Over the Labor Day holiday, Big Labor once again demonstrated how desperate it is to rebuild its diminishing membership roles. Despite the fact the tactics they have been utilizing for the last 20 years are not working, they keep on using them. As Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” The union membership results speak for themselves as presented in a recent article by James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation:
Union Membership Dropped By 398,000 In 2012, Leaving Membership At Post-WWII Low Of 11.3 Percent:
“While employers added almost 2 million net new jobs in 2012, unions lost 398,000 members … Union density in the American workplace fell to another new post–world war ii low of 11.3 percent in 2012. Union Manufacturing Employment Fell 4.7 Percent From 2010 To 2012, While During Same Period Non-Union Manufacturing Employment Grew By 6.5 Percent:
“On net, however, all of that hiring took place in non-union firms. Between 2010 and 2012, non-union manufacturing employment expanded by 6.5 percent. At the same time, unionized manufacturing employment continued to fall, dropping another 4.7 percent.”
(James Sherk, “Labor Unions: Declining Membership Shows Labor Laws Need Modernizing,” The Heritage Foundation, 1/23/13)
One would think by now some type of lesson would have been learned and Big Labor would change its strategy. However, despite the declining membership numbers and paltry organization results, Big Labor continues to utilize its “outdated” Corporate Campaign tactics of intimidation and coercion to attain its goals, as described in The Devil at Our Doorstep. It also continues to rely on a phony President and the Rogue NLRB to hand it Card Check through Regulation vs. Legislation! Additionally, when the Corporate Campaign tactics fail, and they face actual ‘Secret Ballot Elections,” Big Labor resorts to intimidation and bribery to win these said elections, further eroding its credibility in the eyes of the working public!
Despite the blaring membership facts, Big Labor returned to these obsolete tactics over the Labor Day holiday. The infamous SEIU attempted to orchestrate a national “Fight for Fifteen” campaign, a disguised Living Wage Argument against fast food restaurants and other companies in the retail/service business with minimal success. Additionally, is the SEIU is in the midst of a Worker Center Scheme, attempting to bypass the National Labor Relations Act as discussed in Promises, Promises: Desperate Unions Grow Weary of Phony Distractions.
Meanwhile the AFL-CIO teamed up with the Interfaith Workers Justice group out of Chicago, and whose tactics are immortalized in both of my books (see Proselytizing for Unions: AFL-CIO Announces Holiday ‘Labor and Faith’ Services). They are “immortalized” because one of its own clergy members read The Devil at My Doorstep, met with me, apologized and wrote a letter of recommendation for me and my company which is featured in the new book. Obviously the association between the AFL-CIO and Interfaith Workers Justice and its holiday “Labor from the Pulpit” tactic has not worked, as few churches outside of Chicago and Boston have joined the program. Additionally, very little