Paul Ryan Closely Tied To Corrupt Union Accused of Violently
Threatening Dissidents

by Mike Elk

Working In These Times
In These Times
August 14, 2012

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13669/paul_ryan_closely_tied_to_union_that_violently_threatened_union_dissidents/

The GOP has often accused unions of unfairly coercing members
into paying dues--dues that happen to be a major source of
support for Democratic candidates. However, an investigation
by In These Times reveals that GOP vice-presidential nominee
Paul Ryan is closely tied to a union accused of retaliating
against members who dared criticize its financial backing of
Republican candidates. Among those candidates were Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker and Paul Ryan himself.

Recently, Operating Engineers Local 139 signed a settlement
with the National Labor Relations Board over charges that the
union condoned violent threats against members who spoke out
against the union's political stances.

Paul Ryan's family company, Ryan Inc. Central, where he once
worked, has had cozy ties with Operating Engineers Local 139
for decades. In 1966, the company signed a contract to let
Local 139, the Wisconsin branch of the national union,
represent its workers. Despite Ryan's conservative positions,
the Operating Engineers have been big backers of Ryan's
career, ranking among his top 20 all-time donors with a total
of $48,500 in payments to his campaigns.

Fred Higgins, a member of Operating Engineers Local 139, says
that he and fellow union members have faced severe retaliation
for speaking out against the overall direction set by union
business manager Terry McGowan, including close relationships
with Republicans such as Paul Ryan. As a result of not
supporting McGowan, Higgins says, he and other members were
routinely denied work by the union's hiring hall.

In construction unions, members get work contracts through
their union halls, based on a priority number determined by
seniority and other factors. Higgins says that, despite being
high on the list, he received only a handful of weeks of work
in 2008 and 2009. Along with other union critics who received
infrequent work assignments, Higgins demanded to see the
union's hiring hall procedures. But, he alleges, McGowan
illegally refused to post a copy of the procedures in plain
public view--so Higgins and two other members of the union,
Tim Pare and Randy Heule, filed a complaint with the National
Labor Relations Board.

After the compliant was filed, McGowan called a May 2010
union-wide meeting at Operation Local's Pewaukee union hall,
where he allegedly berated the dissident union members in
front of a packed crowd. McGowan reportedly told the assembled
union members that they would be denied raises because of the
three who had filed charges. The crowd, at the encouragement
of McGowan, turned raucous against the three men; according to
Higgins, someone in the crowd threatened to "track down"
Pare's daughter's truck and read her license plate number
aloud.

After the meeting, Pare filed a second complaint alleging that
McGowan "condoned threats of violence made by members against
other members because they filed charges against the Union
with the National Labor Relations Board." The union agreed to
settle the charges. As part of the settlement, the union was
forced to post a notice in its hall saying, "WE WILL NOT
condone members threatening other members with physical harm
because they filed charges against the union with the National
Labor Relations Board." The union was also required to state
in the notice that it would not "threaten members with job
loss, monetary consequences or expulsion from the Union."

In a separate ruling, the National Labor Relations Board found
that Lewis Yuker, a foreman employed by URS Energy and
Construction who was also a member of Operating Engineers
Local 139 and brother of one of McGowan's staffers Guy Yuker,
illegally laid off Tim Pare from his job because he filed a
complaint against the union with the NLRB. Pare has since been
reinstated to his job at the order of the National Labor
Relations Board, and could not be reached for comment.

Fred Higgins's case was dropped by the NLRB, and he is in the
process of filing another complaint. Meanwhile, he says, he
has received only a few days of work in the past year, despite
being number 4 on the priority list. For now, Higgins is
drawing down his savings and hoping he can survive until he
can find work again.

"McGowan has supported Paul Ryan for years as part of his
connections to Ryan's family business," says Higgins. "McGowan
absolutely supports anybody who supports him--and if you
don't, you can get retaliated against like me."

Romney-Ryan campaign spokesperson Andrea Saul did not respond
to email inquiries about Ryan's relationship with the union.

It's clear, however, that the relationship has been mutually
beneficial. Local 139 was the only private-sector union in
Wisconsin to back the Walker budget that stripped public
employees of their right to collectively bargain. Ryan has in
turn supported construction unions against GOP assaults; last
year, Ryan worked against GOP leadership to defeat by one vote
a proposed ban on union-friendly Project Labor Agreements. By
ensuring that union labor is not at a disadvantage in getting
federal project bids, such agreements help both unions and
unionized construction firms such as Ryan Inc.

"We all know--or should know--that if an anti-union politician
like Gov. Scott Walker or Paul Ryan wants to support a union,
it's a just a temporary deal; it's just words. What he is
actually supporting is unionized contractors," says Higgins.
"It's about getting road contracts. Ryan is helping his
family; they are in the road construction business."

We will have to what and see if a Republican whose party
depicts union leaders as "thugs" is willing to denounce a
union so close to him that has appeared to engage in coercive
behavior. Ryan's relationship with Operating Engineers Local
139 raises serious questions about exactly what party the so-
called union thugs are backing in this election.

Update 8/14/2012:

Operating Engineers Local 139 business manager Terry McGowan
agreed to speak with In These Times this morning. In response
to questions about his union's support of Paul Ryan, he said,
"I don't agree with Paul Ryan on his politics, but he is a
Davis Bacon, anti-right-to-work Republican. He supports the
right of workers to make a fair wage on federally funded
projects. He's a leader in the House and if we were to break
off our relationship and find a different direction, I fear we
would lose a lot of Republicans on these issues."

McGowan said his union will not be supporting Mitt Romney, but
added, "If they were to win, do I feel I could go to Paul Ryan
and talk to him about right to work and have a conversation?
Yes."

McGowan denied allegations of condoning violent threats
against union members. He stated that Fred Higgins' lack of
work assignments have to do with his lack of specific skills
(a claim Higgins disputes). McGowan was unwilling to comment
on specifics in the NLRB complaints.

[Mike Elk is an In These Times Staff Writer and a regular
contributor to the labor blog Working In These Times. He can
be reached at [log in to unmask]

A native of Pittsburgh, Mike Elk is an award winning labor
journalist based in Washington, D.C. As an investigative
journalist, Elk uncovered how Citizens for Responsibility and
Ethics for Washington (CREW) was working in conjunction with
corporate lobbyists to attack the credibility of pro-student
lending reform advocates...While covering a lockout at
Honeywell uranium facility in Southern Illinois, Elk uncovered
how Honeywell cheated the safety tests given to scab
replacement workers at a uranium facility causing multiple
accidents and releases of toxic gases. Union leaders have
cited Elk's investigative reporting as being crucial to help
resolving their year-long lockout.

He has appeared as a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, NPR
and Democracy Now! as well as writing for The Nation, The
Atlantic,  the American Prospect and worked for filmmaker
Michael Moore covering the Wisconsin protests. Elk previously
worked in Charleston, West Virginia for the United Electrical,
Radio, and Machine Workers (UE), a union both his father,
great-uncle, and great-aunt worked for as union organizers.]

[Many thanks to Mike Elk for sharing this with Portside and
our readers.]

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