The Anti-Union Party At It Again!

The article below was re-posted in its entirety because it was no longer archived. It defined the failed policies Washington is now pursuing that have brought us Casino Capitalism and the global economic crisis that continues and threatens --

Tinker Bell Pinochet and the Fairy Tale Miracle of Chile

The Anti-Union movement, supported and promoted by the Republican Party threatens to drive down wages and create a Banana Republic. Is this really where we want to be?
Collective bargaining rights are under attack - again

http://www.ble.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=5292

CLEVELAND, June 21 - An anti-union bill currently making its way through
Congress seeks to undermine the rights of workers to bargain collectively
under the guise of higher wages.

The cynically-named Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful
Employees Act, or RAISE Act, would amend Section 9(a) of the National
Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to allow employers to ignore what they agree to
in collective bargaining agreements. Introduced by Senator Marco Rubio
(R-FL) as S. 3221, the bill would take away employees' rights to negotiate
contracts that create a uniform, fair process for granting wage increases.
The dubious logic behind the bill is that employers are benevolent and
generous supporters of their workers, and should be allowed the freedom to
reward favored employees with higher raises. In reality, the legislation
would give employers the ability to discriminate against employees by
arbitrarily showing favoritism to one worker over another.

This legislation undermines the fairness that collective bargaining
agreements bring to the workplace, opening the door to favoritism or
discrimination based on race or gender.

In a letter to all members of the Senate, Teamsters General President
James P. Hoffa wrote: "Make no mistake. The goal and purpose of this
legislation is to end collective bargaining.. Nothing in the bill ties pay
or benefit improvements in any way to individual achievement or success.
The RAISE Act does nothing to guarantee an improvement of pay or benefits
for workers. Rather it eliminates current built-in protections against
favoritism and arbitrary action by companies. The RAISE is a green light
for employers to violate contracts and ignore agreed upon wages and
benefits for any reason. It is a ploy to divide workers.

"Let me be clear. This bill is not about giving American workers a raise.
The RAISE Act should be recognized for what it is - another in a long line
of devices, thinly veiled and sophisticated, to pit workers against each
other, to weaken unions, and to destroy collective bargaining."

BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce blasted the proposal. "This is
just the latest act of aggression in the War on Workers and the unions
that represent them, and it is shameful that it comes from a man openly
running to be his party's nominee for the Vice Presidency of the United
States," Pierce said. "While S. 3221 in its current form would not apply
to railroad workers, who are not subject to the NRLA, it would require
only an amendment to expose BLET members to the bill's 'bosses' pet'
provision."

General President Hoffa's letter can be read/downloaded/printed from the
following link:
http://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/Hoffa_RAISE_Act.pdf