Since it was first conceived, the so-called Employee Free Choice Act has received much attention about its ability to set aside a worker’s right to a secret ballot. Indeed, this very series was created, in part, to highlight why the secret ballot needs protection. But there are other dangers lurking in this legislation. Another part of EFCA equally troubling to workers, scholars, and activists is ... Read more »
If you want to see what America’s economic future would be like under the Employee Free Choice Act, look to the north. Canada has experimented with similar laws about the public sign-up card check process for forming unions, and that experience has not been good. Card check and the forced arbitration that goes with it have wreaked havoc on our northern neighbor’s economy. In fact, Canada’s card ch... Read more »
Ever hear the phrase, “making a bad situation worse”? That’s exactly what would happen to our economy – which, unfortunately, is in a “bad situation” at the moment – if some in Congress and their special interest allies get their way with enactment of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act. A report issued in March found the act would destroy jobs and stifle productivity at a time when our economy... Read more »
One would think George McGovern would be a shoo-in as a supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act. In his acceptance speech for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination, he called for “justice and jobs for all our people” – a vision that supporters of EFCA claim pursuit of today. So it was quite a surprise – especially to the act’s supporters – when the former South Dakota senator came out agai... Read more »
Six months to the day after enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Rep. John Kline (R-MN) – the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee – highlighted America’s continued job losses and plummeting public opinion about the legislation as proof that the nearly trillion dollar federal spending spree has failed to achieve its objectives. “Democrats in Washington... Read more »
With a bill as bad as the Employee Free Choice Act, limiting the list of flaws to a top 10 can be quite a challenge. Still, with apologies to David Letterman, below are the first (but certainly not the last) 10 reasons why the anti-worker card check scheme must fail: 10. Even George McGovern is against it. 9. Have you SEEN the unemployment rate lately? 8. Those clever Canadians could outpace us in... Read more »
A company can’t compete in today’s economy if workers and managers can’t trust each other – and the Employee Free Choice Act will breed that mistrust in the workplace. That’s what Kevin D. Manship says in a letter to The News Herald of Morganton, N.C. Manship is a facility manager of the local branch of Caterpillar Inc., a Fortune 500 company which makes construction and mining equipment, diesel a... Read more »
There’s a lesson to be learned about the Employee Free Choice Act – and it’s not just about what this special interest ploy can do to a weakened economy. The act can stifle education reform as well. Take it from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He vetoed a similar proposal in his state a few years ago, but his successor signed it into law. At the time, most saw the new law in economic terms ... Read more »
The closer you look at the Employee Free Choice Act, the worse it becomes. Of course, there is the act’s ability to set aside workers’ right to a secret ballot and expose them to intimidation. There is also the act’s ability to impose forced government contracts and kill jobs in a weakened economy. But John S. Irving, a former general counsel to the National Labor Relations Board, has found yet an... Read more »
Of all the arguments made by proponents of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, one of the most dubious is the claim that secret ballot elections are rigged against union organizing. After all, secret ballot elections protect the privacy of workers no matter how they plan to vote. If anything, secret ballot elections actually favor unionization in workplaces where workers may wish to form a uni... Read more »
