SEIU wins Kaiser showdown with 67% of vote

As always Randy Shaw has an informative piece on the NUHW loss to SEIU in the Kaiser election.

NUMMI reopens

Toyota has announced a joint venture with Tesla to reopen NUMMI and hire 1000 workers. While this does not reinstate the facility to its pre-closure size, it is welcome news in recession ravaged California. Previous posts about the NUMMI closure are here and here.

When is a banner a picket?

The effectiveness of union tactics depends on many factors. Take for example the bannering and leafletting of businesses to protest some union objective. Thats what the Carpenter's union is doing in this California town. The National Labor Relations Act, since Taft-Hartley, prohibits secondary picketing. Thats where a union targets a customer of the employer with whom the union has a labor dispute. Its illegal to picket a "secondary," and the NLRB can enjoin the activity and a union can be sued for damages.

ACORN dumps

Fox reports ACORN dumped sensitive documents shortly after California AG Jerry Brown announced an investigation of ACORN's activities. The private investigator who uncovered the wrongdoing claims the 20,000 documents he found show illicit activity between ACORN an bank and a union. No details were provided. It is clear, however, that much sensitive personal information was in the documents - an identity theft treasure trove.

EFCA, Canada, California and New York

A recent Pacific Research Institute piece provides a pretty good overview of the Employee Free Choice Act [EFCA] debate. It adds a couple of new thoughts. More after the jump
First it notes Governor Schwarzenegger's vetos of California legislation to allow the United Farm Workers to obtain card check certification under state labor laws. Agricultural workers are not covered by the National Labor Relations Act. Second the article notes Canadian provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia noticed "reduced investment, higher unemployment, and less job creation" after implementing card check recognition. After the provinces eliminated card check recognition and returned to secret ballot elections,  the economic losses began to reverse. No data or source is cited for these opinions.
As we previously blogged there is significant hostility to card check in Quebec where it still is in use. It would seem more review of the Canadian experience, supported by factual data, and not just rhetoric, could be helpful in the debate. Similarly, the New York public sector experience previously blogged here also should be considered.