [...]

    Posted February 2, 2012

  • Build Up to the Coming War

    War drums are beating all over the country as Big Labor gears up for the fight to stay relevant in the American political landscape. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka began expanding his political operation last summer with a super PAC for the purposes of funding multi-cycle, issue advocacy as well as get-out-the-vote efforts. The new super [...]

    Posted February 1, 2012

Read More Read more at LaborPains.org

10 things

1. Don't Eliminate Secret Ballots
Labor leaders are trying to pass a bill in Congress that would effectively eliminate employees' right to vote in private when decided to join a union.

NY Times Ad

Click above to see our New York Times ad

2. Provide Fair Representation
Union members have filed thousands of complaints against their leaders for failing to represent their interests. 

3. Allow Growth
Unionized employees are generally denied the flexibility to broaden their experience because of rigid job classifications.

4. End Union Gag Rules
Employees must abide by a set of rules called union "by-laws" and the union "constitution." These rules restrict what employees can say and how they can act. Union "discipline" is often maintained through fines and penalties for "conduct unbecoming a union member."

5. End High Dues
Employees must support the local and international union by paying union dues and fees. In most states, the union can require that you be fired if you refuse to pay them. Union dues and fees range from hundreds to thousands of dollars each year.

6. Provide a Voice
Union rules often deny employees the right to deal directly with an employer about promotions, pay increases, time off, and other incentives and benefits. As a unionized employee, you must go through union "middlemen" who decide whether to take your request to management.

7. Encourage Merit Pay
Union rules generally oppose pay raises and promotions based on individual employee performance. Mandatory seniority rules typically control who gets increases in pay and who is promoted.

8. End Biased Politics
Federal records indicate that in 2007 and 2008 unions gave 90 percent of their political money to Democratic politicians,3 even though union membership is more politically balanced.

9. Stop Discrimination
Since 2000, labor officials have faced thousands of complaints alleging racial, sexual, and other forms of discrimination filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.2

10. Stop Embezzlement
The U.S. Department of Labor has documented nearly one hundred million dollars embezzled from union members—usually by union officials.1

 

1 Office of Labor-Management Standards, U.S. Department of Labor, 2 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 3 Federal Election Commission records, analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics