No mourning garb for this one. But opponents should not get complacent.
Some background:
Back for a Fourth Time, Comments:
3. John Galt | 03.12.09
This bill, IF it passes, will rip the scab off of the healing economic wound and cause an uncurable infection. 87% of Americans have chosen to remain union free. The initiative has already failed THREE TIMES. Three strikes and you are out. That's as American as baseball.
4. Bob Reese Sr. | 03.12.09
Only the secret ballot vote gives a true results. I'd like to see Congress go to a secret ballot, it would eliminate a lot of pressures put on by a buddy buddy system of scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. The secret ballot would make congress's vote on Bills have a lot different out come.
14. former union worker now MBA | 03.13.09
Twice I worked in unionized plants where I was told to slow down. The shop steward insisted that jobs have to take as long as possible. If you don't slow down, somebody'll put **** in your lunchbox!
In a third plant, I was quietly but forcefully told that anyone who puts suggestions in the suggestion box, helping to improve productivity, would have to watch his back in the parking lot.
Unions rule by intimidation. Maybe the big union organizers, the ones who make a living and gain prestige by increasing union power, are pushing card checks as a way of empowering goons to line the pockets of the organizers!
The whole "labor vs management" class war is sooo 1900's. Today, managers are learning to work _with_ the people on the plant floor. It's sad that the old union bosses seem incapable of learning, unwilling to move into the 21st century.
15. Oh Please | 03.13.09
Don't bother checking EFCANOW's list of websites. I saw them. Total simplistic rubbish filled with BIG BOLD TYPE and BIG RED LETTERS that are usually associated with crackpots.
The unions still have no rational thought, just fear mongering.
Oppose Forced Unionism "Card Check" Bill H.R. 1409 and S. 560
Posted by Alanna on 03/29/09 03:12 AM
Oppose Forced Unionism "Card Check" Bill! -- The Employee Free Choice Act Is a Deception
"The union bosses want Congress to enact a so-called "card check" bill (H.R. 1409; S.560), which has been given the Orwellian name of "The Employee Free Choice Act" (EFCA), in order to hide the real intent of the legislation.
Under present law, if union organizers can get at least 30% of employees in a company to sign petition cards requesting a union, then the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) can authorize a secret-ballot election. If more than 50% of employees sign cards, then the labor union can try to unionize the employees without a secret-ballot vote. However, the employer has the right to ask for a secret-ballot election overseen by the NLRB, to confirm that the employees really want a union to bargain for them.
Under the EFCA rules, however, if more than 50% of employees were to sign union authorization cards, then the employer's right to request a secret-ballot election would be taken away. A secret-ballot election could still take place, but only if the labor union were to agree to hold one.
Of course, no labor union would want to run the risk of being rejected by secret ballot, after "convincing" a majority of workers into signing authorization cards. Hence, those who argue that the EFCA does not remove secret-ballot elections from the union organizing process are not being completely honest.
On top of that, surveys conducted by non-partisan polling organizations reveal that the vast majority of non-union workers do not want to be unionized. A 2006 Zogby poll revealed that 74% of non-union workers do not want to be a member of a labor union. Only 20% said they do. Another Zogby poll showed that 78% of union members favor keeping the current system. And a 2007 survey conducted by the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace revealed that 89% of Americans feel that a worker's choice should be expressed in private."
Top Union Boss Pushes New Card-Check Scheme
"At a time when the country is struggling to pull out of a recession, Congress must not pass any legislation to promote union monopoly bargaining, which has a strong
negative correlation with job growth."That's why Right to Work membersand supporters are preparing for an allout battle to ensure that not just S.560 and H.R.1409 themselves, but all phony card-check 'compromises,' are defeated in Congress this year and in 2010."
Sources: U.S. Labor Department, Drs. Barry Hirsch and David Macpherson.
- Very low union-monopoly states had 2003 private-sector unionization of under 5.0%.
- Low union-monopoly states had 2003 unionization of 5.1% to 9.0%.
- High union-monopoly states had 2003 unionization of 9.1% or more.
Both card-check legislation and card check "compromises" aim to increase the share of workers who are under union monopoly control. Experience indicates this would choke off job growth and make unemployment even worse.
Currently:
Live Better, Don't Work Union
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, May 22, 2009 4:20 PM PT
"Labor Policy: Card check legislation appears to be dead in Washington. Companies, shareholders and employees don't know how narrowly they missed the financial trouble that comes with a union shop.
"The card check bill, with the Orwellian title of Employee Free Choice Act, was an effort by Democrats to make it easier to unionize a company. It would have virtually killed the traditional process for forming a union: the secret ballot in which a majority of voters is needed to approve organization. Under card check, a union would be certified if a simple majority signed the cards used to measure workers' interest in voting on unionization."
"Card check would also authorize federal arbitrators to set the terms of an initial contract if the newly formed union and management can't agree on a deal three months after certification."
"Should the legislation fail to become law, both workers and owners should be thankful - workers because certifying a union through card check rather than a secret ballot invites intimidation and workplace tension, and businesses because of the risk of our now-pro-union government forcing unfavorable contracts on them."
"Here's hoping that reports of the death of that legislation aren't greatly exaggerated."
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Comments: 6
Unions once had their place, but now only serve to force companies to move offshore where they can still get slave labor.
Sorry, but having dealt with this several times in my working life, the intimidation comes not from the unions but from the companies. This can be in the form of threats of firings or in on case allowing management to vote in the union elections.
If an employer with a contract called the hall and requested an electricion. The knew they would get a journeyman electrician. That is someone who went through 4 years of training and study. They had to pass the journeyman's exam, my exam since I was the head of the examination board. That is not an easy test and they had to know the electrical code book backward and forward. I was in negotiations once and we worked together with management to come up with a good contract that benefited both parties. There is nothing evil about a trade union.