The U.S. House of Representatives’ leading Republican voices on issues impacting American workers joined a key member of the U.S. Senate today to introduce legislation that will guarantee workers’ right to a secret ballot in union organizing elections. Their legislation, the Secret Ballot Protection Act (H.R. 1176), is a preemptive strike against legislation soon to be introduced by congressional ... Read more »
It’s great to be here with such a dynamic panel of witnesses who make volunteerism “cool.” I am a longtime supporter of volunteerism. Whether it’s something we do as individuals and families in our own communities, or something we do as citizens coordinated at the national level, volunteerism is a hallmark of what makes America great. Volunteering our time and our talents is a way that all America... Read more »
The secret ballot is a hallmark of our democratic society. It guarantees that individuals can vote their conscience, free from public pressure, coercion, or the threat of retribution. The secret ballot is vital to individual freedom – and yet it is under assault. The Problem American workers in particular are seeing their right to a secret ballot eroded. Under current federal labor law, when a uni... Read more »
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement this evening on President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress: “President Obama deserves great credit for his ambitious plan to get our economy back on track, our fiscal house back in order, and our educational system back atop the rest of the world. Th... Read more »
The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee today held a hearing on “Strengthening Worker Retirement Security,” at least the third such hearing since last fall examining how turmoil in the financial markets has impacted retirement plans. Led by Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Republicans on the panel have welcomed the examination of how workers and retirees are impacted by the current econom... Read more »
Scarcely a day goes by without a major string of editorials, op-eds, and letters to the editor filling the opinion pages of newspapers large and small in opposition to the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would give workers anything but a free choice in deciding whether to form a union. Over the weekend, the Orlando Sentinel carried one such editorial that made a particularly compell... Read more »
Last fall, as our nation’s financial crisis was worsening, the Committee held several hearings devoted to the effects of this crisis on retirement savings. We heard some troubling testimony about the state of our nation’s economic affairs, its impact on workers and retirees, and a range of proposals for solutions. Some I think we would all agree upon. Others were and remain far more controversial.... Read more »
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, today condemned the omnibus spending plan for FY 2009 crafted by congressional Democrats as a partisan attack on programs that serve some of the most disadvantaged students in the country. McKeon pointed out that the Democrats’ plan, unveiled only today and expected on the House floor later thi... Read more »
In the ongoing battle over whether workers should have access to the privacy and protections of secret ballots in union organizing elections, few things come as a surprise anymore. But one thing that never ceases to amaze is the discrepancy between workers’ rights, and efforts to protect those rights, in Mexico and right here at home. Longtime observers of the troubling card check scheme already k... Read more »
Most of the debate surrounding the woefully misnamed Employee Free Choice Act has focused on the bill’s “card check” provision to do away with secret ballot union organizing elections. And it’s no wonder. Denying workers the right to a secret ballot is fundamentally undemocratic, exposing workers to public pressure and possible retribution based on whether or not they “sign the card.” As troubling... Read more »
