Tag Archives: Union

Boeing Union Vote

Unions

So, the International Association of Machinists wanna unionize the Boeing plant in South Carolina, however, they are running into resistance and have called off the vote:

The union said it was forced to call off its door-to-door canvassing campaign this week after two organizers were greeted with homeowners brandishing guns as they ordered them off their property and “others reported hostile and near-violent confrontations.”

I am absolutely loving the irony that is traditional union thug tactics.

The Corrosive Impact Of Unions In Action

If you wanna see a real life example of how the parasite kills the host look no further than Hostess Brands Inc.

Rocky Mount, N.C. — Hostess Brands Inc. filed a motion in federal bankruptcy court early Friday, seeking permission to shutter operations and end production of the snack cakes and breads known to generations of Americans.

The Texas-based company said in a statement on its website that it will try to sell its assets, including the iconic Twinkie, Ding Dong and Wonder Bread brands. Bakery operations have been suspended at all 36 plants, including one in Rocky Mount, following a week-long strike by thousands of workers protesting 8 percent wage cuts and benefit concessions.

In its statement, Hostess said the strike “crippled the company’s ability to produce and deliver products at multiple facilities.”

Already-baked products will continue to be delivered, and the company said its retail stores will remain open for a few days to sell off remaining stock.

“We deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike,” Chief Executive Gregory Rayburn said. “Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders.”

In essence, the union was negotiating either an 8% wage cut or a 100% wage cut.  The union decided that they wanted the 100% version.

However, unlike in other cases where the economic realities are hidden and not immediately obvious to the employees, the workers at the plant here in Rocky Mount North Carolina are keenly aware of the decision they are making:

The company has about 18,300 employees, including about 275 in Rocky Mount.

“We’re not in the dark. We know exactly what’s going to happen,” Hoffman said, “They’re going to shut the plant. They’re going to shut down all the (plants in the) United States.”

I have to hand it to the workers here in Rocky Mount.  North Carolina is a “right to work” state where workers can’t be forced to join a union.  Further, these workers were not yet affected by the contractual mess, they were simply honoring the picket lines of those workers elsewhere.   However, the actions of these employees acting on behalf of their unions have caused the corporation to go bankrupt.  The business will be sold off and these workers have lost their job in an economy that has continued to sputter along.

18,000+ employees out of work due to the union.

Amazing.

A note concerning Twinkies and GM.  I’ll bet you a candy bar that Hostess will sell everything.  The machines, the the trucks, the buildings and THE NAMES.  Someone will come along and buy the name “Hostess” and the name of every product they make.  And they begin to produce these products but in a manner that is more able to offer a return on investment.

The same thing would have happened to GM.

Scott Walker: Wisconsin Wins

Scott Walker Wins Wisconsin Recall

I predicted a 2-4 point loss.  The emotional game goes to the challenger in recalls.  Further, the unions that are dependent on this election have decades of built in ground game.  I was listening to the radio and I heard that they knocked on thousands of doors and called even more.  Walker was ahead in the polls, but he was slowing down in the final days.

I had the ill luck of having to drive to Charlotte tonight, so I wasn’t able to watch the election results at all.  I tried keeping track on my phone, but that proved to be untenable on the road.  So I called family and friends and asked them to keep me up to date via texts.

What a great trip!

Walker took a massive lead early and never really was challenged.  Fox called it when 25% of the vote was in, the rest soon followed suit.

What Does This Mean

Wisconsin has now elected their governor twice.  Twice, and he still has another term to run for.  Mr. Walker was clear about what he was gonna do when he ran the first time.  Then, when in office, he did them.  Rather, he TRIED to do them.  When faced with a vote that they didn’t like, the Democrats ran from their job, ran from their capital and even ran from their state.  All to prevent a vote.

An interesting functional filibuster don’t ya say?

Then, when the democrats tried to take control of the senate by recalling a number of members, they lost.  The senate remained in control of the republicans.  Finally, after the requisite number of months in office, the democrats tried to recall him.  While they were successful in forcing the election, they were unsuccessful in their bid to unseat him.

The people have spoken.  Spoken at least three times.  They want this governor, they want this senate, they want these reforms and they are tired of the status quo.

The reforms that the legally elected republicans moved into law through a legally sanctioned vote have worked for the state.  Budgets have seen significant relief, many have been balanced.  School districts have been able to obtain fiscal flexibility while not having to lay off teachers.  In short, Walker works.

Finally the people of Wisconsin are not pleased that the recall election even took place.  The recall process is meant to force out a governor that has been guilty of some crime or of some ethical lapse.  Mr. Walker is guilty of neither.  The only thing he did was pass legislation that made the liberals mad.

So they sulked and pouted and wanted a redo.

And the good folks of Wisconsin didn’t appreciate that.

Does This Have Implications Nationally

I don’t think so.  I think that Wisconsin remains steadily blue.  The folks there are liberal at heart but simply found that they need a dose of fiscal reality.  The continued spending and taxing of the past finally caught up.  They’ve had enough.

As I’m listening to the news now I am hearing that a large number of folks who voted for Walker will continue to support Obama in the upcoming election in November.  I think the number is 18%.

That’s big.

Wisconsin will roll blue for the President this fall.

Collective Bargaining Changes In Wisconsin

It’s been a while since we checked in on how things are going in Wisconsin since the state passed the law restricting collective bargaining.

Let’s check:

Before the reform, many districts’ annual union contracts required them to buy health insurance from WEA Trust, a nonprofit affiliated with the state’s largest teachers’ union. Once the reform limited collective bargaining to wage negotiations, districts could eliminate that requirement from their contracts and start bidding for health care on the open market. When the Appleton School District put its health-insurance contract up for bid, for instance, WEA Trust suddenly lowered its rates and promised to match any competitor’s price. Appleton will save $3 million during the current school year.

That’s a win.  Before the law the districts had to negotiate with ONE insurance provider.  Now they can shop.  The savings?  $3 million.

At the outset of the public-union standoff, educators had made dire predictions that Walker’s reforms would force schools to fire teachers. In February, to take one example, Madison School District Superintendent Dan Nerad predicted that 289 teachers in his district would be laid off. Walker insisted that his reforms were actually a job-retention program: by accepting small concessions in health and pension benefits, he argued, school districts would be able to spare hundreds of teachers’ jobs. The argument proved sound. So far, Nerad’s district has laid off no teachers at all, a pattern that has held in many of the state’s other large school districts

Because teachers are now required to contribute to some of their health care and retirement, the districts are able to save jobs.  So far 289 in one district alone.  A win.

Another example of saved jobs:

The Wauwatosa School District, which faced a $6.5 million shortfall, anticipated slashing 100 jobs—yet the new pension and health contributions saved them all.

Boom goes the dynamite.

Beyond the cost savings, districts are able to implement policies that encourage better educational outcomes:

 

 

Tea Party Is Me

So, I’m sittin’ here looking at old articles regarding the Tea Party and how racist they are.  Right?

After all, we’ve seen the pictures that show how the Tea Party protests lack a certain…a certain, shall we say, touch of color.

And who can argue?

But what is your reaction when I tell you that those protests weren’t Tea Party protests?  Rather, they were Union protestors opposing Scott Walker.

Racists!

If The Point Of Teachers Unions Was Ever In Doubt

“Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas. It is not because of the merit of our positions. It is not because we care about children and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power.

And we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year because they believe we are the unions that can most effectively represent them.

But they need not and MUST not, be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights and collective bargaining.  That simply is too high a price to pay.”

Yeah….sleep well gentle Unionista.  Knowing full well that your organization is about power. And not educating.

Collective Bargaining and Test Scores

Labor strife continues to captivate the nation as Democrat lawmakers in Wisconsin are hiding out.  Similar actions have taken place in Indiana with their Democrat lawmakers heading to Illinois as well.  Votes are either underway or are being considered in a number of other states.

The movement is afoot.

But is it worth it? Continue reading

Only In a Leftist America

Only if you are a Democrat will you give someone the choice to take the life of a child but deny them the choice of belonging to a Union.

Behold The Unionista

These are teachers.

These are people who teach our children to love learning.  To respect others.  To play nice.

And this is what we get:  From Althouse

Unions!  Fire every single one of these union workers that called in sick to protest!