The Spectacle Blog
My friend Kathy Hoekstra at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan has a great report about how unions, who are losing members in droves, are creating labor disputes out of thin air and engaging in new pressure tactics (they are always coming up with new pressure tactics) like “bannering.”
Not to mention the lies…
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More Blog Posts by Paul Chesser
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/02/02/union-desperation-in-michigan
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Clip of the Day
H/T to National Review Online
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ggoblue| 2.2.11 @ 2:17PM
that union backed the republican for gov last november and in 2 of the last 3 governors races. just sayin.
David W| 2.2.11 @ 2:23PM
If you can't convince people of the merits of your service (union) then threaten them with illegal "pickets" (yeah, I know, apparently some judge was bought off who ruled that what they are doing (lying) was okay). Communism at its best.
Deborah D | 2.2.11 @ 3:24PM
Sleezeball tactics. ACORN-type tactics. Community organizer tactics. Welcome to the world of Obama.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 2.2.11 @ 6:31PM
At some point long ago, the Unions were the good guys, but the times have changed as so have the Unions, and now they're looked at as being the bad guys (and with good reason too). They don't see the writing on the wall, or the change in attitude against them, therefore they don't know it's time to change, and therefore they won't, and they'll be sidelined and left behind as time goes by (but they certainly won't go quietly). And this is coming from a former CWA-1101 strike Veteran (1989 & 2000), and if I've changed my mind about them, that doesn't bode well for them in general. I almost feel bad for the Unions, because I thought they were a good thing for the workers at one point, but I don't think that anymore, they're a weight that drags down their particular industry, which in turn pulls down on our economy too. Their day has passed, put a stake in them!!
Cris| 2.2.11 @ 9:00PM
A few hard facts might have helped make this video more enlightening.
Such as:
1. The actual hourly wage paid by the affected companies.
2. Prevailing wage in the various areas of Michigan.
3. Do those companies employ E-verified workers?
4. Does the carpenters local allow illegals to be members?
Or, is this just a spat between two different kinds of exploiters?
sinanju| 3.7.11 @ 7:17PM
Cris, I'd say that the inability of the picket crew head thug to list the sins of Ritsma and the refusal of the union to talk to the TV station should be enlightenment aplenty.
sinanju| 3.7.11 @ 7:22PM
Cris, check out Abnjm's link. The MI Carpenter's Union hired bums from a mission that Ritsema happened to contribute to. It's a whole hell of a lot cheaper to hire the homeless to do your picketing and "bannering" than to pay union members their prevailing wage.
PJSolarz | 2.3.11 @ 6:49PM
Can you say "Right-to-Work State"?
Abnjm| 2.19.11 @ 7:56AM
Interesting story on some of the "protesters": http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/14563