CONFIRMED-Union-Bashing-Stars: Hannity, Limbaugh & O'Reilly Are AFL-CIO Union-Affiliated Members!

[kpete]

Confirmed: Union-Bashing Right-Wing Media Stars Hannity, Limbaugh and O'Reilly Are AFL-CIO Union-Affiliated Members
In spite of their criticism of unions in Wisconsin, AlterNet has confirmed that leading right-wing pundits are American Federation Television and Radio Artists union members.
February 26, 2011 |

When it comes to the Wisconsin union fights, right-wing pundits Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh have a couple of things in common. For starters, have all voiced their opposition to the plight of public employee unions in the state.

On Feb. 18, Limbaugh said on his radio program, "We are either on the side of the Wisconsin protesters or we are on the side of our country." Hannity has featured several guests critical of the union and its supporters, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, on his Fox News television and radio shows.

On the Feb. 18 edition of "The O'Reilly Factor," O'Reilly stated, "Governments can't afford to operate" because of "union wages and benefits." But it turns out that opposing workers' rights isn't the only thing these blowhards have in common.

As it turns out, all three of them belong to the American Federation Television and Radio Artists union (AFTRA), which is the AFL-CIO affiliate for television and broadcast workers.

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http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/he-is-that-guy/2011/feb/23/union/
http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/fsq2c
Links and more:
http://www.alternet.org/news/150054/confirmed%3A_union-bashing_right-wing_media_stars_hannity%2C_limbaugh_and_o%27reilly_are_afl-cio_union-affiliated_members/

[Oilwellian]

1. Hahahaha

It just doesn't get any richer than this.

[tridim]

2. Can they be kicked out of the union?

[ArnoldLayne]

3. Two of the biggest hypocrite's in the US, especially Hannity.

:dem:

[du_da]

4. I am not sure we should take any comfort in this

Doesn't this simply support the point that many on the right make that some union members are only members because they are forced to do so to hold those positions because in their words the unions have become too strong in those industries? With the dwindling number of union members across the populace this does little to bring the comfort of solidarity. It is also doubtful that those guys are working under union negotiated contracts, at least not their salaries. More likely that they had to be card carrying members to be in that industry but negotiated their own deals and the unions had little say if any in the details of the contract at least in so far as the star of the show is concerned. More likely the union's influence was in the staff.

[Me.]

5. Card Carrying

Now why does that phrase seem to carry a 'tone'? Interesting how you have a prob;em with people negotiating their own salaries and the fact that the union isn't a big control mechanism, quite unlike the Con, lock-step party where real thinkers are pushed out by no nothing baggers.

[pacalo]

7. And "some people say" they're hypocrites.

[cui bono]

9. Entertainment industry unions provide your minimum rate.Of course you can negotiate a better salary!

I'm in the motion picture editor's guild and I make more than what our union scale is. That's because I have experience and work at a higher position than others in my union. Do you think that all union members make the same flat rate and never get raises? Why should that be? The unions make sure you make at least a certain rate, get benefits, put forth other regulations to make sure you are not being taken advantage of, etc... And by working union jobs your hours get reported and counted towards health benefits and pension. Your pension is determined by how many hours you put in and how much money you made and in order to qualify for health benefits you have to work a certain amount of hours in a 6 month period. If you work more hours than you need they are banked and you can use your bank to extend your benefits for 6 months if you didn't meet the requirement.

I can work non-union shows if I like and guess what? I would make far less than I make now and would not get any hours towards health benefits and pension. Also they don't pay overtime, you get a flat weekly rate for M-F no matter how many hours you put in a day, and in this business it's usually a minimum of 10 hrs/day but the norm is 12 hrs/day, and I usually end up working 100 hrs/week for a few months at the end of shows. So why would I want to work non-union?

So no, it doesn't support that point. Being union is a good thing.

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R

[Justpat]

8. Fucking hypocrites.