Unions are a pathetic joke, what else can I say?
(Michigan Capitol Confidential) — Dégagé Ministries provides a “safe, Christian alternative to the streets” for many hard-luck cases living in the Heartside neighborhood of downtown Grand Rapids. With an $850,000 annual budget, it helps provide blankets, meals, shelter and more for those who can’t provide these necessities for themselves. Dégagé is currently funded entirely by private donations and not government help, according to executive director Marge Palmerlee.
One of those private donors is Ritsema Associates, a construction contractor headquartered in nearby Grandville.
“Your company has supported us both financially and with numerous in-kind donations for which we are very grateful” wrote Palmerlee in a recent letter to Bill Ritsema, president of Ritsema Associates. She felt moved to write the letter because some Dégagé patrons are being hired by Big Labor bosses as part of an “aggressive public information campaign” aimed at trashing the reputation of Ritsema Associates.
Though hired by the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters (MRCC) to hold up signs and pass out fliers denouncing Ritsema all over the city, few of those doing the demonstrating have ever been carpenters at all and don’t appear to have any clue that the company they are protesting has generously supported a local ministry that often provides a safety net for them specifically or people like them. . . .
An MRCC member managing one of the crews of demonstrators confirmed that demonstrators against Ritsema are paid hourly wages by the union.
“That’s so ironic,” says Palmerlee. “Nobody who is picketing is an actual carpenter, and they’re paying them a flat rate per hour to walk the picket line. Where are the actual carpenters?”