You are hereLegalized extortion rampant in Alaska
Legalized extortion rampant in Alaska
By Dan Fagan
Publisher
The Alaska Standard
It is common in Alaska where Big Labor has a stranglehold on the state for government to legalize extortion. Project labor agreements area perfect examples. PLA’s as they are called, require workers who chose not to join a union to give Big Labor bosses cash if they want to work. This legalized extortion serves no purpose other than to fatten Big Labor’s coffers. The non-union worker has no choice. He or she must pay or they can’t work the job.
There is no justification for this legalized extortion. But gubernatorial candidate Ethan Berkowitz tried anyway.
Click on the audio link below to hear the silliness.
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is evident. When you see a sweet deal as a five year contract that has raises that equals the city budget six years ago, we have extortion. Our only hope is to plan with non union competition when these contracts come back into play. Dan Sullivan please bring competition to the table to challenge the power of the unions. Also please consider the option to privatize the union work force. The math does not work, bankruptcy is in our future. Thanks to the public unions.
Mr. Kisor, what could you possibly consider ad hominem about my post?
From dictionary.com; ad hominem:
1. appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or special interests rather than to one's intellect or reason.
2. attacking an opponent's character rather than answering his argument.
This definition absolutely applies to every aspect of how Fagan operates. And I spent very little time trying to present a “clear argument” as you put it on the subject of PLAs.
However, since you went there, your post is absolutely laughable and based on discredited claims. First you allege I referenced “union-sponsored” references supporting PLAs. Wrong. Follow the link I posted and tell me where any of the studies are union-sponsored. These were independent studies by respected universities and policy centers primarily. Then you claim “there are other, unbiased studies demonstrating the opposite” but you didn’t identify even one.
Next, you list seven “facts” on PLAs, all of which are questionable and refutable, and not once did you cite the basis for your alleged “fact.”
This seems at odds with your apparent background with intellectual property rights, technology management, inventions, patents and such. It seems you would be someone who is bright enough to do their research, and not cast about aspersions without factual documentation.
It is obvious that labor issues and how PLAs actually work is outside your area of expertise. PLAs have been upheld as valid and legal in the courts every time they have been challenged. And they have worked well on dozens of projects in Alaska over three decades.
Oddly enough, based on your past contributions to thealaskastandard.com it seems in the instant case that you are the one casting around ad hominems.
It is amazing that Dan Fagan or any one else for that matter thinks he has any credibility to host a town hall meeting. It seems a town hall “moderator” should be someone known for being fair, honest, and perhaps even neutral politically on myriad issues.
However, Fagan’s stated opinions and characterization of unions and project labor agreements (PLAs) in this audio clip are patently provably false, yet he never misses an opportunity to use his inflammatory sound bytes, or give any credence to countervailing and credible research. Recent independent university studies have validated the public benefits realized by PLAs, and refuted the Beacon Hill Institute study which was critical of PLAs and which the ABC has always relied on to rebuke PLAs. Don’t believe me? Check out this link: http://www.plaswork.org/Resources.aspx
Further, I never spoke to Ethan about the worker's boycott and told him “he couldn’t go to the town hall meeting.” That is yet another ridiculous and false assertion by Fagan. Ethan is simply respecting a group of workers who are being treated poorly and showing them he stands for social justice. Had a group of non-union workers been in a similar situation, I’m sure Ethan would’ve been equally supportive of them.
Fagan also falsely stated today that I “threatened him,” and told him he better not have the event at the Sheraton. Following is the e-mail I sent him. You tell me how “threatening” it is:
Dan, It was reported to me that you will soon be embarking on holding town hall meetings. Oddly enough I've been considering the same thing. Apparently, you mentioned you would be holding the meetings at the Sheraton. That is unfortunate, as the Sheraton is now owned by an outside company who is raking poor little old housekeepers over the coals, despite the fact they are some of the most vulnerable workers in the state. Accordingly, union members are honoring a self-imposed boycott by the employees of the Sheraton (and the Hilton) and are by and large not patronizing the Sheraton until progress is made in resolving the worker's issues.
While I certainly don't expect you to sympathize with that situation, if you are truly looking to have a town hall format that encourages maximum participation and all views from the community, I would encourage you to find another venue. If, however, you are just interested in having a forum full of sheep than I guess you'll stick with the Sheraton. But that seemingly would undermine the legitimacy of letting all voices be heard, which I think is the whole notion behind town halls.
At any rate, that's just my two cents. And I wanted to make sure you were aware of the situation and how it might, at least in my mind, impact the perceived legitimacy of your meetings. (end of email)
So, how does a man who marginalizes anyone or anything he disagrees with get to legitimately pass himself off as a fair town hall moderator?
Fagan doesn’t consider the merits of an argument, and isn’t respectful of contrary opinions, instead opting to malign the messenger, like calling me an extortionist big union boss socialist. Are these the qualities Alaskans want in a community moderator? If you want a real community dialogue you can't effectively exclude 25% of the population from participating and claim all views were welcome.
Dan Fagan is not paid to foster intelligent debate. He is paid to deliver dumb people to his advertisers.
Next time you're home sick or for a holiday, listen to his show. You'll quickly realize that his advertisers hawk goods and services specifically tuned to dumber consumers. Stuff smart people would not buy.
It's a decent gig I suppose for someone with his talents. It hasn't yet provided him with enough income to become an Anchorage homeowner, but he's only been on TV and radio here for about a dozen years.
Look, his show airs in the middle of the afternoon. No smart people paid to think for a living can spend their afternoons listening to talk radio. Dan knows this, and so he targets the dumb. That's his audience. It's a good fit.
If you are so right in your beliefs. Why not host your own "Town Hall Meeting"? Maybe the left will show up for it. You all spew hate and mistrust in what you say that you all can get together and form a UNION of stupid and sell that to the people.
One would expect Mr. Beltrami, President of the AFL-CIO, to disagree with Dan as regards PLA's. The ad hominem's aside, Mr. Beltrami does not present a clear argument in favor of PLA's. For every (union-sponsored) study Mr. Beltrami references which demonstrates a supposed community benefit of PLA's, there are other, unbiased studies demonstrating the opposite.
Here are the facts on Project Labor Agreements:
1) They discriminate against the vast majority (84%) of the workforce who do not chose to join a union.
2) They drive up the cost of public construction projects.
3) They discriminate against minority-owned and disadvantaged businesses.
4) They circumvent the National Labor Relations Act prohibitions against pre-hire agreements.
5) They DO NOT promote on-schedule, on-budget project performance.
6) They require non-unionized employees to pay union dues.
7) They allow union stewards access and investigate job sites they otherwise could not legally enter.
PLA's are bad public policy. Period.
Berkowitz-Begich-Begich-Berkowitz. The only difference is the name. Do not trust this character. All we need is another party-hack in Washington.
If you weren't aware of the power of unions before, this should wake you up. The only part that surprised me is that Berkowitz caved.