June 23rd 2009
Union Strong-Arming On Alternative Energy
J
ust in case you are casting about today for more evidence of the self-serving immorality and unethical behavior of the labor union movement, look no further than the usually union-loving NY Times, which reports from the middle of nowhere:
When a company called Ausra filed plans for a big solar power plant in California, it was deluged with demands from a union group that it study the effect on creatures like the short-nosed kangaroo rat and the ferruginous hawk.
By contrast, when a competitor, BrightSource Energy, filed plans for an even bigger solar plant that would affect the imperiled desert tortoise, the same union group, California Unions for Reliable Energy, raised no complaint. Instead, it urged regulators to approve the project as quickly as possible.
One big difference between the projects? Ausra had rejected demands that it use only union workers to build its solar farm, while BrightSource pledged to hire labor-friendly contractors.
As California moves to license dozens of huge solar power plants to meet the state’s renewable energy goals, some developers contend they are being pressured to sign agreements pledging to use union labor. If they refuse, they say, they can count on the union group to demand costly environmental studies and deliver hostile testimony at public hearings.
If they commit at the outset to use union labor, they say, the environmental objections never materialize.
Come to think of it, this is also a wonderful example of how environmental laws are exploited by special interest groups – unions, NIMBYs, environmentalists – for reasons that have nothing to do with the environment.
Always ready to tell real thigh-slappers for his client’s benefit, Marc Joseph, a lawyer for California Unions for Reliable Energy, told the NYT:
“We’ve been tarred and feathered more than once on this issue. We don’t walk away from environmental issues.”
Uh huh. The chairman of the union group was more frank:
“You only have so much land that can accept solar power plants. So the question is, should that land be used for low-paid jobs or should that land be used for high-paid jobs?”
How about using it for jobs that will allow the project to be profitable, and that are gained fairly, not through regulatory extortion? How about not burdening potential future employers with 144 data requests, as the union group did recently with one company that refused to sign a union labor agreement. The requests asked questions like how many man-hours would be dedicated to tracking desert tortoise, and which role each individual on the tracking team played – all matters of great interest to any union.
For every charge of “astroturf” community relations campaigns by corporations, there are a dozen “greenmailing” schemes like these – but greenies, NIMBYs and union thugs usually get away with them. Kudos to the NYT for covering the story.
Excuses from Hell, then. Every penny Freeman spent came penny by penny from workers who earn so little that their ends rarely meet. How then would a cigar that cost a full day’s wage for the men and women he represents fight poverty, exactly? What advice can William Morris offer to people who empty bedpans for a living?
