Union members, at times at the behest of their leaders, aren't averse to roughing up opponents in order to win concessions. Employers and especially nonunion employees often find themselves on the receiving end of acts such as assault, extortion and vandalism or the threat of these things. At least one member of Congress, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., wants federal law to end this behavior. This past May 21, he introduced legislation, the Freedom from Union Violence Act of 2009 (H.R. 2537), that would impose potentially stiff fines and prison sentences on anyone who commits an act of violence or extortion during a labor dispute. The bill was referred in June to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. The unions are intent on keeping the bill bottled up, as they have in previous attempts at such legislation since 1997.
