Business

Michigan Unions Use Astro-Turf Protests to Intimidate Businesses

Thanks to one carpenters union (the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters), some areas in Michigan can report an increase in manufacturing.  Just one small problem here, they are manufacturing only:

  • Threats
  • Intimidation
  • Protest signs

Imagine that you are a business owner and the local union demands that you reveal the private payroll data of your 120 non-union employees within a week.  If you choose not to answer this demand, the union will consider you to be obviously “paying substandard wages and benefits.”

In addition to that proclamation from the Union, your customers will be notified by mail that a labor dispute exists between the union and your company and that any job sites where you have contract to perform work will be subjected to protests in the form of ‘bannering’ and the distribution of leaflets.

Got it?

  • The union has targeted a non-union business.
  • They demand that the business allow the union to examine private payroll records, or else.
  • Customers of the business are also targeted with on-site protests with banners and picket lines (often staffed with non-union day labor being paid less than union wages and not afforded health benefits).

This has happened, and in fact is an ongoing story.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, has brought to light the attempted strong-arm tactics of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters in a story by Ken Braun.

Video #1 offers the overview of the story:

Video #2 backs up the charge that the Carpenters Union is using astro-turf tactics, hiring non-union day laborers, paying these workers less than union wages and not offering benefits.

The unions should note that the unemployment rate in Michigan (from where this story originates) is still sitting at 11.3%, almost 2 1/2 points higher than the national average.

Michigan Unions Use Astro Turf Protests to Intimidate Businesses

According to a statistic quoted in the Mackinac Center piece, more than 78% of the carpenters in Michigan are non-union workers, and the company under attack claims their 120 employees have not complained about wages, benefits or employer treatment. This appears to be nothing more than union bullying.

Comments (138)

1 2 3 4
  • BrerRabbit
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:41am

    I avoid the union label!

    Report Post »  
  • hempstead1944
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:37am

    How fast can someone move out of Michigan? A once proud State has become nothing more than a union brothel……

    Report Post »  
    • snidley-whiplash
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 10:25am

      No need to move…..just give them more rope. You know the outcome!
      Oops I left 3 years ago.

      Report Post » snidley-whiplash  
  • streetrodder
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:35am

    I wonder if the union will release the records of non union companys that make more money than union companys. Will the union workers get a raise?

    Report Post »  
  • Taxpayer550
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:30am

    “This appears to be nothing more than union bullying.”

    Didn’t Obama just do a workshop on bullying?

    Report Post » Taxpayer550  
  • shellmen
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:19am

    In my part of the country the unions have been using nonunion pickets for years and paying them minimum wages and no benifits. Sounds like a bunch of communist liberals who like to give away OTHER peoples money but when it comes to their money thats a different story.

    Report Post »  
  • quarter horseman
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:18am

    I will never buy a new GM or Chrysler but I will pre owned. I have not baught new or wanted to because of the unions, I am from MI and see all the lazyness unions have created and will not support them ever! Unions hade there place and time but now are way over due for an overhaul.

    Report Post » quarter horseman  
  • TwoLazy
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:18am

    Does anyone else think that thug in the first video looks similar to the one in the video of the thug that shoved the Freedom Works lady a week or so ago?

    Maybe not, one union thug looks pretty much like any other union thug. What the world needs now is one more usefull idiot.

    Report Post » TwoLazy  
  • blackcatrun
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:13am

    Wow thats is pure harrassement. Successful company to by the looks of it. Looks like the employees are well equiped fast clean and very well manored. Must be very cost effective as well. If the companys doing well that means they do the job right. Seems those businesses using that nonunion company are not paying much attention the banners and the works gets DONE dispite the attempts to stop them.

    I would like to see the other side presented too. Just what does the customer think of the union contracters they hire? I have a hunch they are WAY more expencive, rude,slow. That could be the tip of the iceburge. If the ranks are thinning out for the carpenters union it can only be a nonunion is out competeing the unions in every aspect of the free market.

    Report Post »  
  • Moment of Clarity
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:13am

    and then unions wonder why they are hated

    Report Post »  
  • daddy warbucks
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:06am

    Essentially forcing businesses to ‘pay for protection’, where’s Elliot Ness?

    At least these union greedy failure parasite collective thuggery morons are getting a lot of exposure

    Report Post »  
  • ThomasUSA
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:04am

    Time to make a Union Black List – Stop supporting Union Businesses – I for one will never own a GM, or Chrysler product again. While we were bailing their Aces out of bankruptcy, they would not negotiate for temporary concessions while they dug their way out of the hole they dug. Screw the Unions!

    Report Post » ThomasUSA  
  • jedi.kep
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:02am

    The worthless tactics of stupid union people. Ignore the pests and they will go away and get a job.

    Report Post » jedi.kep  
    • chickenlittle
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 10:49am

      No they won’t go away, and you better start believing that. And the leaders aren’t stupid, they are evil. Sticking your head in the sand is not gonna change anything.

      Report Post » chickenlittle  
  • MASSACHUSETTS MILITIA
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:01am

    Perhaps RICO could be used against these thugs.

    Report Post »  
  • alrunner58
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:59am

    Small businesses need to banned together against these thugs. Attorney general would be the first step.

    Report Post » alrunner58  
    • chickenlittle
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 10:44am

      They ARE supposedly banded (banned?) together with the NFIB association… I was a member 30+ years ago. Unfortunately, they simply do not have the fund raising “machine” in place that the unions do. They can only get their funds through donations and from business owners, thus do not have the real influence to buy the politicians, which is what has always been needed. The Chamber of Commerce is also supposed to be a pro-independent business, but in most cases I have my doubts… as in most local situations they are up to their eyeballs in political maneuvering. Both lobbying groups are not up to the union’s ability to use thuggery and paid political support to be much use against the government (state, local & federal)… which (as is noted many places here) is the real source of the divide. As long as all that dues money can be collected and spent without the consent or the knowledge of the union members as to where it goes, they have no political equal.

      Report Post » chickenlittle  
  • kenpon
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:56am

    Google or otherwise-

    Scores of Union Leaders Earn Six-Figure Salaries

    http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=32076&pageid=37&pa­­gename=Page+One

    $173,000 at United Auto Workers to $618,000 at Laborers’ International Union of North America and $480,000 for president of American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

    The latter is the tgt

    Union members and supporters are being taken for a ride with their own ‘willing suspension of disbelief’

    Companies that are having this problem with unions should file charges against this type action for defamation and libel which it looks like the companies could prove false in a court of law

    And then sue these unions; especially the bosses !

    Defamation – also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander (for transitory statements) and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words – is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. It is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant)

    Report Post »  
  • Your Name Here
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:48am

    Ii think it’s time to ABOLISH all unions.
    At the same time we need to have some way to address the employee issue.
    I have worked in a few places where the owners are outright crooks and there is nothing you can do about it that will change things.
    We need a solution that will allow people to be treated fairly but that does not pander to lazy people.
    Maybe we could go after the union in this story using the RICO laws.
    This whole story has the smell of racketeering from the union against anyone they don’t like.

    Report Post » Your Name Here  
  • michael48
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:42am

    If known, I don‘t deal with lib’s….and will not even offer bids to union shops or manufactures….hell, they’re always late in completion and you can make book on cost over runs….unions are absoluetly WORTHLESS ….and as evidenced recently…willing to PROVE IT !!!!!!!!

    Report Post »  
  • ChiefMac
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:39am

    What happened to the Obozos? I thought they were against bullying? Can we expect a news conference this afternoon?

    Report Post » ChiefMac  
  • ADNIL
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:38am

    If this doesn’t show the evil intent of the union bosses (notice I didn’t say workers, they are like milk-cows) I don’t know what does. It is time to end this ‘Soprano’ style of negotiations once and for all. I urge those who are standing up against the PUBLIC sector unions to stand firm. I also suggest the PRIVATE sector unions stay out of it. It isn’t their fight, but if they want, they’ll be taken down, too, with new legislation that is bound to be written. It’s gonna get uglier, I’m sure of it. CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, UN ITE!

    Report Post »  
  • awall1231
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:36am

    Unions served their purpose when they began many years ago, but those days are over! Today they are nothing more than a pyramid scam.

    Report Post » awall1231  
  • BBReggie
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:33am

    Sounds illegal to me, but I’m no lawyer. They should file a complaint with the Federal Labor Relations Board.

    Report Post »  
  • kickagrandma
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:33am

    Why all the concern with our schools and ousting bullies, when that’s ALL the unions are?

    I hope that people coerced into the union memberships are getting out in droves like many of us older folks did with aarp when we realized whose they are. They are NOT working FOR AMERICA or for you!!!
    If you haven’t already gotten out, do. Now.

    Report Post »  
  • dizzyinthedark
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:26am

    Let them protest, the crybabies!

    Their protests won’t stop me!

    Whatabunchofschoolyardbullies!

    Report Post » dizzyinthedark  
  • olddog
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:24am

    Unions have left a bad image in america. I personally will not buy anything produced by a union unless there’s absolutely no choice. I think conservatives of america should boycott union products, now.

    Report Post » olddog  
    • wildjoker5
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:42am

      That is a great idea. TEA party to start boycotting union work places that are causing friction between emplyer/eployee. If there was only a list of what unions are corrupt and which ones still try to get equallity without vilifying the management.

      Report Post »  
    • the iceman
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:44am

      That’s exactly how I feel. I avoid union made items, only hire non-union labor, and will do everything I can to keep my dollars out of union pockets.

      Report Post »  
    • DVT
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:58am

      Excellent idea!

      Report Post »  
    • lillianrose
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:01am

      We are buying american as much as possible, avoiding “made in china” products and trying to figure out what all is not union made. It is really hard but I think if this really catches on and people keep telling business owners to please stock “made in usa” items it will make a big difference.

      Report Post »  
    • progressiveslayer
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:55am

      I think that’s a great idea,boycott union businesses whenever possible.

      Report Post » progressiveslayer  
    • Jojowisc
      Posted on March 16, 2011 at 12:18pm

      There was an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal from a retired union gentleman who used to work in the car industry. He indicated that he went to many school parking lots to look at the model cars that were in the parking lot. Over 60% were foreign made and not make in the USA. These people can talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. What phonies.

      Report Post »  
  • grandmaof5
    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:14am

    Sounds like harassment and something the attorney general of Michigan should look into and put a stop to ASAP. Sounds like Barry has sent his thugs out to spread the love. I wonder, when are the union members going to rise up and say “enough is enough, quit wasting our dues at your whim”. Which unions are headed up by minorities? Sounds like the balance of power is not balanced!

    Report Post »  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:21am

      Grandmaof5

      Agree fully with you, under most statutes on the books this qualifies as pure extortion and many types of intimidation; these cases need to be investigated thoroughly and where enough evidence is found, prosecuted to the fullest. These union thugs and assassins need to be stopped here and now before someone gets killed…and the way their protests have been going, it seems only a matter of time before one or more union hired goons goes on a rampage against the store owners and those who oppose the unions.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • Moocephus
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:33am

      Harrasment and just an example of their Thug-ocracy and gang mentality. Never one to stand on their own feet. Has ANY union ever been brought about honorably? NO. Violence, intimidation, coersion, and a loud chant are their weapons and face it Blazers, they’ve had more practice using their tools than we have.

      Report Post » Moocephus  
    • wildjoker5
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:36am

      Being part of a union seems to be a way to be doubled taxed. And these people complain about not taxing the rich enough. Does the union bosses get taxed for what they recieve from the union dues or are they getting paid like clergy or off the books? I don’t see how someone making $70k/year breaking their backs would want to pay someone $500k/year to just travel around making touble?

      Report Post »  
    • cheezwhiz
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:41am

      I knew something was up when Hussain read a speech on bullying.
      Its like the time he read that speech on civility.
      I wonder what he will unleash on us when he reads a speech on non-violence

      Report Post » cheezwhiz  
    • getperks
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:46am

      Republican Governors need to limit unions all at the same time and in the middle of winter. The weather will limit the number of people willing to stand outside all day and passing legislation at the same time will spread out all the astro-turf thin.

      Last thing we need are beach chairs, t-shirt booths and “fun day” at the protests.

      Report Post » getperks  
    • Just_Bubba
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:47am

      There are enough hungry carpenters in MI to keep the labor at a fair market value. The union is pi$$ed because if you subtract the dues from a union guy’s pay, it is the same as the guy who is supposedly getting screwed. What a joke they are. Only the lazy like unions and it’s a fact that a person who works hard will ALWAYS outearn his Union counterpart. Reward for performance versus time served is the simple difference. Unions are a scam in modern day…period. Workers rights are now protected by the infinite number of Federal Agencies that the Progressives have created. There is no longer a need for Union representation; the nanny takes care of us now.

      They realize that without new members they can’t fund the promises they have made and already paid for (with the sheeples dues).

      Report Post » Just_Bubba  
    • grandmaof5
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 7:56am

      How come we can see what is going on and stand up for union members being used and abused but they won’t stand up for themselves. They have to have the numbers to overthrow the union bosses and replace them with someone who really has their best interest at heart.
      SNOW, do you sleep? Read a late (or should I say early AM) post this morning and here you are again. Toothpicks holding your eyes open?

      Report Post »  
    • BIGJAYINPA
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:08am

      Who are you kidding?? The elected officaials in Michigan are a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Labor. And don’t look for relief from local law enforcement, they will stand with their Union brothers. We are so screwed unless we start standing up for ourselves and fighting back.

      Report Post » BIGJAYINPA  
    • BreeZee
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:14am

      It’s time for unions to go bye-bye. Once they were needed and useful now they are a waste of money and an abuse of power. What gives them the right to tell ANY BUSINESS what to do. I come from a union family and hate the unions. Union workers are lazy over paid waaaa babies. Their workers are no more skilled than non union people. I carry the same state license as a union member and passed the same state test to obtain that license. Unions are over rated.

      Report Post »  
    • ishka4me
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:26am

      afl cio, afscme, seiu are drinking champagne in limosines with connecticuts democrat governor, house and senate. connecticut democrats are taking more union rights from connecticut union workers then wisconsin, indiana and ohio combined, but the union thugs in connecticut remain silent and party up with the democrats in charge. proof that these uprisings are not for workers or middle class but to take power.

      Report Post »  
    • Cobra Blue
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 8:39am

      Does this really surpirse anyone on this web site? I mean really? How about business owners practicing Self-Reliance by defending themselves from the mafia…I mean the unions. Same difference. The progressives have no respect for the law and break them with impunity. So why yell for the AG in Wisconsin? FOLKS. HELLO….this is only going to get worse so long as the OTHER SIDE sees we will do absolutely nothing but cry fowl and threaten a lawsuit. The last thing the Progressives and their union thugs are scared of is a lawsuit. They make the rules as they go. Give me a Flippin break.

      Report Post »  
    • Hugh Williams
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 9:20am

      This is more of the leftist practice of fear and intimidation. The war with the left has begun people! The leftist have declares war on Capitalism and Democracy. Everyone must wake up because the left will not stop. The left never stops and will keep doing this type of things until they destroy Capitalism and turn everyone into slaves of the state.

      Report Post » Hugh Williams  
    • vidyohs
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 9:43am

      CobraBlue is correct. No surprise here. I agree that non-union businesses should be prepared to defend their business; however, there is one small problem and that is that long ago the government was taken over by the looney left and now sides with the thugs. When is the last time you heard of a union thug being sought, investigated, arrested, tried, and convicted of assault on non-union workers?

      If you’re going to fight the unions and use their tactics, be prepared to see the government joining the fight on the union side.

      Report Post »  
    • NeoFan
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 10:12am

      Its time to outlaw unions and put the organizers in prison. Do not buy any product produced with union labor. Do not rent a house or apartment to a union member. We already pay them by force of the government through taxes.

      Report Post »  
    • My-Hero-is-Allen West
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 10:36am

      My last post was removed when posting about the UNION/MOBBERESTERS. They are nothing more than bully mobster types who use intimidation and extortion to make companies pay them. This is no different than the mob making business pay “protection” money.

      Why is everyone so scared to say what is the truth and be willing to go toe to toe with the damn thieves who call themselves average Americans just trying to make a living? The are not who they claim to be! Time to outlaw organized labor as it has out lived it’s usefulness. They threaten I say give it right back to them!

      Report Post » My Hero-Allen West-click my name  
    • snidley-whiplash
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 10:37am

      Gof5 check it out…….all about the thugs.

      http://douglasjmccarron.blogspot.com/
      http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/527/michigan_regional_council_of_carpenters.asp?spg=4
      http://www.carpenters.org/Home.aspx

      Report Post » snidley-whiplash  
    • drbage
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 11:43am

      I agree and would add that this is probably one of the few areas where the O and his cronies are practicing their campaign promised “transparency.” I would think that this would also fall under the definition of harassment in the EEOC law and should definitely be investigated, but then again the unions might fall under Folder Holder’s classification of “my people.” Further, IF they union carpenters in Michigan are so busy and gainfully employed, who exactly will be doing the picketing? What is the going union rate for a paid picketer? Do picketers have to pay union dues? Is this how the unions are helping bring down the unemployment rate in Michigan and elsewhere?

      Report Post »  
    • watchtheotherhand
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 12:17pm

      What we are seeing are desperate measures by desperate people because the finances, influence, and power unions have historically wielded in recent times is closely tied to the success and ability of left leaning politicians to get elected and then stay in power. This then feeds the incestuous relationship with kick backs and favored positions for union leadership in a sick symbiotic preservation of power that is completely self-serving for both parties. Of course the average Joe worker is caught in the middle of this exploitative situation, and when it is threatened they make a very nice and sincere “ready to arms” force that is all to willing to thwart its dismantling. All under the deception that the politicians and union leaders have an altruistic concern for their welfare and position in life. When will people wake up to their own exploitation and manipulation by those selling modern day “snake oil” in the reformed package of, “let me take care of you and look out for your welfare, just give me the authority to do it”? It is the power and money their positions provide for them that they care about ! Not other people.

      Report Post » SLEAZYHIPPOs ILLEGITIMATE OFFSPRING  
    • Cobra Blue
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 12:19pm

      VIDYOHS

      You are absolutely correct. The government sides with the unions. The government and unions are one. A distinction without a difference. Whether it is union thugs or government hinchman or a combination of the two, to stem this tide of oppressive government will require a confrontation…and I’m not talking about electoral or legal…to think otherwise is non-reality thinking. The Progressives are enrtrenched and emboldened and bent on taking over the country. They will not be denied. Right now they realize WE THE PEOPLE have no stomach for any confrontation. Not yet anyway.

      Report Post »  
    • indy1
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 12:34pm

      Remember the good old days when the Democrats and their lib media accused the Tea Party of Astroturfing?

      Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 12:38pm

      Having lived in Michigan most of my life (escaping a few years ago) this does not surprise me in the least .. in fact it is operation as usual for the union thugs.

      Report Post »  
    • ablisterin
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 12:47pm

      Unions are so good at driving jobs out of the country, aren’t they?

      Report Post »  
    • restorehope
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 12:53pm

      The taxpayers in Wisconsin should see this story and then re-evaluate backing any union in their own state. This is how unions operate and a prime example of why their power needs to be diminished. You cannot let yourself get all warm and fuzzy with pity for the union workers because their evil bosses are taking all of you (including the union workers) for a ride.

      Report Post »  
    • independentvoteril
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 3:35pm

      For some reason there is NO sound on these video’s but from the captions I see it is EXACTLY what I have been saying all along only this one has proof.. OBAMA’S unions have been doing this right along.. I encounter them at a health care protest where there was someone to sign them in.. give them name tags and were issued a sign.. I confronted the guy doing it.. he lied and said they made their own signs even though afterward HE collected them all and they were all professionally printed..This is just how OBAMA got elected.. HIRING college kids to attend his rally’s the job was posted in dorms and paid something like 9.16 an hour.. He didn’t get the YOUTH vote.. say for a few.. he got ADULTS to beleive via their kids.. you would be surprised how many were NOT even looking at who he was and voted for him cause he drew large crowds.. I don’t blame those protesting for cash they NEED the money nor 90% of the members who NEED their jobs.. I blame the UNION BOSSES who are again stealing the dues of it’s members for propaganda and power

      Report Post » independentvoteril  
    • PAlibertybelle
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 4:00pm

      Hasn’t Michigan suffered enough at the hands of the unions. For goodness sake, look at how many lives they’ve destroyed in the city of Detroit alone. How much more evidence do we need? When are people going to stop tolerating these thug tactics.

      Report Post »  
    • Journeywoman
      Posted on March 14, 2011 at 4:48pm

      When you read a poll and the numbers add up to something like 77%, union rank and file make up most of the missing 23%. Where I work, the rank and file work 10-12hrs/day, 6-7 days/wk. They don’t discuss politics. They don’t watch the news. They don’t have time. We are the bottom of an upside-down pyramid. We support a bloated union-management bureaucracy. We’ve got union appointees literally coming out of our butts. THESE are the people who are causing all of the trouble (along with the “hired hands”). The rest of us are at work paying for them.
      Unfortunately, those of us in the know (especially those of us with less than 5 yrs to go) can’t take the risk of losing it all at this point.
      I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you know a union member, talk to them, inform them. They will be receptive to basic economic arguments (they, after all, are taxpayers too), but it must be done outside of the workplace because the walls have eyes and ears on the inside of the workplace.

      Report Post »  
    • Dictatorship
      Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:01am

      When we need to be protected FROM the unions,
      It is time to get rid of the unions.

      Report Post »  
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