The last photo of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln was taken in 1871 six years after the president’s assassination.
OK, not really.
Photographer William Mumler developed a scam of putting shadowy images in his subject’s portraits and convincing them that they were spirits of loved ones. Mrs. Lincoln was among those who sat for him.
P.T. Barnum with Abe’s ghost.
Photography was a new thing at the time and the idea of double exposure was not well known.
P.T. Barnum, who understood how gullible people can be, had Mumler pegged. He had a photo of himself taken with Lincoln’s ghost to demonstrate the fraud.
Barnum was disgusted that Mumler was taking advantage of people’s grief.
William Lawrence Sr. Omnibit 12-9-16 last photo of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln
There are two different types of unions operating in Pennsylvania – public sector unions and private sector unions.
Public sector unions represent government employees and other workers such as school teachers.
Public sector unions in Pennsylvania include the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
One of the largest public sector unions is the school teachers’ union. The Pennsylvania State Education Association, also known as the “PSEA”, representing approximately 180,000 members.
Members of the PSEA union pay annual dues of approximately $800 to $1,000. This money is, by law, deducted from every employees paycheck.
From union dues alone, the PSEA is collecting between $140 million and $180 million annually.
Is anyone else scratching their head wondering what the PSEA does with all of the dues money collected from members?
The second union group is private sector unions, also known as “trade unions.”
These trade unions represent carpenters, plumbers, electrical workers, brick layers, and steamfitters, to name a few.
There is huge difference between public sector unions and private sector unions.
Public Sector Unions, also known as government unions, negotiate over tax dollars, which are viewed as an endless source of revenue. Government union leaders can, and do, constantly seek more taxpayer money for their own benefit.
Private sector unions negotiate over company profits, meaning when the company is not profitable, the union recognizes that and negotiates accordingly.
As you can see, the source of revenue is very different for each of these groups.
Over the last few weeks, the issue of furlough for over 500 state employees at various Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Call Centers has been a front and center issue.
Many people have weighed in with their opinions on who exactly is to blame for these furloughs; Governor Wolf or the state senate.
Frank Sirianni, president of the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council is quoted in an article by Chris Comisac from Capitol Wire saying:
“In all reality, they don’t have to cut there,” said Frank Sirianni, president of the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council about the planned UC call center closures. “They can cut somewhere else – they’re doing that because it’s a high leverage point, and they can leverage other people with it.”
This flyer was distributed by union leadership regarding the pending layoffs of state workers. Note how it doesn’t mention Gov. Wolf who could stop the job losses with a wave of a pen.
At a state office building union representatives, Wednesday, Dec. 7, were handing out a flyer that references me.
I have repeatedly stated that the SEIU, which represents the workers of the Unemployment Compensation Call Centers, should use the union dues they have collected from their members to put together a plan of legal action to block the closure of the call centers.
In addition to losing their jobs, the effected call center employees will have their benefits terminated at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 19. Why haven’t their union representatives stepped in and offered to cover the cost of the health insurance for their members for the next six to 12 months?
If asked these questions, the union will respond and say that they do not have the money to file legal action or to cover the cost of the employees health care for a few months. What happened to all the dues money that was collected from these call center employees?
According to “How Union Bosses Sold Out Their Workers” by Real Clear Politics — published the day the flyer was being distributed — $100 million– money collected from their members — was spent on political races in support of losing candidates.
Just think how much health insurance coverage could be provided to these union dues-paying members with that $100 million.
As of right now, It appears that Gov. Wolf is going to allow the layoffs to take place. It also appears that the SEIU union will be not assisting their members.
It is very unfortunate that Gov. Wolf is laying off the call center workers on Dec. 19, just six days short of Christmas.
