Archive for the 'Big Labor' Category

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Trustees Vote to Axe Central Falls High School Teachers

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Will Ricci

Big Labor Predictably Not Happy About it…

Last night, the Board of Trustees which oversees the grossly under-performing Central Falls High School voted 5-2 to terminate every teacher, as well as the principal and his 3 assistants (including my state senator). 93 total.

As you might imagine, those who’ve been riding the gravy train are none too pleased. RI state law requires layoff notices be issued by March 1st. Under the reorganization plan, up to half will be rehired for the fall and half will be new. Special thanks to DOE Secretary Arne Duncan for making this all possible. Yes we can!

…state and local education officials received some high-powered support of their own, when U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan weighed in, saying he “applauded” them for “showing courage and doing the right thing for kids.”

Busloads of teachers from across the state turned out.

“I think the real goal is to bust the unions,” said Julie Boyle, an English teacher at Coventry High School. “Sometimes a teacher is the only touchstone in a student’s life. I’m sad for the students who will lose their touchstones.”

Just an hour after the rally, the Central Falls school Board of Trustees, in a brief but intense meeting, voted 5-2 to fire every teacher at the school. In all, 93 names were read aloud in the high school auditorium — 74 classroom teachers, plus reading specialists, guidance counselors, physical education teachers, the school psychologist, the principal and three assistant principals…

Read and Comment: The Providence Journal

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Filed Under: Big Labor, Education, Reformers and Rhode Island Closed

37th Providence Newspaper Guild Follies | February 26

Posted on February 24, 2010 by The Ocean State Republican

Update: The RIRA’s supply of tickets for the Providence Newspaper Guild Follies is completely sold out. If you want a ticket, you’re on your own. You can try calling the Guild office at 401-421-9466, but no guarantees. You’ll probably end up in the nose-bleed section, if you get in at all.

For quite a few years now, the Rhode Island Republican Assembly has had reserved tables for Republicans at the annual Providence Newspaper Guild Follies. Assuming that The Providence Journal doesn’t shutter its doors by February 26th (cross your fingers!), this year will be no exception!

Because this great event has long-since outgrown Rhode Island’s ability to contain it, and sales tax is still cheaper in Massachusetts, the Follies will be held on Friday, February 26th at 7:00 PM just over the border at the [in]famous Venus de Milo Restaurant , 75 Grand Army Highway (Route 6) in Swansea, MA.

This popular dinner and political satire show is attended by every politician, activist, and news media personality in Rhode Island’s political scene, for a total of about 1,250 people. Tickets are $60.00/person. A spectacular buffet dinner is included, and of course, the big show. So far, RIRA has reserved two tables (20 seats), with the option of reserving more if there is additional demand.

Please note that since this is a union-held event, the audience does tend to skew Democratic / leftist, so if you are a Republican / conservative and want to sit with us (for your own safety), please contact RIRA President Raymond McKay right away at president [at] ri-ra [dot] org . These tickets are definitely going fast, so do not wait, as this event always sells out. You do not want to end up on the dreaded waiting list!

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Filed Under: Big Labor, Coming Events and RIRA Closed

For Chafee, The Question Is: Did Father Know Best?

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Rhode Island Red

“THE OPPOSITE OF RIGHT PART IX”

On February 14, 2010, the Providence Journal reprinted a letter by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a federation of government employees dated April 16, 1937 in which President Roosevelt declared: “All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management.” While Rhode Island Democrats try to figure out whether they should agree with the patron saint of their party, President Franklin Roosevelt, or with their modern day masters, the public employee union bosses, the RIGOP has searched the archives and has found an interesting letter about state employees unions that may be of interest to at least one current gubernatorial candidate.

On April 28, 1966, then Governor John Chafee sent a letter to the Rhode Island Senate explaining why he vetoed a bill that gave Rhode Island state employees the right to collectively bargain as a union. Governor John Chafee saw the “organizational problems inherent where the machinery designed for private industry is imposed on State employees”. He explained that “since wages, hours and practically all working conditions are now established by laws enacted by the General Assembly … or regulations”, collective bargaining for state employees will “inevitably” lead to “bad relationships between …employees and the State” resulting in “the public [being] the loser.”

Unfortunately, the would-be Governor Lincoln Chafee won’t follow the sage advice of the former Governor John Chafee when it comes to state public employee unions. Candidate Lincoln Chafee wants “the endorsement of organized public sector unions” (Warwick Beacon 1/5/10) and has “urged” the House Finance Committee “to leave benefits alone” for public sector union employees (ProJo 1/13/10). Said Republican Party Chair Giovanni Cicione: “Despite a recent WPRI 12 Poll that shows voters think labor has too much power by a margin of 57% to 31%, Linc Chafee ignores this enduring warning from his father and embraces the same public employee unions that his father fought against.” “I wonder who Linc will defer to on this question,” asked Cicione – “his respected late father or his more recent benefactors – the fat cat public employee union bosses.”

News Release: Rhode Island Republican Party

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Filed Under: Big Labor, History, Republican Party and The Missing Linc Closed

Chafee: Leave Union Benefits Alone By Raising Taxes

Posted on January 13, 2010 by The Ocean State Republican

“THE OPPOSITE OF RIGHT PART V”

CHAFEE’S NEW WAY FORWARD – GENERAL ASSEMBLY VERSION:

At the Rhode Island House Finance Committee yesterday, Gubernatorial Candidate Chafee made it clear once again he is no champion of the property taxpayer but merely a politician who will grovel for the support of the public sector union bosses. He has officially broken his first promise of his new gubernatorial campaign, which was “to be a champion of the property taxpayer” and “a partner with our mayors and town managers … to repeal many of the costly state mandates on cities and towns.” Instead of siding with mayors and town managers in favor of reducing benefits through pension reform (i.e. a minimum retirement age) and a 25% co-share for health care premiums for public sector employees, he “urged” the House Finance Committee “to leave benefits alone” for public sector union employees (ProJo 1/13/10).

Without a doubt, Mr. Chafee does not want his mayoral legacy in Warwick of giving away the store to public sector union members to be tampered with in anyway. He is proud of signing union contracts that allows employees to retire with no minimum retirement age after only 20 years of work. (ProJo 7/29/96). He believes it was his “biggest achievement” as mayor to give public employees big raises while paying no co-share of their health care premium. (ProJo 5/3/94, 10/10/2000) He thinks it is “awesome” to give part time crossing guards “full benefits.” (ProJo 9/3/93) No doubt the public sector unions thought these kinds of these deals were “awesome” too. This is why “local unions were endorsing Lincoln Chafee’s 1998 City Hall reelection bid” and letters were being sent out to “municipal union members on Chafee’s behalf” as a “payoff for the years” Chafee “spent nurturing labor friendships in the state’s second-largest city.” (ProJo 10/10/2000). This is also why, in a prior mayoral campaign, after “Chafee helped the union with a good contract,” the American Federation of Teachers asked other unions to have “the favor be returned” by supporting Chafee. (ProJo 1/6/95).

Rhode Island Republican Party Chair Giovanni Cicione commented: “Mr. Chafee’s old three step plan has not changed one bit – give the public sector unions what they want, get the unions to support your campaign; raise taxes to pay for those sweetheart deals.”

“Mr. Chafee may not have any coherent plans to cut spending, but taxpayers can be certain he will not to cut the generous benefits of public employees – he seems to be going out of his way to protect these outrageous union benefits by raising taxes on groceries and medicine,” concluded Cicione.

Press Release: Rhode Island Republican Party

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Filed Under: 2010 Elections, Big Labor, Economics and Republican Party Closed

Chafee: A Champion for Big Labor, Not Taxpayers

Posted on January 5, 2010 by The Ocean State Republican

“THE OPPOSITE OF RIGHT PART III”

When Lincoln Chafee announced his candidacy for Governor this week, he pledged “to be a champion of the property taxpayer” and “a partner with our mayors and town managers … to repeal many of the costly state mandates on cities and towns.” Unfortunately, when he was mayor, Mr. Chafee acted more as a champion for public sector unions than for the taxpayers when he gave sweetheart deals to unions, like the Warwick Teachers Union, and then raised regressive property taxes year after year to pay for these deals. (As noted by the RIGOP in its press release yesterday entitled “OPPOSITE OF RIGHT PART II: Chafee’s ‘New Way Forward’ Will Send Rhode Island Backwards.”)

If Mr. Chafee is really a champion of property taxpayer who will support city and town officials in their efforts to eliminate state mandates, the RIGOP challenges Mr. Chafee to unequivocally support the elimination of state law mandates that benefit public sector unions. Here are two simple examples:

First, will Mr. Chafee support cities and towns who want to be free from being required to negotiate with firefighter and police unions as to minimum staffing levels? This was proposed in Article 43 of 09-H5019, and was supported by Dan Beardsley of the R.I. League of Cities and Towns (Beardsley 2009 Final Legislative Report), and the Democratic and Republican Mayors of Cranston, Cumberland, Johnston, Lincoln, North Providence and Pawtucket (Letter from The Coalition of Communities Improving Rhode Island 4/14/09)

Second, will Mr. Chafee support cities and towns who want to be free to impose a 25% co-share for health care premiums on all city and town employees without having to negotiate with local public sector unions? This was proposed in Article 44 of 09-H5019, and was supported by Dan Beardsley of the R.I. League of Cities and Towns (Beardsley 2009 Final Legislative Report), and the Democratic and Republican Mayors of Cranston, Cumberland, Johnston, Lincoln, North Providence and Pawtucket (Letter from The Coalition of Communities Improving Rhode Island 4/14/09)

“If Mr. Chafee is, as he claims, a champion of the property taxpayer, then Mr. Chafee should not hesitate to support these two pieces of legislation,” said RIGOP Chair Giovanni Cicione. “I suspect, however, that he is simply avoiding the hard choices and once again robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

“The last thing this state needs is another privileged member of the Rhode Island political class who has spent a career currying favor with public sector unions in order to win office,” Cicione continued. “Mr. Chafee’s plan to tax food, clothes, and prescription drugs will just be yet another ‘new way’ to raise taxes in an era when we should be finding solutions to put more money in peoples pockets by cutting taxes across the board.”

News Release: Rhode Island Republican Party

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Filed Under: 2010 Elections, Big Labor and Press Releases Closed

American Spectator: Labor Unions and the News Media

Posted on December 17, 2009 by The Ocean State Republican

mediocrityThe issue that has sparked a lot of interest lately, however, has involved schoolteachers, not industrial unions. Their two main unions are the National Education Association (with 3.2 million members, dedicated to themselves first, the Democratic Party second, and the children third) and the American Federation of Teachers (1.4 million members; same priorities).

These unions have played a major role in the decline of public education with go-slow work rules and by making it almost impossible to fire teachers, no matter how incompetent.

Today, however, in both Washington and New York, the collapse of inner-city schools has reached a point where the newspapers can no longer avoid addressing the role of unions…

Read More: The American Spectator

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Filed Under: Big Labor, Democrats, Education and Media Closed

Workers Blow Whistle on SEIU Election Fraud

Posted on November 24, 2009 by The Ocean State Republican

seiu-thugsThis video illustrates why it is no surprise that the SEIU beat up a Tea Party vendor, and that it has adopted the role of brownshirts for the Obama revolution, albeit the SEIU thugs wear purple instead. SEIU doesn’t represent workers, it preys upon them.

This year the “card check” bill, otherwise known as the “Employee Free Choice Act” — an Orwellian title if there ever was one — has been in the news because of its attempt to effectively eliminate secret ballot elections in union organizing drives, and so the protections built-in to a secret ballot process.

As that attempt at a totalitarian-like union election process has been intense, “compromises” are being floated, such as mail-in ballots.

This video demonstrates why that will be a farce, and such a “compromise” will still enable the unions to realize the goal of EFCA, that is, to intimidate workers into allowing the union into their workplaces, and thus into their wallets.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg06CC1vkX8[/youtube]

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Filed Under: Big Labor, Commentary and Corruption 1 Comment Tags: .

Tuesday’s Biggest Loser: The Union Agenda

Posted on November 4, 2009 by The Ocean State Republican

seiu-thugsIf you were watching television on Tuesday night as the election returns came in showing Republicans capturing the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey, you probably missed seeing the “biggest losers” of the evening. You may have caught the concession speech of Creigh Deeds, who ran 12% behind Barack Obama’s winning percentage of the vote in Virginia, and that of Jon Corzine who, after spending over $100 million of his own money on three campaigns, ran 13% behind Obama’s winning percentage in New Jersey and got evicted from Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion in Princeton.

But you missed seeing the guy who may have been the biggest loser of all — a man who according to recently released White House logs has been a guest in the White House 22 times since Barack Obama became president, more than any other single individual.

That man is Andy Stern, who has boasted that the Service Employees International Union, which he heads, ponied up something like $60 million for Barack Obama and other Democrats in the 2008 campaign cycle. Altogether, Mr. Stern and other labor union leaders reportedly gave Democrats some $400 million last year…

Read More: The Wall Street Journal

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Filed Under: 2009 Elections, Big Labor, Commentary, Democrats and The Obamessiah Closed Tags: .

OSPRI Research on Binding Arbitration to Be Released

Posted on October 27, 2009 by The Ocean State Republican

4booksPROVIDENCE, RI – A survey of 16 communities conducted by the Ocean State Policy Research Institute has revealed that proposed legislation on binding arbitration could cause them to lose control over about $543 million in school spending.

William Felkner, the president of the Ocean State Policy Research Institute, will present the results of this survey tomorrow at the Welcome Back Tea Party for the start of a special two-day state legislative session.

The Welcome Back Tea Party starts at 3:30 p.m. at the main entrance to the Statehouse on Smith Street.

Felkner will be speaking about the loss of local control and increased costs that will result if the Legislature passes binding arbitration. He will be discussing research that shows $543,380,851 out of a combined $693,925,762 in school spending in 16 communities could potentially be controlled by an unelected, third-party arbitrator, if employee contracts are not settled during collective bargaining negotiations. Already, $194,959,583 in spending on police and fire contracts in these communities is subject to binding arbitration.

Source: Ocean State Policy Research Institute

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Filed Under: Big Labor, Press Releases and Public Policy Closed

Action Alert: Regarding Binding Arbitration Legislation

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Raymond McKay

Red AlertA hearing regarding House Bill H5142 will be held before the House Labor Committee THIS Wednesday, October 21, 2009. It is currently scheduled to begin at 2:00 P.M. in State House Room 313. We need your support!

As we hope you are aware, the Rhode Island General Assembly is scheduled to come back for a “special session” on October 28th and 29th, to consider passage of several pieces of legislation which they left in limbo when they decided to go on their extended summer vacation back in June. Some are quite trivial, but some are very important to the future financial health of the citizens of our state, as well as the state itself.

We want to specifically bring your attention to a very important piece of legislation — H5142 — which will be heard before the House Labor Committee THIS Wednesday, October 21st, at 2:00 P.M., which has to do with so-called “Binding Arbitration” for teacher union contracts, as well as the extension of expired teacher contracts past their stated expiration dates (in perpetuity).

Since there was so much push-back by the public earlier this summer regarding the original proposal to change the law to allow for what would be in effect perpetual teacher union contracts, the “new” way the powers-that-be hope to get what they want, is by passing what is known as “binding arbitration” under the devious guise that it is either taxpayer friendly or would prevent teacher strikes.

NEA-RI President Larry Purtill, in an e-mail sent to teachers all across the state recently stated:

“After over two decades of lobbying for binding arbitration, our time has come.”

NOT IF WE HAVE ANYTHING TO DO ABOUT IT!

If binding arbitration becomes the law, the only thing that will be in a “bind” are the taxpayers of Rhode Island. We will be bound to pay ever higher taxes in perpetuity, regardless of our local communities ability to pay for them. It may leave some local communities with no alternative but to go into receivership or worse. The vast majority of local spending is for education, and the supermajority of that spending pays for the salaries, health care and pension benefits for teachers; not to children or to building maintenance.

Keeping it simple, binding arbitration works something like this: A union wolf and a school committee lamb appoint a “neutral” coyote, and two of the three vote in favor of what will be for dinner. Your tax dollars are the meal.

The whole process is inherently undemocratic, and regardless as to what some propagandists in the media might they to suggest, is always skewed towards labor. Arbitration is always about the rate of increase in spending; never about decreasing it — and in most cases, a community’s “ability to pay” is not even a consideration. Most importantly, it leaves YOUR local spending decisions to three UNELECTED and totally UNACCOUNTABLE bureaucrats. That is simply unAmerican.

A hearing for House Bill H5142 will be held before the R.I. House Labor Committee on Wednesday, October 21, 2009. It is scheduled to begin at 2:00 P.M. in State House Room 313. We understand that like most taxpayers, you likely work during the daytime. The General Assembly knows that, and frankly does not care. However, if you can make it to this hearing to either testify against the legislation or to simply show your opposition to this union power-grab, that would be fantastic. Although the make-up of the House Labor Committee reads like a rogue’s gallery (there is only 1 Republican), it is still extremely important that they hear from all of us right now!

Regardless of your ability to attend the hearing, what we encourage you to do ASAP is to CALL or E-MAIL all members of the House Labor Committee and emphatically tell them to VOTE NO to Binding Arbitration or Perpetual Teacher Union Contract Legislation. Please do this before or on Wednesday prior to the House Labor Committee hearing. Their contact information is down below.

Once you have contacted members of that committee, please contact your own State Representative and State Senator and let them know you will be watching this vote when the legislature returns for the special session next week. Make sure that they know that you, as their constituent, will hold them personally accountable for their vote next election — regardless of their party affiliation.

If you don’t already know who your legislator is, you can use the NEA-RI’s own site to find out!

http://capwiz.com/nea/ri/state/main/?state=RI

Conservatively Yours,
Raymond T. McKay
President, RIRA

ACT NOW TO STOP THIS UNION POWER GRAB!

E-mail or call members of the House Labor Committee: Continue reading ‘Action Alert: Regarding Binding Arbitration Legislation’

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Filed Under: Alerts, Big Labor and RI General Assembly Closed Tags: .