-By Warner Todd Huston
Michael Sandler over at The Hill has some ominous warnings about what a landslide Democrat victory next week will mean to unions and the economy.
Sandler warns that unions will find a resurgence in influence in government, especially with an Obama presidency.
With those obstacles removed, Democrats could quickly push forward with legislation allowing labor unions to organize without secret-ballot elections and a bill expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
Other possibilities include the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would overturn a Supreme Court decision restricting equal pay lawsuits; a measure that would narrow the role of a “supervisor” for collective bargaining purposes; and a mandate for paid sick leave for companies with 15 or more employees who work at least 30 hours a week — all left over from the last Congress.
“I think they want to strike while the iron’s hot and grab everything they can,” said Marc Freedman, director of labor law policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The “card check” plan of destroying the ages old democratic concept of the secret ballot will irreparably harm the safety and integrity of employee’s vote on union matters. Instead of the secret ballot, employees will have to openly sign “cards” in public so that their vote is open for all to see. This will surely enhance union thugs’ ability to identify employees who vote against the union line in order to spotlight them as an “anti-union” employee and, therefore, to be targeted for attention and union intimidation.
But that is exactly what unions want. They WANT to be able to more easily intimidate workers that might find their safety and comfort more important than a “no” vote on a union. To avoid being attacked, the easiest road to take is acquiescence to union thugs and since everyone can see your vote, well, who can blame people for taking the easiest path?
Sandler has more.
“They are going to be focused on turning around the economy and anything that contributes to that,” said Bill Samuel, legislative director for the AFL-CIO. “A pro-jobs agenda.”
Business leaders are anticipating an early push of union-backed bills. At the top of the list is the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, which would eliminate the right of employers to demand secret-ballot elections before a union can be certified. Instead, a majority of workers could sign petition cards certifying a union — a process known as “card-check.” The bill passed the House in March 2007, but failed three months later in the Senate to get the 60 votes required for controversial legislation.
Sandler has several other points to make other than the union issues, so go on over to The Hill and read his excellent piece. These are important and worrisome matters, certainly.
We’d best “gird our loins” for the worst, anti-business onslaught we’ve seen since the anti-capitalist FDR administration if the Dems win big next week.
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sWarner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
The only thing I see about the article is that the writer does not like unions.
If you stop and think about it, if people are fed up with current work practices where everybody else is getting the money and the worker has to take less (in wages) and pay for their insurance then what do you expect? It would be their way of speaking out.
How are people going to let everyone know that they are fed up with the current conditions? Our Congressmen hide behind form letters and stock emails sent out by their “stoolies” that say how busy they are so they don’t really hear the people.
Let’s stop pointing fingers at a political party or someone and spend that time rallying for a change in the way our government is operating (nonpartisan please).
Charlie if you notice the only conservative argument is that the opposition is wrong mostly for derogatory personal reason.
I just wish they would do their homework because a lot of the claims are half baked. They make the charges and I have checked them out. I reminded of my fifth grade teacher telling us why “The National Inquirer” was not good for current events because the stories they reported had just enough truth in it not to be dismissed as totally false. There’s an end of the world rant but you don’t hear a better solution.
Since it is not possible for every American to be the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation they don’t offer any solutions for poorly treated workers or small businesses being crushed by big corporations.
Who is the monster? WalMart, who bullies local and state governments for pass on taxation, or the small businesses that are destroyed by WalMart because they carry the tax burden that WalMart doesn’t pay.
I’d love to hear a real conservative make a call on that one.
Because the union organizers promise that their members would buy from the small businesses not WalMart.