Forced Union Membership
Most people are shocked to learn that, in many cases, a union can not only force you into their club, but also forcibly extract a portion of your wages for the privilege of "joining." -Matt Patterson
And where are the Democrats? Where are the liberals fighting for Silvia’s “right to choose?” Nowhere to be found, of course: Organized labor has become little more than a slush fund for the Democrat Party, funneling billions in dues (often plucked from members’ pockets without their consent) to left–wing politicians, who then bray on about being “pro-choice.” 
"An employee who is forced to pay unfair share dues is being forced to fund political activity with which they disagree. That is a clear violation of First Amendment rights — and something that, as governor, I am duty bound to correct." -Bruce Rauner, Governor of Illinois
Liberals are all about a woman’s “right to choose.” In fact, “choice” is fairly a fetish among left-wing pols and activists, who often go out of their way to portray themselves as “pro-choice.” Except when it comes to a woman’s right to choose, say, whether or not she wants to belong to a union. -Matt Patterson
Liberal, Union, Government, Financial, Law, Regulation, Jobs, Theft
In a lawsuit filed Monday, three state employees in Illinois challenged a law which forces them to pay union dues even when they aren’t in a union. “Illinois law forces most employees of state government to pay money to a union as a condition of keeping their job,” Diana Rickert, the director of media relations for the Illinois Policy Institute, noted in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation. In many states workers who decide not to be in a union still have to pay a fee.
Incitement, Union, Greed
The Kansas chapter of the United Auto Workers union is using its website to draw attention to GM workers who choose not to pay union dues. UAW Local 31 dedicates an entire page of its website to listing the names and work stations of employees who have opted to exercise their rights not to be in the union. UAW Local 31 lists nearly 30 workers at the Fairfax, Kansas GM plant who are not in the union. The “Scab List” is published under the union website’s “Important Information” section.
Hate, Union, Financial, Threats, Smears
Teachers who left labor unions connected with their jobs said on Tuesday that they felt “bullied” for their opposition to compulsory membership and payment of dues that funded political activities... “On every occasion we were answered with hateful tones – rhetoric that made it very clear to everyone in the room that if you did not stand with union politics you were a bigot,” Friedrichs said. “And on every occasion, the entire room fell silent because of the extreme intimidation of the higher union officials.
Hypocrisy, Union, Financial, Greed
Susie Watts has paid Service Employees International Union (SEIU) more than $5,000 over the past eight years for representation she never asked for and does not need. The union withdraws more than $60 each month from the stipend that Watts’ physically disabled daughter, Libby, receives to help cover the cost of home care. “They’re profiting from the disabled,” Watts, 57, said. “They are taking money that my daughter is entitled to and repurposing it. We’re paying $700 [per year] for collective bargaining that we don’t want to be a part of.”
No, when it comes to organized labor, unions want to force you to join. And Democrats have been helping them do that for the better part of 100 years, staring with the passage of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in 1935. -Matt Patterson
Democrat, Liberal, Union, Financial
Ten California schoolteachers on Tuesday sued the National Education Association and California Teachers Association to escape mandatory union fees in a case that piggybacks on a 2012 Supreme Court ruling against forced union dues. The teachers, represented by the Los Angeles-based Center for Individual Rights, claim that California's so-called "agency shop" law violates their free speech and free assembly rights and forces them to cough up $1,000 to pay for the union's mostly Democratic political activities.
The union says 400 workers were left without a contract when LAX contractor Aviation Safeguards (AVSG) broke its agreement with the airport earlier this year. However, 52 percent of union workers voted to switch to Aviation Safeguard from SEIU nearly a year ago for what they say are better benefits. “As far as the union, they keep intimidating us. They keep pushing us to go with them, but we are not part of them. We don’t want to do anything with them,” worker Martin Storm told CBS2’s Kara Finnstrom. “We are actually getting paid a lot better, and I have better health insurance than I did with the union.”
Democrat, Liberal, Union, Obama, Degeneracy, Fascism
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that if President Barack Obama wins a second term, Americans should expect to see "card check" legislation "within the next term." Trumka, whose unions are sending nearly 2,000 poll monitors to battleground states, told The Atlantic that Big Labor will demand the Obama administration pass legislation that would effectively end secret ballot elections to form unions. When The Atlantic asked Trumka if he has given up on card check, Trumka said it was still the unions' top priority after 2012 if Obama wins, and they will never give up on it. "You'll see it," Trumka said. "That's within the next term."
Democrat, Liberal, Union, Character, Brilliance, Fascism, Energy, Greed, Metaphor, Corruption, Regulation
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, cited in news reports for halting nonunion repair crews from helping to restore power in superstorm Sandy's New Jersey-New York path, is one of nation's top union donors to Democrats, a group President Obama last year praised in a visit to an IBEW training Center.
Under a law passed under Governor Rod Blagojevich, parents who receive any stipend for caring for their children are considered state employees and are thus required to pay dues to SEIU, even if they don’t join the organization.
Union, Oops, Drugs
Last week, the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) filed a complaint against a local union for illegally refusing to honor a worker's right to refrain from full-dues-paying union membership. With free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center pharmacist Jeffrey Lum of Cupertino filed a state charge in June against Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521 for illegally forcing him into full union dues payments.
Democrat, Liberal, Union, Oops
Already, there are signs Walker has succeeded in crippling Wisconsin's unions, whose membership has sharply declined since his reforms made it easier for workers to opt out and harder for the groups to gain recognition. In just over a year, the union representing state workers has seen its membership drop by two-thirds, while the American Federation of Teachers has lost more than a third of the 17,000 members it formerly claimed in Wisconsin, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Liberal, Union, Character
FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) - "This is like a bad divorce. We want a divorce and the SEIU doesn't want us to divorce," Kandy Gonzalez, a Job Specialist with the Department of Social Services, said. Gonzalez doesn't expect the SEIU to let her or about 1,000 workers in the Department of Social Services leave the union without a fight. "They're going to invest whatever money they're going to invest to keep us in this marriage. And what's sad is they're probably going to be using our money to fight us. They'll be using our dues to fight us," Gonzalez said. But after a nine-percent pay cut and union-organized 'walk-off the job' in January, Kandy says they've had enough.
Liberal, Union
Ohio voters who sided with unions in a battle over collective bargaining rights last November have now turned against them over right-to-work legislation, a poll published Tuesday showed. The Quinnipiac University survey showed a 14 percentage point margin in favor of a ban on forcing workers to join a union in the famously blue-collar state.
Organized labor has become little more than a slush fund for the Democrat Party, funneling billions in dues (often plucked from members’ pockets without their consent) to left–wing politicians, who then bray on about being “pro-choice.” -Matt Patterson
Liberal, Union, Fascism
For one Michigan educator, the annual costs of “non-membership” in the local, state and national teacher unions total $544.28. But Andrew Buikema, 10-year teacher with Grant Public Schools, is willing to pay the price, just for the privilege of being seen as a true professional, instead of a union worker. Michigan is not a “right to work” state, which means Buikema’s job is still affected by the district’s contract with the local teachers union, the Grant Education Association. The GEA is affiliated with the Michigan Education Association and the National Education Association.
Liberal, Union
The Olympian reports today on Washington Department of Labor and Industries employee Stephen Sergi, who has refused to join the union representing his workplace colleagues, and who may be fired as a resut. He is not the only state employee resisting mandatory union membership.
Liberal, Union, Fascism, Greed
Now, Gov. David A. Paterson has given the state’s public-employee unions their long-desired victory. On Wednesday, his office announced that he had signed a law making union dues mandatory in perpetuity for all public employees who are covered by unions even if they opt not to join.
Union, Fascism, Greed
Every two years, a state law that required public employees to pay their unions’ dues regardless of whether they joined would near expiration. And every two years, the Legislature would renew the law. For more than three decades, unions pushed to make it permanent... Now, Gov. David A. Paterson has given the state’s public-employee unions their long-desired victory. On Wednesday, his office announced that he had signed a law making union dues mandatory in perpetuity for all public employees who are covered by unions even if they opt not to join.
Liberal, Union, Fascism, Greed
SEIU represents the hospital’s service workers. A portion of the hospital’s 550 service employees — technicians, laborers, housekeepers — are currently on a three-day strike, demanding that management allow them to make union membership and dues-paying compulsory.
Editorial, Union, Fascism, Greed
When she was hired here, she was surprised when she received her first paycheck to find a deduction for union dues. She asked her district what it was all about since she wasn't planning to be a member and then was informed that in Oregon she had to pay dues. "I was incensed," she said.
Liberal, Union, Fascism, Greed
The National Right to Work Foundation launched an attack on the use of compulsory union fees for political activities on two fronts Tuesday, filing separate class action suits in federal court in Sacramento and San Francisco... Both suits challenge the unions' right to take union fees from nonmembers, alleging it violates the First Amendment by forcing employees to pay for the union's political activities. They also say employees have not been given the required information and audits detailing how the fees are spent.