INK: July 9, 2009

Labor Relations INK

Download a PDF of this issue with links here.

In This Issue:

• Insight from Phil Wilson
• A Disturbance In The Force
• UAW vs. UAW
• A Peek Behind ObamaCare
• and more…

Labor Relations Insight from Phil Wilson

NLRB: Employee Free Choice Act Ace in the Hole?

Is the Employee Free Choice Act still alive? Al Franken is now officially seated and the 60-vote caucus needed to overcome a filibuster on the Free Choice Act is in place. But just when unions should be rejoicing in the streets, it’s getting fashionable to write Employee Free Choice Act obituaries, like the one this morning in the New York Times. I think companies should keep a very close eye on the NLRB, because the news of EFCA’s death is greatly exaggerated – but I’m getting ahead of myself. Read the rest of the article here

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EFCA Update

Even with healthcare and cap & trade legislation consuming a great deal of attention, there is plenty of action in the EFCA arena. The democrat/Big Labor camp is happy to have Franken declared the winner in the Minnesota senate race, providing the 60th vote required to break cloture. On the pro-business side, several democratic senators still have not confirmed wholehearted support for the current version of the bill, while the SEIU seems to be fighting against themselves in a recent California episode by ignoring employees wishes on the basis of signatures alone! The pro-business lobby is continuing to keep the battle in the public eye, most recently with a television campaign targeting Senator Nelson in Nebraska.

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There is new ammunition on the intellectual front against the EFCA. An attorney who has negotiated over 100 first contracts made a great argument that it wasn’t possible to “fix” the mandatory arbitration provision of the bill to make it non-destructive to businesses. Recent data also demonstrate that non-right-to-work states are shedding jobs to right-to-work states. The Mackinac Center For Public Policy in Michigan put together this very graphic interactive dashboard of statistics comparisons of non-right-to-work states vs. right-to-work states and Michigan.

In another very interesting twist, the healthcare debate has suddenly become a possible sop to Big Labor. As Congress grapples with how to pay for a public insurance program, one of the proposals involves taxing the health benefits of companies that provide such benefits via private insurance. A exemption is being considered for unionized companies. Here’s the apparent trade-off: if unions can no longer use health benefits as a bargaining or organizing tool (due to government healthcare making it a non-issue), then the unions could still use the “tax-free benefits” loophole as the replacement bargaining chip.

It could be an interesting summer!

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FREE! EFCA Strategy Review & Vulnernability Audit

This has quickly become one of our most popular programs, in light of upcoming labor law changes. It is more important than ever to assess both the internal and external factors that contribute to your company’s vulnerability to union penetration, and formulate action plans to shore up any uncovered weaknesses.

• What are the most likely labor law changes, and how will they impact my vulnerabilities?

• What are the six strategies I can implement to strengthen my defense against union encroachment?

• When do I talk to my employees about unions? What do I say about unions?

CLICK HERE to schedule your free 30-minutes consultation with Phil Wilson, LRI’s President and General Counsel.

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A Disturbance In The Force

Andy Stern, head of the Service Employees International Union, has now been likened to “the Darth Vader of the labor movement,” as union presidents and representatives from across the country are taking UNITE-HERE’s side in the raging fight between the SEIU and the besieged union. Going against legal counsel, the AFL-CIO officially came out against SEIU’s “raiding of organized workers.” Over 15 international unions, including AFSCME and the Laborers, have committed both moral and monetary support to UNITE-HERE. As one former pro-Stern supporter put it, “the American labor movement declared war on Andy Stern.”

Labor insiders believe that the schism, and the attempts by the SEIU to dominate the American labor movement, have placed the nail in the coffin of the Change To Win labor federation. It is expected that many of the unions that originally broke away from the AFL-CIO to form Change To Win may return to the fold, without the SEIU.

Meanwhile, the battle between SEIU (including the newly-created Workers United) and UNITE-HERE continues at high tempo, with no sign of resolve.

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UAW vs. UAW

In an ironic twist, the UAW now finds itself in a position to negotiate against itself by virtue of the recent shuffling of ownership of Chrysler and GM. The UAW is both the employer and the employee of Chrysler and GM, and is both the competitor and the employee of Ford.

The recent deal between Chrysler and GM and the UAW include the agreement not to strike until 2015. Ford is now asking the same concession of the UAW. The UAW finds itself in a conflicted situation, and Ford, who effectively evaded government intervention (bailout money) finds itself in a possible competitive disadvantage.

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Only In A Union

The State of Michigan agreed with the United Auto Workers (which represents state employees in MI) for several furlough days in an effort to balance the budget. The Detroit Local of the UAW (Local 6000) filed a complaint to block the move, saying that the international overstepped its jurisdiction. Apparently, when the state attempted to bargain with the Local, the Local was not willing to grant any concessions. The state then sent a letter to the UAW international VP, who agreed to an amount of furloughed days. The local countered, saying the UAW international move was a violation of its constitution.

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AFL-CIO Extreme Make-Over

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) organized a conference last month that included 23 labor leaders. The objective of the meeting was to consider changes to the AFL-CIO intended to revitalize the labor coalition. “We focused on systemic changes that would strengthen the labor federation’s finances and increase its clout,” said IAM president Tom Buffenbarger.

With the current head of the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney, set to retire in September, a more aggressive leadership coupled with an overhaul of agenda and operational functions could bring the labor organization back to the public square in a powerful way. If the rival Change To Win federation disbands, and an EFCA-type bill passes soon, we could have a legitimate 800-pound gorilla on our hands.

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Valiant Attempt

In a move to eradicate Depression Era-legislation enacted to bolster unions, Representative Connie Mack (R-FL) proposed a repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which would eliminate minimum compensation provisions for construction workers on public works projects. Proponents of the repeal believe that such a move would encourage more job growth for federal construction projects. “Instead of pandering to big labor,” Mack said, “Congress should be fostering a competitive environment for businesses to be able to hire more people for more jobs.”

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A Peek Behind ObamaCare

Peeling back the layers of the healthcare reform onion, you will find several key “partners” on the administration’s healthcare reform team: ACORN, the SEIU, AFSCME, and the AFL-CIO. Having given the American auto industry over to unions (the UAW) and the government, are we sure that doing the same with the 14% of the GDP known as the American healthcare system is an intelligent choice?

The healthcare industry had better pay close attention, as the “unintended” consequences of a government plan are being forshadowed in the auto, and to some extent the banking, industries.

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Typical Non-Representation

The AFSCME recently announced its endorsement of Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez for reelection. Not so fast, says the Albuquerque local! In typical fashion, the membership of the large union that represents city workers was never polled, or in any other fashion asked who they endorsed. The union made its decision based strictly on its own agenda, rather than the wishes of its constituency.

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Transform Your Workplace!

A step-by-step guide on how to dramatically improve employee engagement at your company. Includes checklists, action-planning guides and more.

• How to determine your company’s internal and external vulnerability – and why you have to deal with both kinds of vulnerability.

• Critical training for your first-line supervisors, and how you can turn them into a key to your employee engagement strategy.

CLICK HERE to find out more about The Next 52 Weeks: One Year To Transform Your Work Environment by Phillip B. Wilson

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Southern California In The Crosshairs

The Inland Empire consists of portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties in southern California, home to almost 2,900 warehouses of at least 50,000 square feet each, which employ nearly 113,000 people. These warehouses, operated by some of the largest retailers in the world, handle much of the container cargo that moves through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest trade gateway in the United States. And they are under siege.

The Change To Win federation, along with Warehouse Workers United, is squaring off with American businesses in a concerted effort to organize this compact region of workers. “There needs to be a general union movement. We expect to have a long-term campaign there,” said Tom Woodruff, organizing director of Change to Win.

“If we are concerned, we are concerned about efforts in Washington that would change the rules for union organization,” said Rob Green, vice president for government and political affairs at the National Retail Federation, speaking of the EFCA. Green suggests that if the organizing movement gains traction, many of the large retailers may move their warehouses to other parts of the country where costs would be lower.

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Steelworkers Get The Boot

A small sawmill in Larder Lake, Ontario, voted to decertify the United Steelworkers of America. The union had represented them since a 2006 vote, and the employees still had 3 months left on the one contract the union had negotiated, when 75% of them voted to decertify the union.

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SEIU vs. BOA

The campaign against Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank Of America, is one to keep an eye on. Will the embattled CEO cave to SEIU pressure to save his job?

The quandary stems from a) BOA acceptance of TARP funds, b) Big Labor deftly using the “economic crisis” and a friendly administration in Washington as leverage to pressure businesses, and c) Ken Lewis’ refusal to sit down with SEIU to pave the way for easier organizing of BOA employees.

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Labor Relations INK is published semi-monthly and
is edited by Labor Relations Institute, Inc. Feel
free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you
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include our website address: www.LRIonline.com

Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger

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INK: June 25, 2009

Labor Relations INK

Download a PDF of this issue with links here.

In This Issue:

• EFCA Update
• Union Intimidation Up Close & Personal
• RAISE, Not RESPECT
• PLUS June Scoreboard, Only In A Union, and more…

EFCA Update

A bit of detective work uncovered another fraud perpetrated by Big Labor in attempting to persuade members of Congress that a new coalition of businesses supported the Employee Free Choice Act. Even though their website gives no list of names, the group attempted to claim 1000 members. We checked our LRI Database and discovered that the chairman is CEO of a life insurance company whose members are represented by OPEIU Local 277. Of course he would want all his competition unionized! Rick Berman, of the Center for Union Facts, dug behind the scenes to uncover the hoax. “Business Leaders for a Fair Economy is a front group for a few financial companies who stand to profit from forced unionization,” said Rick Berman. “Although they claim to be a ‘coalition of 1,000 businesses,’ it publicly turns out to actually be a hodge-podge of fewer than 200 non-profits, union consultants, and businesses that don’t even exist.”

As it becomes clear that Big Labor is desperate to keep the forced arbitration provision in the bill to protect unions’ failing pensions, they are once again attempting to frame the debate by ignoring the fact that the system is not broken, and focusing the discussion on a “working arbitration system.” Read our refutation to such a system on our blog.

Another prominent Democrat, Florida State Senator Rick Dantzler, has come out against the EFCA, another state business group (225 small businesses in Colorado) have come out supporting the bill, and Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas is dancing around attempting to find a way to support a “proposal both business and labor could support.”

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FREE! EFCA Strategy Review & Vulnernability Audit

This has quickly become one of our most popular programs, in light of upcoming labor law changes. It is more important than ever to assess both the internal and external factors that contribute to your company’s vulnerability to union penetration, and formulate action plans to shore up any uncovered weaknesses.

• What are the most likely labor law changes, and how will they impact my vulnerabilities?
• What are the six strategies I can implement to strengthen my defense against union encroachment?
• When do I talk to my employees about unions? What do I say about unions?

CLICK HERE to schedule your free 30-minutes consultation with Phil Wilson, LRI’s President and General Counsel.

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Has SEIU Overreached?

Both sides are claiming victory in the recent Fresno battle between the SEIU and the breakaway National Union of Healthcare Workers. In the election for home healthcare workers asked to select a union to represent them, SEIU ultimately took the vote tally by a slim margin while the NUHW is challenging the election, claiming that SEIU engaged in tactics both unethical and illegal. The cost to SEIU was 1000 field workers tied up on the ground, and an estimated $10 Million or more spent on the campaign, only to emerge with a shallow victory and a tarnished reputation.

For a look at the detailed parallel with the U.S. quagmire in Vietnam, read this article. SEIU is in for a long, hard season of bitter conflict, as it continues to tangle with NUHW and UNITE-HERE, while attempting to lobby for the Employee Free Choice Act.

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Only In A Union

Shawn Clark, who was business manager of Somerville, NJ-based Local 455 of the International Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, claims that all $85,000 that he spent on entertainment, $65,000 of it in go-go bars, was legitimate business expense. Clark was expelled from the New Jersey Regional Council of Carpenters and fined $50,000, but still intends to plead not guilty to embezzlement charges.

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Union Intimidation Up Close & Personal

One of the Big Labor arguments attempting to frame the debate for the Employee Free Choice Act is an accusation that employers intimidate their employees during union organizing campaigns. Unfortunately for the unions, most evidence of intimidation points to unions and their members as the perpetrators of acts of violence and intimidation. This short collection of videos provides a glimpse into the reality of union intimidation, from the perspective of former union organizers who engaged in the practice, FBI bribery footage, and the experiences of employees selected as targets.

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Healthcare Tug-of-War

The nurses at Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding, CA, recently came to the conclusion that they didn’t need a union, and decertified the United Public Employees of California, which had represented them for twelve years. “We said, ‘You know what? Why bother?’ ” said Sue Washburn, the SRMC nurse who led the decertification effort.

Across the country in Boston, the states largest hospital group signed an agreement with the SEIU that restricted management’s ability to communicate about unions to their employees, leading to a recent win for SEIU at Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester. Although some hospitals or hospital management groups are pressured into signing such agreements, other will choose to fight back, and may find themselves targets of SEIU corporate campaigns. According to union officials, there are organizing campaigns targeting every hospital in Boston.

One labor consultant , Jeff Toner of Kennebunk, ME, describes such campaigns: “Corporate campaigns can target executive compensation, they can picket the homes of board members,” Toner said. “They make it as uncomfortable as possible for executives, and they cast aspersion on a hospital’s standard of care to the patient community.”

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Political Activism The New SEIU Export

The Service Employees International Union has announced it is establishing a huge member activist campaign across Canada. According to the union, members will use the political action program to mount campaigns and speak with politicians, to insure that SEIU-identified issues will remain on the agendas of politicians “at election time and every day in between.”

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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

Recognize those who volunteer in their community with a community service award.

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RAISE, Not RESPECT

Two laws intended to amend the National Labor Relations Act are headed to Congress.

The Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees Act (RAISE) would permit employers to pay unionized employers incentive wages outside the normal limits imposed by collective bargaining, giving management a way of rewarding those workers who show themselves to be more productive. This is good.

The Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers Act (RESPECT) would reclassify management supervisors to make it impossible for them to legally engage in the kind of shop-floor activities that are a normal and essential aspect of their jobs, forcing companies to have to hire more workers to compensate, and depriving those companies of the expertise of their seasoned veterans. This is bad.

Lobby while you can!

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Raynor Accused of “Creative” Financing

According to UNITE-HERE sources, Bruce Raynor, the ousted co-president of the union, illegally transferred over $12 million dollars out of the union’s coffers and into the tills of union locals loyal to him, and to a consulting group with SEIU ties. Allegedly, those funds were then used to finance the succession of most of those locals from UNITE-HERE into a new union, which then affiliated itself with the SEIU.

John Wilhelm, the UNITE-HERE leader, has accused Raynor and Stern of orchestrating the split in order for SEIU to be able to encroach upon UNITE-HERE’s prime organizing turf, gaming and hotel industries.

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Bargaining Chip?

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Representative Steve King (R-IA) have introduced the Truth in Employment Act of 2009 in both houses of Congress. The bill seeks to protect employers from union “salts,” people who secure jobs for the express purpose of fomenting unrest in the company leading to union organizing efforts.

Salting is an age-old union tactic, and similar legislation has been presented several times during the recent decade, to no avail. One might wonder if it will be used as a bargaining chip in the EFCA-derivative debate.

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Your Union Dollars At Work

In Atlantic City, you can get a good glimpse of union dues hard at work. While the UAW is negotiating contracts for employees at Bally’s and Caesars, they are engaged in a “multi-million” advertising campaign trying to pressure the casinos.

Tired of taking it on the chin in the public arena, Harrah’s Entertainment has struck back with a radio spot of their own. “We have had more than 50 bargaining sessions with the UAW. … We’d like to agree on a contract that is reasonable, economically feasible and one that allows us to remain competitive in these difficult times.” Harrah’s says more ads are coming, although their spending won’t quite reach the level of the UAW media campaign.

With the union pouring millions into media, and the casinos having to fight back to protect their reputation, it’s a good time to be in the advertising business in Atlantic City. Casino employees, however, are seeing their pay raises frittered away. Good thing they voted in a union.

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Bank Of America’s Turn In Crosshairs

I’m sure Bank of America must be reeling. First, they loan $80 million to the SEIU for the construction of a new headquarters building. In return, Stern and company viciously attack the bank, staging protests outside Bank of America offices, called for the resignation of bank CEO Ken Lewis, and demanding improvements in wages, bargaining rights, and health care benefits for Bank of America workers through public campaigns and in testimony before Congress. Then, another union that is in the middle of a ferocious battle with the SEIU, files charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the SEIU and the bank, charging that the loans are illegal.

SEIU officials claim the charges are baseless, while Bank of American claims they are “being inserted into the middle of a dispute between two unions.”

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Branson Highlights Tough Reality

Said Richard Branson, head of Virgin Atlantic, about his company’s relationship with Boeing, “If people in Seattle build our planes and deliver them on time and, to be frank, don’t go on strike, then we’ll continue to work with Boeing. If we have our airline completely messed up, with tremendous damage done to our own work force, then we’ll go to Embraer or Airbus.”

The machinists union better pay attention. Their recent strike began the rumblings of the possible gutting of the aerospace industry in the northwest, and by year’s end we may see the fallout. Boeing has already indicated that without proper concessions from the machinists, they will establish a new 787 assembly line elsewhere.

Other industries would do well to take notice. The government does not have the wherewithal to add Boeing to the “General Motors”-style bailout program.

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UAW Attempts to Shaft Wisconsin Children

While business executives are being excoriated in the media for using private jets, the UAW is attempting to keep afloat a posh UAW-owned golf resort that has lost $25 million over the last 5 years. The union is trying to secure $3 million in tax relief from township officials, seeking to rob the school districts of much-needed funding to keep alive the elegant union leadership getaway.

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Labor Relations INK is published semi-monthly 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

You are receiving this email because you
subscribed to receive our labor relations
newsletters and updates. You can manage your email
preferences by clicking the link at the bottom of
any of our email communications.

NOTE: if you are using Internet Explorer v. 6, read the text version,
as the html will not load properly in IE6. We recommend upgrading to IE7.

Pay-To-Play And Lawmaking

I never cease to wonder at the creativity of corruption.  As Congress begins to focus on how to attempt to pay for the 1.6 Trillion socialized health care proposals the new administration is seeking to implement,  Congressmen are factoring in giving the unions a bye on sharing their part of the cost.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., is working on several proposals to tax health care benefits.  But the plans offer exemption to unionized employees!

Employee Satisfaction Survey Case Study – Medical Services

Medical services provider nearly loses union election, then transforms its employee relations environment in only one year – and the union never returned!

This company suffered about as near a miss as you can – they won a union election by just one vote in a unit of around 150 employees. They hired us to help them after this election.

This organization had a number of serious issues, starting with a challenging relationship between the owner of the company and its top operations manager. One of our primary tasks for the year was working this out or making a change. Ultimately a new leader was selected for the position.

The survey results also showed frustration with pay and benefits and immediate supervision. The company’s growth outpaced many of their employee relations systems and our task over the next year was to catch up. We developed policies and procedures to help ensure consistency across departments (a major complaint).

We were able to implement a number of other communication improvements. Things were really on a roll.

Then disaster struck. About a month before the union could file another petition (which we figured was a near certainty) the company learned that it would be forced to pay nearly 50% more for health insurance. It was able to absorb about half of this increase, but employees would be asked to pay about 25% more for insurance.

We used this very negative development to test how well we had done preparing supervisors for their role as communicators during the year. Each supervisor met individually with his or her direct reports and explained the situation. They went over all the options with employees.

In the end the benefit communication went as well as could be hoped. Employees weren’t entirely happy (which showed up in the survey results) but they were sure that the company was doing everything it could – and they saw tremendous improvement over the last year.

Surprisingly, the union never came back. This was a tremendous accomplishment and a testament to the hard work done by the leadership team of this company.

NOTE: Due to the sensitive nature of these interventions, the company identity is kept confidential. If you would like to learn more, or wish to arrange a discussion with the actual client, please contact Phil Wilson at 800-888-9115.

Employee Satisfaction Survey Case Study – Nursing Home

Two nursing home facilities in 18-facility chain move from worst to first in one year.

These two facilities are part of the same 18-facility nursing home chain. Our firm was engaged to conduct an employee satisfaction survey for the entire chain. These two facilities rated at the bottom of the company results. We were asked to work with the management team at both facilities to help them improve their results.

Each location worked up its own employee relations improvement plan with assistance from Phillip Wilson. One facility primarily needed to work on team-building issues among the leadership group. This included teaching the group the Facilitation Conflict-Resolution Model and assisting the Administrator in facilitating meetings with members of the leadership team.

The second facility needed to work on communication with one department and also had to deal with inconsitency among the departments. We implemented regular “skip step” meetings between the Administrator and the departments. We also implemeted regular “in-service” training for department heads on areas where we found the most inconsistency.

Both facilities also needed to work on development discussions with direct care and support staff. We coached leaders on how to conduct these discussions.

We assisted the facilities in communicating the survey results and developing action plans. During the course of the year we worked on high priority issues uncovered in the survey. Facility administrators also received individualized coaching to deal with issues that came up during the year.

One year later all 18 facilities were surveyed again. This time the two “problem” facilities rated number 1 and 3 on their overall survey results.

NOTE: Due to the sensitive nature of these interventions, the company identity is kept confidential. If you would like to learn more, or wish to arrange a discussion with the actual client, please contact Phil Wilson at 800-888-9115.

INK: February 12, 2009

Labor Relations INK

Download a PDF of this issue with links here.

SEIU / UHW-West Conflict Erupts

SEIU’s Andy Stern final pulled the trigger and put the large (150,000 member) California-based local into trusteeship. United Healthcare Workers-West president Sal Rosselli, and 17 other elected officers, were ousted, and SEIU and moved to seize control of the local’s offices.

In what some observers called “trench warfare,” the UHW-West leadership first refused to vacate their offices, and then opened a new union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, to rival SEIU for the membership of the local, petitioning for elections in 62 hospitals and healthcare facilities.

The west-coast dispute was mirrored in the east, as the UNITE side of the UNITE-HERE union took the HERE side of the executive committee to court over violations of its constitution.

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OLMS Teeth To Be Pulled?

Since the start of fiscal year 2001, the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards cumulative enforcement results include 1,004 indictments, 929 convictions, and payments or orders of restitution of $93,110,576. However, the mission of the OLMS to protect union members from financial abuses and other crimes by those who serve in positions of trust may be jeopardized, as Labor Secretary designate Solis will not commit to funding, and in fact parried the direct question into a comment antagonistic to business, rather than the unions officials OLMS is designed to monitor.

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Watch the video on YouTube at this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m55fyIT5q84

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Obama Begins Union “Dues” Payments

Whether or not the Employee Free Choice Act moves through Congress swiftly, Big Labor will have plenty to thank Obama for. He has already begun the process of tossing bones to his biggest backers. Several Executive Orders were signed giving unions preferential treatment in Federal contracts and making it harder for workers to understand their rights. Additionally, power is granted to the Secretary of Labor to blacklist union targets from federal contracts.

Meanwhile, Big Labor is keeping the heat on the newly elected Congress, and President. Andy Stern of the Service Employees International Union threatened to “hold people accountable” for their campaign promises. Keep you eyes open – Big Labor’s $450 Million election debt won’t be satisfied with just a few bones. They’ll want substantial meat, whether packaged in the EFCA or not.

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UFCW Thugs Intimidate Worker

At a Rite-Aid store in Niagara Falls, NY, an employee working in the stock room was approached and pressured by three representatives from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. The worker had filed a petition on behalf of his co-workers to have the union removed. According to the police report filed, the union representations tried to coerce him into an after-hours meeting, and he feared they were trying to harm him.

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Employment Law Changes

Beyond the impact of the new administration on laws related to union issues, there are more changes coming that employers will have to keep abreast of. The workload of HR personnel will increase dramatically, and pity the small business owner who doesn’t have an HR manager! The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act are the first two among the plethora to come.

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Pro-Business Advocacy

Americans For Job Security is a pro-business, pro-markets issue advocacy group that has joined the fight against the Employee Free Choice Act. Among their key issues are:

- tax reduction

- free markets & free trade

- energy

- transportation

Check out their web site.

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ULP Charge of the Month

Download a PDF of this ULP here.

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Teamsters Latest Corporate Campaign

Hoffa has instructed Teamster locals across the country to sever any relationships with Cleveland-based KeyCorp bank, and move their banking business elsewhere. Why? Because Key is the primary lender for Oak Harbor Freight, an Auburn, Wash., company where more than 600 Teamster members had been on a lengthy strike.

Teamster-owned assets to be moved could run as much as $18 Billion. Just another example of Big Labor’s strategy to drag a third party into a labor squabble.

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Sticky Fingers!

Current charges or sentences of embezzling union officials:

Kenneth Campbell – IUOE: $290,000

Carl White – IATSE: $86,000

Gerald Conaway – FOP: $5,500

Stephen Snyder – USW: $78,893

Rick Radek – BLET: $6,700

Joseph Johnson - IBB: $102,519

Richard Klemser - IAM: $60,000

Jeffrey Baker - IAM: $16,050

Danny Tilley - TBCTC: $9,719

Linda Peterson - APWU: $6,505

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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

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