Dockworkers Union Protests Against Iraq?
It’s good to know the union bosses are focused like a laser on the issues that affect American workers: “The handling of cargo at seaports from Southern California to Alaska ground to a halt Thursday as several thousand longshoremen skipped work to protest the war in Iraq.” “‘The worst part of it seems to be for the [more...]

Posted Fri, 02 May 2008 .

Maybe the System’s the Problem
Front-page news in today’s Washington Post: D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee has signed an agreement with Washington Teachers Union President George Parker giving Rhee authority to reassign all “excessed” teachers at 23 D.C. schools that are set to close. This may sound rather arcane, but in the world of D.C. public education this is a [more...]

Posted Tue, 29 Apr 2008 .

Democracy Deficit

Unions vs. Elections
Legal recognition of a union has traditionally been achieved through secret ballot elections, in which each worker decides whether or not to support a union in the privacy of the voting booth -- just like a person votes for the President or a Senator. But unions frequently lose secret ballot elections. So they often bring intense pressure on companies to agree to a "card check" system instead of a secret election.
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(Card) Check Democracy at the Door
Welcome to the new world of union organizing, where union officials, desperate to stave off declining membership numbers, are increasingly turning to undemocratic “card check campaigns“ to organize and collect dues from employees.
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Poor Election Records
Bruce Raynor, president of the union UNITE HERE, explains: "There's no reason to subject the workers to an election." One SEIU local leader has flatly admitted, "We don't do elections." And no wonder. Employees have chosen no representation at all in more than 2,000 elections over a two-year period.
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We don't do elections.

— SEIU Local 32BJ leader Mike Fishman