{"id":2352967,"date":"2024-10-10T03:07:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T07:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nebraska-labor-union-told-members-political-rally-was-mandatory-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-10T03:11:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T07:11:42","slug":"nebraska-labor-union-told-members-political-rally-was-mandatory-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nebraska-labor-union-told-members-political-rally-was-mandatory-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska labor union told members political rally was &#8216;mandatory&#8217; &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnebraska-labor-union-told-members-political-rally-was-mandatory-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2352967&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In Nebraska, a \u2064labor union \u200dcontroversy arose when the\u200c United Association of Steamfitters and Plumbers Local 464 initially declared attendance at a political rally for independent Senate nominee Dan Osborn\u200c as mandatory for its members, stating \u2062that absentees would face repercussions. This rally, hosted on a Saturday and featuring United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, was seen as \u200ba politically charged event, especially \u2063as Osborn is challenging incumbent Senator Deb Fischer\u200b in a predominantly Republican state.<\/p>\n<p>Union members received an email emphasizing that attendance at the union hall was required, without mentioning the political nature of the rally. \u200bThis led to allegations \u200cof coercion, \u2062with members\u2062 feeling \u200cpressured about their participation. The situation prompted a backlash, with some members accusing the \u2063union leadership of manipulating the event \u200bto avoid\u2062 scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>Following inquiries from the media, the union clarified that attendance was no longer compulsory due to scheduling conflicts, emphasizing that the\u200c original communication was a\u2064 misunderstanding by \u200dan instructor without proper authority. \u2062The business \u2062manager acknowledged the errors in communication and assured members that no repercussions would follow for non-attendance.<\/p>\n<p>Dan Osborn,\u2062 who previously\u2064 trained as a steamfitter, has faced criticism and labeling from opponents\u2063 linking him to more liberal figures, despite\u200b attempts to present himself as independent\u200b from party affiliations.\u200d The union&#8217;s initial stance and subsequent clarification raised questions regarding the adherence\u200c to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/labor-board-dismisses-union-misconduct-complaints-following-biden-purge\/\" title=\"Labor Board Dismisses Union Misconduct Complaints Following Biden Purge\">labor laws<\/a> and the \u200cethics of the situation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Nebraska labor union told members Senate nominee&rsquo;s rally was &lsquo;mandatory&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1776767\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE &mdash;<\/strong> Divisions spilled over in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nebraska\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Nebraska<\/a> labor union after it initially said members were required to attend a political event for the state&rsquo;s independent Senate nominee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3157103\/nebraska-independent-dan-osborn-praises-bernie-sanders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Dan Osborn\">Dan Osborn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The long shot candidate is challenging Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/deb-fischer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Deb Fischer\">Deb Fischer<\/a> (R-NE) in a Trump-dominated state for a seat that has become more competitive but still favors the second-term GOP incumbent. There is no Democratic candidate.<\/p>\n<p>The United Association of Steamfitters and Plumbers Local 464 is hosting a Saturday rally for Osborn that includes United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, but the event has been tainted in controversy after members were told five days in advance that attendance at the union hall was &ldquo;mandatory&rdquo; and that absent members would face repercussions.<\/p>\n<p>A steamfitters union instructor informed the chapter&rsquo;s several hundred apprentices by email Monday that they were &ldquo;required&rdquo; to be at the union hall Saturday at the same time as the Osborn rally, according to emails obtained by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. The message made no mention of the political event.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You all are needed! This Saturday, October 12, you are all required to be at the hall at 11 am,&rdquo; the email said. &ldquo;If you are not present it will be counted as an unexcused absence. You will be required to do 2 Saturday Make ups if absent. This Saturday is MANDATORY ATTENDACE.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A longtime union member, who was granted anonymity out of fear of retribution from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-border-threat-so-taboo-that-few-dare-speak-of-it\/\" title=\"A Border Threat So Taboo That Few Dare Speak Of It\">union leaders<\/a> against him and other members, accused steamfitters union leaders of orchestrating a political event akin to a &ldquo;phantom gun&rdquo; to avoid scrutiny and that apprentices feared speaking out.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If it looks like a duck, it&rsquo;s a duck,&rdquo; the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-or-woke-activist-group-new-york-times-employees-raise-questions-about-guilds-role-in-recent-dismissals\/\" title=\"Union or Woke Activist Group? New York Times Employees Raise Questions About Guild\u2019s Role in Recent Dismissals\">union member told<\/a> the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;If you look at the time that they&rsquo;re to meet, and then they say, &lsquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s just a coincidence they&rsquo;re having this rally and we&rsquo;re invited, so let&rsquo;s go.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Osborn was a former steamfitter <a href=\"https:\/\/nebraskaexaminer.com\/2024\/05\/15\/dan-osborn-spurns-democrats-other-parties-whose-help-he-sought-in-senate-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>apprentice at the same union<\/a> chapter before launching his Senate bid.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They really support Osborn. I&rsquo;m okay with it,&rdquo; the union member continued. &ldquo;But there&rsquo;s moral ethics, and when you force people to do something, where&rsquo;s the free-will choice?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Fischer and other Republicans have dubbed Osborn a &ldquo;Democrat in sheep&rsquo;s clothing,&rdquo; an unrelenting moniker that he&rsquo;s tried to distance <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">himself from publicly by disassociating with Democrats and far-left figures, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Privately, he&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3157103\/nebraska-independent-dan-osborn-praises-bernie-sanders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">continued to praise Sanders<\/a>. Fain&rsquo;s support has<\/span> played into the GOP narrative, as he also endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and vehemently opposed former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>It was unclear whether the original mandatory rally could have run afoul of labor laws or the union&rsquo;s own bylaws, but legal experts described it as an eyebrow-raising scenario due to warnings of consequences. <\/p>\n<p>After the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> reached out to the union, the same individual who sent the mandatory notice sent a follow-up email informing apprentices that their attendance would no longer be required but was still encouraged.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dan Osborn, independent candidate for Senate, speaks during a news conference, announcing he will not accept any party or political endorsements, Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at his Omaha, Nebraska. Osborn faces Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) in the November election. (Nikos Frazier\/Omaha World-Herald via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;Due to a conflict with other events that were recently scheduled at the hall, the mandatory JATC Saturday event will be cancelled,&rdquo; the email said. &ldquo;You are still encouraged to bring your families to the events that are taking place at the hall this weekend.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Brett DaHart, the union business manager, said the initial requirement was the result of a rogue apprentice instructor and a &ldquo;complete miscommunication&rdquo; over other unrelated events set to occur at the union hall around the same time as the Osborn rally.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I communicated with him and asked him to reach out to get as many people as we could to attend this event,&rdquo; DaHart said in a phone interview. &ldquo;He, in turn, not even having the authority or knowing what he was doing, sent out an email that it was mandatory to come. That is absolutely not the case. He had two things misconstrued on what was going on, and I will take responsibility for it because I must not have explained myself well enough.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>DaHart reiterated that members would not face repercussions and that such a threat should not have been conveyed. He said a health fair for retirees will be held indoors while the Osborn rally will take place outside in the parking lot as an entirely separate and voluntary event.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I did ask him to ask some of the kids to come and represent because Dan is one of our members, but it was never going to be a mandatory thing to come to that event,&rdquo; DaHart said of the rally.<\/p>\n<p>The Osborn campaign said it was unaware of the saga and that steamfitter union leaders also informed them it was a mistake.<\/p>\n<p>Fischer Campaign Manager Derek Oden said in a statement to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that there was &ldquo;no excuse to force [Osborn&rsquo;s] own former union members to work for his campaign against their will. We encourage him to follow the law and respect those steamfitters who choose not to support him.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Labor union legal experts suggested the union originally operated in a grey territory of the law.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen a union try to level penalties against a member for not going to a political rally,&rdquo; said attorney David Pryzbylski, who represents employers in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-lengthy-dockworker-strike-would-spell-trouble-for-harris-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"A lengthy dockworker strike would spell trouble for Harris - Washington Examiner\">union matters<\/a> for Barnes &amp; Thornburg. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know that that would be a violation of the National Labor Relations Act, but certainly, I think that could be viewed the wrong way by some people.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Georgia State University College of Law professor Daniel Bowling said it would be one thing to invite a candidate to a union meeting to discuss political matters but that mandating a rally &ldquo;would be very problematic legally, and certainly if they threatened people with punishment for not attending.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1776767\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1776767\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nebraska labor union initially mandated attendance at a rally for Senate nominee Dan Osborn, causing internal divisions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2352971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Dan-Osborn-independent-Nebraska-Senate-nominee.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[39871,3986,14648,36795,32076],"class_list":["post-2352967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-labor-union","tag-mandatory","tag-nebraska","tag-political-rally","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Dan-Osborn-independent-Nebraska-Senate-nominee.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2352967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2352971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2352967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2352967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2352967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}