In the wake of the Massachusetts Senate election, National Right to Work President Mark Mix explained why rank-and-file union voters aren't willing to go along with union bosses' hand-picked candidates:
Several parents and members of the Leominster School Committee said Monday they are upset that the teachers' union voted recently to reject a large grant that seeks to increase the number of students in Advanced Placement courses.
"I think it's a vote against children," School Committee vice chairwoman Donna DiNinno said. "This would have been such a boost for students in our AP and honors program. I am very disappointed."
School Committee member Christopher Orareo said he does not understand how the union could turn down a grant that would have provided the district with $856,000 during a five-year period, when the community is fighting for every penny it can get into the classrooms.
"I'm just astounded this vote has taken place," Orareo said. "Students are the biggest losers in this whole thing. I think it was a selfish vote on the part of the union."
Why were local union bosses so eager to axe a generous grant program that promised more teacher training, more advanced placement courses, and merit pay for high-performing educators?
This latest instance of teacher union obstructionism illustrates one of the many problems with monopoly bargaining. No organization should be able to veto a school's attempt to secure additional funding, just as no organization should be in a position to prevent talented teachers from aspiring to better pay and more challenging coursework. Why should the union activists dictate public schools' educational policies and give short shrift to individual teachers who deserve to be rewarded for their merit?
Following up with Justin’s post on an ugly Teamsters picket in Somerville, Massachusetts, today’s news stories report that 10 Teamsters thugs were arrested during the mess.
10 Teamsters were arrested “for rude, offensive and threatening conduct,” according to police.
The owner of Russell Disposal, Charles Carneglia, explained that he feared for his safety after Teamsters militants harassed him when he entered the facility:
…when Carneglia walked to front gate the Teamsters would begin taunting and catcalling him. “Ya piece of s**t,” yelled one picketer Thursday afternoon. “You’re a criminal.”
After the incident last week, Local 25 chief Sean O’Brien was apparently “too busy” to address repeated press inquires. Unable to answer for the Teamsters union notorious and thuggish actions, it’s no wonder this union boss went into hiding.
40 police in riot gear in Somerville, Massachusetts, were called in yesterday to break up a Teamsters picket that threatened to disrupt the city's trash pick up.
"Officers were pelted with stones," (City Spokesman Tom) Champion said, "and our police officials reported that a small but very vocal group of demonstrators was abusive and confrontational and exhibited violence."
The company's owner, Charles Carneglia, said the push was part of an effort to force unwanted unionization on employees, and that:
"The union guys were trying to bully them not to go to work," he said.
Carneglia claims one union operative slashed his pants with a knife during the confrontation. Watch video of a news story about the incident here.
This ugly incident shows the lengths to which some union officials will go to impose unionization on employees regardless of their wishes.
America's most notorious union-only project labor agreement (PLA), Boston's "Big Dig," will come to completion with the end of 2007. What a bittersweet day for citizens of Boston. The Associated Press puts it this way:
"Don't expect any champagne toasts."
As also noted by the AP, the Big Dig's history was "littered with wrong turns" such as a major tunnel leak in 2004, as well as the tragic death of a motorist in 2006.
Financially, the Big Dig sapped taxpayers for $14.8 billion, over five and a half times the original cost estimate of $2.6 billion.
This train wreck of a public construction project should serve as "exhibit A" of the gluttonous waste inherent in PLAs. Such projects are also a "lose-lose" for employees that wish to remain nonunion because they are blackballed from working, as well as for the taxpayers forced to foot the bill.
Following up on this post, today’s Worcester Business Journal contains this editorial which highlights the problems with so-called “project labor agreements,” which often harm both workers and taxpayers. The article states:
“Fair and open competition in public bidding is the American way. Labor unions should compete on the same playing field as anyone else.”
The editorial continues that the U.S. Department of Labor notes 80 percent of the construction workforce in Massachusetts is nonunion. Yet, because the City of Worcester and other Massachusetts communities award only union contractors these public projects, public officials are denying the lion share of the state’s construction workforce a chance to work.
Read about the other multi-million (and sometimes multi-billion) dollar public projects Massachusetts taxpayers have been forced to overpay as a result of PLA’s, here.
The coercive "card check" union organizing scheme became the law of the land for public sector workers in Massachusetts yesterday.
Bay State employees will undoubtedly find out soon that this abuse ridden scheme is no tea party. See all the latest about the National Right to Work Foundation's efforts to lessen the abuses suffered by workers under such drives here.
