Union Free Radio

Although many people are aware of the "Fight for $15" campaign, most probably do not know that it was never intended to be about merely raising the minimum wage.
The genesis of the entire campaign was designed in 2009 by the SEIU---or Service Employees International Union---as a way to unionize millions of the nation's fast-food workers.
In fact, the actual $15 per hour figure was arbitrarily picked---almost as an afterthought---only two months before the first astroturf protest in 2012.
In this episode of Union Free Radio, host Peter List explains the history of the SEIU's Fight for $15 campaign, as well as its aftermath and how it is affecting the economy following the 2020 crash.
Articles and resources cited in this episode:

Last Friday, the AFL-CIO Executive Council---the 'board of directors' for the nation's largest union federation---selected Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Shuler to replace Richard Trumka, who died earlier this month from an apparent heart attack.

By choosing Shuler and, as well based on her first interview, the federation signaled its continuation of focusing on political outcomes, as opposed to 'self reliance.'

In this episode of Union Free Radio, host Peter List covers Shuler's stated direction for the union federation, as well as covers how AFL-CIO misleads the public about CEO Pay.

Links to Articles referenced in this episode of Union Free Radio: For prior episodes of Union Free Radio, go here.

Déjà Vu: With the poisonous PRO Act stalled in the U.S. Senate, the White House and union bosses appear to be turning to ‘Plan B’ and preparing a ‘slew’ of executive actions to help unions.

After passing in the U.S. House of Representatives in February, the unions’ holy grail—the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (aka the PRO Act)—appears to be dying a slow death in the U.S. Senate.

Just as it happened ten years ago when the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act died in the Senate, the unions had a back-up plan (‘Plan B’).

In this episode of Union Free Radio, host Peter List explains where the PRO Act sits in Washington right now, how its being held up, as well as the unions’ ‘Plan B’ and its ramifications on business owners, human resources, as well as the 59 million independent contractors in the U.S.

“There is no odor so bad as that which arises from goodness tainted.” — Henry David Thoreau

Not all unions are corrupt, but most unions have some people who are corrupt.

Today, the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards is planning to do a “public outreach” campaign to let the public know that unions are not as corrupt as they tend to seem.

That’s all well and good. 

However, with the recent sentencing of two former United Auto Workers presidents to prison in the last two months, union corruption is alive and well–and, in the case of the UAW, it is union members who will be paying the price for years to come.

In this episode of Union Free Radio, host Peter List talks about the five basic types of union corruption and shares examples of each.

For many union-free employers around the nation, talking to their employees about unions can be an angst-ridden decision.

However, it does not need to be.

Union-Free employers DO have a legal right to talk to employees about unions, as long as they Don’t S.P.I.T.—that is, DO NOT spy on employees, make promises to employees, interrogate employees, or threaten employees.

In this episode of Union Free Radio, LaborUnionReport.com editor and UFR host Peter List shares what is commonly known as the basic 'DOs & Don'ts' of engaging with employees about unions and labor law (see Legal Disclaimer below), as well as some practical pointers.

Legal Disclaimer: Past performance may not be indicative of future results. Nothing on Union Free Radio should be contrued or misconstrued to constitute legal advice. All Union Free Radio listeners should consult with their attorneys. Due to various factors, including changing laws, administrative agency rulings, or court judgments, the advice given on this podcast should be viewed as informal, not formal advice.

Related articles and materials in this post:

'It’s not you, it’s us…'

Beyond the RWDSU’s recent debacle trying to unionize thousands of Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, it is becoming increasingly clear that unions need Amazon more than Amazon workers need unions.

In this episode of Union Free Radio, host Peter List gives context as to why unions are so threatened by Amazon and its union-free status

Articles and resources cited in this episode:

Today’s lack of institutional memory in our society is dangerous for employees and their employers.

In this episode of Union Free Radio, host Peter List addresses society’s general lack of knowledge about today’s unions and how it is dangerous for both employees and their employers.

“Unless they work for a really crappy employer,” List states, “if employees know the truth about unions, their history and how they work, as well as the rights they already have, most will decide they don’t want a union.”

“Most employees today,” List continued, “until they learn the hard way, don’t know that unions are legally allowed to overpromise in order to unionize them and legally allowed to underdeliver once they’ve succeeded in unionizing them.”

Articles cited in this episode:

In this episode of Union Free Radio, host Peter List dispels the union myth that “unions built the middle class,” by giving listeners the logic, and the data, that proves the myth false.

“You know,” List states, “the bad part about blindly accepting a myth like this is that it gives unions a free pass in order to push bad bills, like the poisonous PRO Act.”

Articles and sources cited: