Secret Ballot Watch

It’s the bottom of the ninth inning for supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act – and they are getting desperate.

With only a few weeks left in the legislative season, the AFL-CIO swung for the fences this week by co-sponsoring a full-page pro-EFCA ad in three Capitol Hill newspapers. It featured the ad’s other co-sponsor, another notable labor union.

Was that union the Teamsters? The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers? The Service Employees International Union?

Try the Major League Baseball Players Association.

The ad features 12 ballplayers in baseball card-like poses with the tagline: “A level playing field is as important in the workplace as it is in baseball.”

Right. First off, the field is not completely level because of the pitcher’s mound. But seriously, when it comes to workplaces, it’s safe to say that members of this particular union, like Hollywood actors, are a little different than most workers on the shop floor.    

For one thing, a ballplayer’s work doesn’t last all year. Heck, most of their workdays don’t even last eight hours – unless a game goes into extra innings. That’s assuming the weather’s nice, of course. Remember, if it rains hard enough, members of this union get the day off.  

Also, many players have endorsement deals for sports drinks, sneakers, and the like, allowing them to live a lifestyle that’s far beyond the typical American worker.

If EFCA passes, these are the people who will suffer the most – not “the boys of summer.”

They will be the ones facing the threat of intimidation at the workplace through the card check system – not ballplayers, who at worst have to deal with unruly fans after blowing a key play.

Typical workers – you know, the type without multi-million dollar contracts and throngs of adoring fans – will also face the possibility of being laid off.

The AFL-CIO and the players’ union probably think they hit a home run with this ad. But in reality, it will be workers who strike out if EFCA passes.

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