Corporate America should take notice that Oregon may be a bellwether of labor relations in the new year. While we wish all of our readers a happy and prosperous 2010, the future state of labor relations in President Obama’s America will become increasingly pro-union and anti-employers.

While the New York Times is generally thought of as being union friendly in its reporting, it recently reported on a union situation so egregious that the Times could not avoid it.

According to a report by Steven Greenhouse, the hotel and restaurant workers’ union, Unite Here, pressures it organizers to reveal the most embarrassing and distressing personal information to their superiors. Such information may include stories of childhood or spousal abuse, family members who were alcoholic or drug addicted, sexual abuse, phobias, etc.

Once that information is obtained by the union, it is then used as leverage against the organizers who had revealed that information.

According the Times article, “…several Unite Here organizers described high-pressure meetings where they were brought to tears as supervisors pushed them, sometimes in front of a dozen colleagues, to divulge personal information in what several organizers said was an effort to beak their will and ensure obedience.”

Such tactics smack of those used by cults to control members. And those tactics are nothing short of being highly manipulative and cynical.

If this is what organized labor has devolved to, then Corporate America must be on heightened alert to the efforts of organizers who have been turned into aggressive automatons whose sole purpose is to capture the hearts and minds of workers who will follow orders and pay their dues, no questions asked.

OBAMA’S PRO-LABOR ADMINISTRATION

In addition to Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor, who comes from a strongly pro-union family, the Obama administration is full of many pro-labor advocates who will do what is necessary to consummate the successful passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. The list of pro-labor members of the current administration includes the following:

Parrick Gaspard, a political director in the White House, had been executive VP for legislation for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Ronald W. Bloom, who had been an assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers of America, is a member of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry.

J. Randolph Babbitt, who had been president of the Air Line Pilots Association, is now an FAA Administrator.

T. Michael Kerr, an Assistant Labor Secretary, has worked for AFSCME and the SEIU.

Wilma Liebman, who will serve as chair of the NLRB, had previously served as counsel to the Bricklayers and Teamsters Unions.

Joseph C. Szabo, Federal Railroad Administrator, had been the Illinois legislative director of the United Transportation Union.

Helen Kanovsky, general counsel at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, had previously worked for the AFL-CIO.

OBAMA’S PRO-LABOR ADMINISTRATION

In addition to Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor, who comes from a strongly pro-union family, the Obama administration is full of many pro-labor advocates who will do what is necessary to consummate the successful passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. The list of pro-labor members of the current administration includes the following:

Parrick Gaspard, a political director in the White House, had been executive VP for legislation for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Ronald W. Bloom, who had been an assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers of America, is a member of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry.

J. Randolph Babbitt, who had been president of the Air Line Pilots Association, is now an FAA Administrator.

T. Michael Kerr, an Assistant Labor Secretary, has worked for AFSCME and the SEIU.

Wilma Liebman, who will serve as chair of the NLRB, had previously served as counsel to the Bricklayers and Teamsters Unions.

Joseph C. Szabo, Federal Railroad Administrator, had been the Illinois legislative director of the United Transportation Union.

Helen Kanovsky, general counsel at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, had previously worked for the AFL-CIO.