A local Detroit news station followed two union bosses around for the better part of a year, recording their work-related activities. Some of the "benefits" of union representation include union bosses getting paid to drink on the job, collecting massive overtime checks when they're off work, and running personal errands on the rank-and-file workers' dime. Unfortunately, these perks are only available to union bosses, but we're sure workers are incredibly grateful for such top-notch "representation."

Union officials' bad habits are subsidized by employees' forced union dues, which fund their position within the union's bloated hierarchy. When union bosses claim overtime when they're really off work, their co-workers are also forced to pick up the slack.

Adding insult to injury, states (like Michigan) that lack Right to Work laws force all workers - even those who object to union "representation" - to pay for union activities.

If two corrupt union bosses can rack up hundreds of hours of phony overtime pay per year, imagine how many jobs could have been saved at the collapsing Big Three automotive companies if America eliminated compulsory unionism. We need our workers to be free and our industries competitive.

National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason made the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld union lawyers' motion to dismiss of the case challenging a corrupt quid-pro-quo organizing agreement reached by Freightliner and UAW union officials in North and South Carolina:

Regrettably, the court severely misread and misinterpreted the statute. "Things of value" as defined under numerous federal statutes have long been held by courts to include intangible or non-monetary benefits.

The Congressional intent of the statute was to prevent employers from inducing union officials to bargain away workers' interests. That is exactly what was done here. Freightliner gave the UAW union officials organizing assistance that the court concedes is a "benefit" to the union. This benefit included preferred access to the employees, pro-union captive audience meetings on paid company time to solicit union authorization cards, employer silence, and an agreement that only the UAW would be able to recruit new dues payers without a secret ballot election.

These are most certainly "things of value" no matter how that term is defined -- subjective value, objective value, monetary value, etc. In fact, unions spend millions of dollars on corporate campaigns to attack companies with the very goal of obtaining these valuable advantages.

In return, the UAW hierarchy agreed to pre-negotiated contract concessions, and even the cancelling of certain employee benefits at other facilities. All of this was done before the employees had shown any interest in having UAW union officials represent them.

At the motion to dismiss phase, the allegations of the complaint must be taken as true. Therefore, even under the appellate court's holding that an ascertainable monetary value is required under 302, the U.S. District Court's dismissal of the complaint should have been reversed and case remanded for fact finding as to monetary value, which can easily be established.

Apparently union officials think they are entitled to another exception in federal criminal rules and procedures.

The union-abused employees represented by National Right to Work Foundation attorneys are likely to ask for a rehearing en banc or petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to correct this miscarriage of justice.

The decision can be downloaded here. Background on the case can be found here.

In Michigan, Foundation staff attorneys are providing legal aid to Johnson Controls (JCIM) Grand Rapids employees who want the UAW union hierarchy removed as the monopoly bargaining agent. Meanwhile UAW union organizers are attempting to force their way into JCIM’s Holland plant:

Grand Rapids, MI (December 23, 2008) – With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Johnson Controls (JCIM) employee at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood has filed a decertification petition seeking an election to oust the United Auto Workers (UAW) union as the JCIM workers’ monopoly bargaining agent.

The development is another blow to the UAW union hierarchy which has taken a major public relations hit in recent months because of its role in driving the Big Three automakers to the brink of bankruptcy.

JCIM worker Dawn Lambert filed the decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which should conduct a secret-ballot election to determine whether or not a majority of the workforce wants to retain the UAW union as their monopoly bargaining agent. Under federal labor law governing the private sector, once the NLRB grants union officials monopoly bargaining status, it is illegal for any present or future employees – whether they are members of the union or not – to negotiate with their employer for themselves unless they can prove that the union hierarchy does not retain majority support.

Because a clear majority of the employees at the Talon Court facility in Kentwood have expressed their intent to remove the UAW, National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys have also sent a letter to JCIM management demanding that they cease further contract negotiations and also withdraw recognition of what is now a minority union. Under the law, recognizing and negotiating with a union that does not have majority support is an unfair labor practice.

Read the rest of the Foundation's press release here.

As Freedom @ Work readers are aware, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union wants its very own federal bailout. On Friday, UAW president Ron Gettelfinger, expressing frustration that his union doesn't own everybody in Congress, indirectly blamed the mess in Detroit on the fact that the National Right to Work Foundation fights for voluntary unionism while protecting its donors' from being harassed by union goons.

But rather than worrying about the Foundation's funding sources and demanding the American taxpayers to bail out his pension scheme, perhaps Gettelfinger should examine his union's financial mismanagement. The DC Examiner has more:

What do UAW executives and workers do to relax? They play golf at the union’s highly touted championship caliber Black Lake Golf Club, designed by Rees Jones. The UAW golf club is in secluded Onaway, MI, as part of the union’s Walter and Mary Reuther Family Education Center. Also part of Black Lake are a learning center, a practice facility with practice bunkers, chipping and putting greens, and a small, nine-hole par-three Little Course.

Golf Digest named Black Lake as one of top “upscale public courses.” And Michigan Golf described the course as a “classic” that includes “wide, well-groomed fairways [that] provide ample room for big hitters.” But some big hitters get special privileges at Black Lake. Tee times can be reserved up to two weeks in advance by UAW execs, compared to only three days for non-UAW duffers. Cost to play Black Lake is $95 per round.

Remember all the much-deserved bad press Detroit’s high-paid Big Three executives received last month when they flew in their corporate jets to beg Washington for a tax-paid bailout? Has anybody in Congress or the media bothered to ask UAW head Ron Gettelfinger about his union’s assets and perks like Black Lake Golf Club?

Michelle Malkin points out that the UAW union's golf course and education center have managed to lose $23 million over the last five years, even though both are supposedly run as for-profit businesses, according to an independent audit.

Today UAW top boss Ron Gettelfinger lashed out at the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation by name during a press conference because it has been effective in defending workers from union abuse:

Foundation President Mark Mix issued the following statement in response to Gettelfinger:

Worker Advocate: How Dare You Threaten National Right to Work and Its Supporters on National TV, Mr. Gettelfinger!

Angry auto union boss blames voluntary unionism group for the auto industry's problems, wants a list of the group's financial backers

Washington, DC (December 12, 2008) – Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, made the following statement today in response to United Auto Workers (UAW) union president Ron Gettelfinger's angry lashing out on national television at the legal foundation's efforts to defend workers from forced unionism abuse:

"How dare you blame the current debacle in the automotive business on efforts to give workers the right to join or not join a union. These problems have been caused by the forced unionism stranglehold you currently enjoy.

"Make no mistake; you will never get your hands on the list of the National Right to Work Foundation's contributors. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of generous Americans have helped our organization provide free legal aid to the employee victims of your forced unionism hierarchy. We will NEVER allow these folks to be put into harm's way by making their identities known to your goons."

(Read the entire release here.)

 

In this week's episode, Foundation VP Stefan Gleason sits down with Stanley Greer, Senior Research Director at the National Institute for Labor Relations Research, to discuss the proposed $25+ billion auto industry and UAW union bailout, and the close connection between compulsory unionism and Detroit's economic woes. Check it out:

Click here to download this episode

You can also listen to the Foundation's podcast via iTunes or manually subscribe to the feed.

[Note: Some Firefox users have reported audio distortion when using the player above. To ensure the podcast plays correctly just click here to listen.]

Interested in learning about the connection between the Big Three auto bailout and compulsory unionism? Check out the latest Right to Work video:

The UAW has consistently leveraged its position as the Big Three's monopoly bargaining agent to extend forced unionism throughout the automotive sector. Now they're screaming for a federal bailout to save the entire industry. Should government really be in the businesses of saving compulsory unionism?

The answer, of course, is no. Forced unionism should be eliminated, not subsidized.

Over the last couple of days, the media has devoted considerable print and airtime to a proposed bailout of the so-called Big Three -- the Detroit-based car giants GM, Ford, and Chrysler.

"Big Labor Three" is more like it.

What really separates the Detroit automakers from the "foreign" automakers (who also make hundreds of thousands of cars in the U.S.) is compulsory unionism. Foreign manufacturers like Toyota, Honda and Nissan have U.S. plants that are free from monopoly bargaining, and they produce cars largely in Right to Work states, where forced dues are prohibited.

Some of the bailout coverage has addressed the destructive effects of the United Auto Workers union's monopoly bargaining privileges (who can forget the $31/hour paid to over 12,000 UAW members to do crossword puzzles?) which have run these once-great companies into the ground and costing tens of thousands of jobs.

While the proposal is, at a minimum, an indirect bailout of the UAW and forced unionism in general, it appears the union bosses have a direct bailout in mind as well. The Washington Post explains,

The $25 billion would come on top of $25 billion in low-interest loans Congress approved in September for the car companies to retool factories to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. And the United Auto Workers plans to press next year for an additional $15 billion in public funds to cover the first payment the three companies are due to make into a new independent entity that will fund retiree pensions and health benefits.

After the UAW's two-day strike against GM last year led to the creation of union-administered trusts to handle health and pension obligations to union retirees, CNN noted this amazing statistic:

Today, the number of UAW retirees and surviving spouses collecting benefits from the big three automakers - about 540,000 - outnumbers active members working at the three automakers by three to one.

If this sounds like a pyramid scheme, don't be surprised to learn that this is exactly where the bailout money -- tens of billions of taxpayer dollars -- will be going. The Big Three simply won't be able to afford payments to the union-boss-run trusts, and now they want all Americans to pay for them.

What has sadly gone unreported in this fiasco is the nature of union-administred trust funds. The National Right to Work Foundation has previously revealed the lack of accountability in union pensions, which have often been used by union bosses as slush funds. As we told you last month, despite new federal reporting requirements, union and trust fund officials can choose to hide any trust expenditures they wish from their members. Can we really expect the new administration to ensure that union trusts aren't misusing their funds?

It seems unlikely that Americans will tolerate a bailout of the UAW bosses.

Additional photos documenting earlier reported incidents of retaliation against employees of Volvo who kept working during a recent UAW union strike have surfaced.

Here, an employee finally gained the ability to press charges against a union operative for spitting tobacco juice all over her windshield after contacting the National Right to Work Foundation.

And here are just a couple of several hundred nails the very same employee found in her driveway before heading out to work one morning.

These photos, along with the photo of the broken windshield from last week drive home just how important it is to protect these employees' Right to Work.