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Boy Scouts with rakes, now blood drives?

Striking members of Teamsters Local 929 yesterday resumed picketing at American Red Cross Penn-Jersey Blood Services, but were under a court injunction not to interfere with blood shipments to hospitals.

The injunction, which permits no more than three picketers at the gate of the facility at 700 Spring Garden St., was obtained by the Red Cross on Thursday after union members went on strike and tried to block trucks, said Red Cross spokesman Anthony Tornetta.

The 110 members pack and store blood, load trucks, deliver blood, and assist at blood drives.

Volunteers and Red Cross employees filled in for some of the striking workers yesterday, and some local blood drives were rescheduled, Tornetta said.

For real.

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Damn scabs!

Allentown Morning Call:

In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.

Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city’s largest municipal union.

Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.

“We’ll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails,” Balzano told the council.

Balzano said Saturday he isn’t targeting Boy Scouts. But given the city’s decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said “there’s to be no volunteers.” No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.

What can I say but UNION YES!

H/T Michelle Malkin

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Well, they gotta pay for their viagra somehow.

A fare increase of that size could mean the cost of a token would go from the current $1.45 to about $1.60, and a weekly Transpass from the current $20.75 to about $22.75.

But nothing’s certain.

“If there is a fare increase, we don’t know how much it will be,” said SEPTA chief press officer Jerri Williams today. She said it would depend on inflation, ridership, the overall economy, and SEPTA’s effort at “fare simplification.”

Williams was quick to say the new contract agreed to today for bus drivers, subway and trolley operators, and mechanics was not to blame for a fare hike.

No not at all.

Because you know, what you pay your employees is completely and utterly disconnected from what you charge your customers… (or bilk from the state)

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I guess they got their Viagra after all.

No word on details.

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For realz.

Yes, it appears that labor issues are not the only dysfunction troubling SEPTA workers. The Daily News reported that some are unhappy that their current health-care plans cover – and here it’s important to use caps for emphasis – ONLY 10 VIAGRA PILLS A MONTH.

Some union members want the pill – again, excuse the shouting – DAILY, which makes you worry that every bus, trolley, and subway route has the potential to turn into an express, particularly during those problematic four-hour peaks in service.

Not safe for work commentary below:

(more…)

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Friends,

I am pleased to inform you that Philadelphia has been selected to host a monthly Center-Right Coalition meeting, following the hugely-successful model of Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). We will be one of the few non-state capital cities to have such a gathering.

The kick-off meeting, which I will be hosting, will be Thursday, November 12 at the Union League in Philadelphia, with Mr. Norquist in attendance. Light refreshments will be served at 7:00 AM, with the program going from 7:30 to 9:00. The Union League is located at 140 S. Broad Street, just two blocks south of City Hall.

In Grover’s words, the objective is “to get everybody who is center-right to tell each other what they are doing, to share technology and tactics, and to tell stories” regarding issues facing Pennsylvania and the nation.

One key function, according to ATR, is to facilitate collaborative activities of coalition members, many of whom may have not previously known one another, and foster the potential for mutual cooperation.

The rules are simple: Anyone who so desires may speak for three minutes on current initiatives, answer questions, and pass the microphone to the next speaker.

The only prohibition is whining. It is a positive meeting, one that will unify southeastern Pennsylvania.

Attendees will typically include influential political, business, policy and grassroots leaders.

If anyone who would like several minutes on the agenda, please let me know.

You are encouraged to bring any literature for distribution.

I hope to see you next Thursday.

For future reference, the monthly meetings will be held on the FIRST THURSDAY of each month at the Union League, with the same time format as above.

Feel free to invite colleagues and associates. All meetings are off the record.

Steadfast,

Christopher Freind
“Freindly Fire”
Audaces fortuna iuvat
610-659-0098
christopherfreind@hotmail.com (E before I in Freind)
CF@FreindlyFireZone.com

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Friend of the ‘cooler and occassional guest poster Susan Staub had a five minute bit on a recent edition of Comcast’s Local Edition. Card Check was on the agenda.

Learn more at PaRightToWork.com

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Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope people are enjoying there days off and are about to soon be at cookouts and Barbeques eating . Good Bye summer 2009! Hello back to the grindstone.

While others are out taking this day off, there are others who are still standing up for the major issues that affect our country, our economy, and therefore, our lifestyles. For example, Susan Staub, President of PA Right to Work does not have the day off today for she is out talking to media and expressing her views on a variety of free market issues the main one being the “Employee Free Choice Act.” Read More

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Enjoy your day off as another summer comes to an end…

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A trusted emailer writes…

My brother in law snuck into a democrat only townhall in Mifflintown PA at the Family House Restaurant [Wednesday]. It was just a fluke encounter. Specter told a woman there that he would be supporting Card Check and her union brother should “be very happy.” My brother in law just called Specter’s office. He is now on record as supporting the legislation.

Somewhat related:

AFL-CIO’s Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka:

“if you stab us in the back on the Employee Free Choice Act and healthcare and a bunch of other things…don’t you dare ask for our support next year or whenever you’re running.”

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CNBC aggregated 40 public data points to score Pennsylvania 33rd most business friendly state, which is down from 23rd last year.

Perhaps most interesting is that PA ranked high on “education” (6th), but dismally low on “workforce” (43rd).

Consider that again: Education ≠ Workforce

Here’s the description for “workforce” (bold added):

Many states point with great pride to the quality and availability of their workers, as well as government-sponsored programs to train them. We rated states based on the education level of their workforce, as well as the numbers of available workers. We also considered union membership. While organized labor contends that a union workforce is a quality workforce, that argument, more often than not, doesn’t resonate with business. We also looked at the relative success of each state’s worker training programs in placing their participants in jobs.

This should come as no surprise to anybody who has been paying attention.  This is all the more troubling considering that the education component of “workforce” actually brought the number up.

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NY Times reports that the card check provisions of EFCA are being stripped out in order to get the bill through the Senate.

Some of the garbage still in the bill — hurry-up elections perhaps as short as five days, binding arbitration, organizer access to the workplace, and the banning of employers from using “captive audience” techniques to dissuade employees from organizing.

Several union leaders interviewed took the senators’ move in stride. One top union official, who insisted on anonymity because lawmakers and labor leaders have agreed not to discuss the status of the bill, said, “Even if card check is jettisoned to political realities, I don’t think people should be despondent over that because labor law reform can take different shapes.”

Yeah, no thanks.

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Tammy Alonso at PA2010 is calling into question the recent poll by Susquehanna Polling and Research indicating that Pennsylvanians aren’t receptive to EFCA/”Card Check”.  Alonso claims the language of the poll is biased, and she throws in some general complaints about the “lies” Republicans are telling about EFCA.

Here are the poll questions, quoted directly from Susquehanna’s release:

Q1:The U.S. Congress is currently debating passage of a new law called the Employee Free Choice Act, otherwise known as “card check” which effectively ends the ability of employees to hold private ballot elections by allowing employees to more easily form a union if union organizers can get a majority of workers to simply sign cards saying they want to unionize. By signing these cards employees’ signatures would then be made public. Generally speaking, have you recently seen, read or heard anything about this issue?

Q2. Again, this legislation effectively ends the ability of employees to hold private ballot elections by allowing employees to more easily form a union if union organizers can get a majority of workers to simply sign cards saying they want to unionize. By signing these cards employees’ signatures would then be made public. Generally speaking, do you favor or oppose passage of this Employee Free Choice Act or “card check” legislation?

Q3. As you may or may not know, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter recently stated publicly that he is opposed to this bill because it violates the long-standing tradition of the private ballot and will lead to more job losses in this recession due to the additional burden on employers. Do you agree or disagree with his position?

Alonso:

Every one of the three questions posed about EFCA, or “card check” as the poll referred to it, expressly repeats, and indeed begins with, the often-claimed GOP lie that EFCA takes away employees’ right to a secret ballot.

Firstly, that’s not a lie.  Pro-union groups love to cite a March 20th Wall Street Journal editorial that “admits” EFCA doesn’t take away the secret ballot.  These folks usually neglect to give the entire WSJ quote: “The bill doesn’t remove the secret-ballot option from the National Labor Relations Act but in practice makes it a dead letter.”  (That Journal piece, by the way, is entitled “Unionize or Die”.)

Dead letter.  If organizer’s can’t get 50% plus one of the workforce to sign authorization cards with union people looking over their shoulders and without management running defense, what do you think the likelihood is that they’d prevail in a secret ballot election?  (That would be about zilch, for those of you paying attention.)  Thus, elections won’t be taking place — either the organizers will get the signatures or they won’t.  If elections don’t take place after EFCA is implemented, wouldn’t it be fair to say EFCA does away with elections?

And EFCA doesn’t really give workers the choice between an election or “card check”.  There’s no option on the authorization card for “I think we should have an election, but I’d rather not just blindly affirm the union right now”.  The employee can’t say “I want an election”, only “I authorize.”

To the point of the poll’s allegedly biased language, (1) there’s nothing false in any of those questions, (2) the legislation is referred to as the Employee Free Choice Act and as “card check” in each instance, and (3) the question contains not only the opposing language of taking away the secret ballot, but also uses the affirming language of “allowing employees to more easily form a union”.

Alonso:

Seriously, if EFCA truly did take away workers’ rights, do you really think organizations representing working people would be wholeheartedly supporting it? Come on!

Undoubtedly businesses are motivated by money – that’s sort of the idea. Why’s it so hard to believe that unions are also motivated by money? Unions get a direct benefit of increased membership and associated mandatory dues, allowing them to further expand their influence.  Alonso makes the frequent mistake of confusing the interests of unions and union organizers with the interests of the workers they purport to represent.

WSJ:

What labor activists are unwilling to acknowledge is that membership might be falling because workers are less interested in joining unions. Some employees may view labor unions as corrupt or overly politicized, and not without justification. (See Teamsters, Justice Department control of.) Others may be scared off by the precarious condition of heavily unionized industries such as autos and airlines. And many workers might plausibly conclude that one-size-fits-all labor contracts hold back the best and brightest in our modern economy.

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(1) DiFi comes out against card check. (!!)

“She will not vote for the bill, and she will not support any modification allowing the process to bypass secret ballots, and she believes that now is not the right time for this type of legislation given the downturn in the economy,” said John Shaffery, a local lawyer and vice president for the SCV Chamber Board of Directors, who was in the meeting.

(2) Newsweek continues its spiral into oblivion, bringing on its first ever guest editor… Stephen Colbert.

What could go wrong!

(3) Check out the latest Klavan on the Culture video, where Andrew Klavan addresses new college grads on why Republicans are so mean.

“The answers lie in a book you’ve never read, called ‘Democracy in America’ by Alexis de Tocqueville.  To put this in terms you can understand, Alexis de Tocqueville was some French guy who lived way back in history days before Lara Croft’s breasts jiggled when you jumped her up and down in Tomb Raider.”

(4) Shovel this!  The federal highway fund is broke.  Wasn’t the Obama stimulus supposed to fund infrastructure?  Thanks for blowing that $787 billion, Arlen.

(5) Despite a possible resolution to give cover from the PMA probe, Murtha’s festering ethical issues and Democratic primary challenger make me think he might not be around by November of 2010.

Folks in the 12th district need to look hard at the Republican primary (Burns, Russell), and consider that McCain narrowly won the 12th district.

Color me an optimist, but this one could be a real pick-up for the R’s.

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Editor’s Note: Susan Staub is President of Pennsylvanians for Right to Work, Inc.
You can email her at SStaub@PARightToWork.org, or visit http://www.PARightToWork.org, or link up on Facebook.

Guest Post is a occasional feature at the watercooler… if you’d like to post a piece please email it to me, and I will put post it. Same rules apply as to the cooler contributors. You have to be a real person, no screen names… and it’s got to be watercooler topical. – Ed

In this sluggish, lack-luster economy, the time could not be more right for a Right to Work law for Pennsylvania!

Consider these statistics from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research:

• Private sector jobs in the 22 Right to Work states increased by an aggregate 9.1% between 2003 and 2008.
• Among the eight states with the biggest gain in private-sector employment over the past five years, seven – Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, and North Dakota – have Right to Work laws.
• Seven states had private-sector job growth of less than 2%. All seven – Indiana, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont – are forced-dues states like Pennsylvania, which had 3.82% job growth.
• If private-sector employment in forced-unionism states had grown from 2003-2008 as much as it did in Right to Work states (9.1%), there would be an additional 3.7 million Americans employed in the private sector today!
• Right to Work law protect the freedom of both private and public sector employees to keep and hold a job without handing over dues or fees to a union recognized as their exclusive bargaining agent.
• Almost ever economic indicator shows that forced union dues inhibit job growth.

Please join with Pennsylvanians for Right to Work now as we work to advance Right to Work law legislation in both the Pennsylvania Senate and Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Senator Mary Jo White (R-21) and Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-12) are both circulating for co-sponsors for their respective Right to Work Law legislation.

The list of current co-sponsors is published here. If your state senator and/or representative is not a co-sponsor, please contact them and urge them to be a co-sponsor. If they are a co-sponsor, please thank them for being a true statesman – for standing up for the liberty and individual rights of Pennsylvania’s citizens. You can find your state legislator’s contact information here, as well as finding out who your state senator and representative are if you do not have that information.

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Holman Jenkins has a great analysis on the American auto industry in yesterday’s WSJ:

The two parties that turned the Big Three into a perennially limping freak of unwritten industrial policy now will take formal ownership of their handiwork. The United Auto Workers (UAW) would own 39% of GM. The federal government would own 50%. The creditors will be shafted with just 10%. (In the Chrysler plan being discussed, labor would own 55%, making it effectively a subsidiary of the UAW.)

The day after any such settlement is finalized, the clock will start ticking down to the next collective-bargaining session between a monopoly UAW and what remains of the Big Three — though now the UAW would be sitting on both sides of the table.

Nearly 25 years ago, a Los Angeles Times reporter innocently and accurately invoked the “M” word in describing the domestic auto sector, noting that the arrival of Japanese auto plants was “threatening the UAW’s traditional monopoly on labor in the domestic auto industry.”

The erosion of the Big Three’s market share since then has really been the erosion of the market for monopoly labor-produced cars. The UAW standard tactic, “pattern bargaining,” which it pursues without embarrassment, would have gotten Bill Gates thrown in jail under the antitrust laws.

“Poor management”? Feh! It’s all part of the government’s grand scheme to demonize private industry. If there is a more perfect real life scene from “Atlas Shrugged”, I don’t know what it is.

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In today’s WSJ Political Diary (subscribers only), John Fund analyzes Specter’s very limited options regarding another run for the Senate:

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has threaded political needles before, but that’s nothing like the dilemma he faces over the “card check” bill that would water down requirements that labor organizers hold secret ballot elections to certify union representation of workplaces.

On one side, conservatives are expecting Mr. Specter to redeem himself for his signature role in getting President Obama’s stimulus package passed in the Senate. The five-term senator faces another rough primary against Club For Growth President Pat Toomey, who almost beat him in 2004. On the other side, Pennsylvania union leaders are promising Mr. Specter that if he backs card check, they will convince union members to join the GOP to save him from a primary defeat.

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President William M. George told the Washington Times he is “pushing hard to help [Mr. Specter] in the primary, including changing Democrats to Republicans.”

But Mr. George also warned what the consequences would be if Mr. Specter reverses his earlier support for card check. “If he votes against us,” Mr. George said, “we will rise the intensity, possibly with another candidate and possibly another moderate in the Republican Party.”

In the end, political handicappers believe Mr. Specter will try once again to split the difference on a controversial issue, reminiscent of his famous invocation of “Scottish law” in voting “present” on the issue of convicting President Bill Clinton in his 1999 impeachment trial. One way would be to oppose the most extreme version of the card check bill that would effectively end secret ballot elections while supporting a more modest compromise.

As for the challenge he faces from Mr. Toomey in next year’s GOP primary, Mr. Specter always has the option of following the example of Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman and becoming an independent. “If he dropped out of the GOP primary, he would have maximum flexibility on card check, avoid the possibility of a primary loss and could squeak through in the general election with as little as 35% of the vote,” says a longtime Specter friend.

Whatever Mr. Specter decides, you can bet he will be the object of intense political courting in a Senate where Democrats are always only a vote or two away from achieving the 60 votes needed to cut off filibusters and enact controversial bills.

Actually, there are few places that are worse for conservatives than between enacting a liberal bill and Specter’s senate ambitions.

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If you care about the Check Card legislation, you probably will want to follow PA Right to Work on Twitter.  I’m sure they will have some great info in the coming days and weeks.

You can find them here:

http://twitter.com/parighttowork

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Inquirer’ Bailout Talks Raise More Questions
Publisher, Governor Make Conflicting Statements
By Chris Freind, The Bulletin

The Bulletin and other media outlets have recently disclosed ongoing discussions between Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, D, and Philadelphia Media Holdings (PMH) Publisher and CEO Brian Tierney. A possible taxpayer bailout of the struggling media company stands at the heart of the issue.

PMH bought the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News in 2006 for $562 million, and approximately $400 million remains in debt. The company is in default because it has not made a payment on its loan since June of last year.

There has been significant public opposition to a media entity seeking financial support from the government, including a Wall Street Journal editorial labeling it “the worst bailout idea so far.” 

Despite this, the governor’s press secretary, Chuck Ardo, stated earlier this week that Mr. Rendell is still open to continuing the bailout discussions.

Complicating the matter are contradictory statements made by Mr. Ardo and Mr. Tierney. 

According to a story on KYW News Radio, Mr. Ardo said there were discussions about state agencies renting space in the newspapers’ building.

Additionally, Mr. Ardo stated that some bailout conversations involved two of Pennsylvania’s large state pension boards, the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) and the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS).

“I don’t know the specifics of the conversations, but the governor did suggest that Mr. Tierney speak with the pension boards to see what kind of arrangements could be worked out,” Mr. Ardo was quoted as saying on KYW.

Mr. Tierney made a contradictory statement, according to the news radio website, by claiming that discussions did not involve the use of pension fund dollars to buy any of the papers’ debt. 

Yet according to a Jan. 31 article in the Inquirer, “Gov. Rendell said he arranged a recent meeting between the publisher of The Inquirer and Daily News and the two largest state employee pension funds in hopes of helping the newspaper company lessen its large debt burden.”

The article elaborated on the bailout discussion timeline, stating that Mr. Tierney “…said that he first sought Rendell’s help about a year and a half ago. He wanted to see if there were any state agencies interested in moving into The Inquirer and Daily News Building.”

Mr. Tierney then approached the governor “to determine what, if any, economic-development funds were available from the state. As a result of those discussions, Rendell set up a meeting last autumn between the publisher and the pension funds.”

A spokeswoman for PSERS told The Bulletin that the pension board did not invest in companies such as Philadelphia Media Holdings, and was unaware of a leasing arrangement of PMH office space.

State Rep. Robert Godshall, R, Montgomery, who serves as a Board Member of SERS, told The Bulletin he too was not aware of any investment in PMH.

The Inquirer declined to comment, while calls from Ardo were not returned as of press time.

Chris Freind can be reached at cf@thebulletin.us

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The controversial East Penn teacher’s “contract” has come back!  – see posts below.  And even if you are not in the school district, please read on.  I guarantee similar games and irresponsible actions are happening all over the Commonwealth.

This “contract” was approved with little to no public notice and debate.  (Legal, yet not a very open government action for taxpayers.)

This “contract” was approved eight (8) months before the old one expired.  (The economic world might/probably will be vastly different then.  In fact, many are predicting an inflation rate of 1% or less for 2009.  So why approve an almost 5% increase in salary?)

This “contract” now sets the ‘bar’ for all other school districts in the area.  (The PSEA uses the same tactics the UAW has used.  Negotiate a great deal with one auto company/school district.  Then the union runs to the other companies/school districts and declares, “See what these workers make?  You have to match it to be fair – and to remain competitive.”)

But the ultimate problem is that the “contract” that was approved was one piece of paper with some figures on it.  An actual contract was not written nor reviewed.  In fact, it is still – two months later – not available to the public or school board members.  (Click on the link below to see the actual “contract” that was approved.  This might be “legal” but approving a contract that has not been written yet doesn’t seem like a smart or wise thing to do.  Acting in an unwise manner is rarely “illegal”.)

From: East Penn Supports Ghost Contract

“…Such is politics in modern America. Such is political decision making. Such explains the problems we face at all levels of government. Which explains why so many things are screwed up in our country.

East Penn’s teacher contract was not due for renewal until May/June of next year. Yet, the School Board rushed through an approval based on the above document.

At the October 13th meeting, the “contract” was presented for approval…

At the next meeting on the 27th, School Director Stolz asked for a copy of the new teacher contract and was told that ‘it would not be ready for a month.’ Stolz asked how a contract could be approved without a written copy for review. Board President Francee Fuller stated ‘it takes some time to process the paperwork.’

Two weeks later, School Director Stolz introduced a motion to clarify the issue. It required a final approval vote AFTER a complete, written contract was provided for a period of two weeks to review.

Apparently, all the fiscal conservatives got all tongue-tied because there was no second. The lack of a common sense second killed the motion…”

To see the “contract” and to Read more…

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