Skip to main content

Private unions get away with bullying city officials and the Army

Typically my focus on organized labor has to do with public-sector unions, their lack of transparency, and forced dues as a condition of employment. Private-sector unions rarely appear on my radar, but I take exception to the latest outrage in my hometown.
Joint Base Lewis McCord’s 555th Engineer Brigade worked with the city of Olympia to find a building to demolish for training purposes. There are plenty of old eyesores in Olympia, so a suitable candidate for demolition wasn’t a problem. A building on the contentious Isthmus, a skinny stretch of land separating Capital Lake and the base of Puget Sound, was chosen.
JBLM was excited to work with the city of Olympia to get on-the-ground training for overseas missions. Meanwhile, the city, which struggles to keep revenue above spending, was happy to have JBML donate its services.
The money isn’t there to clean up Olympia, and bringing down all the buildings is expensive, so any help we can get is welcomed and needed.
To the dismay of taxpayers, the city council, and the United States Army, however, Teamsters Local 252 and IUOE (International Union of Operating Engineers) Local 612 got wind that the city was having nonunion work done by the military and filed a complaint alleging “competition with commercial entities.”
In the end, the unions prevailed, showing they’re even more powerful than the United States Army – at least so far as the city council is concerned. If the unions are not allowed to build- or, in this case, destroy something – they’ll ensure no one else does. No matter what it costs the taxpayer.
They claim this is about wages and an honest bidding process, but JBLM had waived any labor fees. “The estimated cost for demolition by a private contractor is between $75,000 and $125,000, according to the city.” And let’s not forget the motivation for this project was largely the fact that it was going to be done without any labor fees.
The city asked Local 252 and Local 612 to waive the fees as laid out in 3-2. l. 
“l. Competition with commercial entities. Army personnel, equipment, transportation, or other resources or services will not be provided to civilian-sponsored activities if commercial resources and services available in the public domain could reasonably provide such support. Army support could be provided if documented evidence shows local labor unions and CEs waived this requirement…”
The waiver was denied.
This is not a case of the working man being oppressed. This is simply a case of organized labor working playing a dog in the manger.
It’s time we all come together to put an end to union bullying tactics.



Labels:
Location: Olympia, WA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Government Demands Papers We Refuse

 By Matthew Hayward  9/19/2025  The Supreme Court just paused a lower court order that had limited federal immigration stops in Los Angeles. That stay lets federal agents resume roving patrols and interior operations that critics say rely on appearance, language, job, or neighborhood to pick people for questioning.  This matters because it normalizes a posture of suspicion. Checkpoints miles inland and roving patrols turn movement inside the country into a condition to be earned rather than a freedom to be enjoyed. The government already claims expanded authority inside the 100-mile border zone. That claim, plus an open green light for stops based on appearance, is a recipe for arbitrary enforcement.  Philosophy of resistance John Locke told us that the consent of the governed is the foundation of legitimate power. When rulers invade life, liberty, or property, or when they become arbitrary disposers of people’s lives and fortunes, the social compact is dissolve...
1 comment
Read more

The National Guard Was Never Meant to Be a Federal Tool

By Matthew Hayward 7/13/2025 Let me say this clearly: the National Guard was created to defend the states, not to enforce the will of the federal government. It was meant to serve as a local militia—an armed extension of the people under the control of the state. The highest authority a Guard member was ever supposed to answer to is their elected governor, not a bureaucrat in Washington, not a federal agency, and certainly not a sitting president weaponizing military force on domestic soil. Yes, I know the laws have changed. I know the Montgomery Amendment, the National Defense Act, and the Supreme Court's decision in Perpich v. DoD rewrote the rules. But legal doesn’t mean constitutional. Gradualism doesn’t legitimize usurpation. You don’t get to trample foundational principles and call it progress. What’s happening now—federalizing state forces to deploy them in cities without gubernatorial consent—is blasphemous. It's an insult to the very spirit of the Constitution. The ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reality Is Rigged and You Can Hack It

By Matthew Hayward 7/29/2025 Manifesting Reality: How the Matrix, Quantum Entanglement, and Consciousness Intertwine Look, science fiction and science fact have been flirting for decades. But lately, the line between the two is starting to disappear. The idea that we’re living in a simulated reality isn’t just a late-night stoner theory anymore. It’s a framework, a lens to view those weird, unexplained moments that leave you thinking, "What the hell just happened?" Quantum entanglement, synchronicity, manifestation… they all start to make a lot more sense when you stop pretending reality is some rigid, mechanical machine. It’s not. It’s code. And if you’re paying attention, you might just figure out how to rewrite it. NPCs vs Manifestors: Who’s Really Running Things? Picture the world like a massive open-world video game. Some people are just running the default programming. They go to work, follow the script, consume what they’re told, and never ask questions. NPCs. Then the...
Post a Comment
Read more