A Union-Approved Candidate
Here at Labor Pains, we often talk about the political clout of unions, how they funnel millions upon millions of dollars into elections, the vast majority of which goes to Democratic candidates. But it’s not often that a union makes a power play this blatant: A government studies teacher at Washington Irving High School in [more...]

Posted Tue, 31 Aug 2010 .

What They Are Really Thinking
The recent kerfuffle over the Los Angeles Times releasing scads of data on LA’s teachers has provided some interesting insights into how defenders of teachers unions think. The head of the LA teachers union, for example, said he was “outraged” that the Times would publish data revealing which teachers were effective and which teachers weren’t [more...]

Posted Mon, 30 Aug 2010 .

Union Officials Elect for Hypocrisy

Given this level of public and media support for elections, some may be surprised by union officials’ campaign to take away secret ballots from working Americans. They may be more surprised to find that union officials seem to prefer elections when it comes to their own staff deciding whether to join a union.

An analysis by the Center for Union Facts found more than three dozen cases of NLRB petitions filed by one union seeking to represent the staff of another. That means an employer—the union—chose not to accept cards as a sign of their staff employees’ intent (and, as noted below, the affirmative rejection of card check is a reasonable conclusion). Such a position is, at best, hypocritical. Leaders of the UFCW seemed particularly fond of requiring elections for union staff who sought representation, followed closely by SEIU and Teamsters leaders. It is notable that these are among the most vocal unions to support ending secret ballots for working Americans.