SEIU thugs vs. the Boy Scouts — and other related Big Labor antics
Hey, you know all that high-minded talk from President Obama about calling young people to serve their country?
Well, if it conflicts with Big Labor’s interests, children, there’s a new message: Knock it off!
The Purple Shirted-thugs of the Service Employees International Union — ACORN’s alter ego and Obama’s most frequent visitor — are going after an Eagle Scout who poses a threat to their workers because he’s volunteering too much.
From the Allentown Morning Call:
In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.
Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city’s largest municipal union.
Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.
”We’ll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails,” Balzano told the council.
Balzano said Saturday he isn’t targeting Boy Scouts. But given the city’s decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said ”there’s to be no volunteers.” No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.
Care to comment, President Obama? Or do SEIU thug-in-chief Andy Stern and his “persuasion of power” trump your service message to kids?
***
In related SEIU thuggery:
From Ed Morrissey – HA exclusive: ATR, AWF demand probe of SEIU’s Stern for illegal lobbying
From WSJ: Ballot fraud accusations fly in California home health care workers election.
And from Illinois home health care provider Pam Harris, who led the fight to defeat SEIU’s power grab in her state:
NEWS: The SEIU has filed an objection to the recent election
The SEIU has filed an objection to the recent election accusing the State of Illinois of not maintaining neutrality. The SEIU is demanding a 6 months cooling off period followed by reeducation and a new election.
THE LOUD & CLEAR MESSAGE SENT BY 66% OF THE VOTERS IN THE ELECTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TO STOP THIS.
Please read on to learn how we are fighting this in court and in the General Assembly, WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP, and a Fact Sheet to share with your legislators.
Update: civil court case regarding EO09-15 and union representation election continuance allowed
On November 3, 2009, Gordon Stiefel returned to Judge Epstein’s courtroom. Judge Epstein has taken the entire matter under advisement and will issue a written opinion and order on December 14, 2009 at 10 am.
Stiefel, a pro se plaintiff, asked the court for a declaratory judgment – a decision declaring the rights, duties or obligations of each party in this dispute. In Stiefel’s words, “we now await the court’s decision on the complex and yet simple matter of who is the employer of personal support workers in Illinois and does the public interest of State allow the State to injected itself between the employer and employee relationship. “
Stiefel’s complaint is the consumer, as reflected in the Home Based Support Services Act, is the employer of the personal support workers and the public interest of the State does not allow the State to inject itself between the employer and employee relationship to intervene and assist the union in organizing efforts.
It is possible that Judge Epstein may rule Stiefel does not have standing. That is, he is not legally qualified to make this complaint. Should that happen, we still have courses of legal action.
Stiefel is still looking for pro bono legal counsel. Every attorney he has spoken with either has limited labor law experience or a conflict with previous and current client. Please, if you can recommend an attorney, contact Gordon Stiefel at taggroup@sbcglobal.net
Update: House Resolution 720
The General Assembly has adjourned until January 12, 2010. However, our State Senators and Representatives are still working in their district offices. It is very important this issue stay on their radar. Please, contact your Representative and Senator while they are at home in their neighborhood offices. Go visit them, if you can. If you can’t visit them in their office, write them a letter. If you can’t write them a letter, call them. Please try to do this in November.
Tell them both why you voted for NO UNION representation. Tell them why Governor Quinn needs to rescind Executive Order 09-15.
HOUSE RESOLUTION 720 tells Governor Quinn to rescind the Executive Order. Urge your Representative to sign on as a Co-sponsor of House Resolution 720.
Calls to Speaker Madigan’s office (217-782-2000) are very important. Tell him his support is critical.
10 FACTS:
In June 2009, Governor Quinn issued Executive Order 15, which allows for the collective bargaining of individual providers of the Home Based Support Services program.
In October 2009, an overwhelming 66% voted against union representation and neither of the two unions seeking collective bargaining status received more than 20% of the vote.
Despite this clear decision for NO union representation, the Executive Order does not have an expiration date and any interested union may seek to represent this unique group of workers again as soon as August 2010.
Illinois’ Home Based Support Services (HBSS) program is a 1915(c) Medicaid waiver described in the Social Security Act. It’s a federal match program, meaning the State of Illinois receives 50% of the funding for this waiver program from the Federal government. The 1915(c) HCBS waivers are required to be, by statute, cost-neutral. It is by all accounts, a complex Federal/State program that is intended to offer long term, flexible services in the person’s home and in their community as opposed to an institution. The program’s eligibility is the same institutional placement because the waiver program’s primary purpose is to offer an alternative to institutionalization.
Institutions are not the way individuals with disabilities want to live and receive treatment and supports. IL’s HBSS program supports citizens with disabilities to live in the most integrated setting, their home in their community.
Currently, about 3000 Illinois citizens are enrolled in HBSS program with about 5000 personal support workers providing care and assistance.
The men and women who receive the HBSS waiver access a capped* amount of funds each month and from that allotment employ personal support workers and pay for other necessary supports like developmental training and therapies. Mandatory service facilitation is also deducted from the monthly amount.
Most individuals hire family members as personal support workers because their assistance is required during activities considered intimate and private. Having a trusted and familiar person in this role promotes safety and comfort.Inserting a union contract into the home between family members would irreparably disrupt the family dynamic.
The unionization of personal support workers would decrease critical supports because union dues and/or fair share deductions would have to be paid from the capped allotment.
Personal support workers did not seek union representation. In fact, 66% voted for NO UNION representation because there is no benefit to the individuals they care for with compassion and respect.
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I read that this morning in the MC; however, the SEIU says that it will likely let pass any action on this and the use of outside contractors to wire the Christmas lights display. Mighty big of them…..
The left uses children as human shields all of the time. Pelosi, when she surrounded herself with children on the day she had been sworn in as House goon, reminded me of Saddam when he had “guests” stay with him before the first Gulf War.
But, when children get in the way of the left, such as Christian children praying on the steps of city hall in San Francisco, they’re ruthlessly attacked, as we see here.
No one is safe, but we already know that from their support of abortion.
No one is safe.
Yeah, well screw him. The entire non-SEIU people in the town should get out and do the work of these extortionists.
They’re saying the city can’t have it if the SEIU isn’t getting paid to do it.
They had better hope no one harasses this scout or his family. Unlike NYC… carry permits are comon in PA.
How am I not surprised!
Between the steel workers and IBEW Allentown is long a union bastion.
Someone needs to take a look at why taxpayer dollars are being used for family members taking care of family members.
As well intentioned as it may be, tax $$$ used for this purpose should be reserved for desperation cases…and I’m thinking CNA/LVN/RN care givers only. They could be union or non-union…what is important is capability demonstrated through schooling….not good intentions.
seiu is nothing more than a garbage union. balzano and his union parasites take on a Boy Scout, the rest of the community takes on the seiu criminal enterprise. right always defeats wrong.
Shine the light!
hey balzano you idiot union worm, any Scout alone is more productive than 39 union parasites. more productive and the work will be done right.
FIFY
There speaks ignorance of the situation.
They get state funding because without state funding, most families couldn’t afford to take care of a disabled family member. It’s full-time work, you can’t hold down a job and care for a disabled person around the clock at the same time.
Without the program, these people would be institutionalized at a cost to taxpayers far greater than the home-care program.
I’m sure most tasks don’t require professional nursing skills, just supervision and assistance.
Approach me while i have a hoe or shovel in my hand, will ya!
When I was a Scout, my troop collected newspapers for recycling to earn money. Guess we were impinging on the SEIU’s garbage collectors? The brazenness of the SEIU knows no bounds.
and these jerks wonder why union a-holes are held in such low repute. the jerk is complaining about 39 shovel leaners when 7 million jobs have been lost in the private sector this past year. gee, my heart bleeds for these poor abused gubmint workers.
So I am just watching TV and see where the governor of the state of Illinois is excited about opening up a prison for GITMO detainees in his state to create jobs.
WHAT BIZARRO WORLD DO WE LIVE IN?
Is our nation so badly screwed up that we are excited about importing TERRORISTS in order for Americans to have employment????
Obowma’s 71 car motorcade
link
I picked up a hoe one time,Didn’t know it was illegal…
It is in most states, but not in Nevada… lol
Yeah, just when municipalities are losing revenue, let’s force them to pay unions to do stuff rather than accept volunteers.
Tools.
Congratulations on your achievement, Kevin Anderson!
Once an Eagle, always an Eagle!
Let’s see if I understand this…
Obama’s purple storm-troopers are going to stop citizens from picking-up trash in public parks; parks paid-for by citizen’s tax dollars. Well, I guess the community won’t need those garbage cans in parks anymore and littering is now in vogue.
The arrogance of the Obama crowd is simple mind-boggling.
This is what the Democrats would have for our healthcare system as well: SEIU thugs running the show.
Whew! Balzano must think he’s got ‘em.
There—fixed it for you
Bah, humbug
Congratulations to Kevin Anderson for demonstrating what it means to a responsible, civic-minded young American!
And shame on the SEIU for demonstrating how some so-called adults can be self-serving and irresponsible!
How the world has changed. In 1963 I cleared weeds in a public park for a Boy Scout service project. 89 hours of free labor. A local banker took me to the ice cream shop, bought me a milk shake and shook my hand.
What are these people thinking? Such boorish Idiots.
This brings to mind the scene from Blazzing Saddles when the Gov finds out that Rock Ridge is being overrun with murders and thieves. His response is classic, “We have to do something to protect our phony baloney jobs”.
No good deed shall go unpunished!
And how exactly do tehy plan to “reeducate”?
Also, I might add, had the SEIU members been doing their jobs, there wouldn’t have been a need for an Eagle Scout to clean the pathway. It would have been free from all litter and growth.
As an adult leader in a California Scout Troop, I can tell you that this is not that unusual. Especially after Prop 8, the Scouts are facing increasing political headwinds to perform even the simplest of local civic service projects…
We tell our Eagle candidates to work with private charities or churches on projects, rather than community-based efforts, because it is easier to get approval. We’ll still volunteer, but we don’t know if it will be allowed…
Congratulations to Kevin Anderson!!! Well done!!!
With such a narrow defeat, it’s obvious that all that is needed is a little “re-education” and another election. It’s amazing how many votes can change when a (2×4) “Board of Education” is properly applied.
In other words: “We refuse to accept the election results, since it wasn’t the outcome we wanted. We will have six months for everyone on the opposition side to forget how intensely they opposed us, followed by a barrage of propaganda and then we’ll try again.”
A perfect example for what’s wrong with the Left. If Obama gets his way, his goons will be monitoring everything we do.
So, if the Home Care Providers union goes on strike, will a mother be called a scab for changing her disabled child’s Depends?
***
I was a Boy Scout long ago. Our leaders taught us patriotism, respect for all people, work ethic, decency, etc. And gave us valuable marketable skills in the Merit Badge programs–auto mechanics, electricity, business, surveying, carpentry, etc.
***
They were real class people–I still remember their names 60 years later. And the Scouts are under attack from the politically “correct” losers in our society.
***
However, put your bets on the Scout. Shooting, archery, hunting, and axe skills were some of our fortes in the old days–and so was staying alive in the woods.
***
Scouts are resourceful–and are innovative thinkers. Don’t tick them off–a union thug could find himself stripped naked, slathered with bacon grease, and tied to a tree in the park. CUE THE HUNGRY BEARS!
***
John Bibb
***
Maybe that is the key to union demise. Ramp up the volunteerism and fix anything in your community that you can. Also, film those crews taking 4 hour breaks, twice a day in their trucks in the shade. I have seen this first hand as many of you have also. It should be the nightly news, evey night until we start to get a real return on our money.
I’m in the position of caring for my parents now. Don’t really see why I should need professional nursing skills to cook their meals, do their laundry, clean their house, drive them where they need to go, go grocery shopping for them, give my dad a shave, and so on.
One Eagle Scout Candidate did take the job of three union workers, two union organizers and a business agent so I can see their point.
As Walter Ruther might have said: don’t send a boy scout to do 6 union workers job (in his speech to the laid off Studebaker workers).
—
twiggman: Al Sharpton is on the phone trying to get a hold of you.
It’s hilarious that the MC does not have a comments section like it normally does with articles – I’m sure they’re protecting their union buddies from the missile hit that the local population would hurl at the union.
After seeing Quinn in action the past few months you almost want Blago back.
Now this is your basic “target rich environment.” This has to be a nightmare to secure.
Cogs: As seen at the National Mall last January 20th…
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bbj8J3yipeQ/Sq6ecANLnYI/AAAAAAAAZi0/oTb5G2KFXVA/s400/trash-and-other-debris-scattered-across-the-national-mall-after-obama-inauguration-ceremony_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg
When I worked for an electronic ballast manufacturer in New Jersey back in the mid 1990s, we’d attend industry/trade shows in New York City, at which the standing joke was to find some guy who hadn’t been to such an event and tell him to plug in one of the booth displays — then laugh when the local electrician’s union thugs saw him try it.
Aside from throttling the Golden Goose that employs them, one other thing that the unions are good at is preserving their turf. They remind me of an artillery demonstration that the British Army was giving once, during which one of those watching the gun crew observed that two of them were just standing there, doing nothing. When asked what they were there for, the gun chief replied matter-of-factly,
“They’re holding the horses, sir.”
That’s today’s labor movement: protecting the jobs of 21st Century horse-holders, no matter how silly that exercise makes them look.
The boy scouts are a well known breeding ground for radical right wing extremists. By stopping their form of aggression, the SEIU, ACORN, and the US Government are doing their best to protect fellow Americans(By that I mean those who dwell within the American Continents) from these oppressors of the working man. We must all contribute all we can to help ACORN and our glorious leader: LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION!
This troubling thought just crossed my mind:
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Now that the socialists have the legislature (they’ve owned the courts for decades); and the executive, including all its departments and czars, particularly the erroneously named “justice” department; does anything approaching “witness protection” actually even exist any longer?
Think about it: What better, more convenient and effective way for corrupt socialist thugs, who are embedded in our federal governement, to get rid of problematic individuals who are being “investigated” by the feds; than to “accidently on purpose” fail to protect witnesses and suspects from mob hits?
In essence, we ultimately (i.e., those who control the “levers of power”) have the mob thugs investigating themselves.
Oops.
Wrong thread.
Apologies….
Because union members and politicians are more experienced at picking up “hoes” than your average Boy Scout. He could’ve gotten tips from John Edwards I suppose.
Background: Allentown 4 decades of Democratic controlled Council and 8 years of Republican mayors v 32 years of Democratic mayors.
So, predictably, considering the past two Mayors are/were Democrat, the 39 were laid off because the current contract gave the SEIU raises that were based upon inflation plus 7% or so. They were unwilling to cut that amazing raise back in light of the recession, so 39 were given walking papers. Nobody in the city missed them.
The solution to this problem is to make the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts join the union. Just what the hell has this country come to under this administration? Only the corrupt need apply.
One Boy Scout volunteer has replaced 39 SEIU members. Please explain that to the taxpayers, Mr. Stern.
Isn’t the SEIU’s monopoly over park improvements essentially de facto racketeering?
This infuriates me. Private charity is a good thing. Taxpayer-subsidized sinecures are leeches on the economy – and they’re all over the place, not just in some isolated municipality.
No more leeches! There’s a good political slogan for 2010.
WTH does THAT mean??
They should have a protest against the union thugs with protestors holding shovels and hoes (or at least pictures of them).
And all unions united with Obama against American citizens and taxpayers:
Goodies for labor tucked away in health bill
A state worker out here in Sacramento, California was beat up (and required hospitalization) for trying to expose the SEIU’s corrupt tendencies.
State Worker Beat Up At SEIU Meeting
So one Boy Scout, in 200 hours, did the work that a dozen or so SEIU members would have done, in three time the amount of time each at $25/hr.
Without the SEIU one person might have to pick up small branches AND put them in the truck to be hauled away. The horror!
Volunteering too much! Interesting. Actually, this gets to the root problem with unions. The laws creating them were and are government authorized monopolies on labor. They fear competition from any good US citizen, but not CHICOM slaves.
Isn’t that a catch-22? If union members had been clearing the walking path properly in the first place, there would have been no need for the boy scout to do it.
Wouldn’t it be rich if the scout turned out to be an illegal alien. What would these SEIU thugs do then – hit him with one of their amnesty signs?
I for how many years Balzac and his thugs refused to pick up a hoe or shovel and allowed the path to become overgrown.
Oh please go after the Eagle Scout Blazac, it would make for some very interesting news articles.
After all, I’m sure much more dirt can be found on a corrupt union thug than an Eagle Scout.
Speaking of volunteers Balzac, wasn’t it your buddy ObowMao calling for volunteers to help their community?
…or was he referring to some kind of “paid” volunteer?
Push this one Balzac and you might see what the wheels of ObowMao’s bus look like.
Balzano’s salary is money from union dues that are collected from union members wages paid from our taxes and who are required to be in the union by law. Balzano is paid exclusively with our tax money, he produces absolutely nothing yet we have zero say/representation to have him fired.
Until the day comes that I have the right to not pay taxes the same way I have a right to not buy something that’s too expensive because it was made by unionized labor – government worker unions should be illegal.
A tax revolt would be the most efficacious means to erradicate worker unions from OUR government along with the laws they rode in on.
Just think…if all these unions were to be defunded of government money and the natural order of things be allowed to take place, we could have our stimulus and TARP cash back and be out of this recession in about the time it takes one boy scout to clear a path…
“witness protection”? “mob hits”? “government corruption”? … probably nobody noticed!
Apparently, there is to be no common sense or in the case of the politicians, there is to be no displays of testicular fortitude.
are…displays
is…display
Sorry, my grammar depends seriously on my current caffiene loading.
“…we are the approved volunteers, organizers and community workers!”