Supporters of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act are having a hard time getting their stories straight. Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who has been leading negotiations for the bill, is the latest EFCA supporter to offer varying reasons for why the anti-worker plan hasn’t received a vote in the Senate. The Hill tries to sort it all out here: “Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said Thursday that he ... Read more »
In the Golden State, card check bills have been sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger four times. And four times, the “Govern-ator” has terminated them. The latest veto came last week as Schwarzenegger said “hasta la vista, baby” to a proposal that targeted farm workers – and was very similar to the Employee Free Choice Act that’s sitting in Congress. The San Francisco Chronicle has the details here:... Read more »
As Congress debates whether to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, one government agency has declared a key feature of the legislation “unreliable.” The Washington Times reports that the Legal Services Corp., which provides grants to legal-aid groups that help the poor, has determined that the card check method of organizing is flawed. In fact, it rejected an effort by some of its workers to organi... Read more »
There are better ways to protect American workers than the Employee Free Choice Act. Writing in the conservative opinion journal Human Events, Republican Reps. John Kline of Minnesota and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington spell out the act’s numerous flaws and present a positive alternative designed to truly empower workers. The piece is one in a compilation of articles highlighting GOP solutio... Read more »
It’s hard to imagine worse news to kick off Labor Day Weekend. The national unemployment rate reached 9.7 percent in August, the Labor Department reported today. That’s up from 9.4 percent in July and it’s the worst rate in 26 years. And there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. “Analysts generally believe that economic output began rising by late summer. But new Labor Department data released Fr... Read more »
You know eliminating the secret ballot is a bad idea when even card check’s biggest backers start cooling off to the assault on worker’s rights. Richard Trumka, the next president of the AFL-CIO, has indicated his union could live with a version of the Employee Free Choice Act that drops the heinous “card check” provision of the bill, which can leave workers open to intimidation. The AFL-CIO has b... Read more »
There’s more than one reason to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. There’s its notorious ability to set aside secret ballots for workers through “card check,” of course. But there are other aspects of the bill – and of supposed “compromises” that drop the “card check” provision and replace it with other misguided changes to workplaces rules – that are equally troubling. In an essay for The News ... Read more »
Even if supporters dropped the “card check” provision of the Employee Free Choice Act, it would still be inhospitable to the economy. That’s what George Glover says in a Monday essay for The Tampa Tribune. Glover knows a thing or two about hospitality. He’s the chairman and CEO of the BayStar Hotel Group, which develops, acquires, operates, and sells hotels in the southeastern United States. Here’... Read more »
It’s been a quiet summer for card check – and here’s hoping it stays that way. The Employee Free Choice Act has been in legislative limbo since the spring as Democrats try to rally 60 votes to stop a possible filibuster if the proposal ever comes to the Senate floor for a vote. Since then, there have been rumors and hints of “card check lite,” a compromise version of the bill that, theoretically, ... Read more »
Ask Larry Getts how much “free choice” there is in the Employee Free Choice Act. Chances are, he’ll say “not much.” Getts is an employee of the Dana Corporation in Fort Wayne, Ind. He has seen firsthand the pressure, badgering, and intimidation that come with the card check process for union organization, a major part of the act. In March, he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, E... Read more »
