FAA

Just In Time For The Holidays: FAA Fight Heats Up In Wake Of Super Committee Fail

Brian Beutler | November 22, 2011, 3:50PM

Completely distinct from the Super Committee-related mess Congress has to clean up, the House and Senate are also supposed to pass long-term legislation to reauthorize FAA programs. But a dispute over worker rights has held up the bill for months and even led to a partial FAA shutdown earlier this year. Rinse, repeat.

Republicans want to make it more difficult for transportation workers to unionize by requiring officials to count abstentions as votes against forming a union. This provision underlies the stalemate between the House and Senate on a so-called permanent reauthorization.

The current, temporary reauthorization is scheduled to lapse at the end of the year, and now labor is pressing the GOP to strip the anti-union measure and move ahead with the long-term plan, as opposed to passing another stopgap, or triggering another shutdown.

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Mitt Romney

Romney Tweaks The Ryan Budget: Cut Social Security Benefits, Privatize Medicare (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 19, 2011, 11:41AM

Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

Mitt Romney caught a lot of heat Tuesday for his comments about foreclosures. But in the same interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal, he outlined a plan for the country's future that would please Paul Ryan, and conservatives hell bent on rolling back the social safety net.

Without noting that Social Security has been in good shape for about 20 years, Romney proposed making it solvent in the long term through a mix of benefit cuts, taking the option of imposing payroll taxes on higher-income earners off the table completely.

"Arithmetically, there are probably three ways of making Social Security permanently solvent," Romney said. "One would be simply raising taxes. I don't favor that one. Number two would be to increase the retirement age. Number three would be to have a little slower growth in benefits for higher income beneficiaries.... Some combination of those last two is the place we can go in my opinion to solve Social Security for future retirees."

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Mitt Romney

Romney Accuses 'Labor Stooges' At NLRB Of Political Payback

Susan Crabtree | September 12, 2011, 3:42PM

GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney joined the GOP's latest anti-union salvo -- reining in the National Labor Relations Board -- at an event in South Carolina Monday.

Romney, and his latest high-profile supporter Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, toured Boeing's new manufacturing plant in North Charleston. The NLRB is suing Boeing for moving an operation to South Carolina, a right-to-work state, from Washington state after unions protested there.

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FAA

Mica's Punts On Anti-Union FAA Issue, Unions Celebrate

Susan Crabtree | September 9, 2011, 4:22PM

Unions were breathing a sigh of relief Friday morning after House Republicans punted a contentious anti-union issue preventing funding for the Federal Aviation Administration to the end of December, providing back pay to agency workers and giving opponents more time to organize and fight GOP-backed anti-labor provisions.

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Jimmy Hoffa

Hoffa: 'Let's Take These Sons Of Bitches Out!'

Susan Crabtree | September 5, 2011, 3:34PM

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa

Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa didn't mince words when warming up the crowd before President Obama's pro-union speech in Detroit Monday.

Hoffa described the recent Republican-led assaults on collective bargaining rights as a "war on workers" and described Obama as union workers' general who will lead them to victory in 2012 over the Tea Party and like-minded allies.

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FAA

White House Pushes For FAA Solution By Week's End

Susan Crabtree | August 4, 2011, 2:21PM

President Obama phoned Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) Wednesday to urge him to pass a bill extending funding for the Federal Aviation Administration and hopes House Republicans and Democrats can resolve their differences and get tens of thousands of FAA and construction workers back on the job by the end of the week.

White House spokesman Jay Carney confirmed Obama's call to Boehner and said the President wants a resolution to the impasse by the end of the week even though the two sides have yet to make any progress resolving their differences.

"Obama called Boehner yesterday, and said this is one thing we can do for job creation pretty instantly," Carney told reporters Thursday. "It's not resolved, and it needs to be resolved, and we're hopeful that it will by the end of the week."

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FAA

Reid Letter To Boehner Urges Swift FAA Fix Despite Congressional Recess

Susan Crabtree | August 3, 2011, 6:20PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has fired off a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) offering an urgent compromise on Congress' latest impasse: the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The move comes just hours after President Barack Obama slammed the imbroglio for creating a "lose-lose-lose situation" and urged Congress to resolve the matter before the end of the week.

Complicating matters is the fact that many lawmakers are about to leave DC, or have left already, as this year's Congressional recess has now begun.

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John Kasich

Poll: Kasich Sinks Further, Ohio Voters Want To Repeal Union Busting Law

Kyle Leighton | July 20, 2011, 11:54AM

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R)

Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) had to be feeling pretty good a little over eight months ago when he knocked off incumbent Ted Strickland on his way to being the Buckeye State's chief executive. Now it's the people of Ohio who don't feel that great about him.

Kasich's approval rating registered at a paltry 35% in the latest Quinnipiac poll of Ohio voters, with 50% disapproving of the Governor's performance, directly in line with the current TPM Poll Average. Ohio was one of the major flash points in the fight between newly elected Republican governors and public employee unions over collective bargaining rights, compensation and benefits. Much of the poll shows a public resistance to Kasich's policy in the area, but agreement that public employees should pay more of their health insurance and pension contributions.

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Andrew Cuomo

Democrat or Republican, Cutting Back on State Workers Becoming Popular Move for States

Michael R. Corjulo | July 20, 2011, 6:00AM

Climbing out of "The Great Recession", many state governments found themselves faced with gaping budget shortfalls. A popular solution has been downsizing government work forces and reducing the power of public sector unions.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker became a mascot for the cause earlier this year when he began a push to take away collective bargaining rights from public workers in his state, a step so drastic that the state senate Democrats found it necessary to flee to Illinois to prevent a vote on the matter (which eventually became law anyway). Republican governors John Kasich (OH), Chris Christie (NJ), and Rick Scott (FL) all stirred up controversy for looking for similar places to scale back.

But while the most publicized and most agressive anti-union fights have been in states with newly elected Republican governors, unions are being pinched in more traditionally friendly democratic territory as well.

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National Labor Relations Board

Judge Rules For NLRB Over Boeing, Graham Piping Mad

Susan Crabtree | June 30, 2011, 6:02PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

A federal judge denied Boeing's motion to dismiss a National Labor Relations Board lawsuit that charged the aerospace giant with unfairly penalizing Washington workers' collective bargaining rights by moving a new production line to South Carolina.

Administrative Law Judge Clifford Anderson is allowing the case against Boeing to proceed to trial. The NLRB charged Boeing executives with retaliating against union workers in Washington state for striking by opening up the South Carolina factory, which Boeing flat-out denies.

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unions

NLRB Pushes New Rules to Facilitate Unionization

Michael R. Corjulo | June 22, 2011, 3:10PM

National Labor Relations Board

2011 has been a busy year for labor unions across America. After historic budget battles in Wisconsin and Ohio, governors in more states like Florida and New Jersey have been clamping down on collective bargaining rights and targeting state worker benefits in attempts to cut spending and balance budgets.

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board made headlines when it filed a controversial complaint against Boeing aircraft for moving a plant from Washington to South Carolina. According to the complaint Boeing was violating labor laws by allegedly moving the plant so that the company would not have to deal with frequent strikes in their Seattle location.

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unions

GOP, Dems Square Off Over NLRB Case Against Boeing

Susan Crabtree | June 17, 2011, 4:17PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee repeatedly clashed Friday over the politically charged National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing Co. and its decision to locate a nonunion plant in South Carolina.

Even before the field hearing in Charleston, S.C., got underway, Democrats were accusing Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) of trying to intimidate the NLRB by hauling the agency's top lawyer, Lafe Soloman, before the panel.

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Pres '12

Unpopular Freshman GOP Governors Could Help Obama's Reelection Bid

Jon Terbush | May 31, 2011, 2:02PM

Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Gov. John Kasich (R-OH)

When several newly minted Republican governors began pushing through broad, unpopular legislation this year, they may have unintentionally aided President Obama's reelection odds.

Emboldened by their party's midterm election day romp, freshman GOP governors in a few crucial swing states immediately began to advance radical legislation upon taking office. But as the cost of those unpopular legislative agendas has now become clear in the form of free-falling approval ratings and incredible buyer's remorse, polls have shown that that same voter discontent could translate into a big 2012 boost for President Obama.

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John Kasich

Poll: Gov. Kasich Would Lose Do-Over Election By 25 Points

Jon Terbush | May 26, 2011, 8:51AM

Gov. John Kasich (R-OH)

Since signing a bill earlier this year to strip public unions of most of their collective bargaining rights, Ohio Gov. John Kasich's (R) approval rating has plummeted, bottoming out at a new low in a PPP poll released Wednesday. As if that weren't bad enough, the poll also found Kasich losing a theoretical do-over election -- by an enormous 25-point margin.

Kasich narrowly defeated incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland (D) last November, and almost immediately set his sights on rolling back public sector collective bargaining rights through a bill known as S.B. 5. That drive was deeply unpopular with his constituents, prompting large protests and sending the governor's approval rating into a nosedive.

In the latest poll, only 33% of registered voters said they approve of Kasich's job performance, compared to 56% who said the disapprove of it. That result ties Kasich with Florida's Rick Scott (R) as the most unpopular of the 38 governors PPP has surveyed.

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collective bargaining

Poll: Majority Want Repeal Of Ohio Bill That Guts Collective Bargaining Rights

Jon Terbush | May 18, 2011, 3:17PM

Gov. John Kasich (R-OH)

Two months after Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) signed a sweeping rollback of public union's collective bargaining rights, voters there still overwhelmingly disapprove of their first-term governor, and a majority say the controversial law should be repealed, according to a Quinnipiac poll released today.

In the poll, 54% of registered voters said the collective bargaining law should be repealed, while 36% said it should not. And with the law potentially headed for a referendum in November, it looks like they may get their wish.

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire's Dem Gov Vetoes Anti-Union Bill

Eric Kleefeld | May 11, 2011, 1:45PM

Gov. John Lynch (D-NH)

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has vetoed a "right-to-work" bill passed by the Republican legislature, which would have restricted private-sector unions in the state. As of this juncture, a veto override could potentially occur, but is not a certain thing.

The New Hampshire Union Leader reports:

The bill, HB 474, would bar contracts that require non-members to pay partial dues to unions that represent their rights in the workplace. The partial payments are meant to cover the costs of reaching and enforcing labor contracts.

The bill would also allow fines to be levied against companies that included the provision in a contract and deducted the payments.

...

Lynch wrote in his veto message, "States should not interfere with the rights of businesses and their employees to freely negotiate contracts. That is unless there is a compelling public interest, and there is no compelling public interest in passing this legislation.

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Massachusetts

Mass Gov. Deval Patrick On Collective Bargaining Cut: 'This Is Not Wisconsin'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | April 28, 2011, 9:41AM

Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA)

Union supporters had a rude awakening on Wednesday with news of the Massachusetts state House vote to slash collective bargaining rights for municipal workers. Democratic-controlled, and among the bluest of the blue, Massachusetts is not the place where most expected to see the next battle in the nationwide organized labor fight with state legislatures crop up.

The state House bill, which passed with overwhelming support in the Democratic-controlled state legislature, would "strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care," as the Boston Globe reported Wednesday. The goal, according to proponents, is of course to "save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns."

What happens next is unclear. But the president of the state AFL-CIO and Gov. Deval Patrick (D) agree -- Massachusetts is not likely to be the next Wisconsin.

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Scott Walker

Poll: Russ Feingold Ties Gov. Scott Walker In Hypothetical Wisconsin Recall

Jon Terbush | April 25, 2011, 12:23PM

Russ Feingold and Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

A slim majority of Wisconsin voters don't support the idea of a recall election to oust Gov. Scott Walker (R), according to a new poll. That is, unless Russ Feingold is offered up as the challenger who could replace Walker in just such an election.

In a poll of registered voters conducted by Ethridge & Associates, 51% of respondents said they oppose recalling Walker, compared to 44% who said they supported doing so. However, a recall election would not be just a choice of keeping or booting Walker, but would pit Walker against a Democratic challenger. To test that dynamic, Ethridge paired Walker with progressive favorite former Sen. Russ Feingold, and found the two tied at 48%.

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Oklahoma

Unions Lose One In Oklahoma

Evan McMorris-Santoro | April 20, 2011, 5:20PM

Gov. Mary Fallin (R-OK)

Republicans in Oklahoma appear poised to remove some more of what little union protection there is in that deep red and right-to-work state. On Tuesday, the state Senate passed House Bill 1593, a bill that would strip away Oklahoma's requirement that large cities engage in collective bargaining with so-called "non-uniformed" city workers. The state House already passed the bill and now it just awaits the expected signature of first-term Republican Gov. Mary Fallin.

The state's existing collective bargaining law, which was signed by Democratic Gov. Brad Henry seven years ago, requires big municipalities -- population 35,000 and up -- to bargain with, as the The Oklahoman reported, "city road, sanitation and utility workers."

In the new legislation, as in the controversial anti-collective bargaining bill in Wisconsin, workers like firemen and police offers are exempt. The Oklahoma bill also excludes teachers from the change.

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Ron Johnson

WI GOP Senator: Supreme Court Race 'Took The Wind Out' Of Union Sails

Evan McMorris-Santoro | April 12, 2011, 2:50PM

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told a gaggle of bloggers at the Heritage Foundation Tuesday that the controversial results of the state Supreme Court race in the Badger State surprised him, and indicate that Wisconsin isn't as pro-union as the thousands who gathered in and around the state capitol in Madison during the collective bargaining fight might want to think.

He also said that the battle between pro and anti-collective bargaining sides during the budget fight last month was much uglier than has been reported, with unknown leftist "thuggery" leading many state legislators to be "intimidated."

Johnson, who replaced Sen. Russ Feingold (D) in the Senate in the Republican sweep of the Wisconsin ballot in 2010, said that the apparent defeat of liberal Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenberg will significantly slow the roll of unions as they attempt to stop Republicans across the country from passing laws they don't like.

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112th Congress

House Defeats Effort to Remove Anti-Union Provisions of FAA Bill

Benjy Sarlin | April 1, 2011, 1:57PM

The House GOP weathered a number of defections to defeat attempts to remove anti-labor language from a bill reauthorizing the FAA on Friday.

An amendment to strip the bill of a provision requiring workers to be present for votes on union representation or be counted as a "no" vote failed 220-206, with 16 Republicans joining Democrats on the losing side of the ledger. Labor groups had been hoping a larger defection might materialize, allowing them to carry the vote.

Despite their success in preserving the measure, House Republicans still have to get past President Obama and the Democratic Senate. The White House has stated that it will veto any FAA bill that includes the provision.

John Kasich

Ohio Governor To Sign Anti-Union Bill Thursday Night

Melissa Jeltsen | March 31, 2011, 5:05PM

Gov. John Kasich (R-OH)

Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) will sign SB 5 -- the contentious anti-union bill restricting collective bargaining rights for unionized public workers -- into law Thursday night, according to his spokesperson.

SB 5, which makes it illegal for state workers to strike and gives local governments new powers over contract negotiations with union workers, was passed out of the state legislature Wednesday.

According to spokesperson Connie Wehrkamp, Kasich will sign the bill at 7 p.m. at the ceremonial office in the statehouse. Wehrkamp said the Governor wanted to sign the bill into law "as soon as he possibly could."

Far from ceding the fight, union supporters and Democrats are now gearing for their next plan of attack: putting the legislation to the voters of Ohio as a ballot initiative.

Barack Obama

White House Threatens To Veto Key Legislation Over Union Busting Provision

Brian Beutler | March 30, 2011, 6:45PM

President Barack Obama

The White House has threatened to veto the big FAA authorization bill if its final version contains an anti-union provision that would make it harder for aviation and rail workers to organize.

That measure, described at length here and here, "would undermine a fundamental principle of fairness in union representation elections - that outcomes should be determined by a majority of the valid ballots cast," according to a statement of administration policy the White House released Wednesday night. "By treating non-votes as 'no' votes, the provision would prohibit workers in the airline and railroad industries from voting whether to join a union on the same basis - majority rule - as most other industries."

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Progressives

New Progressive Group Aims To Close The Talent Gap Between Left And Right

Brian Beutler | March 30, 2011, 1:56PM

Mark Begich (D-AK)

This winter, progressives and elected Democrats in states across the country found themselves blindsided by a coordinated wave of conservative legislation. The policies themselves were tailor-made to both advance right-leaning policy objectives, and undermine the electoral hopes of the Democratic Party: union-busting, voter ID laws, tort reforms.

Despite high unemployment, and a public clamoring for jobs, these political measures popped up in just about every state where the GOP took control of part or all of government after the 2010 midterm romp -- the ideas themselves were drafted and circulated by a network of conservative groups, and advanced by a crop of politicians that has been nurtured by the movement for years.

Looking forward, progressives want a piece of that action.

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Michigan

Conservative Think Tank Seeks Michigan Profs' Emails About Wisconsin Union Battle ... And Maddow

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 29, 2011, 10:12AM

Michigan Labor Protesters

A free enterprise think tank in Michigan -- backed by some of the biggest names in national conservative donor circles -- has made a broad public records request to at least three in-state universities with departments that specialize in the study of labor relations, seeking all their emails regarding the union battle in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, TPM has learned.

According to professors subject to the request, filed under Michigan's version of the Freedom Of Information Act, the request is extremely rare in academic circles. An employee at the think tank requesting the emails tells TPM they're part of an investigation into what labor studies professors at state schools in Michigan are saying about the situation in Madison, Wisc., the epicenter of the clashes between unions and Republican-run state governments across the Midwest.

One professor subject to the FOIA described it as anti-union advocates "going after folks they don't agree with."

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Labor

Labor Ups Pressure On Lawmakers To Nix Union-Busting House Bill

Brian Beutler | March 28, 2011, 9:34AM

Labor activists are preparing to step up their advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill ahead of a key vote on a union-busting measure later this week, according to sources familiar with their campaign.

The stepped up effort comes as anti-union activists are preparing efforts of their own, in order to make it harder for aviation and rail workers to unionize.

At issue is House legislation to renew FAA programs, which includes a provision that would reinstitute old rules governing how the National Mediation Board counts workers' votes. Under the current system, a simple majority of those voting wins, just like in, say, the House of Representatives. If Republicans get their way, those rules will change, and workers who don't vote will be tallied as having voted "no."

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New Hampshire

Protesters Erupt As New Hampshire GOPers Move Anti-Union Bill That Goes Farther Than Walker's

Brian Beutler | March 25, 2011, 3:39PM

New Hampshire State House

Late on Tuesday evening, Republicans on a House panel in New Hampshire voted to advance legislation that resembles Scott Walker's law in Wisconsin ending collective bargaining rights for public sector unions. It's actually farther reaching.

Under the terms of this plan, public sector workers in the state would become "at will" employees if and when their contracts expire.

That eliminates all the leverage state employees have in negotiation with their employers, and could ultimately end up busting the unions entirely.

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Scott Walker

Washington GOP Gubernatorial Hopeful Distances From Scott Walker

Brian Beutler | March 25, 2011, 1:00PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

We know conservative politicians in safe districts are happy to align themselves with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. In fact, they fawn over him. But for vulnerable pols, or hopefuls in battleground states and districts, it's a different story.

Take Washington state's Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna, who aspires to be governor.

Washington Dems tried to mark McKenna with Walker's taint, in an ad in The Olympian. "If you like what Governor Scott Walker is doing in Wisconsin... you will love Rob McKenna as Washington State's Governor."

McKenna wants no part of that association -- even though he's publicly taken position's similar to Walker's in the recent past.

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Labor

Anti-Union Push Picks Up Steam On Capitol Hill

Brian Beutler | March 25, 2011, 10:35AM

In the next several days, the state-level fight between Democrats and Republicans over unions will go federal. House Republicans want to re-establish old rules which say that when aviation or rail workers don't vote in unionization elections, they're treated as having voted against unionization. And now on of the nation's largest airlines is getting involved in the fight.

The push is reflected in language in the House's FAA re-authorization bill. In an earlier stage of the legislative fight, Democrats, joined by a few Republicans, nearly succeeded in getting the provision stripped. Now, sources say, a similar fight is likely to play out on the House floor, and anti-union employees at Delta Airlines are preparing to fly to Washington to join the fight.

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Rick Snyder

Buyer's Remorse: Polls Show 3 New GOP Gov's Losing In Do Overs

Jon Terbush | March 23, 2011, 8:33AM

Last year's midterms elections swept incumbents from office nationwide, as voters turned to newcomers -- often Republican newcomers -- for change.

But just months after election day, three new Midwestern governors -- Wisconsin's Scott Walker (R), Ohio's John Kasich (R), and Michigan's Rick Snyder (R) -- have seen their approval ratings fall to the point that polls show them losing hypothetical do-over elections with the candidates they beat last year.

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Scott Walker

National Republicans Rally Around Scott Walker

Brian Beutler | March 16, 2011, 3:18PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Ahead of yesterday's House vote to fund the federal government, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) painted the Republicans rebelling against Speaker John Boehner from the right as Scott Walker Republicans -- uninterested in compromise, single-minded in pursuit of a right-wing policy agenda.

The statement quickly diffused through the Capitol, and Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) -- an influential conservative and former Republican leader, who voted against the spending measure -- took kindly to it. On Twitter, Pence joked, "Sen. Schumer called us 'Scott Walker Republicans?' That's the nicest thing anybody has said about me in a long time!"

Turns out this is a view shared by both the so-called "Scott Walker Republicans" themselves, and Republicans who voted to pass the compromise plan.

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John Kasich

Ohioans Having Incredible Buyers Remorse Over Gov. Kasich

Jon Terbush | March 15, 2011, 11:39AM

Former Rep. and current candidate for Governor John Kasich (R-OH)

Just a few months into his first term, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) appears to be immensely unpopular with his constituents, a clear majority of whom disapprove of his job performance, according to a PPP poll of registered voters. What's more, if a do-over election were held today Kasich would lose -- by a resounding 15-point margin.

Kasich barely defeated incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland (D) last November, winning by a slim 49% to 47%. But if they could do it all over again, 55% of voters now say they would vote for Strickland, while only 40% say they'd go with Kasich.

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2012 elections

GOP War on Unions Could Boost President Obama in 2012

Benjy Sarlin | March 14, 2011, 10:11AM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Scott Walker may have won the legislative battle over collective bargaining, but the political damage from the Wisconsin standoff as well as similar battles in other states could follow Republicans all the way to 2012.

Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana are each embroiled in battles with unions, each are considered battleground presidential states, and each swung hard right in the midterm elections after going for Obama in 2008. Political observers suggest that a newly re-energized union vote could have a profound impact in all three states the next time around -- and perhaps across the country.

"Given the intensity of emotion that Wisconsin has generated, supplemented by actions in other states, it's very possible that there will be ripple effects all the way to November 2012," Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told TPM. "Unions see this struggle as life-or-death, so they are bound to put extra resources into the swing states that are the epicenter of this controversy."

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Labor

Some Republicans Oppose Anti-Unionization Measure Creeping Through Congress

Brian Beutler | March 10, 2011, 9:47AM

The most high-profile fights between conservatives and unions have played out in Wisconsin and other states across the country. But another one is brewing at the federal level, where Republicans are trying to change the law to make it harder for aviation and rail workers to unionize. But several Republicans have broken ranks with their party, and labor activists see them as an opportunity.

The FAA reauthorization bill winding its way through the House would re-establish old rules, which say that if a worker doesn't vote in a unionization election, their heads will still be counted as "no" votes.

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Wisconsin Protests

Wisconsin Unions Rally But Stay On The Job For Now

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 10, 2011, 9:45AM

Following the Wisconsin state Senate Republicans' surprise move to unilaterally end collective bargaining rights for thousands of state workers, union activists are keeping up their protest pressure -- but steering clear of a rumored general strike -- for now.

At 9:00 Thursday morning Madison time, union supporters across the state will gather for the latest round of protests aimed at Gov. Scott Walker (R) and his plan to strip state unions of many of their current rights. In the social media cacophony following last night's vote, many supporters called for union workers to walk off the job as early as Thursday in protest of Walker's plan, and the latest Republican moves to get them through the legislature.

So far, union leadership hasn't signed on to that plan. But worker representatives in Wisconsin told TPM Wednesday night that strike is still an option -- and one they'll use if they have to.

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Chris Christie

Voters Sour On NJ Gov. Christie After His Budget Address

Jon Terbush | March 9, 2011, 12:07PM

Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who earned accolades for his tough talk about taking on public employee unions, appears to have lost some support from his constituents after releasing a new budget that does just that.

According to a recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll, registered voters in New Jersey now have a much less favorable view of Christie than they did just a few months ago, with the poll coming shortly after the governor delivered his budget address two weeks ago. In that address, Christie, like other Republican governors nationwide, criticized public employee unions for having "rich benefits," and said he would go after those benefits as a way to balance the budget.

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Crossroads GPS

Rove-Linked Spending Machine Takes On Unions In New TV Spot (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 9, 2011, 10:25AM

The conservative campaign spending group linked to Karl Rove is going up with a tough ad aimed at America's labor unions and the president they supported in 2008.

The short version: Unions and their political activity are "a threat to democracy."

Crossroads GPS, the non-profit political spending outfit who Rove and former RNC chair Ed Gillespie helped launch last year, is going on national cable news channels Wednesday with the 60-second spot, aimed squarely at the union leaders and Democratic politicians who have been taking on governors across the Midwest in the past few weeks.

Crossroads GPS is not required to release the names of its donors, and has been a common target of Democratic and progressive criticism since its founding.

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Scott Walker

Rasmussen Poll: Almost Six In Ten Wisconsin Voters Disapprove Of Gov. Walker

Jon Terbush | March 4, 2011, 12:56PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to strip public employee unions of most of their collective bargaining rights appears to be so unpopular, that a Rasmussen poll now finds that almost 60% of likely Wisconsin voters disapprove of his job performance.

That finding shows just how quickly Walker -- who was elected to his first term last November with 52% of the vote -- has sunk just in his first two months in office. And it comes one day after Rasmussen released results from the same poll, all of which showed public opinion firmly on the side of the unions in the labor rights battle that has deadlocked the state capitol for the past few weeks.

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Scott Walker

Rasmussen Poll: Majority of Wisconsinites Side With Unions On Collective Bargaining

Jon Terbush | March 3, 2011, 12:09PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has caught a lot of flak for his proposal to strip public employee unions of most of their collective bargaining rights. He can add to that a new poll of likely Wisconsin voters from Rasmussen -- a pollster much maligned for its typically Republican-skewing results -- which finds public opinion firmly against him on the issue.

A majority of those polled said they sided with the public employee unions rather than Gov. Walker in the showdown that has deadlocked the state government for more than two weeks. And while a plurality favor a plan to make state employees pay more toward their benefit plans -- something the unions have already agreed to do -- a majority oppose the most contentious proposal put forward by Walker: the elimination of most collective bargaining rights for state employee unions.

Just as damning for Walker, a majority also said they sided with the AWOL Senate Democrats, who fled the state to deny the senate the quorum necessary to advance the budget repair bill.

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