Apparently organized labor has found some violence that it
doesn't like. It's just terrible, these protestors showing
up at congressional town hall meetings opposing nationalized
health insurance.
Complains the AFL-CIO:
The extremist fringe of the anti-health care reform
movement-with a wink and a nod from more mainstream health care
opponents-is using mob rule to disrupt town hall meetings and
community forums set for the congressional recess. Mob rule
tactics stopped the Florida vote count during the contested
2000 presidential elections, ultimately turning the presidency
over to George W. Bush-a strategy now emulated by the
anti-health care reform lobby.
Terrible, just terrible. It's not as if unions every resort
to, oh, shall we say "enhanced" protest techniques. Such as
blatant violence and intimidation.
Patrick Semmens of the National Right to Work Foundation
reports on just one instance:
In Upstate New York non-union workers were targets of
a campaign of violence and intimidation by Operating
Engineers Union Local 17 thugs:
The indictment accuses Local 17 leaders and members of dozens
of threats and instances of vandalism and harassment against
non-union workers and contractors. At times, members of other
unions were also targeted.
Much of the activity took place at major publicly funded
construction projects, including the expansion of Roswell
Park Cancer Institute and renovations at Ralph Wilson
Stadium, Buffalo State College and the Buffalo Sewer
Authority's treatment plant on Bird Island, prosecutors said.
One of the disturbing aspects to the case, in Flynn's view,
is that members of the local repeatedly used the Web site of
the state Department of Motor Vehicles to find out the
addresses of people they intended to harass.
It's nice of the AFL-CIO to be concerned about the democratic
process. Perhaps labor officials should start by
campaigning against violence within their own movement.
About the Author
Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).
