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Secret Ballot Watch

New Report Says Card Check Will Put Americans Out of Work

Economist: If card check increases unionization by 1.5 million this year, as its advocates predict, the economy will shed an additional 600,000 jobs in 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 5, 2009 | Alexa Marrero ((202) 225-4527)
The claims by card check supporters that their plan would strengthen the economy have always been dubious. After all, the best way to strengthen the economy in the current downturn is to create jobs – and the card check plan does nothing to spur job growth.

But now, it has become clear that the card check plan – which takes away workers’ right to vote by secret ballot on whether to join a union – would actually have the opposite effect, destroying existing jobs and hampering the creation of new ones at a time when our economy needs them the most. This is the finding of a new report from Dr. Anne Layne-Farrar, an economist with the non-partisan firm LECG Consulting. According to Layne-Farrar—

“[T]he unintended consequences of passing EFCA are likely to be significant. Increased unemployment and reduced labor supply are very high prices to pay during any time, but especially during a recession.”

Layne-Farrar, “An Empirical Assessment of the Employee Free Choice Act: The Economic Implications,” March 2009

Layne-Farrar’s analysis uses recent economic experience in Canada to predict the impact of card check legislation on the American economy. Canada has seen similar shifts in union certification and arbitration policies as those proposed in the card check plan that may soon be moving through Congress, allowing for a compelling comparison to the potential consequences for the U.S. economy if this undemocratic plan were to become law.

The Education and Labor Committee’s top Republican, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), commented on the findings—

“With millions of Americans out of work and many more worried about losing their jobs, the very last thing our economy needs is a job killer like the card check plan. We need to focus on a positive agenda of job creation, health care access, and secure retirements. It’s time for Democrats to abandon this damaging legislation before it has a chance to make the economy even worse.”

With hard evidence on the table showing that card check would destroy American jobs, will Democrats and their special interest allies finally stop pursuing this anti-worker plan?

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