Update: It's also worth noting that EFCA supporters have engaged in a full-fledged campaign of deception. Someone should ask Senator Michael Bennet if he's buying it. We know the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (aka card-check): Deprives workers of a secret ballot in workplace elections, exposing them to intimidation Imposes costly government bureaucratic intervention in private workplace negotiations Threatens to cost our fragile national economy and hard-working Americans of many thousands of jobs Now, thanks to a new report released by the Workforce Fairness Institute, we see more clearly and concretely the real beneficiaries of this three-headed monster legislation: … [Read more...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
U.S. Supreme Court’s Ysursa Ruling a Sweet Victory for Clean Government
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...]
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...]
Ask Colorado LOSES Why the Union Card-Check Bill is Such a Bad Idea
Do you still need more reason to understand why union bosses are so keen on taking away the secret ballot from workplace elections? On the Colorado LOSES website, state employee Dave Ohmart gives an account of his experience trying to attend the Colorado WINS union's rally / lobbying event at the State Capitol on Wednesday:Ryan Webber, a union organizer, immediately came to me and asked, “You’re not going to say anything, are you Dave? I’ll have to toss you out of here if you do.†Another security-type person came over and stood behind me. Ryan then asked, “You’re not going to write more lies about me, are you Dave?†(Don’t think I ever have!) I assured him I was not there to make a scene. Governor Ritter spoke … [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...]
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...]