Secret Ballot Watch

With big-spending special interests now scrambling to find support for their widely rejected card check plan, a new focus has emerged on the legislation’s scheme to allow federal arbitrators to dictate how American workplaces are run.

Section 3 of the legislation, dubbed “Facilitating Initial Collective Bargaining Agreements,” outlines a radical proposal masked by its rather innocent sounding name. Rather than “facilitating,” the plan would empower federal arbitrators to unilaterally impose wages, hours, benefits, job duties, and countless other facets of workplace operations.

Former Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate George McGovern spoke out early in the debate over the card check plan to denounce its elimination of secret ballots in workplace organizing elections. Today, he once again penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal’s editorial pages in opposition to the legislation, this time taking on the forced government contracts: 

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"Last year, I wrote on these pages that I was opposed to this bill because it would eliminate secret ballots in union organizing elections. However, the bill has an additional feature that isn't often mentioned but that is just as troublesome -- compulsory arbitration.

“This feature would give the government the power to step into labor disputes where employers and labor leaders cannot reach an agreement and compel both sides to accept a contract. Compulsory arbitration is bound to trigger the law of unintended consequences. …

“A federally appointed arbitrator cannot be expected to understand the nuances specific to each business dispute, the competitive market position of the business, or the plethora of other factors unique to each case. Yet fundamental decisions on wages and benefit costs, rules for promotions, or even rules for exiting an unprofitable line of business could fall to federal arbitrators under EFCA.

“Many labor contracts can run over 100 pages with their requirements of each party. Compulsory arbitration is, in one sense, government dictating to employees what they will win or lose in the deal, with no opportunity to approve the ‘agreement.’ Why should employees pay union dues to get such a contract? …

“When it comes to labor disputes, both parties should be guaranteed a real chance for compromise under the joint economic threat of contract breakdowns. George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO for nearly 30 years before retiring in 1979, had it right in condemning mandatory arbitration as ‘an abrogation of freedom.’”

McGovern, “The ‘Free Choice’ Act Is Anything But,” The Wall Street Journal, 05.07.09 

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The former senator has put principle over politics in opposing a plan that may be good for special interests and political campaigns, but is obviously bad for American workers. The only remaining question is how many others in his party will join him.

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