Allegations of Union Threats in Ohio

[Sigma]

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=42204

Teamster Threatens To Break Cameraman's Neck
by John Hayward (more by this author)
Posted 03/09/2011 ET
Updated 03/09/2011 ET

Yesterday was a lovely day in Columbus, Ohio.  The sun was shining, the breeze was crisp, birds were singing, and union thugs were marching around the state capitol, demanding the “right” to squeeze more platinum benefits out of taxpayers.

His heart swelling with the high spirits of the day, Tea Party activist Andrew Staroska, chief operating officer of The Truth About Bills, decided to bring a camera to the protests and gain understanding of the union perspective through constructive dialogue.  You probably already know where this is going, but stick with me until we get to the embedded video.

According to their mission statement, the folks at The Truth About Bills believe in “smaller government, fiscal responsibility, individual rights, respect for the Constitution, support for the free market, congressional accountability, and shooting people who resist their religious agenda.”  Actually that last one isn’t on their website â€" I think I heard it from an NPR executive.

At any rate, Mr. Staroska is willing to stick his neck out for what he believes… and as you can see below, a union thug was willing to break it.

As you can tell from his jacket, this friendly fellow is a member of the Teamsters.  Staroska did not provoke him in any way.  He just showed up with a camera.  Many other incidents of violence, and violent threats, have been documented during the recent union “resurgence,” along with vicious hate speech.  Union goons have learned that the public grows restless when it sees how they operate.  It’s only important for Republican lawmakers in state capitols to see them, and be intimidated.

Intimidation is the primary tactic of a union.  They can only survive by preventing non-union workers from competing with them and undercutting the elevated cost of their labor.  If they can’t use the compulsive force of government to achieve this legally, they have to take matters into their own hands.  Nothing they have done over the last few weeks is surprising or unpredictable.  No one should be surprise when a group acts according to its nature, using the most effective means it can get away with to accomplish its most vital objectives.

Collective bargaining by public employees is not a “right” â€" using that term is the greatest act of sophistry in modern politics.  It is a privilege, and a fabulously expensive one.  The people in states like Wisconsin and Ohio have voted for representatives who see the financial necessity of restricting this privilege.  Unions can only fight back by intimidating Republican lawmakers, intimidating voters, and commanding their bought-and-paid-for Democrat representatives to short-circuit democracy.  Those are ugly tactics.  It’s not surprising they would threaten to break your neck, if you capture them on video.

[buckethead]

Teabaggers are violent thugs.

[mtraininjax]

NPR will not be the last, for sure.

[BridgeTroll]

Intimidation is the primary tactic of a union.  They can only survive by preventing non-union workers from competing with them and undercutting the elevated cost of their labor.  If they can’t use the compulsive force of government to achieve this legally, they have to take matters into their own hands.  Nothing they have done over the last few weeks is surprising or unpredictable.  No one should be surprise when a group acts according to its nature, using the most effective means it can get away with to accomplish its most vital objectives.

[Sigma]

A History Of Violations

Virtually every U.S. labor union faces allegations of violating labor law. Consider the number of charges filed against these unions between 1998 and 2004:

United Food and Commercial Workers  2,161
Teamsters  6,909
Service Employees International Union  3,910
Steelworkers  1,912

Source: data supplied by the Bureau of National Affairs

"When most people think of violations of labor law, they think first of “Big Business.” But employees, employers, and labor organizations file thousands of charges each year â€" called Unfair Labor Practices â€" alleging violations of labor law by union officials.

The National Labor Relations Board's annual report for fiscal year 2005 included the number of Unfair Labor Practices alleged against employers and unions. Once again, union officials faced a disproportionately high number of allegations of wrongdoing, when compared to employers. The worst part: The vast majority of allegations said that members were the ones hurt by the union officials that are supposed to protect them.


The NLRB reported in 2005 that:
■Unions faced a total of 6,381 allegations

■82% of charges against unions alleged illegal restraint and coercion of employees (by comparison, the leading allegation against employers â€" at 53% â€" was for refusal to bargain)

■594 charges were for illegal union discrimination against employees


The NLRB reported in 2004 that:
■Unions faced a total of 6,917 allegations of wrongdoing

■80% of those charges were filed by individuals

■Unions filed more than 100 charges against other unions

■81% of charges alleged illegal restraint and coercion of employees
More than 600 charges alleged illegal discrimination against employees, an increase of about 6 percent from 2003.

http://www.unionfacts.com/articles/laborPractices.cfm

[Sigma]

But hey, as long as it helps you out in your own little private war against your own class, you keep thinking that.

and what do you call your private little war on the tea party?  other than hypocritical. 

[Pottsburg]

I just love watching all these union thugs not get their way.  Instead of the union leaders making $300,000 a year maybe they will have to settle for 100k.  Lol. Think how much less funding is going to go to the democrats because of this.  Plus with the GOP controling a lot of the states and makin similar changes, it's not a good day to be a Lib!  An to think all because of health care did this tea party thing start.  Obama should have stuck to doing nothing.  I Love It!!!!

[Sigma]

I just love watching all these union thugs not get their way.  Instead of the union leaders making $300,000 a year maybe they will have to settle for 100k.  Lol. Think how much less funding is going to go to the democrats because of this.  Plus with the GOP controling a lot of the states and makin similar changes, it's not a good day to be a Lib!  An to think all because of health care did this tea party thing start.  Obama should have stuck to doing nothing.  I Love It!!!!

That's why I love Obama!  He's the best thing to happen to the conservative movement in this country! 

[BridgeTroll]

Like threatening to take away income and the ability to feed, clothe and provide for someone's family isnt intimidation?

Yes it is Stephen.  Who exactly is doing that?  If anything the Gov is trying to keep more people employed... rather than just the "tenured".

[buckethead]

To be fair to unions, intimidation is not a tactic exclusive to them. (but they do use it when pressed)

The Battle of Blair Mountain should remind us what unions have done for the working class.

Few can doubt the plight of the coal miners. They certainly weren't getting rich by sticking it to the Man.

They fought intimidation and harassment with intimidation and harassment. It escalated, and the result was to enter the annals of history as the only time US aircraft dropped bombs on US citizens.

It's easy to demonize, and sometimes the harsh criticism is called for. IMO it is simply time to roll back the influence of government employee unions. The voters seem to agree.

This too shall pass.

[Pottsburg]

Teabaggers are violent thugs.

Yes you did demoralize very easily.  Unions were some of the best things to happen to america.  But for the last 20+ years they have been reaching way too far.  They have got rich off their members automatic payroll deductions.  Which in turn funds the democrats.  Interesting stat I heard today.  46% of the union members in WI voted for the GOP but 89% of the union political contributions went to the democrats.  Now think, those union workers who didn't vote for the democrats but their money goes to the party they oppose. 

[JeffreyS]

Teabaggers are violent thugs.

Yes you did demoralize very easily.  Unions were some of the best things to happen to america.  But for the last 20+ years they have been reaching way too far.  They have got rich off their members automatic payroll deductions.  Which in turn funds the democrats.  Interesting stat I heard today.  46% of the union members in WI voted for the GOP but 89% of the union political contributions went to the democrats.  Now think, those union workers who didn't vote for the democrats but their money goes to the party they oppose. 

Yes obviously the Union workers hate being Union and Gov Walker to the rescue. I bet they just love that Republican and are so glad they won't be supporting the Democrat.

[buckethead]

Teabaggers are violent thugs.

Yes you did demoralize very easily.  Unions were some of the best things to happen to america.  But for the last 20+ years they have been reaching way too far.  They have got rich off their members automatic payroll deductions.  Which in turn funds the democrats.  Interesting stat I heard today.  46% of the union members in WI voted for the GOP but 89% of the union political contributions went to the democrats.  Now think, those union workers who didn't vote for the democrats but their money goes to the party they oppose. 

Not sure what you mean here.

One may see the two sides for what they are: Humans with a vested interest. Just like you and me.

I have seen union thuggery first hand, and have shared the experience in the past. No need to re-hash.

A) Union members and their imported "supporters" are certainly acting worse than any tebaggers I've seen.

2) Union leaders IMO, are some of the most corrupt people on earth who aren't politicians.

§) The bill has language that would allow the Governors administration to sell a public utility (or other public asset) to his dog for one dollar, and use a public loan to pay the dollar.

In summation: Methinks the wool is being pulled from all directions.

[Sigma]

Meanwhile, back in WI:

The subject line of Katherine R. Windels email read: "Atten: Death Threat!!! Bomb!!!". Here are a few excerpts from the email:

"Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your families will also be killed due to your actions in the last eight weeks."

"This is how it's going to happen: I as well as many others know where you and your family live, it's a matter of public records. We have all planned to assault you by arriving at your house and putting a nice little bullet in your head. However, we decided that we wouldn't leave it there. We also have decided that this may not be enough to send the message to you since you are so 'high' on Koch [brothers] and have decided that you are now going to single handedly make this a dictatorship instead of a democratic process. So we have also built several bombs that we have placed in various locations around the areas in which we know that you frequent. This includes your house, your car, the state capitol, and well I won't you all of them because that's just no fun."

Now I know you probably won't see this reported on many news networks.  It probably would if this idiot could be labled an extreme right-wing terrorist.  But no, she's a teacher. I've been trying to watch and see if even the highly objective Rachel Madcow covers this story.  I must have missed it.

[kells904]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/118910229.html

Members of Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24, have begun circulating letters to businesses in southeast Wisconsin, asking them to support workers’ rights by putting up a sign in their windows.

If businesses fail to comply, the letter says, “Failure to do so will leave us no choice but (to) do a public boycott of your business. And sorry, neutral means 'no' to those who work for the largest employer in the area and are union members."

Jim Parrett, a field representative of Council 24 for Southeast Wisconsin, confirmed the contents of the letter, which carries his signature. But he added that the union was also circulating letters to businesses thanking them for supporting workers’ rights.

Parrett said that since the letters were sent out, he has received threatening phone calls as well as calls from people supporting the state workers.

"I've gotten a lot of threatening phone calls," Parrett said.

Parrett said he believed the letter campaign was going on in other parts of the state. His region includes Racine and Kenosha counties, as well as parts of Waukesha and Walworth counties.