Will the 2008 Presidential Election spur future federal anti-business legislation?
Editor’s comment: Many indicators point to a “blue” President. However you feel about it, please get out and vote. Early voting started today!!
If the pollsters are right, we are confident the current darling of the Democrats will provide support to their quiet friends, the American plaintiff bar and U.S. unions. You can bet the tort reform movement is going to be fighting an uphill battle the entire time when and if the Democrats wear the mantle of power. One clear demonstration of how this may unfold is an unusually named bill called the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) now working its way thru Congress. If passed by the Congress, we are advised the bill would be signed into law by the Democratic candidate, should he be elected President.
The proposed legislation would overturn a 43-year-old system in which union representation elections are conducted via a federally overseen secret ballot process, and replace it with a less formal “card check” procedure where the rules are enforced not by an unbiased federal representative, but by decidedly partisan union organizers. Instead of having employees vote secretly to join a union or not, the employees would be bullied, bluffed or pressured into signing a card—when enough cards are signed, the union will be in.
This new legislation would disenfranchise 105 million American workers. Please note all employees don’t have to actually vote, the “pollsters” simply have to get enough cards to indicate a majority want a union and the rest of the votes are rendered superfluous. Workers would never have the option of voting against union membership and millions of workers could be forced into a union without ever getting the chance to vote on the matter. Without secret ballots, union organizers know exactly who has signed union cards and who has not. In the past, union organizers have repeatedly approached and pressured—and, in some cases, threatened—reluctant workers. They have also used pro-union co-workers to solicit signatures, putting peer pressure on “holdouts” to change their minds.
The card-check process also denies workers the right to vote “yes” or “no” on joining a union. Workers can only vote “yes” by signing the card. Not signing a card simply means “not yet.” Organizers are free to return again and again until they get the result they want. That is not ‘voting,’ which by definition is a one-time choice between two or more options. In essence, this legislation is designed to do one thing and one thing only–to make it easier for labor unions to shore up their shrinking membership rolls by openly or clandestinely pressuring potential members.
We feel there is nothing about this bill that is good for American business or anyone in the United States. We are perplexed by the name of this bill. How in the world can something that actually reduces freedom and eviscerates a fair process be known as “employee free choice?” Isn’t it an oxymoron to see the “Democrats” support something so arguably undemocratic?
Please remember, if you like complex and ever-changing legislation like FMLA, ADAAA and EFCA, get ready for a fun four years. We are confident the minds behind such legislation have lots of other zany ideas for all of us. Please feel free to reply or comment on this new legislation.
