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Home Archives for binding arbitration

5/22/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Big Labor Ramps Up Pro-EFCA Efforts with Biased Report, Religious Lobbyists

Update, 10:00 AM: Labor Pains' Justin Wilson has a more thorough refutation of Big Labor's new report here. In an effort to ramp up their efforts to pass the Employee Forced Choice Act (EFCA), Big Labor is touting a new report that suggests employers are rampantly breaking the law (PDF) during union organizing elections. The problem? The report's data all are based on interviews with union organizers -- hardly an unbiased source. But anything goes. While Big Labor appeals to EFCA apologists who need rational cover with impressive-sounding reports, it seems they also think they must appeal to the populist masses of religious believers. So they have sent clergy member lobbyists to Washington, DC, to insist that card-check legislation is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: advocacy, aligned, American, apologists, appeal, appointed, balance, believers, Big Labor, binding arbitration, breaking the law, card-check, chances, clergy member, coercion, Colorado, Democrat, deprive, economy, EFCA, efforts, elections, emerge, Employee Forced Choice Act, Employer Advantage, employers, expensive, George McGovern, God, Heritage Foundation, impressive-sounding, interviews, intimidation, jobs, labor law, legislation, liberal icon, lobbyists, mandatory, manufactured, masses, Michael Bennet, moral imperative, myth, nation's capital, new report, opposes, payouts, phenomenon, political desperation, populist, pro-union, procedures, protect, ramp up, rational cover, religious, Religious Left, secret ballot, skewing, social justice, source, stars, struggling, tactics, teetering, thousands, transparent, twin, U.S. Senator, unbiased, union, union organizers, union organizing, Washington DC, weak, weeks, workers, workplace

5/11/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

The Evidence Mounts Against EFCA, and Michael Bennet Still Can’t Decide

James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation (and a proud fellow Hillsdale College alumnus) breaks down the evidence to debunk the "Employer Advantage" myth at the heart of Big Labor's argument for the card-check bill before Congress:The law stacks the deck against employers in union drives. And – contrary to union assertions – the overwhelming majority of employers obey the law. Which is why unions rack up that impressive 2-1 win rate. The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace is right to say that the government should not tilt the playing field even more heavily in union organizer’s favor. That would hurt workers ability to make a free choice. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: alumnus, American jobs, argument, assertions, Big Labor, bill, binding arbitration, card-check, Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, Colorado, Congress, debunk, economic, EFCA, effective, Employee Free Choice Act, Employer Advantage, evidence, explained, free choice, George McGovern, harmful, Heritage Foundation, Hillsdale College, icon, imposition, impressive, influence, James Sherk, liberal, Michael Bennet, myth, newly-selected, opinion, playing field, political money, poorly-named, removal, represent, research, secret ballot, thousands, tilt, U.S. Senate, U.S. Senator, union organizers

5/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Is George McGovern Michael Bennet’s Way Out of Card-Check Indecision?

Liberal former U.S. Senator George McGovern smacks down Congressional Democrats again. Last year he spoke out against the so-called Employee "Free Choice" Act for depriving workers of the secret ballot. Yesterday McGovern explains in a Wall Street Journal op-ed why the binding arbitration provisions in the bill is equally bad:Currently, labor law maintains a careful balance between the rights of businesses, unions and individual employees. While bargaining power differs depending on individual circumstances, the rights of the parties are well balanced. When a union and a business enter negotiations, current law requires that both sides bargain "in good faith." … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, liberty, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: angry, arbitrator, Arlen Specter, bargaining power, benefit costs, better graces, binding arbitration, business, business dispute, card-check, Colorado, compelling reasons, Congressional, contract, Democrats, dodge, EFCA, Employee Free Choice Act, fading prospects, George McGovern, good faith, government-appointed lawyers, harmful, hold my breath, indecisive, issue, junior, labor law, Lefty, legislation, liberal icon, local union goons, Michael Bennet, negotiations, nuances, off the table, op-ed, party switch, Pennsylvania, plethora, politician, promotions, provisions, relief, rules, secret ballot, so-called, strike, turncoat, U.S. Senator, unique, unnecessary, unprofitable, unwanted attention, wages, Wall Street Journal, workers

3/24/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Card Check Bill’s Fading Prospects a Relief for Colorado’s Michael Bennet

Big Labor is really bummed out today with the news that U.S. Senator Arlen Specter won't be backing their Orwellian-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) (you can watch his floor speech here) -- at least for this year. No Republican votes (and many shaky Democrats) means union officials won't be able to invoke the 60 votes needed for cloture to take away workers' rights to the secret ballot and impose costly binding arbitration. This has got to spell a little relief for Colorado's newly selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. EFCA has put Bennet in a bind, but if the political signals are clear that the legislation won't pass he might have the cover he needs. At this point, my guess is Bennet will take the path of least resistance within … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: actual damage, Arlen Specter, Big Labor, binding arbitration, Bob Beauprez, boondoggle, business leaders, card-check, challengers, clear, cloture, Colorado, costly, EFCA, Employee Free Choice Act, floor speech, high-profile, invoke, least resistance, legislation, likely result, Michael Bennet, moderate, newly-selected, Orwellian, political campaign, political signals, preclude, primary, relief, Republican, rights, Ryan Frazier, secret ballot, shaky Democrats, slate, target, U.S. Senator, union officials, votes, workers

3/5/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

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...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: American, Anne Layne-Farrar, arguments, Barack Obama, binding arbitration, card-check, challenge, Congressmen, devastating effect, economic turmoil, economist, Ed Morrissey Show, Employee Free Choice Act, employment, holding my breath, Hot Air, job creation, Labor Pains, Labor Relations Institute, massive threat, Michael Bennet, money, mouth, newly-selected, paycheck, poorly-named, productive job, quantitative analysis, rights, secret ballot, senators, sound research, U.S. Senator, unemployment rate, union, wasteful spending, workers, write

2/10/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

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...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: Al Sharpton, Ariella Bernstein, article, bailout, ballot measures, binding arbitration, boondoggle, campaign contributions, candidates, card-check, co-sponsor, coercive, Colorado, Congress, costly, cynical, data, decline, Democratic, Denver Post, docket, EFCA, Employee Free Choice Act, employees, failing businesses, failing labor unions, federal spending, George McGovern, government, independent backbone, influential voices, John Holcomb, Karen Crummy, kowtow, Labor Department, labor leaders, line in the sand, listen, Mark Udall, members, Michael Bennet, National Institute on Money in State Politics, party line, political dynamics, poorly-named, pressure, private sector, procedures, professor, public sector, researchers, secret ballots, selected, senior partner, stagnant, state-level races, statistics, stimulus, U.S. Senator, union membership, Unions, University of Denver, vote

2/5/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

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...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor, National Politics, PPC Tagged With: AFL-CIO, Big Labor, binding arbitration, CASE, clear cut, Colorado, costly, dubious logic, Employee Free Choice Act, George McGovern, Hot Air, hypocrisy, John Sweeney, legislation, liberal icon, Michael Bennet, newly-selected, President, problems, secret ballot process, sensational, U.S. Senator, video, workplace elections, YouTube

6/11/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Fort Collins Rejects Government Union Advance, Local Dems Given a Pass

Good news from the north. Fort Collins voters have overwhelmingly rejected the costly and ill-advised proposal to mandate collective bargaining and binding arbitration on city employees. Unions are on the move - they have the ear of our Governor "Backroom" Bill Ritter - but the people have spoken out clearly against the expansion of public employee unionism. Meanwhile, a disturbing sidelight: a Fort Collins blogger points out that the local rag couldn't bother to report on a local Republican candidate's outspoken opposition to the measure:Do you mean to tell me that the Coloradoan doesn't believe it's important for the citizens of Fort Collins to know where their candidates stand on public-employee unions? (This is, after all, a major … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Bill Ritter, binding arbitration, Bob Bacon, Collective Bargaining, Colorado, Colorado Supreme Court, Fort Collins, Fort Collins Coloradoan, John Kefalas, Matt Fries, Northern Colorado Politics, public employee unionism, Randy Fischer

5/22/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Colorado State Workers Get Union Ballots, Rocky Reprints Ritter’s Error

Yesterday, as reported by the Rocky Mountain News, ballots were mailed out to 21,000 Colorado state employees for the purposes of choosing exclusive representation. Workers vote yes to be represented by the Colorado WINS labor coalition or vote no to keep the status quo and the right to represent themselves if they so choose. Unfortunately, the Rocky ended their story with a misleading statement:[Gov. Bill] Ritter has emphasized that his order bans strikes, prohibits binding arbitration and bars unions from charging dues to nonmembers. It makes you wonder whether Bill Ritter has read his own executive order. The order does not bar unions from charging dues to nonmembers - it leaves the door open to coercive fees being charged on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, General, Labor, My Life Tagged With: ballots, Bill Ritter, binding arbitration, Colorado state employees, Colorado WINS, Denver Post, iVoices podcast, Rocky Mountain News, strikes, union agency fees, union partnership elections

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Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

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