Right-to-work measure gaining business support, group says

Posted by jacka on April 22, 2008 at 12:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

RTW is Right for Colorado. Here is another example why (edited down to fit 3k word max).

SEIU Claims Right of 'Free Speech' to Stalk, Harass, and Threaten Nurses Association

OAKLAND, Calif., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys for the Service Employees International Union claimed in an Alameda County courthouse today that their stalking, harassment, and other acts of intimidation against officers, directors and staff of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee is nothing more than "free speech."

In testimony to the court, SEIU attorneys portrayed the systematic campaign conducted by SEIU under the direction of its President Andy Stern as "protected" free speech -- dismissing the serious concerns voiced by numerous CNA/NNOC leaders who have been subjected to the targeting, threats, and intimidation.

CNA/NNOC attorney Pam Allen noted that free speech is very different than the actions employed by SEIU bands who have gone to the nursing stations of CNA/NNOC leaders looking for them and demanding home addresses and phone numbers, following them in cars, pounding on their doors, pointing video cameras in their faces, screaming at them, and refusing to leave until being told the police were on the way.

Margie Keenan, RN, a CNA/NNOC Board member described one such visit to her home and a visit by SEIU to the nursing floor in the Long Beach hospital where she works.

At her home "they began yelling loudly, demanding that I come and speak with them in a very aggressive, boisterous manner. I became very scared, as they continued yelling and pounding on my door, so I dialed 911 and asked the operator to dispatch police as soon as possible. While I was waiting for the police to arrive, I climbed the stairs to the second floor of my house and went quietly to a balcony to wait for the police. By the time the police came, the intruders were gone.

"I was very frightened by the approach at my home because it was extremely aggressive and hostile, and I live alone. Shortly after they left my house, I received a telephone call on my home phone and the caller asked for me by name. I recognized the voice as one of the intruders and immediately hung up the phone." She later learned of the visit to her nursing floor.

"I felt very unsettled and frightened by these events, so much so that I did not feel able to report to work (the following two days) which were my next scheduled days of work. I called in sick both of those days and learned over the weekend of a number of events that have only increased my fear and concern for my personal safety," Keenan declared

SEIU attorneys today also challenged the restraining order on the basis of a state law exemption of labor disputes from state court intervention. "It's deplorable that SEIU would hide behind important labor law protections to justify their disgraceful attacks against registered nurses," Markowitz said.

SOURCE California Nurses Association

Posted by jacka on April 22, 2008 at 1:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hey union skulls,

If Sweeney, Stern, Gov, Mayor & labor loving South Metro Chamber of Communists can't get Colorado’s Right-to-Work off the ballot via the usual scare tactics, then you should stop paying your dues and quit the union.

Oh yeah, you’d lose your job under Colorado’s current law. Some freedom there, huh?

UFCW = United For Communist Ways

Posted by roger44 on April 22, 2008 at 3:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Of course business will back it, keep the wages down.

Posted by SASQUATCH on April 22, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

LET'S KEEP THE "DETROIT SOLUTION" IN MICHIGAN!

U.A.W. == U Ain't Workin'

Posted by polyglot on April 22, 2008 at 9:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Can someone help me with some research? I am struggling to find out how many jobs Unions have created. All I seem to find are stats on individuals risking their money to start a company creating jobs - nothing about unions, wonder why that is......

Posted by jbowen43 on April 22, 2008 at 10:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Business would back a return to importing slaves if they could get away with it. In point of fact some have gotten away with slavery for years under the Bush Administration. Apparently many don't know enough history to realize that it was the rise of the unions and the G I Bill of Rights that created the prosperity of the fifties and the sixties. The middle class started disappearing when the government under Reagan implemented union busting as national policy.

Posted by oneworker on April 22, 2008 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The premise of employer groups opposing unions is simple: Unions make it harder for employers to push workers around. The less effective the union the more power the employer has. The natural instinct of every employer is to reduce costs. If the price of the commodities it deals in cannot be reduced, human costs, wages and working conditions will be sacrificed. If that were not true why would employers spend money to keep unions out of work places? They cannot be members so they cannot be made to pay dues or anything else. In fact, since they cannot be members why should any employer have a say in what his employees chose to do? Even more to the point why should some other business or the state have anything to say about whether there is a labor agreement? Finally, why should some organization from outside the state have a say in whether Colorado companies agree to union contracts with their workers? It is about money for employers, not workers.