The OTHER SC Ruling...Union Slap Down

[BBQcopter]

No one cares about the other SCOTUS ruling 4 days ago?  

By a 5-4 vote, the justices ruled in Harris v. Quinn that home health care workers in Illinois cannot be compelled to financially support a union they don’t wish to join. Illinois is one of 26 states that require public-sector workers — such as firefighters, police officers and teachers — to pay partial dues, often known as “agency fees,” to the unions that negotiate their contracts and represent them in grievances, even if the employees find the union’s advocacy work distasteful.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/supreme-court-harris-v-quinn-ruling-108428.html#ixzz36DxM6QYY


To which I say:  Fantastic.  And bravo to Ms. Harris for taking on Goliath.  The court has been ruling very narrowly lately, but this is another chink in the armor of Big Union thuggery.  


What ya all say?

[keyscore44]

Personally think unions are vital in protecting workers rights, living wage etc but it should be optional to pay dues. Seems a bit counter-productive to force non-members to pay.

[noviapriani]

If they don't want to join the union, there should be two pay scales:  The one the union negotiates for its union members and the one the rest of the workforce negotiates for themselves.  They should not benefit from being freeloaders.  If an individual can go in and negotiate a comparable wage, have at it.  If you find you don't have the leverage behind you to negotiate a similar wage and benefits package, too bad for you.  You (should) get what you pay for.

I swear the right will not be happy until there is no middle class left.

[DrG]

If they don't want to join the union, there should be two pay scales:  The one the union negotiates for its union members and the one the rest of the workforce negotiates for themselves.  They should not benefit from being freeloaders.  If an individual can go in and negotiate a comparable wage, have at it.  If you find you don't have the leverage behind you to negotiate a similar wage and benefits package, too bad for you.  You (should) get what you pay for.

I swear the right will not be happy until there is no middle class left.

Don't know what state you're working in.  Here's in CA almost 1/2 of the unionized workers make over 100K/year which is well above the median income.  This includes clerical positions, cops, firefighters, longshoremen, sewage maintenance, county clerks, teachers and nurses.

That may be why the state is losing industry after industry. 

Aerospace - gone to TX and WA
Hollywood - gone to Canada and every other world city except LA
Automotive design - Tesla is the only thing left.  Honda, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, and GM have pretty much left.
Technology - the only thing propping up this state beside agriculture.  When this leaves party is over

For some reason seeing the children who had to eat semen covered cookies from Miramonte school doesn't make me feel like unions have people's interests at heart.

[sana8410]

What I say is that these workers will be singing a different tune down the road when they discover REAL thuggery in the form of corporate abuse of workers and an inability for them to get fair salaries and working conditions even though they have distinct skills. The pendulum has swung too far back. Unions were created because American industrialists treated workers like shit, and they banded together. Eventually, the Unions became the same kind of monster they started out to fight - full of corruption and greed, and there was a backlash. Now we're starting to swing back toward the conditions that existed when they got started. Unions will be back. Unions will be back. Bet on it.

[BBQcopter]

If they don't want to join the union, there should be two pay scales:  The one the union negotiates for its union members and the one the rest of the workforce negotiates for themselves.  They should not benefit from being freeloaders.  If an individual can go in and negotiate a comparable wage, have at it.  If you find you don't have the leverage behind you to negotiate a similar wage and benefits package, too bad for you.  You (should) get what you pay for.

I swear the right will not be happy until there is no middle class left.

And the left wont be happy til every citizen is compelled to have a Govt Union worker wipe your butts.

[umair127]

This was a mother who was taking care of her own son in her own home and was not being 'paid' at all. The money involved was a $1,300 monthly Medicaid check that didn't even cover his expenses, much less 'pay' his mother a salary! But the SEIU (yeah, the same thug union that backed Obama and was created by the same asshole who created ACORN!) was making her pay $90 a month in union dues, due to a state law passed by union-loving Democrat assholes! And of course, this was in Obama's Illinois, home of crooked Chicago politics.

[DrG]

What I say is that these workers will be singing a different tune down the road when they discover REAL thuggery in the form of corporate abuse of workers and an inability for them to get fair salaries and working conditions even though they have distinct skills. The pendulum has swung too far back. Unions were created because American industrialists treated workers like shit, and they banded together. Eventually, the Unions became the same kind of monster they started out to fight - full of corruption and greed, and there was a backlash. Now we're starting to swing back toward the conditions that existed when they got started. Unions will be back. Unions will be back. Bet on it.

Unions haven't left... how can they be back?

They are still the single largest contributor to the Democratic ticket.  With money comes power...Trumka is more powerful than most Congressional reps.  He goes to the White House every 3 days on average, almost as much as Beyonce!  

[BBQcopter]

 Alito cited a “bedrock principle that, except perhaps in the rarest of circumstances, no person in this country may be compelled to subsidize speech by a third party that he or she does not wish to support.”

I laughed when I heard that on the news. Now that corporations have religion as part of their speech. Can it be said that no one can be compelled to subsidize that speech?

So if you don't agree with that religion, you could quit working for that corporation, and go draw unemployment benefits???


Laugh out Fn loud.


RAREST CIRCUMSTANCE ALERT!!

[umair127]

What I say is that these workers will be singing a different tune down the road when they discover REAL thuggery in the form of corporate abuse of workers and an inability for them to get fair salaries and working conditions even though they have distinct skills. The pendulum has swung too far back. Unions were created because American industrialists treated workers like shit, and they banded together. Eventually, the Unions became the same kind of monster they started out to fight - full of corruption and greed, and there was a backlash. Now we're starting to swing back toward the conditions that existed when they got started. Unions will be back. Unions will be back. Bet on it.

Now do any of you still think the Court made a bad call after reading the real story? Should an unpaid mom taking care of her very ill son in her own home have to join a fucking thug union like SEIU and pay them dues?

Since it was such an obvious union abuse of power, the mainstream media either said nothing about it at all or omitted the real reasons for the suit. That's what people get for relying on the liberal media...half-truths and cover-ups.

[BBQcopter]

The understatement of the year.  This isn't even about corporations and wages blah blah blah.  This is a PUBLIC SECTOR union sucking money from Medicaid checks. 


I swear, these sheeple must enjoy being screwed by their sacred cows.   

[umair127]

The understatement of the year.  This isn't even about corporations and wages blah blah blah.  This is a PUBLIC SECTOR union sucking money from Medicaid checks. 


I swear, these sheeple must enjoy being screwed by their sacred cows.   

And not just any public sector union! This is Obama's own SEIU, the same one that he represented as a lawyer, and the same one that his buddy Wade Rathke (creator of Obama's ACORN) founded! This is the same criminal union that beat up the black guy who was handing out 'Don't tread on Me" flags in St Louis during Obama's first campaign. This is the sort of low class, unskilled thug union (like the Teamsters) that gives a bad name to the skilled union trades like carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc.

[noviapriani]

Yes, there is that:
SEIU Union Is Top Spender for Democrats - WSJ
Big Labor's Investment in Obama Pays Off | RealClearPolitics
yet another example, just like Hobby Lobby, how Big Money is the beneficiary of Big Gov every time but the leftwing sheep just chew the cud.

[sana8410]

Read all about it in the only news coverage I could find that tells us the whole story!


I'm not sure what YOU'RE talking about but what the decision refers to is privately contracted PAs (Personal Assistants) that Medicaid pays for working poor to hire to help them out with child care. That's from the actual Supreme Court web site on the decision. Or do you think FOX News knows more than the Court about their ruling?

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/11-681_j426.pdf\

I read the FOX report. When one reads the decision and all the background, it's clear that what this family essentially did was to 'hire from within". Again, the check from Medicaid is not ostensibly for the care of the child - or in this case, an disabled adult - but rather a specific amount provided to pay for a home health care assistant. In this case, the family actually hired the mother, herself to do the job (I guess it's legal, since the state didn't tell them they couldn't do it).  Like I said, I read the actual decision, and it's very clear what it is about - hired assistants. I can't even see that as being applicable to The Harris family unless they did what I described - hired the mother. I could have missed something and I welcome someone pointing it out if I did.

[noviapriani]

You don't say...you mean like we just said?    And that has what to do with blubberings about corporate abuse and wages?   

[umair127]

Well, let's assume that you're right and the Medicare check covered her 'wages' for taking care of her son. That's a round the clock, 7 days per week job. If she get's 'paid' $1210.00 a month ($90 is taken out for SEIU!), that's less than $3 per hour. Is that the SEIU union scale? If not, where's her fucking SEIU union wages? If she paid dues to SEIU (and she did!), why didn't they demand she be paid union scale?

And since when do union members also have to foot the bill for all the other patient needs, like housing, food, medicine, clothes, etc.?

The Supreme Court obviously ruled correctly. Just admit it and move on.

[noviapriani]

Ms. Harris was contracted by her son to be his caregiver...and yes, it is perfectly legal under Medicaid and in fact encouraged.  What better situation than for the mother to be the caregiver for such a low wage...it isn't likely to attract the best quality workers.   Ops point about this "not covering his expenses" is true in that sense...the REAL cost of caring for his kid is not covered by this but rather offset somewhat by paying his mom. 

Essentially SEIU was profiteering off poor folks and tax payer dollars, to put money into the pockets of Dems in their endless circle jerk,  as per usual. 

[umair127]

Ms. Harris was contracted by her son to be his caregiver...and yes, it is perfectly legal under Medicaid and in fact encouraged.  What better situation than for the mother to be the caregiver for such a low wage...it isn't likely to attract the best quality workers.   Ops point about this "not covering his expenses" is true in that sense...the REAL cost of caring for his kid is not covered by this but rather offset somewhat by paying his mom. 

Essentially SEIU was profiteering off poor folks and tax payer dollars, to put money into the pockets of Dems in their endless circle jerk,  as per usual. 

Also, for the record, this set up is ripe for fraud at all levels.  One could, for example, become a caregiver for an aging parent on SS at night during the sleeping hours, and still work as a caregiver for someone else during the day under the table.  This would also make the caregiver eligible for Obamacare through Medicare subsidies.

[umair127]

This is one of the problem with both entitlements and an aging population.  It is very expensive to hire someone for invalid/eldercare through an agency ($25 to $50/hr here...and they usually only get minimum wage or so), so it is mutually beneficial all the way around to exploit the system and pay someone $10-$15 under the table.  SEIU taking their cut from entitlements is just one more element.

[sana8410]

Well, let's assume that you're right and the Medicare check covered her 'wages' for taking care of her son. That's a round the clock, 7 days per week job. If she get's 'paid' $1210.00 a month ($90 is taken out for SEIU!), that's less than $3 per hour. Is that the SEIU union scale? If not, where's her fucking SEIU union wages? If she paid dues to SEIU (and she did!), why didn't they demand she be paid union scale?

And since when do union members also have to foot the bill for all the other patient needs, like housing, food, medicine, clothes, etc.?

The Supreme Court obviously ruled correctly. Just admit it and move on.

No, Umair, the stipend from Medicare is NOT supposed to be for 24/7 care. That's why I wonder why they're even allowing it to be paid to the mother. it's meant to provide for payment to an assistant to take a little pressure OFF the mother. What part of "Home Health Care ASSISTANT" boggles you so very much?