Thursday, August 18, 2011

Union Turn To Violence In Record Numbers Here In America


A group of striking janitorial workers blocking the Westfield Mall entrance taunt and scrap with security guards trying to open up the entrance. (h/t MoonBat Tracker and RebelPundit )

Forty-five thousand Verizon workers from Massachusetts to Virginia went on strike earlier this month after the contract for the company’s wireline division ended August 6. Workers are in protest to management asking for changes in the contract to strengthen the wireline business which has been in decline for more than a decade. Now some think one Brooklyn CWA post has possibly crossed the line calling for, among other things, torture:
“The voice of a representative encourages members to deal harshly with ‘managers and scabs.’
‘It is open season. Follow them safely, but when you get to a location, torture them, torture them with chants and noise. Be so loud that they can’t concentrate and wish they never got out of bed,’ says the recorded voice. Another part of the message states:
‘They are trying to break our union. Understand brothers and sisters, we can never let these [expletive] piece of [expletive] pigs break us. So, we are stepping up our efforts.’
The message stopped short of calling for physical violence, but it was removed after a NewsChannel 9 reporter called the CWA for comment. “


We’ve all heard the stories of shakedowns and bullying that occurs to many non-unionized workers and private business owners. However, the thuggery might have gone beyond the pale recently when one Ohio business owner was repeatedly harassed, then shot and almost killed, for allegedly being non-union.
John King owns one of Toledo’s largest non-union electrical contracting businesses. With 25 employees and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, King’s business reportedly often thrives while other unionized electrical contracting businesses fail due to their higher rates.
However, King’s success may be making him a prime target for union thugs, including threats and violence.
King says he holds no animus towards the union, stating that he only ever wanted to do what he loved to do. Labor Union Report writes that after some college, King did a stint with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers before being drafted into the military. Following his service, King went solo and became the youngest independent electrical contractor in the Toledo area.
But King’s success, especially during the recession, may have come with a price, including lawsuits, harassment, slashed tires and multiple incidents of vandalism, just to name a few. LUR reports:
Unfortunately, being a non-union electrical company, King has always been on the radar of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). In fact, in 2006, he won a significant case against the IBEW at the US Court of Appeals, after the union had improperly promised his electricians jobs on union sites if they voted the union into King’s company.
Click here to find out more!

Since he’s been in business, in addition to the legal battles and verbal abuse, King’s company has been vandalized and threatened on numerous occasions.
“Back then, it was nothing to have to regularly buy a new set of tires,” King said during a telephone interview on Tuesday. “The ice pick was the weapon of choice.”
Until Wednesday, the worst of the union attacks on King and his business came in the mid-eighties during the UAW strike at AP Parts. During a lull in the lengthy strike, King’s business was picketed by more than 50 IBEW picketers. This was at a time when he only had eight or nine employees. One of his employees, whose car was trashed by the union picketers, was also reportedly assaulted by IBEW thugs.
Unfortunately, the vandalism has never stopped. This year alone, he’s had to report three incidents of damage . This doesn’t include the incidents of stalking he and his men have to go through while they’re working.
In one incident earlier this year, rocks were thrown through the front windows of his shop, one of which had the word “kill” written on it.
But last Wednesday the attacks grew more heinous when King discovered an individual on his property attempting to vandalize his SUV.  When King yelled at the man to stop, the vandal shot King, hitting him in the arm.
According to LUR, police recovered a shell casing from the scene the night of the shooting in addition to a Swiss Army knife. The knife was presumably going to be used to slash King’s tires yet again.
LUR reports that neither the police nor King are certain which union was behind the attack, but given that the word “SCAB” was scrawled on King’s vehicle, there is a good indication the incident was union-related.
King, who is offering a $10,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspect, praised police for their thoroughness in the investigation.
We should perhaps also point out that King’s shooting comes on the heels of a controversial declaration made by the union that represents Verizon workers, when it declared “open season” on “managers and scabs.” The Blaze reported:
“The voice of a representative encourages members to deal harshly with ‘managers and scabs.’
‘It is open season. Follow them safely, but when you get to a location, torture them, torture them with chants and noise. Be so loud that they can’t concentrate and wish they never got out of bed,’ says the recorded voice. Another part of the message states:
WTOL brings us the report and interview with King:
Listen to him tell the tale, below:

2 comments:

  1. Back in the day, before Darth Vader saw the light at the end of the movie and when strikes were more prevalent than they are today, there was a time when union bosses conditioned their members for the eventuality that negotiations could break down and union members might be on strike—for a long, long time.



    Now, with the CWA and IBEW’s 45,000 members on strike against Verizon, the UFCW possibly calling 60,000+ grocery workers out on strike in Southern California, and the UAW calling for a strike vote at Ford, it is worth exploring the actual costs of a strike on workers and their families—as well as the best ways to not let a strike lead to financial ruin.

    First some facts about strikes:

    In the private-sector, striking for lawful reasons is legal. As long as strikers do not engage in unlawful activity, they cannot be fired. However, under federal law, economic strikers can be permanently replaced.
    In most states, strikers do not collect unemployment insurance. In the four states that do provide strikers with unemployment, the majority of strikers have to wait until the completion of seven weeks on the strike lines.
    Note: If the Verizon strike goes more than 49 days, strikers in NJ, NY & RI may be eligible for unemployment, but those strikers in the other affected states probably would not.
    When workers are out on strike, employers are not required to continue paying the employer portion of strikers’ benefits. Striking workers can, however, maintain benefits through paying COBRA (the full rate, plus the administrative costs).
    Note: This week, Verizon notified its striking workers that it will discontinue paying for their health care coverage at the end of the month.
    The average length of strikes for most major unions is between 30 and 45 days.
    Some unions provide strike pay, while others do not. Rarely, however, is strike pay enough to maintain a household.
    How not to be burned during a union strike.

    The adage “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst” is a good way to think about striking. Obviously, the easiest way not to be burned during a union strike is to not strike. However, there are times when workers (especially in non-Right-to-Work states) either choose to strike, are convinced to strike, or where not striking is simply not feasible (union members who cross picket lines can face severe punishment from unions, including trial, fines and worse).

    For those individuals who are called out on strike, here are some simple tips (a downloadable copy below) on how to avoid the financial devastation that strikes sometimes cause.

    Well before you are called out on strike, consider doing the following:

    Work overtime and save, save, save.
    Pay down credit cards. During a strike, your cash is usually limited. You don’t want to have to make monthly payments, plus debt with what little cash you have. Also, if you run out of cash, you may have to live on your credit cards.
    Stock up on non-perishables.
    Make sure your vehicles are in good shape, maintenance done, oil changed, etc.
    Get your doctor’s appointments out of the way. If you strike, as in the case of Verizon, your employer may opt to discontinue paying its portion of your health care.
    Stock up on medicines (prescriptions, first aid, etc.) and other supplies
    Notify creditors that you may be one strike and, if possible rearrange payments.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chris,
    I'm willing to criticize the language used by the Union if you go back and criticize the language used by Sarah Palin prior to the Giffords shooting. However since you defended that same language for her, your wrong to then criticize anyone else for it.

    And you once again make some assumptions about the violence being union related while denying that the violence in Norway wasn't conservative related, which it was. How do you live with all the denial?

    The reality is that a union member is most likely responsible for the attack (and should go to jail if caught)as its a reality that a Conservative who shares many of your beliefs killed those people.

    ReplyDelete

Please keep it clean and nice. Thank you for taking the time to post you thought. It means a lot to me that you do this.