August 13, 2005
What a Crock
Washington Workers Union Flexes Muscle
Posted by Ithildin at August 13, 2005 1:07 PM | PROCURE FINE OLD WORLD ABSINTHE
Government workers in the state of Washington are being hit with a tough choice — if they want to keep their jobs, they have to join the union or pay a hefty union fee."I don't like being forced. I don't like being told either join the union or I lose my job," said state employee Sharon Mathews.
The Personnel Reform Act passed in 2002 gives managers more flexibility in hiring, firing and outsourcing. It also allowed the workers union to bargain directly with the governor on provisions of their contracts. After taking office this year, Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire (search) gave state workers a raise and then gave the union the power to have any worker fired who didn't either join or fork over a representation fee of up to $45 per month.
"I think a lot of us jumped on the bandwagon out of fear," said another state employee, Kristie Hubble.
[....]
"There will be increased political activity and they will have just by the sheer numbers of people involved in their union and by the share of dollars they'll receive there will be increased clout," said Dan Brunell of the Washington Business Association.
Union leaders say they're even-handed when it comes to political donations, but the numbers from the 2004 election tell a different story. Seventy-five percent of the union's candidate contributions went to Democrats. The union also gave $200,000 to the Democratic Governors Association and paid $250,000 to the state Democratic Party to underwrite the third vote count that finally put Gregoire into office.
So much for Freedom of Association. Guess that only applies of you want to associate with liberal Dem organizations. If not, you are forced to associate with them for your own good.
I really hope someone initiates a lawsuit to challenge this.
All union membership should be voluntary. Of course I live in Mass (which is not a right to work state and free association is of the Liberal Dem kind only) so you either join the union if it is a "covered" job or you look elsewhere.
Posted by: Roberta at August 14, 2005 9:20 AMHey Roberta, I'm another one of the handful of Republicans in Massachusetts, too. We should all get together for some beers sometime. ;-)
Posted by: Dave J at August 14, 2005 1:22 PMThis is blackmail a person should not be forced to jion any labor union or forced to pay fees to these crooked corupt labor unions this is a outrage
Posted by: condor at August 14, 2005 2:51 PMWhat a sweet little scam Gregoire came up with! In effect, she's found a way for the taxpayers of the State of Washington to fund the DNC.
taxpayer ---> government ---> government employee ---> union ---> DNC
Isn't this called money laundering?
Posted by: docjim505 at August 15, 2005 8:47 AM
"After taking office this year, Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire (search) gave state workers a raise and then gave the union the power to have any worker fired who didn't either join or fork over a representation fee of up to $45 per month."
That's completely outrageous. Can she even actually have the authority to do this? It sounds to me like unlawful delegation of executive and/or legislative authority to a private entity, i.e. the union. I know for certain that the governor of Florida (any governor, not just Jeb) wouldn't be legally able to do this even if Florida weren't a right-to-work state. I'm going to look over the Washington State constitution and its public emplymenmt statutes and I'll let you know what I think.
Posted by: Dave J at August 13, 2005 2:18 PM