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October
11, 2002, 9:00 a.m.
With
Us or Against Us?
Unions once
again show their true colors — and reason to free their members.
By Stephen
Silbiger
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 n
a Washington Post article of October 10, 2002, while the Congress
of the United States was debating the resolution authorizing the president
of the United States to use force against Iraq, Steve Rosenthal the political
director of the AFL-CIO complained about the "me-too-ism" of
the Democratic party. Since the Democratic-controlled Senate has blocked
every initiative offered by the president on domestic issues and the chairman
of the Democratic party has denounced and belittled the president in the
most demeaning terms, there is no question that the me-too-ism that Rosenthal
was complaining about involved our response to the events of 9/11 and
the dangers of weapons of mass destruction from our sworn enemies.
I know Rosenthal
personally. As a former leftist and union official, we have mutual friends.
I have been subjected to anti-American rants by him and heard him declare
that United States imperialism is the greatest scourge on earth. That
Rosenthal derives his living from the dues of hard-working, patriotic
Americans is wrong. That he reflects the current leadership of the AFL-CIO
is tragic.
John Sweeney has
been very careful about his foreign-policy statements since 9/11. AFL-CIO
statements on 9/11 have been limited to noting that hundreds of union
members died in that terrorist attack and to denouncing President Bush
and Attorney General Ashcroft and the USA Patriot Act for allegedly violating
the civil rights of American citizens and for the use of military tribunals
to try captured terrorists. In addition, Sweeney has issued a disjointed
statement in which he asks the Congress to deal with Saddam Hussein in
a way that is agreeable to the United Nations. Although Sweeney believes
that the government of China is so despicable that we should not trade
with it, he would allow the dictators in Beijing to have a veto over our
country's ability to defend itself.
Those of us who follow
the AFL-CIO know that Sweeney's allegiance to the United Nations and newfound
respect for China is based on a crass leftist anti-Americanism. The AFL-CIO
website has for years been linked to the most vile anti-American websites.
When we launched our war on al Qaeda in Afghanistan, it took only a few
clicks to get from the AFL-CIO homepage to articles by Noam Chomsky alleging
that we are in Afghanistan to commit genocide. As the Congress debated
the resolution on Iraq, it took only a few clicks to get from the AFL-CIO
homepage to articles on how the U.S. is blocking the return of arms inspectors
to Iraq and how "massive" demonstrations against George Bush
are taking place around the world.
I cite all this to
make it clear that the American labor movement has been taken over by
those who hate America so much that they would not allow it to defend
itself against its enemies. To be fair to John Sweeney, he has not been
totally deceitful in presenting his intentions. When he was elected in
1994, he told an interviewer of his admiration of the French labor movement,
which has been communist-dominated and slavishly followed the Moscow line
until the Soviet Union's collapse.
Given what we know,
it is important that we begin to free American union members from the
leftist cabal that has taken over their institution. To do this we must
only enforce the law and apply basic democratic principles. It has been
fourteen years since the Supreme Court ruled in Beck v. Communications
Workers that union members cannot be forced to pay union dues for
activities that are not used directly for collective bargaining. Yet despite
two Republican administrations, this Supreme Court decision has not been
enforced. It is time that President Bush appoint members of the National
Labor Relations Board that will enforce that decision. It is also time
that the White House permit Secretary of Labor Chao to enforce the Landrum-Griffin
Act and require that unions disclose their expenditures to their members.
To really do the
job, the next Congress should begin to consider legislation that deals
with the reality of politicized labor unions that are led by people who
do not reflect the views and beliefs of their dues payers. In this Congress,
Representative Charlie Norwood of Georgia has introduced H.R. 4636, the
"Workers Bill of Rights" which has been cosponsored by Majority
Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Tom Delay. This bill would give union
members the rights with which they can take back their unions and deprive
the Sweeney crowd of workers' money to fund their leftist anti-American
propaganda. It is time that the conservative movement come to the defense
of the American worker and protect him and her from exploitation by those
who have taken over their unions.
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