A California law that enforced the Orwellian principle of “union neutrality,” which in effect denied employers the right of free speech to counter union organizing efforts, has been struck down in a 7 to 2 decision by the U. S. Supreme Court. The law (it’s amazing that such a law could even have been passed!) limited what employers could say in the workplace about ongoing union organizing efforts.
The case was brought to the Supreme Cout by the U S Chamber of Commerce, and the Court rightly ruled that the law limits employer free speech and so runs afoul of the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right of free speech.
Justice John Paul Stevens, whom many consider to be a friend of organized labor, nevertheless wrote for the majority that employers have the right to engage in a “free debate on issues dividing labor and management.” He further stated that Congress had expressly wanted such free speech to be intact when it passed the National Labor Relations Act.
Organized labor has long lobbied state legislatures to pass laws that would prevent employers from being able to voice their disagreements with unions during organizing campaigns. The Supreme Court’s thoughtful and constitutionally correct opinion preserves an American tradition of free speech that is an essential and fundamental aspect of our Constitution.
Corporate America, workers, and consumers all benefit when the free expression of ideas in the marketplace is permitted to thrive. And employees should have every right to receive information from their employers.
The Service Employees International Union, one of the most aggressive organizers in the country, now wants to organize workers who feed kids their school lunches. The SEIU has targeted workers in 2,000 suburban communities.
The benefit to students and their parents will be higher fees for lunch and increased property taxes to pay for higher wages and benefits.
The SEIU is aiming its organizing campaign at the workers of the Philadelphia-based Aramark, which has 182,000 employees and is one of largest of several companies that provide school lunches. Other companies include Sodexho, Compass Group, and Arbor Management, the last of which has already been targeted by SEIU organizers.
Like most companies that provide school lunch services, Aramark pays competitive wages and provides health care to employees who work more than 20 hours a week.
SEIU is opportunistically attempting unionize all those it can, regardless of the effects on companies and family budgets.
In Mashantucket, Connecticut, the United Auto Workers did not keep their gunpowder dry and suffered another humiliating defeat. The UAW was unable to convince casino workers that their enemy was their employer. Technicians at the Foxwoods Resort & Casino simply said no. They did not want to enlist as members of the union.
The UAW, facing a determined majority of anti-union workers at the Mashantucket Pequot Nation’s casino, had no choice but to beat a hasty retreat.
The union did not even wait for an NLRB decision as to whether those workers should even be permitted to vote. Talk about knowing when to fold your tents! This is the second rejection of union representation in less than a month!
Earlier, operating engineers at Foxwoods had voted 215 to 67 against joining the International Union of Operating Engineers.
It is apparent that unions do not understand that many workers feel that unions have outlived their usefulness. Workers feel they can make better deals for job security and benefits on their own, without having to pay union dues that contribute to the luxurious lifestyles of union executives.
Health departments across the country have been trying for years to get Americans to give up smoking. There are warnings issued regularly by the Surgeon General of the Untied States.
Who would have thought that in the light of all the evidence that smoking may cause lung cancer that a major American union would file an unfair labor practices charge against a company for prohibiting its workers to smoke on the job?
Well, it has happened: The mighty United Auto Workers has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against Caterpillar Tractor, alleging that the company’s smoking ban should have been part of a collective bargaining procedure. The UAW wants the workers at Caterpillar to have the chance to smoke while working. Do they also want them to have a chance for developing lung cancer?
Caterpillar had decided to issue the ban after Illinois issued a Smoke-Free Illinois Act that bans smoking in public place and workplaces. The prohibition was enacted into law by the Illinois State Legislature.
The cause espoused by the UAW may be one of the most bizarre stances taken by a union, which lends further evidence to the consensus opinion that unions are out of touch with the strategic concerns of workers and Corporate America.