Update (3/10): Mike Reitz weighs in with an observation some of my readers may have a hard time believing: "Public policy wonks are real people, too." Here's a U.S. Supreme Court decision that may have flown past your radar - Ysursa v Pocatello Education Association. The ruling ensures states (like Idaho and Utah already have done) can regulate the use of government payroll systems to prevent the collection of political contributions. As Mike Reitz from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation explained to me in a new iVoices podcast, it's a victory for clean government, taxpayers and orderly state labor relations: … [Read more...]
Search Results for: Employee Free Choice Act
Study: Union Card-Check Could Cost Thousands of American Jobs
A new study released gives you one more reason to write your Congressman and Senators to tell them to vote No on the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Economist Anne Layne-Farrar's quantitative analysis finds that "for every 3 percentage points gained in union membership through card checks and mandatory arbitration, the following year's unemployment rate is predicted to increase by 1 percentage point and job creation is predicted to fall by around 1.5 million jobs." Let's simplify: EFCA (or union card-check legislation, if you prefer) will keep many, many Americans from a productive job and a paycheck - an especially devastating effect in the midst of our current economic turmoil. … [Read more...]
Will Colorado Democrats Really Line Up and Bow to Big Labor on Card-Check?
Is Colorado's Democratic Congressional delegation really going to play Pavlov's dog to Big Labor officials? News came out earlier today that Colorado Democratic Congresswoman Betsy Markey has agreed to co-sponsor - just as U.S. Senator and former Congressman Mark Udall did in the recent past - the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) -- aka card-check. Or as my colleague and fellow blogger Amy Oliver put it: "Markey pays back labor unions". If not for the money, why else would Markey leap into action as an EFCA co-sponsor? As policy, it's terrible for business and the rights of workers. As 4th Congressional politics goes, it's equally bad - opening the door wide for a strong, credible, business-backed challenge in 2010. At … [Read more...]
Does God Oppose the Secret Ballot?
Hey, who knew intimidating and badgering workers was a religious virtue? Or that God opposes the secret ballot in workplace elections? Well, apparently, so say "55 Colorado faith leaders" who signed a letter and sent it to Congress on behalf of the deceptively-named Employee Free Choice Act. (Or maybe they haven't actually read the bill to see what it does.) I don't deny the Religious Left's right to petition the government. They just happen to be terribly wrong on this issue. … [Read more...]
Growing Labor Clout Puts Michael Bennet in Bind Over Card-Check Bill
The first big line in the sand this year for Colorado's selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and not-so-senior partner Mark Udall was the vote in favor of the massive federal spending (so-called "stimulus") bill. Next on the docket is the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would take away employee secret ballots in workplace election and impose costly binding arbitration procedures. … [Read more...]
Is This How John Sweeney Will Convince Michael Bennet to Kill the Secret Ballot?
Courtesy of Hot Air, a great video exposing the hypocrisy and dubious logic behind Big Labor's poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act: Of course, the removal of the secret ballot process from workplace elections only presents the more sensational half of the problems posed by this legislation. Costly binding arbitration makes up the other half. But if AFL-CIO president John Sweeney of all people can't tell you why the secret ballot should go (but liberal icon George McGovern can tell you why not), isn't the case rather clear cut? All eyes are on Colorado's newly-selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet to see where he comes down on this issue. … [Read more...]
Michael Bennet in U.S. Senate Creates GOP Chance–Not to Be Taken Lightly
Most likely one of the final big stories broken by the Rocky Mountain News: Gov. Bill Ritter names Denver Public Schools superintendent Michael Bennet to replace Ken Salazar in the U.S. Senate. Honestly, I never gave this possibility serious consideration. My initial impressions? Fresh and outside-the-box, obviously. Bill Ritter definitely outperformed his Democratic gubernatorial colleagues in Illinois and New York with their appointments. But Ritter also has rolled the political dice. Besides being pretty good on education reform issues for a Democrat, where does Bennet stand? The next two years of votes on big issues like the Employee Free Choice Act will define him quickly. While the state and national GOP should be perking up at … [Read more...]
If You Think the Auto Bailout is Bad, Wait for the Price Tag from Card-Check
I've written before about the bad deal for workers if Congress passes the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (aka union card-check legislation). But what kind of impact could it have on the economy? In a recent 8-minute iVoices podcast interview, Barbara Comstock of the Workforce Fairness Institute says it's "more of a threat" than the proposed bailout of the Big 3 auto makers: As my good friend Joshua Sharf frequently remarks about putting the Democrats in charge:Progressively more intrusive. Progressively more expensive. Progressively more restrictive. Sadly, the disease is all over Washington D.C., with no apparent hope for recovery any time soon. Hold on to your hats. And your wallets. … [Read more...]
Democrat Leader Tapdances Around His Party’s Push to Kill Secret Ballot
After their impressive electoral victories, the Democrats on Capitol Hill are feeling their oats. Can you blame them? It's payback time to the Big Labor leaders who have bankrolled the campaigns of many a Congressional Democrat. Top of the list therefore? The unpopular and poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would take away workers' rights to a secret ballot in union elections. Watch how House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland), appearing on Fox News Sunday, tapdances around Chris Wallace's question contrasting the union bill with the House Democrats' own procedures for electing officers within the caucus: "Why is a secret ballot okay, and desirable, for Congress, but you want to take it away from workers?" (H/T … [Read more...]
Betsy Markey Out of Touch on Big Labor Bill: Boon for Marilyn Musgrave?
Colorado's mega-rich liberals Tim Gill and Pat Stryker have it in for conservative Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who has represented northeastern Colorado since 2003. They have spent countless amounts of money trying to unseat her in the past two election cycles, and are committed to doing it again. This time they believe they have a winning candidate in Democrat Betsy Markey, someone to fulfill their obsession. But this video clip of Betsy Markey trying to explain her position on the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act shows that Tim Gill and Pat Stryker still have some work to do with their out-of-touch candidate: As the Labor Pains blog points out, this is the same Betsy Markey who has sought to woo small businesses but struggles to … [Read more...]