The chorus of opposition to the anti-worker card check plan continues to grow, with six Republican governors speaking out today against the legislation.
Politico has the scoop:
"Six Republican governors, including a couple big ones, are publicly coming out against the Employee Free Choice Act today. South Carolina's Mark Sanford, Mississippi's Haley Barbour, Georgia's Sonny Perdue, Idaho's Butch Otter, South Dakota's Mike Rounds and Texas's Rick Perry will release a statement calling the labor-backed bill 'absolutely unacceptable.'
"'Card check would take our state and nation in the exact opposite direction we need to be moving to become more competitive in the 21st Century,' Sanford says. 'In today's economy, the last thing in the world Congress should be advancing is a measure to increase costs for the American consumer and business community.'
"Quoth Haley Barbour: 'Card check is an insidious infringement on the right of American workers to cast a confidential ballot in deciding whether or not they want union representation. This is particularly unfair for small businesses, the real engine of the American economy that generates nearly 80 percent of net new jobs.'
"Rick Perry calls the measure 'un-American.'
"Perdue: 'Card check would abolish the most fundamental of American rights, the right to a secret ballot. It's the last thing our country and economy needs right now. If we do this, what's next? Naming the CEOs of major American companies?'
"Otter: 'The Act would eliminate the confidentially of the secret ballot, exposing workers to potential intimidation and harassment, creating an outrageous abridgement of individual rights. And it would impose contract terms on employers beyond those even requested by local workers – essentially making the federal government a shill for union bosses far removed from the workplace. Such a fundamental restructuring of federal labor laws is intolerable.'
"Rounds: 'It should be made very clear that this would apply to any business that has more than $50,000 in revenues per year. Those businesses would have a clear threat of unionization. They would be subject to unionization without a private ballot and subject to mandatory binding arbitration involving a federal bureaucrat. This is absolutely unacceptable.'
"Perry: 'The secret ballot is sacred in America. Card check is just plain unfair and un-American.'"
Burns, “GOP govs versus card check,” Politico, 04.16.09
These comments from state executives are the latest sign that the American people won’t sit back and allow politicians and special interest groups to take away their rights. Whether it’s the right to a secret ballot, the right to vote on a first contract, or the right to be protected from intimidation and coercion on both sides of the organizing process, state and local leaders are continuing to stand up and fight to protect workers’ rights.
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