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Unhinged Union Activists Threaten Gov. Snyder: ‘We’ll Be At Your Daughter’s Soccer Game’ (+video)

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photo credit: MML

Union officials in Michigan are looking more and more desperate these days, stooping even to veiled (and not so veiled) threats. I’m not sure how they think that helps the cause. This governor doesn’t appear to be one to cave in to pressure.

Political reprisal may be somewhat understandable, but implicating a man’s child is just reprehensible! How sick is that?

But hey, look on the bright side. Assuming the First Family’s safety, this could turn out really well for the good guys. Beating up reporters, threatening the opposition’s children, engaging in outlandish rhetoric . . . It can’t be a good PR strategy.

Watch the video below, and note the desperate tone:

Virginia Moves to Make Card-Check Unconstitutional

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AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka

(CNSNews.com) – Virginia is moving towards making card-check – the controversial union proposal to replace secret-ballot elections with simple card-signing petitions – unconstitutional in the state.

The effort is led by State Sen. Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) who said that “no citizen” should be denied the ability to vote by secret ballot.

“It’s really a simple bill,” Reeves told CNSNews.com in an interview Thursday. “It’s there to improve voter integrity and privacy. I personally believe that no citizen should be forced to reveal how they voted in any election be it federal, state, local, or even a union election.”

The proposed amendment would add a section to Virginia’s Bill of Rights guaranteeing the right to a secret ballot election in all cases, even in the case of a union election.

The proposal is intended to block so-called card check legislation that failed to pass Congress two years ago. That bill, which remains a Democratic and union priority, would have allowed unions to organize a workplace simply by getting a majority of workers to sign union cards, avoiding the need for a secret-ballot election where both the union and the business owners can compete for workers’ votes.

Read more from this story HERE.

Jimmy Hoffa Warns Of ‘Civil War’ in Michigan (+video)

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(CNN) – Jimmy Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said Tuesday he expects Michigan unions and lawmakers to break out into “civil war” after the state legislature passed right-to-work bills that would weaken unions’ power.

“This is just the first round of a battle that’s going to divide this state. We’re going to have a civil war,” Hoffa said on CNN’s “Newsroom.”

The Republican-controlled state House passed two bills that had already been approved by the GOP-dominated state Senate. Gov. Rick Snyder, also a Republican, . . . sign[ed] the bill, which would allow workers at union-represented employers to forgo paying dues.

As thousands of protestors gathered at the state capitol on Tuesday, Hoffa called the legislation a “tremendous mistake” and “a monumental decision to make” by outgoing lawmakers in a lame duck session.

Watch interview:

Read more from this story HERE.

“There Will Be Blood”: Union Violence in the Age of Obama

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photo credit: soulstealer.co.uk

Not so many moons ago, President Obama urged us all to “make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” He Who Heals advocated “a more civil and honest public discourse” in the wake of the January 2011 Tucson massacre. As usual, though, the White House has granted Big Labor bullies a permanent waiver from the lofty edicts it issues to everyone else.

This week, menacing union goons unleashed threats, profanity and punches in Michigan, which is now poised to become a “right-to-work” state. Obama met the initial outbreak of violence with the same response he’s given to every other union outbreak of violence under his reign: dead silence.

On the floor of the Michigan legislature on Tuesday, Democratic state Rep. Douglas Geiss thundered: “We’re going to pass something that will undo 100 years of labor relations, and there will be blood. There will be repercussions!” Geiss referenced the Battle of the Overpass, a violent 1937 incident between the United Auto Workers and corporate security officers for the Ford Motor Company. Dozens of union activists were beaten.

But Geiss wasn’t crying victim. This was clearly a signal to the brass-knuckled Big Labor bosses, whom Obama egged on during his Monday visit to the state. Obama inveighed against right to work with his usual class warfare dog-whistle. The thugs heard it loud and clear.

As the Michigan House voted inside to approve right-to-work legislation allowing workers to choose whether or not to join/fund unions as a condition of employment, protesters outside the state Capitol ambushed a tented information booth sponsored by the pro-right-to-work state chapter of Americans for Prosperity. Angry union mobsters were filmed cursing and screaming just before the attack.

Read more from this article HERE.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Signs Right to Work Legislation Into Law

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It’s official: Michigan has become the 24th Right to Work state:

At a news conference at the George W. Romney Building steps away from the state Capitol, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) announced that he’d signed the contentious right-to-work measures that have sparked protests in the state.

Before dozens of reporters assembled inside a conference room on the building’s second floor, Snyder defended his move as one that would lead to ”more jobs coming to Michigan.”

The two bills bar unions from making contracts that require employees to pay labor dues. One bill dealt with public sector unions, exempting firefighters and police officers. The other covered the private sector.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Full Clip of Crowder Being Assaulted by Union Thugs

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Portions of this video were shown in the Hannity interview with Steven Crowder, but here is the full clip unedited.

Warning, video contains graphic language and violence.

See video:

Here’s a little more background on Steven Crowder:

As “FoxNews’ brightest, funniest young Conservative mind,” Steven Crowder is a mainstay in the worlds of television, comedy and writing.

Before being brought in as one of FoxNews’ youngest contributors on record, Steven began his career in entertainment starting with voicework in children’s cartoons (most notably voicing the character of “The Brain” on the hit series “Arthur”) along with acting in both television and film.

After beginning to perform stand-up comedy at the age of 18, he was quickly scouted as the youngest Comedian ever to perform at the world famous “Just For Laughs” comedy festival in Montreal. Afterward, he went on to win Myspace’s national “So You Think You’re Funny” contest. Still unsatisfied, Steven decided to take his brand of take-no-prisoners, politically incorrect, comedy-club-favorite humor… to the Internet. Before long, his viral videos were being posted all over the web. Steven then began making the rounds on every major cable news and radio program in the country, bringing his unique and irreverent point of view to the mainstream. You name the show, Crowder’s done it. During this time, Steven delivered a stand-out performance in the nationally successful Christian film, “To Save a Life.” Impressed with his ability, FoxNews invited Steven into the family as a full-time contributor. A true rebel of the entertainment industry, Steven continues to please audiences with his no-holds-barred style of comedy and poignant social commentary across the globe.

Fox News Contributor Punched in Face at Pro-Union Protests in Michigan (+video)

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A Fox News contributor was punched in the face during a pro-union protest Tuesday in Michigan, one of a series of confrontations between union demonstrators and opponents on the day the state Legislature approved so-called “right to work” legislation that unions oppose.

Steven Crowder, a conservative comedian and Fox News contributor, had spent the day questioning demonstrators, and video he posted on YouTube showed some of them becoming verbally aggressive, with one telling him, “get the f— out of my face!”

Another protester can be seen later in the video punching Crowder in the face before being restrained by another man.

Crowder later posted photos on his Twitter account showing a chipped tooth and “minor cut on forehead.” He told the website TheBlaze.com that the scuffle started when protesters tried to tear down a tent set up by conservative organization Americans for Prosperity.

“They were trying to tear down the tent and people were trying to pull them off. … And as they did that, a few people tripped,” he told the website. “This guy tripped over a tent peg and then got up and hit me.”

Watch video:

Read more from this story HERE.

Michigan Republicans Approve Right to Work Amid Protests

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LANSING, Mich. – Republicans rushed right-to-work legislation through the Michigan Legislature Thursday, drawing raucous protests from hundreds of union supporters, some of whom were pepper-sprayed by police when they tried to storm the Senate chamber.

With six-vote margins in both chambers, the House and Senate approved measures prohibiting private unions from requiring that nonunion employees pay fees. The Senate was debating a similar bill, with Democrats denouncing it as an attack on worker rights and the GOP sponsor insisting it would boost the economy and jobs. Separate legislation dealing with public-sector unions was expected to come later.

Because of rules requiring a five-day delay between votes in the two chambers on the same legislation, final enactment appears unlikely until next week. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who previously had said repeatedly that right-to-work was “not on my agenda,” told reporters Thursday he would sign the measures.

A victory in Michigan would give the right-to-work movement its strongest foothold yet in the Rust Belt region, where organized labor already has suffered several body blows. Republicans in Indiana and Wisconsin recently pushed through legislation curbing union rights, sparking massive protests.

Even before the Michigan bills surfaced, protesters streamed inside the Capitol preparing for what appeared inevitable after Snyder, House Speaker Jase Bolger and Senate Minority Leader Randy Richardville announced at a news conference they were putting the issue on a fast track.

Read more from this story HERE.

Workplace Freedom States Soared While Ohio and Michigan Economies Crashed

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Job creation in Ohio lagged far behind all 22 workplace freedom states from 1991 to 2011, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) records. Without cherry-picking data as union bosses must in order to defend forced unionism, total seasonally adjusted non-farm employment growth shows a huge advantage for residents of right to work states.

With the exception of Indiana, which passed a right to work law in February 2012, Ohio and each of its neighbors – Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky – allow unions to force workers to pay dues as a condition of employment.

During the two decades from 1991-2011, no workplace freedom state had a lower job creation rate than Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Michigan.

Of the 22 states which protected the right of employees in unionized workplaces to choose whether to pay a union boss, 17 had job growth rates better than Ohio and all five of Ohio’s forced-unionism neighbors.

While varying demographics, geography, and innumerable government regulations affect businesses’ ability to create new jobs, the past 20 years have been marked by anemic growth in Ohio compared to every workplace freedom state.

Read more from this story HERE.