<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"><br />Top AFL-CIO union chief Richard Trumka -- President Barack Obama's guest of honor at his speech to Congress Thursday night -- urged Obama to "go to the mat" for Big Labor.<br /><br />Of course, Obama hasn't been shy about doing just that for the last three years. Trumka just wants more, more, more.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br />Obama's "jobs" proposal appears to be full of it -- more special deals and bailouts for the union hierarchy</span>.<br /><br />And unsurprisingly, Obama made no mention of the Boeing jobs in South Carolina the Acting General Counsel of his National Labor Relations Board is trying to destroy. <br /><br />Meanwhile, Big Labor has become even more militant, as events this week demonstrate.<br /><br />On Labor Day, Obama and Trumka shared the stage at a political rally <span style="text-decoration: underline;">where Teamster union president Jimmy Hoffa urged his "army" of union militants to "take these sons of bitches out</span>" -- threatening everyday Americans concerned about our struggling economy and growing debt.<br /><br />And on Thursday, we saw a real live example of the militancy of some union extremists who really seem to think they're in an "army" -- and their enemies are job providers, independent workers, security guards and even the police.<br /><br /><a href="wlmailhtml:{A3BC50DA-54F8-48CB-8154-8EF261BD04ED}mid://00000187/!x-usc:http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/6682707:9788217694:m:1:152029745:EDDFAA95A0372F68F205F5E0EDB263A3:r"><strong><strong><span style="font-family: Courier New; color: #0000ff;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Associated Press reported</span></span></span></strong></strong></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> that hundreds of Longshoreman union militants held security guards hostage for hours at a port in Longview, Washington</span>.<br /><br />Union thugs reportedly committed numerous acts of vandalism and violence including breaking windows, cutting brake lines on railroad cars, and threatening police officers with baseball bats.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Not a single arrest has been made</span>.<br /><br />The local police chief told the AP union militants warned him that Thursday's events were "<span style="text-decoration: underline;">only the start</span>."<br /><br />You might say they took a page straight out of <a href="wlmailhtml:{A3BC50DA-54F8-48CB-8154-8EF261BD04ED}mid://00000187/!x-usc:http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/6682708:9788217694:m:1:152029745:EDDFAA95A0372F68F205F5E0EDB263A3:r"><strong><strong><span style="font-family: Courier New; color: #0000ff;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">the playbook of Richard Trumka</span></span></span></strong></strong></a>, who climbed through the union boss ranks by encouraging militancy and even violence.<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">As President of the United Mineworkers (UMW) union in the 1980s and 1990s, Trumka led three violent strikes in which militancy was actively encouraged -- and workers who dared to continue working to provide for their families were subjected to threats and outright violence</span>.<br /><br />In 1997, the UMW was forced to settle with the widow of a nonunion worker who was shot in the back of his head. UMW officials even financially aided and filed grievances on behalf of seven union militants who pleaded guilty to crimes during the violent strike.<br /><br />And after Trumka left the UMW and became the AFL-CIO's treasurer, he was implicated in a money-laundering scheme.<br /><br />A former prosecutor at the Justice Department told ABC News in 2000, "<span style="text-decoration: underline;">If I were advising a candidate, I would advise him or her very strongly that [Richard Trumka is] not someone you want to embrace</span>." <br /><br />Eleven years later, Trumka is flying in Air Force One and sitting next to the First Lady as the President speaks before a joint session of Congress.<br /><br />Trumka is as powerful as he is due to all the special privileges for Big Labor tucked into federal law.<br /><br />The National Right to Work Committee has an aggressive plan of action to secure roll call votes on legislation that would eliminate some of Big Labor's most egregious special privileges. </span></span></p>
<p style="text-indent: -22.5pt; margin-left: 52.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;">&gt;&gt; The National Right to Work Act would eliminate the provisions of federal labor law that authorize union officials to compel workers to pay union dues or "fees" as a condition of employment.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-indent: -22.5pt; margin-left: 52.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;">&gt;&gt; The Freedom from Union Violence Act would close the loophole that exempts union officials from federal prosecution for acts of violence and vandalism they orchestrate in the so-called "pursuit of legitimate union objectives."</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;">It's time to turn up the heat on Congress and demand they reign in the out-of-control executive branch that has further empowered Trumka and the rest of the union hierarchy.<br /><br />Please, <a href="wlmailhtml:{A3BC50DA-54F8-48CB-8154-8EF261BD04ED}mid://00000187/!x-usc:http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/6682709:9788217694:m:1:152029745:EDDFAA95A0372F68F205F5E0EDB263A3:r"><strong><strong><span style="font-family: Courier New; color: #0000ff;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">chip in with a contribution of $10 or more today</span></span></span></strong></strong></a> to help the Committee mobilize hundreds of thousands or even millions of concerned citizens.<br /><br />Obama's army will do whatever they can to protect their ill-gotten power. Help us fight back.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Mark Mix</span></span></p>