“Before making a donation to any organization, be sure to review how it spends its money.”

~ By: Larry Walker, Jr. ~

The American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO of Madison, Wisconsin (AFT-WISC) is a tax exempt organization which is primarily funded by union dues paid by its mostly state and local government employee members. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, AFT-WISC took in 91.5% of its revenue or a total of $3,358,143 from membership dues. On its latest Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, while all of the revenue reported was identified as having been related to its exempt purpose, none of its expenditures were reported as such. So just how much of this money was actually used to improve the lives of its members?

According to page 10 of its latest Form 990 tax return, none of the $3,808,451 of expenditures was related to its exempt purpose. In fact, AFT-WISC spent $2,369,114, or 70.5% of member’s dues, on salaries, pensions, other benefits and payroll taxes for its 44 employees. Furthermore, due to reckless management, AFT-WISC posted a net loss of $(137,113) for fiscal year 2009. Union dues will therefore most likely increase in the near future.

In fiscal year 2009, AFT-WISC paid its president, Bryan Kennedy, total compensation of $164,781. The only problem with this is that he was only paid $56,913 in fiscal year 2008, leaving some to wonder what would justify a 190% pay raise in a year when the organization suffered a net loss. While Mr. Kennedy celebrated a $107,868 pay hike, AFT-WISC members were left bloodied by a $(137,113) net loss.

Aside from compensating its own employees, AFT-WISC squandered a total of $535,021 on political campaigns and lobbying activities. Among these activities, $20,000 was contributed to Progressive Wisconsin; $237,021 was spent on mailings containing information about legislative and electoral issues, and get out the vote events such as town hall meetings and phone banks; and the remaining $278,000 was sent to other organizations.

It appears that the difference between this particular union and a political party is very slim. Other than communicating a tiny bit of information to the public about issues affecting its members, AFT-WISC’s main accomplishments appear to be: (1) an ability to collect money from its members, (2) to compensate its own employees, (3) to support progressive organizations, (4) and to persuade people to vote for the candidates of its choosing. AFT-WISC, like most other public-sector employee unions, functions more like a political party than an association dedicated to the needs and concerns of its members. Teachers and public employees are free to join the political party of their choosing, and to direct their money to whomever they choose. So why do they need a middle-man? Public employees should be ashamed. Substituting a middle-man to make political choices for them is the antithesis of freedom and democracy.

Perhaps instead of jumping through hoops whenever the union bell tolls, teachers and other public servants should pay more attention to where their union dues are going. Then and only then will the rest of society believe you are more than just feeble lap dogs. As for the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO of Madison, Wisconsin… it’s “Not Just No, But HELL NO!”

Reference:

http://www2.guidestar.org/organizations/39-0963086/american-federation-teachers.aspx#

Where Solidarity Ends

~ By: Larry Walker, Jr. ~

Thank God for Governor Walker and the Wisconsin legislature. Clearly there is a line of demarcation between the rights of public-sector and private-sector workers. Patrick J. Wright, a director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, breaks it down in his latest post, “Public-Sector Bargaining Privileges Are Not Inalienable Rights“.

Mr. Wright concludes with, “the power of government employee unions in collective bargaining necessarily amounts to power over the people themselves, therefore the people’s representatives must periodically scrutinize that power and curb excess”. Why that’s pure natural law, and if you stop to think about it, just plain old common sense. But perhaps public-sector union donors and their supporting dunderheads need a less sophisticated explanation. What follows is an uncomplicated lesson in fiscal logic, just for you:

Point #1 – If you work for a state, local or federal government agency, and your employer’s treasury is tapped, you are most likely a part of the problem. Job security eludes you.

Point #2 – If you’re going around spouting off that a certain governmental entity isn’t broke, and you’re not one of its top executives, then you might not know what in the hell you’re talking about. Your beliefs are based on conspiracy, not facts.

Point #3 – If you have a government job paying 40% more than the private sector, with Cadillac benefits, then you’re not likely one who’s losing their home and going through financial hell. You’ve been brainwashed.

Point #4 – If you’re having $1,000 per year in union dues deducted automatically from your paycheck and sent to your government masters (politicians), and now complain about having to pay more toward pension and health costs, you might be better off dumping that worthless union. Perhaps union dues are a luxury you can ill afford.

Point #5 – If you think that private citizens exercising their right to trim some of the liberties that government workers take with their money is a form of class warfare, then which class are you – government or the people? You’re confused.

Point #6 – If you think that the way to effectively engage in political debate is by marching in mobs and shouting in unison, “shame, shame, shame…,” you might be mentally ill. You need a check up from the neck up.

To summarize, if you are still offended by the law that was just passed in Wisconsin, then :

• Job security eludes you,

• Your beliefs are based on conspiracy rather than facts,

• You’ve been brainwashed,

• Union dues are a luxury you can ill afford,

• You are confused, and

• You need a mental health check up.

Well, if that’s the case, then you better check yourself before you wreck yourself. If the glove fits, you must admit. My recommendation: Quit that cushy government gig and get a real job. And as far as private-sector unions supporting public-sector unions in so-called solidarity; can you say, “brainwashed“. Sorry but I can’t ride with you on that bucket of bolts. Sometimes you just have to surrender and face reality. Public-sector unions are the enemy of both private-sector unions, and of we the people.

Public sector – The area of the nation’s affairs under governmental rather than private control.

Private sector – The area of the nation’s economy under private rather than governmental control.  

References:

http://supreme.justia.com/us/431/209/case.html

http://www.mackinac.org/14734

http://www.mackinac.org/13741

Hasta La Vista!!!

” Wisconsin is not broke. “ ~ Some Rich Fat Guy ~

Whatever rich fat guy, but who asked you anyway. The election is over. You lose, we win.

~ By: Larry Walker, Jr. ~

While state and local government employee unions (aka. public unions) clutch desperately to what they falsely perceive to be a God-given right to organize, pro football players are planning to de-unionize. You see, the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) has legal options under federal law, while state and local government workers have none. Public workers exist to serve the public, and are compensated from tax dollars, not from profits earned in the private sector.

“The National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act (P.L. 74-198, 49 Stat. 449, codified as amended at 29 U.S.C. § 151–169) is a 1935 United States federal law that limits the means with which employers may react to workers in the private sector who create labor unions, engage in collective bargaining, and take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands. The Act does not apply to workers who are covered by the Railway Labor Act, agricultural employees, domestic employees, supervisors, federal, state or local government workers, independent contractors and some close relatives of individual employers.”

As for NFL players, decertifying the union means firing the NFLPA as their bargaining agent, which will prevent NFL owners from locking out the players when the existing collective bargaining agreement expires. Any lockout at that point would be a violation of federal antitrust law. Decertifying will also allow individual players to sue the NFL and their respective teams. The tactic has worked before, resulting in NFL players gaining free agent rights.

On the other hand, state and local government servants in Wisconsin and other states don’t have this option or any others. You see, public servants are not covered by federal labor relations laws. They have only been allowed to unionize under state laws granting them make-believe rights. In reality, all it would take to completely do away with public employee unions is a determined state house majority, duly elected by a base of overburdened taxpayers. And that’s where things stand. Hasta la vista!

AFTER HAVING DONE ALL STAND! ~ Eph 6:10-20

BTW: The word fat was directed at Moore in the sense of his reasoning being “practically nonexistent” (i.e. a fat chance).

~ By: Larry Walker, Jr. ~

In terms of raw numbers, local government union members stand to be crushed, or perhaps just eaten. There are roughly 14 million unemployed Americans who would love to have local government service jobs, minus collective bargaining. Perhaps the media should poll the unemployed. The bottom line is that it’s better to be gainfully employed than unemployed. Advice to local government employed union members: Work with your duly elected government officials, or kiss your jobs goodbye.

Out of 124 million Americans who are still employed (excluding the incorporated self-employed), only 14.7 million (or 11.9%) are members of unions.

Out of the 14.7 million union members, 7.6 million (or a majority of 51.8%) are government employees.

Out of the 7.6 million government employees who are members of unions, 4.7 million (or a majority of 61.3%) are local government employees, while 1.9 million (or 25.8%) are state government employees.

Out of 124 million Americans who are still employed (excluding the incorporated self-employed), only 4.7 million (or just 3.8%) are local government employed union members.

In terms of numbers, local government employed union members, those who are complaining the most, only represent 3.8% of all American workers (excluding the incorporated self-employed), 3.0% of the roughly 151 million American taxpayers, and 1.5% of the total population. We believe there is more empathy among Americans for the 9.0% of the labor force who are unemployed, and the millions more who have dropped out of the workforce, than there is for local government employed union members. In other words, the pink slips are in the mail.

“Every goodbye makes the next hello closer.” ~ Anonymous Unemployed

Related: Union Label : Owned by China & Liberty VS Union Power

Reference: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics –

Table 3. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by occupation and industry (Jan. 21, 2011 Report)

Table 3. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by occupation and industry (Historical Data)

When ‘Made In China’ Isn’t Enough ~

“Every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary.” ~ Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Ma.) ~

Made in China wasn’t enough, now union minions want to be owned by China as well. ~

So far all I see is a bunch of snot-nosed, deficit-financed, government employed, union slugs spewing nonsense, but not one drop of blood. Hey union guys, this isn’t 1945, except maybe in terms of the National Debt. Back in the day, American unions used to fight so-called greedy capitalists for higher pay, greater benefits, and better working conditions, but that was then, and this is now. Today, almost all union members are government employees. What’s up with that? Who are these guys fighting against? Can American taxpayers who pay your salaries really be equated to the so-called ‘robber barons’ of the past? I don’t think so. Most of us are just fighting for survival. By us, I mean the other 88.1% of the workforce who are not union members. When a small minority (11.9% of loud-mouthed, snot-nosed, whiny, union cry babies) can impose its will upon the majority (88.1% of responsible, hard-working, non-union juiced, taxpayers) – that’ll be the day. Good luck with that fight.

Back in 1945, almost 36% of American workers were represented by unions, but according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, that number had dwindled to just 11.9% by the end of 2010. Although there has been a noted increase in the number of public employee unions since the 1960s, the decline in private-sector union membership has been most telling. If union membership was worth its weight in dues, then most of the goods that America purchases today wouldn’t be stamped “Made in China”.

At the height of union popularity in the 1940s, only about 9.8% of government slugs were represented by unions, versus 33.9% of private sector workers. However, by the end of 2010, those proportions had flipped. Today 36.2% of public workers are represented by unions while private sector union membership has plummeted to a mere 6.9%. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent survey indicates that union membership in the U.S. has fallen to just 11.9% of the total workforce.

I’m sorry, but all of you public union slugs need to shut the hell up and accept what we decide. We don’t work for you; you work for us.

References:

• http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpslutab1.htm

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States#cite_note-8