Betrayal : How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics

Rating:
Summary: "On The Waterfront" -- circa 2004
Review: A book the union leaders would rather you didn't read!

Few teachers, for instance, are fully aware of just how political teachers' unions have become over the years and how their own hard-earned money--paid out each month in membership dues--fuels the partisan political machine that the National Education Association(NEA), for example, has converted itself into. Other major unions have gone down the same road.

As the authors lay out in chilling detail, the union movement in general no longer fights for better and safer working conditions for its members--but rather for revenues and political power. The continued inflow of dues money has become an obsession at union headquarters, and what they're able to do with this mountain of wealth and just how they go about it makes for unsettling reading.

A riveting look at behind-the-scenes American politics.

Rating:
Summary: Empty Diatribe--Not much new here
Review: Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics, by Linda Chavez and Daniel Gray, Crown Forum, NY, 2004

Chavez and Gray give us an overview of unions in politics, but the treatment is a shallow anti-union diatribe with very little new insight. They announce that unions are a major force in Democratic politics, and that they spend members funds and expend much effort to select and elect candidates that support their views. This basic thought is stretched to 233 pages, plus footnotes.

Most of us would agree that unions are a special interest group. They work for their membership in a variety of ways, including working for better legislation. That legislation in many cases benefits all of us who work for a paycheck. Still excessive power can allow unions to strangle economic activity. Union executives may dress and act like blue collar workers, but many enjoy six figure salaries. Members funds allow ample opportunity for corruption and participation of organized crime. Public employees unions are especially onerous. Unions select and elect their own candidates and then effectively negotiate their contracts with themselves leaving taxpayers to pay the bill. The bottom line is unions are useful to society, but union power must be limited.

Chavez goes the next step and labels unions liberals. Still it is the labor segment of the Democrats that Carl Rove split so effectively with issues like gun control, abortion, gay marriage, and women's rights. These are issues favored by the liberal wing of the Democrats but often opposed by individual workers. Hence, one would better describe labor as conservative Democrats. Labor does have deep socialist roots. There are still those who support protecting the working man from the ravages of capitalism and redistribution of wealth to accomplish that. But following the economic collapse of the Soviet Union, you would think those ideas are an anachronism.

The book ends with eight ideas to limit the power of unions. There is not much new here. Audit union books. Allow workers more chances not to join the union or to oppose union political contributions. Overturn prevailing wage laws.

I would rate this book as a waste. It is strongly biased and not very convincing. It could have been written twenty years ago. Union power must be limited, but the book offers no exciting new ideas on how to accomplish that. Index.

Rating:
Summary: The root of the problem
Review: Henry David Thoreau gave a clear-eyed description of politics and life (as well as inspired the name of one of my favorite web sites) when he wrote, "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." Today, for all the seeming thousands of books hacking at Haliburton, Big Oil, swift boats, who-lied-about-what, and all the other leafy branches of American politics, at least one book has finally struck at the root: The massive and growing Big Labor political empire.

In another memorable quote, Thomas Jefferson once said something along the lines that "To force a man to pay for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." "Betrayal," by Linda Chavez and Daniel Gray, is the story of how this sin and tyranny has come to be visited on us through the government-granted power of forced unionism, and how all of American politics has been twisted as a result. Indeed, from the presidency to local school boards, it's hard to find any political arena where the forced-dues-fueled Big Labor political machine isn't a -- or *the* -- most significant power.

In fact, Big Labor's political power dwarfs that of corporations, the various "special interests," and even the political parties themselves. The authors give us chapter and verse, figures, footnotes, and lots of disturbing stories. The special legal privileges enjoyed by Big Labor, up to and including immunity from prosecution for committing acts of violence, should be especially disturbing to anyone who believes in a level playing field.

It's a shame that this book probably won't get the attention it deserves. Anyone who doubts that the political game is by and large a fixed one needs to open these pages and discover that far more than Big Oil, Skull and Bones, or various other alleged Illuminati "running the country," the hands really pulling the strings belong to the labor union bosses.


Rating:
Summary: The book reveals the union thuggery
Review: I came from a household that lived and breathed unionism. My grandfather was a union member in the South when it was tough to organize there. We had to have a union label on food, clothes or whatever we bought. My grandfather fought with lead pipes and other means to defeat scabs, as he called them. However he feared the day that his beloved AFofL would become like the CIO and he died in 1945. I am glad that he did not see his union taken over by thugs. My father was a member of the Railroad engineers union. He changed his mind about unions before he died in 1984 and swore to always vote Republican. However he voted Democrat for five years after his death before I had his name purged from the voting list. Unions don't mean the same today and Linda Chavez really makes the point.

Rating:
Summary: Quite revealing but few surprises
Review: I came from a union family. We loved FDR. Our bread and clothes had to have the union label. However my grandfather was an old AFL trade union plumber. The union had an active program of apprenticship that garanteed a qualified worker through written and practical tests. My grandfather dispised the CIO that he did not live to see them join with the AFofL as he called it. He also had owned his own business which he lost in the Great Depression. His favorite quote "If you hire a union man he will make money for your business." This is no longer the case. Unions have gone boom and bust. I am sure that the unions have become too strong in the political realm and not caring about the quality of workmanship or the improvement of the plight of the business person. I admire the courage of Linda Chavez because many of these union thugs are dangerous. I refused to join or pay dues to the NEA union here and I was almost shunned by other teachers. However our state has a right to work law. I am a Republican and I did not want to donate to left wing Democrats. I used to be a Democrat before I served in the military during the Vietnam war and the Dems produced jerks like J.F. Kerry. Many teachers are too timid to refuse entry into this sordid union.

Rating:
Summary: Must read - union agenda is frightening
Review: I found this book to be very informative.

Everyone should read this book especially if you are a union member. The extent to which union bosses are using members's dues to corrupt the political system are very disturbing.

Contrary to what one reviewer posted, Linda Chavez cites a variety of sources including union publications.



Rating:
Summary: Unions: The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Review: Linda Chavez and Daniel Gray tell a shocking account of how unions in the U.S. have ironically gotten more powerful despite their membership numbers falling. The root of union power and political influence comes from the very people they claim to defend and protect: workers. In most states, union dues are forced out of workers' checks without consent. Only a small percentage of those dues are used on bargaining or other worker related activities. The bulk of dues go directly to political activity, almost exclusively to Democratic candidates for office. Forced use of dues wouldn't be so bad except that many workers (roughly %40) do not support the union's political activities (i.e., they vote Republican), and of course, some are bound to be apolitical.

Apart from their political use of dues, Chavez and Gray discuss at length the terrible abuses of union funds. In effect, the average worker is subsidizing the lavish lifestyle of union executives. Travel expenses, luxury goods, even silverware and shoes, are all bought by union excutives because worker dues pay the bill.

Unions boldly act without fear of repercussions. They often intimidate replacement workers, commit acts of terror and lethal violence, continue to forcibly extract the hard earned money of the common worker, and push a far left agenda that very often has very little to do with contract bargaining.

The final section of "Betrayal" outlines various proposals for correcting the rampant abuse of unions. One hopes the Republicans in Congress will atleast begin some efforts at reform, such as forcing unions to disclose their expenses, offer workers a choice in where their money goes, and focus on protecting workers, rather than using them as human chips for a brazenly liberal political agenda.

Highly recommended.



Rating:
Summary: Good discussion on the influence Big Unions have on politics
Review: Most of Western Civilization is based on political organizations having some kind of representation. Our leaders are supposed to represent us; they get voted out of office when they don't. "Betrayal" documents how there is little accountability in American labor unions today. This book shows how a big part of the problem is legally unions don't have to report how the labor leader spend the union dues, so often union members no clue as to how the dues are being spent. In many ways the union leaders are like kings; there is no accountability and they get to do most anything they want, while claiming to look out for the rights of the union members.

This was a very informative book. For example recently the NEA has more paid political operatives, 1800 operatives, than the national Republican and Democratic committees combined. Another interesting thing was the change of the character of labor unions. Back in the 1950's about 35% of the American labor force was unionized, but now only 8.2% of the private-sector employees are unionized. In the 1950s only 5% of union members worked for the government, and now it is about 46%. Original labor unions claimed to protect the rights of those on the lowest rung of the labor force. Now labor unions are more and more focused on middle classs government employees.

A major theme of the book is just how closely the unions are working with the Democratic Party. The authors make the contrast that any money from a businessman is a voluntary donation, while labor leaders extract dues from union members and spend the money on causes that often the rank and file are opposed to and object to. One survey found that 80% of union members are opposed having money taken out of their paychecks and spent on politics.

There are many interesting observations and information about how unions work today, and the problems caused by unions. One chapter covers how public employee unions have put the public in danger covered several examples; one was when prison workers went strike and allowed 200 prisoners to escape, putting the public at great risk. Another chapter focused on the NEA & AFT and how they are concerned about protecting their power, and have done little to improve education in America. There was a chapter on how many unions have ties with organized crime, for because unions have to report very little, organized crime is attracted to trying to take over unions.

Starting with the title it is clear the authors are concerned with how unions abuse their power. The authors do a good job of showing why the reader should also be concerned. If you have any interested in the state of unions in America, and their influence in politics, this is a worthwhile book to read.


Rating:
Summary: Unions, Dems, organized crime, government, and terrorists
Review: No, those five categories aren't equivalent. But they do overlap a lot, and after reading this book you may have trouble telling them apart.

The fact -- and it is a fact -- that unions have caused much more harm than they've cured won't be a surprise to anyone who has a practical grasp of economics. The right to bargain collectively does have some small effect, but there's probably never been a union in history that strictly limited itself to collective bargaining. (For example, unions consistently make their strikes more effective than they deserve to be by forcibly preventing 'scabs' from replacing them at the jobs they won't do. Otherwise, most 'strikes' would just be fancy ways to get fired and replaced.)

Moreover, the economic benefits that unions allegedly secure are actually achieved by the businesses themselves -- who would, and do, make them available voluntarily anyway, because businesses compete for employees even more surely than for customers. If a union ever gets employees a better deal than an employer was offering, the strong presumption is that the 'better deal' is significantly less economically feasible.

What may be news to many is the _degree_ to which unions have departed from their ostensible purpose. According to Linda Chavez and Daniel Gray (and their numerous, well-documented sources), Big Labor has gotten _way_ more out of hand than 'big business' ever has. And in the process, it's become probably the single most powerful political, economic, and criminal/terrorist force behind what used to be the socialist wing, and is now the mainstream, of the Democratic Party.

Don't take my word for it; read the book. Listen, for example, to union bosses themselves argue, quite publicly, that violence against 'scabs' is justified because voluntarily doing a job that someone else won't do is itself somehow a form of 'violence'. Read the true stories of people who have been the victims of union-led beatings and even sniper attacks on the basis of such a twisted morality. (Then remember that these wackjobs are strong political supporters of the Democratic Party, and think hard about that party's claim to represent the American common man better than the GOP does.)

The chapter on the National Education Association is in some ways the most fascinating. (The NEA didn't begin life as a union, but the IRS has classified it as one for over two decades now.) Consider this argument: 'If our government-monopoly schools perform poorly, let's give them more money, and if they perform well, let's give them less money. Then they'll have plenty of incentive to improve.' If that logic sounds backwards to you, you've just understood what, in a nutshell, is wrong with the entire U.S. educational system -- and thereby demonstrated that you're smarter, in that respect, than everybody who voluntarily joins a teachers' union. You'll understand in _much_ greater detail after you read Chavez's and Gray's chapter on the NEA. (And you'll also understand why Ann Coulter opened her 28 July 2004 column as follows: 'The traditional greeting at the Democratic National Convention is, "Where do you teach?"')

Chavez and Gray document all this and more -- including unions' ties to organized crime and their undertaking of (uniformly far-left) political activity far beyond the scope of their representation in collective bargaining (and for that matter with no regard for the actual political views of their members). There's also a catchall chapter explaining the ill economic effects of unionization in general and documenting the fact that 'right-to-work' states enjoy better economic health than forced-unionism states.

Even people who have long known of the dangers posed by unions will profit immensely from this exposé of American Big Labor.

Rating:
Summary: A terrific documentation of Union abuses
Review: The original objectives for creation and existence of labor unions were to protect members' economic welfare and assure fair treatment from rapacious employers. This book describes how those goals have increasingly been betrayed by union managers.

Almost all the money that Unions get, over $17 billion per year, comes from dues and fees paid by workers in organizations that have been Unionized. These payments are compulsory for both Union members and non-members: they can keep their job only if they pay up. The money collected, originally intended to pay for contract negotiations and other services beneficial to members, is entirely untaxed. In fact, it is largely unaccounted for, and its uses unreported. These conditions are ideal for abuse; and abused they are. Because payments are compulsory and spending is unaccounted, Union managers have no incentive to consult their members about how that money is spent, nor to care about their wishes. And they don't; instead they spend the money to increase their own power and promote their political views.

Part of this abuse, the book explains, appears as outright corruption and criminality. Examples include the money embezzlements by various Union bosses, such as Barbara Bullock and Pat Tornillo. The reliable and easily controlled source of money from compulsory dues and fees has inevitably attracted organized crime, which has sunk its teeth into several Unions and is exerting a large influence on their activities. Another form of abuse is the [collection of] coersive tactics used to force employers into submission. Most people have read about the actual or attempted killings orchestrated by Union bosses and carried out by Union thugs. Some of the tactics used are not only illegal, but put the general public in danger from crime, emergencies, etc.

Like any organism whose main goal is its own power and growth, Unions feed their appetite for power by doing everything they can to increase their food supply. In this case the food supply is the dues/fees paying workers in Union-controlled organizations. Since the private-sector has increasingly been rejecting Union membership, the Unions have turned to forcing Unionization on the public sector: federal and state organizations. The bigger this sector, the larger the money harvest. This helps explain why Union contributions have been almost 100% to the Democratic Party, which is generally in favor of big government. The contributions have been so great, in fact, that the Democratic Party is not just beholden to the Unions, but is largely controlled by them. The detailed descriptions in the book are eye-opening. This is due in part to the fact that both the Unions and the Democratic Party, and some of the Media, have tried to hide the inter-dependency from the general public. That the size of the problem is substantial can be seen from the fact that the number of Union political lobbyists exceeds the number in both the major political parties combined.

But even this is not the whole story. The present day Union top brass is far from politically neutral. The original Union leadership was strongly anti-Communist and pro-American. Now, in contrast, head of the AFL/CIO John Sweeney proclaims myself a proud member of Democratic Socialists of America, and an official of the AFSCME, Brenda Stokeley, claims "we are fighting for socialism". Far-left causes are therefore actively being funded and supported by dues/fees-paying workers who may disagree with these causes, but who are not given a choice to withhold support. Indeed, 40% of Union members vote Republican, and 80% of all members don't want any of their Union-collected money going to politics. These member preferences are ignored by Union management. It is not easy to see how the Democratic Party can extricate itself enough from corrosive Union influence to start again representing a majority of reasonable US citizens. The book's last chapter suggests steps to address this problem.

"Betrayal" also explains why politically-engineered agreements between government and Unions, which specify that contracts be awarded to Union shops, increase costs to the general taxpaying public as a whole and not just to workers in Union-controlled organizations. The inflated, uncompetitive contract costs are passed on to individual and business taxpayers, who have to endure higher tax rates. Additionally, because of the much decreased competition, the Union-mediated job may be of lower quality than might have been performed by a competing firm. The anti-competitiveness and higher effective tax rates are an inducement to businesses to move to different states that are less Union-controlled. Statistics show that Right-to-Work States, in which Unions cannot have workers fired for refusing to pay union dues, consistently have better average living conditions and faster rates of business growth.

The book provides many other examples showing how Union management, or a thieving Union official, is much more concerned with its own hold on power than with either the public's or the Union's own members' desires and economic welfare.

The sources for all the facts cited in the book are given in 32 pages of notes, so they can all be checked. The first author, Linda Chavez, was a labor union official and clearly seems to know what she's talking about.

The beginning part is suppositional, to grab attention, but is nevertheless accurate. The remainder of the book contains a wealth of documented information. "Betrayal" is, for those willing to see, a valuable portrayal of the many things that are seriously wrong with the present structure of labor unions. It also has the beginning of a recipe for making unions, once a useful, indeed an essential counter-balancing force to employers' transgressions, become once again respectable agents working _for_ the members of the labor force, not irrespective of them and at their expense.