Obama World / Union Land vs. The Real World

 

The Supreme Court announced Thursday its opinion in the Knox v. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) case, ruling that the First Amendment gives state employees the right to decline to pay dues used for political advocacy by the union.

More specifically, unions in California can no longer force non-union state workers to finance political campaigns. And now the legal precedent has been set.

But how did the SEIU get away with charging non-members in the first place? Red State explains.....More at The Blaze

However, things went another direction in the Socialist Sate of Michigan...

From Macinac.org

A federal court judge ordered the State of Michigan to continue deducting dues from Medicaid checks and send it to the Service Employees International Union, in direct conflict with a state law signed in April by Gov. Rick Snyder.

If unchallenged, this would mean the so-called "home health care dues skim" would go on through February of next year...(snip)

To date, the SEIU has taken more than $30 million from the checks of so-called home health care workers. If the scheme continues to the end of February 2013, it would be about $35 million.

 

Scott Kronland argued the case for the union. He was with a small contingent representing the SEIU who traveled to Detroit from San Francisco.

 

Kronland opened his arguments by asking the court for a preliminary injunction to stop the state from ending the collection, which had been collecting in escrow since late May, and transfer the dues and fees before June 25, which would be the next scheduled date for the transfer to take place.

 

"The defendants (the state) aren't going to suffer, [if the dues flow continues]," Kronland argued. "The union, a First Amendment advocacy organization, will suffer irreparable damage."

 

Among the damages the SEIU would suffer, Kronland said, was being denied use of the money (about $3 million) during the upcoming election.

 

Wednesday's court action keeps the"skim" going despite the following:

• In 2011, the legislature defunded the dummy employer, the Michigan Quality Community Care Council, with which the union had its collective bargaining agreement.
 
• The MQC3 no longer claims it is the employer of the home health care workers.
 
• MQC3 was kept alive by SEIU funding, with its director Susan Steinke working out of her home – and restricted to three hours or less a month so she can continue to draw unemployment.
 
• This year, Michigan's legislature passed legislation designed to stop the "skim."
 
• In April, Gov. Rick Snyder signed the legislation designed to stop the "skim."
 
• In May, Attorney General Bill Schuette issued an opinion that the "skim" should be halted.

Skim Tracker

 

SEIU TAKES $31M AND COUNTING
FROM MICHIGAN HOME HELP PROGRAM PROVIDERS — OFTEN FAMILY MEMBERS

ATTORNEY GENERAL ORDERED THE STATE TO STOP TAKING MONEY ON MAY 25, 2012

$31,862,867.55

Skimmed since November 2006

$6,839,571.92

Skimmed after reaching the MI Senate in June 2011

$2,269,582.78

Skimmed after the bill was signed April 10, 2012

$1,614,600.62

Skimmed after the Attorney General
opinion May 25, 2012

Now from Chicago and the REAL WORLD where Rohm Emanuel has to face the  music, and SPENDING CUTS for a change...

 

CHICAGO – Thousands of teachers walked off the job Monday in Chicago, the third-largest U.S. school district, as city officials prepared to look after thousands of students who could end up wandering unsafe streets.

 

Some 26,000 teachers and support staff were expected to join the picket after union leaders announced they were far from resolving a contract dispute with school district officials. City officials acknowledged that children left unsupervised -- especially in neighborhoods with a history of gang violence -- might be at risk, but vowed to protect the nearly 400,000 students' safety.

Union president Karen Lewis said among the issues of concern was a new evaluation that she said would be unfair to teachers because it relied too heavily on students' standardized test scores and does not take into account external factors that affect performance, including poverty, violence and homelessness.More at Fox News

 

Also from Michigan...The Union tide keeps rolling in...

 

DETROIT (Reuters) - After suffering a string of political setbacks in the U.S. industrial heartland, organized labor hopes Michigan voters will help turn the tide in a November election by supporting a state constitutional amendment for the right to unionize.

 

The union-backed ballot proposal would make collective bargaining a constitutionally protected right and cripple efforts to pass so-called "right to work" legislation in the state. Critics say the measure, which would cover private as well as public employees, would be a "death warrant" for Michigan's economy because it would discourage businesses from bringing new jobs to Michigan and encourage some already in the state to leave.

H/T to ZIP