Unions losing big-time

Whew! That was a close one. With less than 7% of the private sector work force in labor unions, the power-hungry political leeches who run these organizations were threatening to turn the USA into a wimpy. lifeless, poverty- riot- and strike-ridden nation like those in Europe. Even worse, they were doing things that might force us all to actually join a union, God forbid. Glad to say, looks like we're dodging that bullet -- thanks to the good sense of citizens, some elected representatives, and judges appointed in the pre-Comrade era.

For example, putting at least a comma at the end of the Wisconsin debacle with its public-employee unions, a State Supreme Court judge, whom the unions believed to be friendly to them, upheld the state law that terminates these unions' "right" to collective bargaining. Gee. Looks like those employees will have to face life head-on like everyone else, without being able to shake down the state government.

In another rather surprising development, the New Jersey state legislature voted to pass Governor Chris Christie's suggestion that the over-paid and underworked elite unionized public employees in New Jersey will have to contribute more to their pensions and health insurance. Aw, poor babies. They go to school for years to get all these degrees and credentials, they labor nine months out of the year for six hours a day -- and now they have to contribute to their insurance and pensions? Oh, the horror! They don't think that's fair. Maybe they should regard this as a "teachable moment." Like, figure it out, taxpayers can't carry you on their backs anymore.

Not directly related to unions (except in the unions' fondest dreams), Walmart was subject to some kind of a demonstration by employees, who stood out the Arkansas HQ, no doubt beating drums and singing updated versions of "I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night." Apparently they want more money. Well, don't we all? This group was not a union, but was sponsored by one or another union, probably SEIU. Far as I know, they had no impact at all, though they did get their pictures in a few newspapers.

Also involving Walmart, there was this rather amorphous class-action suit brought by women employees at Walmart claiming gender discrimination in raises and promotions and whatnot. This went all the way to the US Supreme Court, which just today ruled that the members of the "class" bringing the suit failed to specifically identify and/or name and/or prove any enterprisewide policy or attitude that's keeping them back. In other words, they don't  have a case. Their suit was dismissed.

So I guess the existing legal "standard" for sexual harassment ("He's looking at me funny") may also eventually be revisited for lack of anything but a desire to levy fines and punishments on the heads of businesses.

Then we have the matter of Boeing, which has built a huge manufacturing plant in South Carolina, a right-to-work state -- meaning you have a right to work there, whether or not you join the union. Boeing's plants in Washington state -- a closed shop state, meaning join the union or look elsewhere for a job -- complained that Boeing was establishing operations in South Carolina to avoid the threat of crippling strikes and production shut-downs.

Do you think so? Really? My question is: Well, who in their right mind wouldn't prefer doing business in a right-to-work state to avoid crippling strikes and production shut-downs? I mean, is there supposed to be something wrong with this?

They still have the unions in South Carolina, but workers are not compelled to join them.

So, knowing full well that they don't have a rational case against Boeing, the unions avoided the courts and filed a complaint against Boeing with the National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, headed up now by a former pro-union hack and friend-of-the-communist-Comrade. The union says Boeing complained about the strikes and all that, so they're building the new plant in South Carolina as "retaliation" against the union. ("Dad! He keeps looking at me funny!")

With the various Comrade-appointed pro-commie officials infesting the executive branch, including the NLRB, the unions actually have a chance of getting a favorable ruling from NLRB. In which case, all Boeing workers South Carolina will be forced, by decree, to join the union or, more likely, Boeing will shut down the plant.

Intersting, the guy who heads up NLRB is supposed to be vetted and approved by the US Senate. But he wasn't. He was one of the Comrade's "interim appointments," meaning the Comrade waited until congress was out of session, then made a bunch of appointments saying, "Gee, but you guys weren't in Washington and we needed someone."

So anyway, in some kind of hearings today headed by Darryl Issa, who's chief of the committee that looks into goverment corruption, Issa was talking to the NLRB guy and actually threatened to shut down the agency. I really don't know enough about it, but I thought that was neat. And rather funny. Just the look of surprise on the NLRB guy's face. Like, "Who? Me? A power-grabbing marxist apparatchik? Where do you get that idea?"

Keep up the good work, folks, it's working.

Save the Republic.