[StBernard] NRTW Sues Obama Administration Over Disclosure Refusals

[Westley Annis]

Foundation Files Lawsuit to Force Disclosure of Obama Administration’s Ties to Big Labor

On the campaign trail in 2008 and since he took office in January, Barack Obama has repeatedly made promises of a new era of openness and transparency.

So just how closely has Obama Administration stuck to that promise?  It hasn’t, at least not at the Department of Labor (DOL).

Yesterday, the National Right to Work Foundation filed a federal lawsuit to compel the DOL to release information related to high-ranking officials’ contact with union operatives.

The suit seeks disclosure of high-ranking DOL officials’ connections to powerful union lobbying interests. Conflicts of interest appear to exist with regard to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who previously held a key leadership position <http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/3625686:5279468370:m:1:155652665:3AB703E558047C57BA000438DCDD6582>  at the Big Labor-front group “American Rights at Work,” and Deborah Greenfield, a DOL appointee who previously worked with the AFL-CIO <http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/3625687:5279468370:m:1:155652665:3AB703E558047C57BA000438DCDD6582>  to overturn the same union disclosure guidelines she now oversees.

The Foundation’s Freedom at Work blog has highlighted <http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/3625688:5279468370:m:1:155652665:3AB703E558047C57BA000438DCDD6582>  numerous other examples of union power brokers thrust into key roles overseeing organized labor – an apparent violation of the White House’s supposedly stringent new ethics policy.

Unfortunately, a “knock-down-drag-out” legal battle with the Obama Administration is likely to be expensive, so your generous contribution <http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/3625689:5279468370:m:1:155652665:3AB703E558047C57BA000438DCDD6582>  will help the Foundation pull back the veil of Big Labor’s stranglehold on the Obama White House and Department of Labor. 

SEIU Union Boss to Boy Scout:  How Dare You Serve Your Community

Union bosses will do whatever it takes to line their pockets – including threatening to file grievances against Boy Scouts for serving their communities and reducing the “need” for forcibly unionized government jobs.  A Pennsylvania union boss railed against an eagle scout for cleaning up a public trail, and threatened to file legal actions.

National Right to Work president Mark Mix explains why: “Volunteer workers don't have to pay compulsory union dues to serve their communities, but most paid workers on public projects do...(It) is yet another example of how government-authorized compulsory union dues corrupt the political process and furnish unscrupulous union officials with an enormous incentive to act against the public interest.”

Learn more on the Foundation’s blog <http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/3625690:5279468370:m:1:155652665:3AB703E558047C57BA000438DCDD6582> .