Henry Nicholas, President of AFSCME Local 1199C in Philadelphia, is a “staunch supporter” of card-check… unless it applies to him. Nicholas declined to recognize a unit of his own office staff based on union cards and instead is making them seek an NLRB election. While we agree that a secret ballot election is the best way to settle these things, the Philadelphia Inquirer notes:
Ironically, their employer, longtime labor leader Henry Nicholas, declined to recognize the bargaining unit when he was presented with signed petition cards from a majority of the workers.
Nicholas is a staunch supporter of a proposed federal law known as “card check,” which would allow unions to organize workplaces without a separate election if a majority of workers sign cards requesting representation.
Henry, if you really don’t want your office organized you ought to consider bringing in some professional union
Continue reading Free Choice Act Hypocrisy
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants who represent 18,000 flight attendants are seeking to be released from mediation as a possible stepping stone to a strike. Five days of negotiations were not enough to come to an agreement between company and union, with both accusing the other to be at fault. This could be a crushing move by in already bad economy. Stay tuned, we will keep you updated.
The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is offering a course Principles & Practices of Organizing in Communities & Organizations for students. According to the professor offering the class, the course has filled up “astonishingly fast” and may expand into a larger, more intensive program for organizing.
According to the AP, Hilda Solis telegraphed to union leaders today that Craig Becker may get recess appointed to the NLRB during the Easter recess.
San Francisco’s elected Democratic officials are coming out against the SEIU’s takeover of the UHW. As you may recall the SEIU local headed by Sal Rosselli with over 150,000 members challenged Andy Sterns leadership, causing a civil war within the SEIU. Rosselli has started a new union the NUHW which has moved to decertify the SEIU in favor of the NUHW. The elected officials in a letter to the SEIU are asking for a democratic election without intimidation, harassment and coercion. Good luck.
The Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Research is offering a one-week course for students who are interested in anti-corporate campaign research. Any company concerned about a potential anti-corporate campaign activity should study what is being taught that week.
During a recent meeting with Union Leaders, Vice President Joe Biden expressed his optimism that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) can be passed even though Democrats do not have the 60 vote super majority. Sounds like wishful thinking, but worth keeping an eye on.
Pew Research: Unions Really Unpopular…
A recent Pew research poll shows that unions are at an all time low in popularity. This tracks a similar poll from the Gallup organization last year. Today only 41% of individuals have a favorable view of unions, compared to 2007 when 58% had a favorable view. Every demographic that took the survey – including union members – had a worse opinion of unions. Somehow unions have taken what should have been the best time ever to get their agenda enacted and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Think about all the issues unions ended up on the wrong side of in the last year or two. They managed to get a lot of the blame for
Continue reading Union Popularity At All-Time Low…Again
Great article describing how the Teamsters are partnering with environmental activists to unionize the more than 40,000 port drivers in America.
The International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers (IAM) lost an election to represent Delta Air Lines Simulator Technicians. This is a major loss for the IAM who is trying to organize most of Delta’s ground personnel following the Delta-Northwest merger. The new Delta is now the largest airline in the world and the IAM who represented the majority of the former Northwest ground personnel stand to lose more than 25 thousand current and potential members.
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