“To understand the NEA – to understand the union – read Saul Alinsky. If you read “Rules for Radicals,” you will understand NEA more profoundly than reading anything else. Because the whole organization was modeled on that kind of behavior which was really begun when NEA used Saul Alinsky as a consultant to train their own staff.” John Lloyd, Former NEA UniServ Director

Also, Alynsky’s influence can be seen across other labor unions, like the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the AFL-CIO. One has to look no further than the history of Alynsky’s call to radicalism, and watch how those tactics have been embraced by the unions today.

Unions embraced various aspects of Alinsky’s teachings. In fact, Unions push Alinsky’s teaching that…

“Before men can act, an issue must be polarized. Men will act when they are convinced that their cause is 100 percent on the side of the angels and that the opposition are 100 percent on the side of the devil.” Saul Alinsky

As a result, not only Progressives use the tactic to demonize political opponents by trying to destroy their character, besmirch their good name, and destroy their image, but unions have been utilizing this tactic since the 1960’s, and sometimes before that. After all, they embraced Alinsky’s approach that “the end justifies almost any means,” or “success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics.” Therefore, they believe that as long as they have success in getting what they want, it doesn’t matter how they achieve their goal, who they destroy, or what evil deeds they have to commit, success is all that matters.

Sadly, the NEA and other Unions were a professional association that represented a broad spectrum of public education interests. However after the 1960’s, as a response to competition from the American Federation of Teachers, the NEA shifted and became a progressive, pro-socialist labor union. As a result, their members became their stock in trade or currency, as unified dues became the mechanism for consolidating control of the union. It is their bread and butter to finance their left-wing activism, and the members have no choice or say in how their dues are invested. Instead, it is invested by the Union’s Progressive leadership into Progressive-Socialist political activism. Yes, they offer the chance for those who disagree with how they use the money politically to not have it spent towards political activism. However, that money is spent on operational costs, and only frees up the same amount of money to be spent on political activism, and left-wing agendas. Interestingly, before unified dues, a teacher could belong to a local classroom teachers association, and to the non-union state and national organizations, and most teachers did.

So how do Unions combat their faltering numbers today? They make them believe that they need the Union to protect their interests. Whether it be claiming to fight for better pay, better benefits, better hours, or in defense from litigation, Unions say that to be protected, employees must join, or remain vulnerable.

However, what the NEA and other socialist based political unions hide from educators is that there are non-Union associations like the Association of American Educators that provide the same services, but they provide surveys to their members, and present the members opinions of the educators DIRECTLY TO CONGRESS, rather than taking members money and pushing progressive and socialist doctrines that the Union leadership want to push, regardless of what the members want. Also, there are independent professional liability insurance policies offered for teachers from companies like Forrest T. Jones, who WILL REPRESENT TEACHERS WELL. After all, they don’t like to lose lawsuits, and therefore, lose their money!

Today, American unions have mutated into enormous and influential interest groups, and the result has created a negative influence on America, and the American worker. Union membership has been declining rapidly from 39% in 1955 to 10.7% last year (2016). Also, only 6.4% of employees in the private sector belongs to unions. Regardless, Unions are fighting to preserve themselves.

However, Unions have reduced American companies’ competitiveness, which is especially noticeable in America’s “Rust Belt.” America’s Midwest used to be the heart of heavy industry before World War II, but began its decline after the powerful unions fought to create the Rust Belt. The Unions used their growing power and muscle to force up member salaries and benefits. As a result, businesses could not compete due to massive labor costs. Consequently, the businesses were forced to uproot their operations in the America, and move their operations to other less unionized areas in the United States, or overseas. As a result, workers were left penniless, and unemployed, while cities like Detroit, MI were left abandoned and decrepid, like a ghost town.

Today, Unions and pro-Union groups like the Democrat National Committee (DNC) fight to continue their socialist and anti-American agenda, regardless of the costs to the American worker, or ‘We the People”. They politicize any action or proposal that would weaken the socialist based unions, by demonizing all those who oppose them. They embrace radical pro-Communist Saul Alinsky’s tactics for portraying their opponents as the enemy of everyone. They utilize divide and conquer tactics, by dividing ‘We the People’ into factions. Women and men, blacks and whites, government workers and non-government workers, employers and employees, and so forth. They try to paint the workers as the victim, and employers as the corrupt. In fact, they use images like the cartoon below to demonize their political enemies…

It is an interesting cartoon, in that employs Saul Alinsky’s method of demonizing the President as a fascist and evil man, along with Republicans, or anyone who opposes the unions, or the soscialist agenda. Furthermore, it implies that Trump supporters are ignorant dogs that blindly follow the President. Furthermore, it is interesting that they depict the President as stomping on ‘UNION RIGHTS’, and not ‘WORKERS RIGHTS’s, as if a Union has rights under the United States Constitution.

Then, there is the following propaganda pieces…

These ads paint union opponents as fighting for the socialist cause of handing power over to the government and employers, where it is actually the unions who are fighting for socialism, and big government. Also, they say “workers are fed up against corporate greed,” as they try to paint corporations as evil entities! Why would that be? Actually, unions and corporate leadership like the heads of GM, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and other massive corporations make millions from the socialist cause, and have proven that they will fight for the same cause. What they fail to mention is the fact that the Unions have been taking the power away from the American workers, and taking that power for themselves, corporate CEO’s like Mark Zuckerburg, and progressive’s in Washington like Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who push the socialist agenda.

Additional problems with the unions include the fact that they fight for worker’s pay and benefits that are based on seniority, rather than merit or work ethic. They don’t fight for individual effort, as collective bargaining negotiates collectively, where the same contract covers every worker, rather than individual productivity or effort. In addition, unions are no longer able to get large gains for their members, but what gains that they do get, come at the cost of non-union workers, and many times the union workers themselves. That is because, if companies have to pay union workers more, the money has to come from somewhere. Therefore, those companies are forced to take money from non-union workers wages, and give those extra wages to the union workers. It has been a tactic used by unions, that they employ in order to incentivize non-union workers to be forced onto union contracts, and therefore, pay union dues. Dues that they are able to utilize to further finance progressive and socialist political candidates, and progressive policies. It has been a huge windfall for the Progressive-Democrat agendas. Also, businesses and companies pass on those extra costs unto the consumers, who have to pay the extra costs that the union-wage bill costs. However, if the companies do pass those costs onto the consumer, the consumers will shop elsewhere, therefore costing union and non-union workers jobs.

Another problem that unions are battling today has to do with the fact that businesses and corporations have moved to pay union workers and non-union workers the same pay. In fact, because unions have made it impossible for businesses to fire union employees. Consequently, those businesses have made sure that they hire productive workers in the first place, and then allow those employees to join unions, resulting in equal pay.

Today, unions have become riddled with corruption, unaccountable leadership, lavish union boss salaries, political activism, and a socialist agenda. In fact, the National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILRR), a nonprofit union watchdog, revealed that unions spent $1.713 billion on political activities and lobbying, and 75% of the money spent on politics came from union treasuries rather than campaign PACs or other independent union-backed political operations. They also found that unions have significantly ramped up their spending in the last four years, as they spent $2.2 billion on politics and lobbying, in the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, and $1.69 billion in 2012. Unions surpassed that figure by $16.4 million during the 2016 campaign, shelling out $1.713 billion on politics and lobbying during the 2016 election cycle, with the vast majority of money coming from member dues and they used the money to further support the Democrats, and their Progressive-Socialist agenda.

Those are some of the reasons that the Unions have been bleeding members profusely in recent years. In all, the labor unions are turning their back on workplace matters and the workers interests, and instead using the dues to buy political influence. Furthermore, a large number of Unions have moved out of the private sector, and now are in the public government sector. Therefore, unions can push for greater pay for their union workers, and it doesn’t affect the consumer directly. Instead, the government simply raises taxes on Americans, and therefore, pays the public sector employees more.

Today, with the decline of the unions, and as the union bosses have struggled to find a way to re-emerge and gain dominance over the American workers, corporations, and businesses. But rather than reform their policies, they have chosen to take away the workers right to vote in joining a union, and instead force them to do so. Organized labor now implements a deceptive name called “Employee Free Choice Act,” which abolishes the once secret-ballot organizing elections, and gives the power to unions to press workers to publicly sign a union representation contract. Meanwhile, unions train their foot-soldiers to give the workers a high-pressure sales pitch, and to push them to sign on immediately. Then, if the workers refuse, the organizers return to press them over and over, and threaten the workers who won’t join.

In 1947, the Taft-Hartley Act was passed which prohibited arrangements where employers agree to hire only unionized workers. The act allows for “union shops,” which are arrangements in the workplace that require employees to join a particular union within a certain time-frame after they are hired. However, Taft Hartley created an exception to the “union shops” rule that allows for individual states to pass laws prohibiting union shops. These laws are now referred to as “Right-to-Work” laws.

In states without Right-to-Work laws, the workers covered by a union contract can refuse to join the union and then pay the fees associated with the workplace bargaining. States with Right-to-Work laws require union contracts to cover all workers, not just the ones who are members of the union.

Most Right-to-Work laws vary from state to state, but they prohibit labor unions and employers from entering into contracts that only employ unionized workers for the jobs in the contract. This allows employees to receive the benefits of the union contract without having to pay their share of dues and fees to the union. Essentially, these states allow workers to join a union if they wish, but employers cannot force or compel employees to join a union as a term or condition of employment.

Although most labor unions are strongly opposed to Right-to-Work laws, proponents argue that Right-to-Work laws simply secure employees’ rights to choose for themselves whether or not to join and/or support a union rather than forcing workers to join as a term of employment. Opponents of Right-to-Work laws consider those laws to enable workers to be freeloaders, to enjoy the benefits of being a union member such as higher wages and job protections, but without paying any of the costs of collective bargaining. However, non-Right-to-Work states do not force employees to unionize; this is strictly prohibited by federal law, but if they chose to pay unions for collective bargaining, the worker has no say in how that money is spent.

Now, Democrats and Unions are fighting against Missouri’s ‘Right to Work’ status in Missouri. Primarily because it weakens the unions bargaining strength, and takes the power from the unions, and places that power back into the hands of the worker again. Currently, States across the country have been joining other ‘Right to Work’ states, leaving primarily the most Progressive states, all while the union tries to use fear tactics in claiming ‘right to work’ hurts the American workers. However, that is far from the truth, since it actually puts the power back into the hands of those very workers. On August 7, 2018, Missouri residents will be tasked with deciding the fate of Missouri’s ‘Right to Work’ State Status. Here is what Prop A states:

Official Ballot Title: