Steelworkers Union President Continues Using Todd Palin's Money to Bash His Wife

Will Collins — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:57:07 -0400

Two days ago, we posted an entry announcing our offer of free legal aid to Todd Palin if he wishes to stop funding ugly union attacks against his wife. It continues -- the USW's president recently unloaded on Governor Palin and her family at the union's official blog:

At the press conference, Palin trotted him out, stressing his steelworker credentials. Here’s a good union man, she emphasized.

But his United Steelworker card doesn’t include an automatic auxiliary membership for her. Or her running mate at the top of the Republican ticket...

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After Carrying Union Lawyers' Water, Bush's Solicitor General is Humiliated by a Rare Supreme Court Rebuff

Stefan Gleason — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:02:32 -0400

In an extremely rare move, the United States Supreme Court today has smacked down (.pdf) the U.S. Solicitor General after he tried to force his way into the October 6 oral arguments in the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation's upcoming Locke v. Karass case involving forced union dues.

Sneak Attack: National Mediation Board Wants to Encourage Use of Coercive Card Check

Patrick Semmens — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:16:01 -0400

In recent weeks, the National Mediation Board, a federal bureaucracy whose purpose is to, among other things, “to promote… the effectuation of employee rights of self-organization where a representation dispute exists…” within the railroad and airline industries, has proposed revisions to its Representational Manual that would open the floodgates to the use of coercive "card check."

Todd Palin is Bankrolling Union Smears and Efforts to Defeat His Wife

Stefan Gleason — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:14:35 -0400

Many of you probably watched Sarah Palin accept the Republican Party's Vice Presidential nomination last night. Ironically, her husband - a member of the United Steelworkers (USW) union - is actually funding efforts to smear and defeat her.

Today, National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix released an open letter (.pdf) to Todd Palin, informing him that he has the right to cut off the forced union dues being used to defeat a McCain-Palin ticket. Here's the key quote:

We understand you are a member of the United Steelworkers of America union. While I'm sure you're excited by your wife's candidacy for high office, you may be discouraged to learn that the union dues you pay are already being used to defeat her.

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NEA Bigwig Owes Teachers an Apology

Nick Cote — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:13:14 -0400

Considering the record electioneering by Big Labor in 2008, it should be no surprise that union bosses were well-represented at this week's convention. NEA President Reg Weaver was one of the many union officials awarded for his union's political expenditures with a prime speaking slot.

Larry Sand, a teacher for 27 years and former NEA member, sent Weaver an e-mail after listening to a gross misrepresentation of reality in Weaver's DNC speech:

Happy Labor Day! (But It's Not So Happy for the Millions of Victims of Compulsory Unionism)

Will Collins — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:06:09 -0400

On behalf of the Foundation, I'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. While I hope everyone enjoys their day off, now seems like an appropriate time to flag Foundation President Mark Mix's statement commemorating the occasion. Here's an excerpt:

“Meanwhile, many workers feel they have little choice but to pay for organized labor’s billion-dollar 2008 election campaign, and many workers are unaware of their right to object. That’s why the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is providing free legal aid to thousands of employees nationwide seeking to get their money back. In fact, in October Foundation attorneys will argue their fourteenth case accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court – a case which defends the right of workers to refuse to pay for union activism using their mandatory union dues.

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Video: Don't Back Down

Will Collins — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:48:03 -0400

Workers from across the country have received free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Foundation. Now they're speaking out to encourage others to stand up for their rights in this latest Right to Work video:

Wall Street Journal: Big Labor is Back (And Ready to Assault Workers’ Freedoms)!

Patrick Semmens — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:51:03 -0400

Today, the Wall Street Journal editorialized on the fact that Big Labor “has won the intellectual battle for control of the Democratic Party and is reasserting its agenda in a way not seen since the 1970’s.” The WSJ notes Big Labor’s political influence, especially within the Democratic Party, has been steadily increasing over the years.

At the top of Big Labor's agenda is, of course, more compulsory unionism privileges to force workers into dues-paying union ranks:

Big Labor Thugs Beat Dissenting Worker Unconscious... Yet Judge Notes an Improvement in Union Bosses' Behavior!

Patrick Semmens — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:16:10 -0400

Last week, the New York Times reported that Manhattan Federal District Court Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. ordered a one-year continuation of governmental oversight of the New York City carpenters’ union, citing recent bribery convictions of several local bosses, extensive off-the-books work, and an incident where union militants beat up a worker outside a Catholic school until he was unconscious (because he had the gall to challenge the insiders in a union election).

Quick Hits: SEIU Union Boss Corruption, Card Check Lies, and More

Will Collins — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:39:56 -0400

A few Right to Work-related updates from around the web:

1.) The Heritage Foundation's Foundry blog helpfully summarizes the corruption allegations surrounding Tyrone Freeman, head of California's SEIU chapter. What's worse, union mismanagement goes all the way to the top. According to the LA Times, SEIU national brass received word of Freeman's corrupt practices six years ago and still failed to act. (This is the same local union against which Foundation attorneys won a federal court settlement securing the return of almost $10 million in illegally seized forced union dues.)