Employees Revolt Against Forced Unionism
Emboldened by President Obama and his recent recess appointments to the Rogue NLRB the SEIU appears to be stepping up its patented Persuasion of Power. The SEIU’s “persuasion of power” is projected through its notorious Corporate Campaigns is vividly chronicled in my new book, The Devil at Our Doorstep. In simple terms, the SEIU’s corporate campaigns are designed to intimidate employees and employers into forced unionism. The end goal is to force the employer to sign a Neutrality Agreement, which substitutes Card Check for the secret ballot election. The SEIU then uses intimidation tactics to force a bare majority of employees to sign a union card. No election is held, and there is no chance for the employees to hear both sides of the story. There is no protection for employees from union thugs. Theneutrality agreement requires the employer to provide with a list of all its employees and their home addresses. Sound like an unfair playing field for both employees and employers? It is. However, hope springs eternal as it appears employees across the country are waking up to the union thuggery.
As previously discussed in SEIU Exposed, SEIU members in California, identified as “Occupy SEIU,” are fed up with the SEIU’s intimidation and heavy handed tactics as well as its misuse of members’ dues for political purposes. In fact, the major player “Mariam the Mighty” and her large group of supporters will have their day in court on May 4, 2012, in an attempt to gain access to and expose SEIU’s finances and misuse of members’ dues for political purposes. This group’s ultimate goal is to use a non-germane campaign to force the SEIU to stop using employee dues for anything not directly benefitting the member and ultimately decertifying the SEIU later this year. This past week, Mariam rallied her troops in a demonstration in California’s Capitol, Sacramento, to protest against SEIU abuses.
This past week, on the opposite coast in Lynn, Massachusetts, employees of Complete Cleaning Inc. also struck back against the SEIU and its abusive practices. Faced with the card check scenario after their employer capitulated and signed a neutrality agreement, employees of Complete Cleaning refused to be intimidated into forced unionism. In fact, one brave employee, Jairo Hernandez, decided that enough was enough and with the assistance of Mark Mix from the National Right to Work Committee filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) with the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB) alleging that SEIU organizers have attempted to coerce Complete Cleaning employees to organize (see Lynn Cleaning Co. Worker Files Charge Against Labor Union).
Bravo to the employees of Complete Cleaning who have stood up and refused to allow their freedom of choice to be usurped by the SEIU’s intimidation tactics! Tactics such as those chronicled in The Devil at Our Doorstep, have been further exposed by Complete Cleanings’ employees and include:
1.) Showing up at employees homes in an attempt to force them to sign union cards.
2.) Telling employees if they did not sign the card they would lose their job.
3.) Not allowing a secret ballot election.
4.) SEIU filed federal charges against Complete Cleaning in an attempt to force it to negotiate a contract.
5.) SEIU Local 615 claims monopoly bargaining privileges despite the fact the employees nearly unanimously opposed the union.
Although it appears this persuasion of power may eventually prove to be the demise of SEIU, at this point in time, that is not the case. Despite the fact that neither the employees nor the employer had an interest in what the SEIU was peddling, it has continued its assault on Complete Cleaning and their employees, even though the SEIU could not meet the terms of its own agreement by convincing a bare majority (50% +1) of employees to sign union cards. The SEIU is blatantly determined to prosecute this campaign with impunity because they have to rely on forced unionism to avoid extinction. More importantly, these unions understand that with President Obama and his NLRB recess appointments, they have little fear of losing this battle.
These tactics, supported by President Obama, are a blatant attempt to suppress American’s freedom of choice and as a direct result of this power grab, we are witnessing Right to Work (RTW) gain momentum across America. Ironically, in Indiana, which passed RTW earlier this year, the IUOE is contending that it cannot get the word out if it cannot “force” employees to be part of a union. This is the typical “do as I say, not as I do” mentality of Big Labor, who has no trouble trampling over the freedoms of others to achieve their goals, all of this to ensure their survival and ultimate power!
President Obama, who understands the basic tenant of Control Business, Control the Country, is fully behind the push to provide unions with ultimate power over employees and businesses, which in turn are providing him with support in his re-election campaign. It is time for America to wake up and understand this President abhors the free market system and is determined to destroy it, utilizing the SEIU’s influence and Communism at the Highest Levels. November is the tipping point for America. If President Obama is not defeated, we will see massive corporate campaigns across the country that will handcuff businesses and employees, while providing President Obama the totalitarian Rule by Fiat he desperately seeks.
About the author: David A. Bego is the President and CEO of EMS, an industry leader in the field of environmental workplace maintenance, employing nearly 5000 workers in thirty-three states. Bego is the author of “The Devil at My Doorstep,” as well as the just released sequel, “The Devil at Our Doorstep,” based on his experiences fighting back against one of the most powerful unions in existence today.