INK: May 29, 2009

Labor Relations INK

Download a PDF of this issue with links here.

In This Issue:

• EFCA Update
• SEIU Red Ink
• IAM’s Suicide Solution
• PLUS May Scoreboard and more…

PDF with links: http://lrionline.com/ink/images/052909/ink_052909.pdf

EFCA Update

In a nice op-ed piece, Bret Jacobsen highlights another coup of the EFCA proponents in controlling the language of the debate: using the word “compromise” to denote what will end up being the bill they will push through into law. We have taken to calling it the “EFCA or derivative,” rather than suggest that any change to the current law is validly required via some type of compromise with Big Labor. As former NLRB member Peter Kirsanow has suggested, none of the “compromise” options being floated are really a compromise at all, including mail-in ballots.

Another reason for the desperate drive for Big Labor to have an easier time organizing (and pushing for mandatory arbitration) was exposed: the need to strengthen drastically underfunded union pension plans (see also here and here).

Meanwhile, Andy Stern calls Democracy an “ugly thing” and continues to push for a degradation of democracy in union elections via coercive card-check, and Senator Harkin threatens to back some Democrats against the wall (who have been wavering on EFCA) via a straight-out vote on the bill. On another front, 16 states are in various stages of using legislative action to instruct their Washington Congressional contingent to vote “No” on the legislation. In one such skirmish, the Attorney General of Arkansas struck down one such proposal. Keep in mind the “compromise” label – it may allow Democrats (and others) to follow the union lead by saying they were “against” the EFCA, but believed in labor’s (false) need for equity, and thus voted for the derivative bill.

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SEIU Red Ink

The aftermath of SEIU’s big campaign spending is a mountain of debt. The SEIU basically financed its part of the “buying of the administration,” but even though their balance sheet in physical terms is looking rather shoddy, you can’t claim that the money was misspent when you review the political assets purchased (former SEIU operatives now in positions of power within the administration). They gambled big – and it looks like it paid off.

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IAM’s “Suicide Solution”

It is likely that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers may be poised to committed harakiri at a Harley Davidson plant near Baltimore. Following the UAW legacy of fighting for wages and benefits over job security, Harley may close the plant and move to another state where the climate is a lot more “non-union.”

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Only In A Union

In another fancy scheme designed to defraud union members using ambiguous fines, the notoriously corrupt New York City carpenters union is trying to force members to sign a card authorizing such fines or forfeit their vacation pay. Members are wary of their corruption-ridden leadership, yet fear reprisals. “What sort of ‘voluntary’ organization is it where the members are afraid of the very organization that claims to be speaking for them?”

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Deck-Stacking Continues

In yet another move to cement a bureaucracy in Washington sympathetic to Big Labor concerns, Obama has appointed a former SEIU legal counsel to the Federal Election Commission. The appointee, John Sullivan, has questioned the need for disclosure rules on advertisements aimed at influencing voters. J. Gerald Hebert, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, contends that Sullivan’s stance was “so radical that not even the most visible, well-known opponents of campaign finance restrictions supported it.” Sullivan is on record as questioning rules on coordinated communications between candidates and outside groups, such as unions.

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SEIU Takes A Punch

When the largest SEIU local left the fold to form an independent union, Stern & company fought hard to prevent the loss. The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) won the latest round as workers at a hospital in San Pablo voted overwhelmingly to join the new union.

Almost 100,000 SEIU members are currently waiting for an opportunity to leave SEIU and join NUHW instead. SEIU is spending millions on advertising and direct mail to prevent the loss, but if the vote at San Pablo (158 to 24) is any indication, and SEIU’s financial woes continue, SEIU may see quite an exodus.

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Insight Into SEIU/CNA Collaboration

The truth is beginning to emerge about the “kiss and make up” effort between the Service Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association-NNOC. According to this assessment by a labor-movement side observer, a huge impetus for the truce is likely an SEIU maneuver against the rogue California SEIU local that spun off into a new union, the NUHW (see story above).

As the leadership of the NUHW was extracting itself from the local that had been placed under trusteeship by Andy Stern, CNA stepped to the plate to pay the health benefits costs of the new union’s staff. However, as a part of the new pact between the CNA & the SEIU, CNA will cut off all funding help to its former natural ally, the NUHW. With the battles between the CNA & SEIU currently on hiatus, more cash will now be left in the strained coffers of the SEIU to continue to fight the fledgling NUHW.

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SCORE BOARD

Who are the winners (and losers) of the labor movement? Don’t guess, just
check the LRI Scoreboard

View this month’s scoreboard (archives also located here).

Download a PDF of this month’s scoreboard.

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Employee Relations Tip Of The Month

If you must downsize, it is important to help maintain the dignity of those being laid off, as it will effect the remaining employees. Follow these tips:

• Notify each employee in private

• Allow them to say goodbye to their friends and transfer their responsibilities in an orderly way

• If possible, provide them with outplacement services

• Do not escort them off the premises as if they are criminals (unless absolutely necessary)

Hat tip to HRTools for the suggestions.

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It’s About the $$$

CNA has blocked every effort by nurses at Fremont-Rideout Health Group to oust the union using both Unfair Labor Practice charges and the courts. Now that the union has used the courts to force management back to the bargaining table (for now), the CEO is sure that the union “security clause” will not be up for debate.

The CNA seems willing to gamble the loss of the entire facility rather then give up the ability to force nurses to pay dues, even if the nurses don’t want to be a part of the union. Doing the math, CNA stands to glean $600,000 a year in dues (almost $2 million over a 3-year contract). It’ll be interesting to see how their “all or nothing” strategy will pan out.

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RAISE Act: Don’t Hold Your Breath

Congressman Tom McClintock (R – California) will introduce a bill that would allow employers in a unionized company to recognize employees who achieve outstanding performance or innovation, or in some other way make a stellar contribution to the success of the business. The piece of legislation is called the “Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees” (RAISE) Act, which would amend the National Labor Relations Act and eliminate the de facto pay cap imposed on working Americans through stifling collective-bargaining agreements.

One estimate indicates that this act would provide union workers the opportunity to earn an additional $2,600 to $4,300, which is three to five times higher than the middle-class tax cuts promised by the Obama administration. It would obviously increase the incentive for employees within unionized companies to actually be more productive. Big Labor will never stand for it. It will be too much of a threat to their status quo seniority system, which completely stifles worker productivity, as this personal testimony attests.

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Sticky Fingers!

Current charges or sentences of embezzling union officials:

Brian McLaughlin – IBEW/NYCCLC: $2,200,000

Belinda K. Woods – CWA: $10,988

Dianne Drawdy – SPFPA: $18,000

Monica Smalls – AFGE: $500

Robert and Theresa Ann Carr – UA: $45,000

Kevin Welch – CWA: $1,000

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Labor Relations INK is published semi-weekly and
is edited by Labor Relations Institute, Inc. Feel
free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you
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Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger

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Labor Relations Institute
7850 South Elm Place – Suite E
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INK: April 23, 2009

Labor Relations INK

Download a PDF of this issue with links here.

EFCA Update

Do not fall asleep behind the wheel, lulled either by a false sense of security, or by numbness stemming from the confusing messages related to the prognosis for the Employee Free Choice Act. It does seem that the cards are stacking up against the bill passing “as is.” Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) has indicated he may pull his support, another business group has added to the fray on the side of EFCA opponents, and a Teamster-endorsed recent senatorial candidate got away with dodging confession of support for the bill. However, bubbles of compromise discussion have continued to surface, and even those who have said “no” to the bill, have typically qualified their “no” by specifying they are opposed to the current version of the bill.

Big Labor mogul Andy Stern attempted to bolster his union comrades. “We are on the hunt for a solution,” he said, and indicated that it would be a mistake for Big Labor to wait for the next election cycle, hoping to pick up more votes for the current form of the bill. The AFL-CIO posted a list of grassroots efforts working on behalf of “reform,” and in a move straight out of the standard union playbook, the SEIU appears to have “stolen” signatures used in a non-EFCA related petition and applied them to a petition in support of the law!

While both sides are claiming tactical victories for their camp, it doesn’t appear that the EFCA proponents are close yet to pulling a passable bill out of the hat. That’s good news for American businesses, IF they take advantage of the lull before the storm. Big Labor will not rest – there will be labor law change, whether it comes via one “big” bill like EFCA, a compromise bill, or a group of smaller actions. It will become more difficult for businesses to overcome organizing attempts in the near future, and more businesses will be susceptible to organizing than ever before. They must prepare now, or they will pay the price for their procrastination in the very near future.

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“An’ You Don’t Mess Around With … Andy?”

Andy Stern, volatile head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is a scrapper par excellence. Having buried the hatchet and come to an agreement with the CNA-NNOC to split the proceeds of hospital organizing (nurses to CNA, service staff to SEIU), he is now taking advantage of the rift in UNITE-HERE by wooing away the UNITE side of the war-torn organization to join the SEIU. The move was a bold encroachment into the gaming turf Stern has set his sights on.

John Wilhelm, co-president of UNITE HERE, calls Stern’s efforts “a naked power grab,” accusing him of attempting a “hostile takeover of another union’s jurisdiction in a way that is unprecedented in the modern labor movement.”

Labor experts disagree with Stern’s “growth at any cost” strategy, which makes concessions on benefits and working conditions in exchange for making it easier to organize in specific locations.

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Jaws Revisited

SEIU is calling for Kenneth Lewis’ head on a platter. Why would a union be after the CEO and Chairman of Bank of America? Simply put, they are trying to capitalize on the controversy and consumer angst that the $45 billion in government funding has created, to push their agenda for labor law change, specifically the Employee Free Choice Act.

“They’re after blood. They’re chumming the waters for sharks,” UNC Charlotte finance professor Tony Plath says of the union’s campaign. “I’m not a cheerleader for BofA. But let’s be objective about this: These attacks are all about card check.” Plath reasons that by accusing a major company of abusing consumers and workers, Big Labor stands to gain support in Congress for changes they are trying to push through. There are no unionized banks, but with the proposed changes in labor law, that could all change rapidly.

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Only In A Union

While Big Labor is attempting to force American workers to give up the protection of a secret ballot in exchange for the easily manipulated “card check” process, the Teamsters are showing the disrespect they hold for any democratic process. Three
Teamster members are on trial for rigging an election in 2004, apparently in collusion with the attorney of their local.

Now that’s democracy, Big Labor style!

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LRI Website Update

We’ve made it easier for you to find what you need on our web site. Hard-hitting videos, on-target publications, a growing inventory of free resources, and our exclusive library of databases, everything you need to move your company ahead of the competition. Here is a quick diagram highlighting some of the changes. Check it out – spend a few minutes on the site, and we’d love to hear your feedback!

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UFCW vs. Wal-Mart

The UFCW is wielding a new Union Authorization Card sporting a picture and quote from President Obama. In the last month or so, about 60 organizers have been sent to over 100 Wal-Mart stores across 15 states, using the new card to secure signatures.

As the nations largest private-sector employer with 1.4 million employees in 3600 stores, the unions see Wal-Mart as the key to the nations retailers, whose jobs cannot be shipped overseas. If the Wal-Mart domino falls, Big Labor knows the chain reaction will be enormous.

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Kidnapped!?

If the new trend to import all things French (socialism…) continues, we might soon see union locals kidnapping company officials. Disgruntled employees of French auto parts manufacturer Faurecia recently “sequestered” executives for over 5 hours to protest a restructuring and plant shutdowns. Sony, 3M and Caterpiller have also had to deal with this unusual method of “negotiation.” Almost half of the French population believes it is a valid means of bargaining.

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APRIL SCORE BOARD

Who are the winners (and losers) of the labor movement? Don’t guess, just
check the LRI Scoreboard

View this month’s scoreboard (archives also located here).

Download a PDF of this month’s scoreboard.

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Higher Ed & Big Three Auto

The UAW represents academic student employees at California State University. The latest round of contract talks have been stymied over the issue of fee waivers. Full fee waivers would cost the school between $8 to $11 million annually, and CSU is not prepared to budge on the issue.

“A strike might be something that we’ll have to do,” a UAW spokesperson said.

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Sticky Fingers!

Current charges or sentences of embezzling union officials:

In a side note to our union fraud section, Obama recently rescinded new financial disclosure rules put in place in the last days of the Bush administration aimed at making it easier to spot union corruption. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a former chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, complained, “In a time when the president himself said we need more accountability and transparency in government, canceling rules to help root out corruption is not the way to go.”

Lyndon Denney - USW: $24,000

Larry Ramsey – ROU: $163,222

Frankie Sanders – APWU: $13,000

Norman Stefanik - USW: $25,808

Rosa Della Porta - ILWU: $108,000

William Sargent, Jr.- AFGE: $31,000

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Labor Relations INK is published semi-weekly and
is edited by Labor Relations Institute, Inc. Feel
free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you
think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up
by visiting:

http://lrionline.com/free-stuff/newsletter-signup

If you use content from this newsletter please
attribute it to Labor Relations Institute and
include our website address: www.LRIonline.com

Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger

Labor Relations Institute
7850 South Elm Place – Suite E
Broken Arrow, OK
74011
US

INK: April 9, 2009

Labor Relations INK

Download a PDF of this issue with links here.

Labor Relations Insight from Phil Wilson

Reading The Tea Leaves on EFCA

In the couple of weeks since Arlen Specter’s blockbuster announcement that he would vote against cloture and (maybe) vote against EFCA, quite a few pundits have claimed the so-called “Free Choice” Act is dead for the near future. I’ve already argued that news of EFCA’s death is greatly exaggerated, but I’d like to point out a couple of observable facts that I think are worth considering as we handicap the future of EFCA.

It’s been interesting to observe how unions have responded to Specter’s announcement. Most interesting to me was that there wasn’t much of a response to the initial story at all.

read the rest of the article here…

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EFCA Update

The ground seems to be shifting almost daily beneath the feet of those on both sides of the EFCA battle. Specter – the “rogue” Republican that all thought would tip the hand in favor of EFCA supporters, has come out against the bill in current form, as have other Democrats. Some Republicans are beginning to feel they will have enough strength to filibuster the bill. Ripples went through the business community when Fed Ex announced that if Congress changed laws making it easier to unionize their business, they would cancel billions of dollars worth of aircraft orders. And as Representative Joe Wilson has pointed out, the health care industry could be negatively impacted where it matters most – at the level of patient care. All of this seems to bode well for opponents of the bill.

However, as we’ve been warning, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Even though Big Labor is still strutting about on the public front saying that they want the whole package as is, there have been many discussions of compromise, and alternative methods proposed of getting similar results through different means. This article is an example of 16 different steps that could be taken to mute the opposition voices to the current EFCA bill, while doing an end run to accomplish close to the same objectives.

This battle is far from over, and is now entering the creative phase. It is imperative to stay abreast of developments. One great way to do so is to check back regularly to Workforce Fairness Institute’s new EFCA news site. In addition to our regular updates, WFI’s effort is laudable for attempting to stay as “real-time” as possible.

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Do They Practice What They Preach?

We have seen this countless times, and often include similar circumstances in our ULP Charge of the Month: a labor union that supposedly fights for the rights of it’s members, doesn’t apply the same guidelines to it’s own staff and employees.

This recent incident involves members of the Air Line Pilots Association Professional and Administrative Employees (UALPAPAE), who are employees of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). Remarked Jay Wells, president of United’s unit of UALPAPAE, “when it comes to the well-being and welfare of its own staff, ALPA management seems to adopt a different set of labor union principles.”

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UAW: The Good Life!

If you have any doubts about whether or not UAW officials (members) are feeling the strain in Motor City, check out their recently filed financial statement (known as the LM-2). LaborPains.org sifted through the details in a recent post to find that
every UAW officer made in excess of $141,000 in total compensation in 2008, and that over half of the staff made more than $100,000 in total compensation.

Additionally, the union expensed $98,775 on golf courses, another $75,492 at casinos, and over $150,000 at resort conference centers.

Even as UAW members of the Detroit Big Three (and other parts suppliers) are fearing for their very jobs, the UAW staff doesn’t seem to feel the strain.

Read over the LM-2 for yourself here.

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SEIU Hardball

What happens if a businessman stands up in opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act? The SEIU demands his head on a silver platter. SEIU has found a new tool in it’s tool box for extracting legislative action on it’s behalf – government bail-out money.

If a company has received any government help at all, SEIU seems to believe that the leadership of such companies must be compelled to fall in line with the Big Labor viewpoint. One of the commentators on this Lou Dobbs news segment calls it “organizing legislatures.”

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Slush Fund Kick-Backs

According to the Associated Builders and Contractors, George Mason University’s John M. Olin Institute for Employment Practice and Policy recently completed a new study showing that from 2000 to 2007, construction labor unions spent more than $1 billion in union wages to underbid nonunion contractors in a practice called “job targeting.” The practice negatively impacts the economy in many ways, including artificially inflating the cost of public construction projects, and diminishing the tax revenues collectible my municipalities.

It is also vastly unfair to non-union competitors. Current law allows a union to pay money to a company for the purpose of putting another company out of business. If a nonunion construction company engaged in the same conduct as a labor union, it would be prosecuted for violating antitrust laws.

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Hatfield vs. McCoy Truce?

In a move that shocked the world of labor relations, two unions that have long held a high degree of animosity toward each other seemed willing to bury the hatchet. According to the official SEIU blog, “In a dramatic agreement likely to accelerate the drive to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and rapidly promote unionization in the healthcare sector, the Service Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee today announced the signing of a transformative cooperation agreement.”

Under the pact SEIU and CNA/NNOC, the largest unions in the nation representing healthcare workers and registered nurses, respectively, will work together to bring union representation to all non-union RNs and other healthcare employees and step up efforts to enact Employee Free Choice.

The 1.8 million strong SEIU currently represents about 80,000 nurses, and the CNA/NNOC will be at 150,000 after it’s recently announced merger with two other nurses’ unions. The unions have said they will target the nations largest hospital systems in a concerted effort to unionize the nations nurses.

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APRIL SCOREBOARD

Who are the winners (and losers) of the labor movement? Don’t guess, just
check the LRI Scoreboard

View this month’s scoreboard (archives also located here).

Download a PDF of this month’s scoreboard.

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Employee Relations tip-of-the-month

Hiring good people is a key to a positive work environment. Resist the urgency to fill a position “quickly. “ Rather, hire deliberately, scrutinize attitude, and dig into why this person is looking for work. It often takes several interviews to get beyond the prepared answers to the real issues.

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Tough Dose of Reality for Strikers

At a small plywood plant in North Carolina, a protracted strike ended in a new contract, but only 25 of the 110 strikers getting their jobs back.

After 8 months on the picket line living on $150 per week of strike pay, most of those former employees are only now eligible for unemployment benefits. Some will hang on, hoping that the company will regain the market share it lost while the workers were on strike, and be able to afford them. Others will take a severance package and begin looking for employment elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the company, already down by almost half of it’s workforce since the inception of the strike, will attempt to claw it’s way back into competition.

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Sticky Fingers!

Current charges or sentences of embezzling union officials:

Paul S. Peters II & Brian Armentrout - WGA: $300,000

Jeffrey C. Harris – GMP: $5,048

Deborah Chichick – CWA: $1,440

Keith H. Cook – UTU: $47,079

Harry Keil - IAM: $55,000

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Labor Relations INK is published semi-weekly and
is edited by Labor Relations Institute, Inc. Feel
free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you
think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up
by visiting:

http://lrionline.com/free-stuff/newsletter-signup

If you use content from this newsletter please
attribute it to Labor Relations Institute and
include our website address: www.LRIonline.com

Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger

Labor Relations Institute
7850 South Elm Place – Suite E
Broken Arrow, OK
74011
US

INK: February 27, 2009

Labor Relations INK

Download a PDF of this issue with links here.

Labor Relations Insight from Phil Wilson

Solis vs. Corruption

Hilda Solis was confirmed as Secretary of Labor this week. After a bumpy confirmation process in which her nomination was held up by questions about her role as a lobbyist for the Free Choice Act while also serving in Congress, she was approved overwhelmingly by the Senate.

Unions are happy with Solis, who served on the Board of American Rights at Work, a non-profit, union-funded lobbying organization whose purpose is to garner for the Free Choice Act. Businesses are wary for the same reason. I’m sure she is anxious to get to work. She has big shoes to fill.

read the rest of the article here…

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SEIU Attempts “Hostile Takeover”

The SEIU again displayed its true colors by launching a sophisticated and well-coordinated attack on another union, the California Nurses Association (CNA). The SEIU is apparently attempting to take over the CNA-NNOC by soliciting SEIU-allied individuals to run for the CNA-NNOC national board of directors, as well as attempting to harass and intimidate the CNA-NNOC leadership.

The strategy included the impersonation of nurses through the creation of a false “RN” group with a fake website, e-mail address, and phone number. Multiple smear mail pieces and e-mail alerts were distributed, along with phone calls soliciting recruits to run for the CNA-NNOC board on SEIU’s behalf. SEIU brought in staff from around the country for the campaign, that in true Big Labor fashion included uninvited home visits to CNA-NNOC members.

SEIU spokesperson Michelle Ringuette first denied the attack, but when faced with overwhelming evidence, admitted to the campaign, defiantly saying SEIU would do everything in its power to protect its interests.

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CNA on Steroids?

On Feb 18th, three nurses unions announce their intent to merge into one larger organization, calling it the United American Nurses-National Nurses Organizing Committee. The three unions involved are the California Nurses Association-National Nurses Organizing Committee, the United American Nurses, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association. Their combined membership would total 150,000.

Of their five stated goals, the one to which they have committed the majority of their operating budget is the organizing of all nonunion direct care RNs in the U.S. With the recent attack by SEIU upon the CNA, it can also be presumed that they desire to become a harder target against such attacks in the future. Thus, a majority of their efforts would seem to be spent in organizing, union in-fighting, and of course, political activism. Hardly seems there will be much time (or money) left over to work for the betterment of their members.

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CWA Attempts Stiff-Arm Tactics

Members of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) were falsely informed that they have no right to resign from formal union membership and would face hefty fines if they choose to continue to work if CWA ordered a threatening strike.

With the help of National Right to Work Foundation attorneys, two New Jersey AT&T employees filed unfair labor practice charges against the CWA Local 1101 union for such misconduct. Union officials have no legal power to punish nonmember employees for honoring their commitments to their employer, and they have attempted to confuse the issue by telling CWA union members in Washington, Michigan, Ohio and New Jersey that any attempt to resign from union membership is prohibited.

“It’s particularly despicable to threaten workers with fines if they refuse to abandon their jobs in the midst of an economic crisis,” said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “All workers should be free to support their families, free from ugly threats by union bosses.”

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EFCA Counter-Measure

The fight against the Employee Free Choice Act took a new turn on Feb 25th. Senator Jim DeMint (R-S. Carolina) introduced a bill, the Secret Ballot Protection Act (SBPA), that will guarantee the right of American workers to have a secret ballot election on whether to unionize. SBPA has also been introduced in the House with over 100 co-sponsors.

This is a commendable effort, but regardless of the outcome, keep in mind we have warned that Big Labor may well compromise their effort on EFCA by giving up the elimination of the secret ballot process in order to retain the mandatory arbitration provision.

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Case Against EFCA

A detailed study recently released thoroughly debunks the claims made by proponents of the EFCA. Written by noted legal scholar Richard Epstein, it addresses the EFCA’s three provisions, and soundly criticizes the justification supporters cite for the bill. It is a lengthy but readable document (download PDF).

Says Epstein, “The bottom line therefore is that the passage of EFCA will create huge dislocations in established ways of doing business that will in turn lead to large losses in productivity.”

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EFCA Awareness Problem

A new poll conducted by the Employment Law Alliance indicates that 75% of American workers are still completely in the dark about the Employee Free Choice Act. Here is a summary of the findings:

• Only one-quarter reported that they were aware of the EFCA

• Slightly over one-quarter (26%) say they support the EFCA, and nearly as many (24%) oppose it

• Fewer than one-third (30%) of those surveyed support replacing a secret-ballot election with a “card check” system to determine union representation; 35% were opposed

• Asked about the use of government-supervised, binding arbitration to settle a contract in the event of a deadlock, 37% favor this while 22% were opposed

Pro-business interests have a long way to go to get the public informed and on their side!

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FEBRUARY SCOREBOARD

Who are the winners (and losers) of the labor movement? Don’t guess, just
check the LRI Scoreboard

View this month’s scoreboard (archives also located here).

Download a PDF of this month’s scoreboard.

**********

Employee Relations tip-of-the-month

Have employees interview each other about their “highlight moments” at work – make sure that they describe in detail. Write down or record the interviews (audio or video) and start collecting them. When you have a bunch of them, bind them in a book or put them together as a movie and give them out to employees. This can have a long-lasting positive impact.

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UFCW vs. Grocers

The United Food and Commercial Workers is mixing it up with three California grocers. Last year, pharmacists voted to join what is called UFCW’s Professional Division. The union asked to sit down with representatives of Albertsons, Vons and Ralphs and negotiate a separate contract. The three grocers’ UFCW contracts don’t expire until 2011, and they don’t believe they’re obligated to negotiate until then.

In 2003 and 2004, the UFCW and the three grocers engaged in a rough-and-tumble labor battle that included a five-month strike and lockout.

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Union Pockets

Here’s a quick glimpse of some 4th Quarter union expenditures:

* Teamsters spent $373K lobbying government in 4Q

* American Airlines pilot union spent $120K lobbying in 4Q

* Southwest Airlines pilot union spent $40K lobbying in 4Q

* Air Line Pilots Association spent $230K lobbying in 4Q

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Labor Relations INK is published semi-weekly and
is edited by Labor Relations Institute, Inc. Feel
free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you
think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up
by visiting:

http://lrionline.com/free-stuff/newsletter-signup

If you use content from this newsletter please
attribute it to Labor Relations Institute and
include our website address: www.LRIonline.com

Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger

Labor Relations Institute
7850 South Elm Place – Suite E
Broken Arrow, OK
74011
US