Obama’s First 100 Days: Paying Back The Unions With ‘Card Check’

Written by: Evrviglnt on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

With the incoming administration of Barack Obama will come a hard turn to the political left in the areas of labor, environment, law and judiciary appointments.  President-elect Obama’s choice of hyper-partisan Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary is an unmistakable sign that labor unions will wield increasing power in the administration.  In the symbiotic relationship between the Democratic Party and America’s labor unions, One of their first goals will be to increase their revenue base.  They’ll do this by increasing union membership, which brings us to the Orwellian “Free Choice Act.”  It’s a concoction created to allow greater influence by union organizers who believe that the current law is unduly restrictive because it mandates a election by employees using private ballots.  The unions want the vote by employees about whether to unionize to be made in public, by signing cards in front of union organizers.  What does that have to do with free choice?  Nothing really, and actually it might endanger the principle, making it unconstitutional.  Unions have a long history of intimidation and corruption (The Teamsters Union is currently trying to get Obama to release them from federal oversight, and he has already said he supports the idea).  Forcing employees to make their vote public is no different than forcing Americans to make their national election votes public.  Can you imagine having to declare publicly you voted for John McCain while standing outside of a voting booth in Manhattan?  Consider the attacks on those who donated to the California proposition 8  campaign.  Their names were released to the public and their addresses, phone numbers and employer information were used by activists to harass and intimidate them.  The left has no qualms about making politics personal.

If this were really about free choice, the unions would abide by the wishes of the union members themselves.  Poll after poll reveals that Americans both unionized or not are against card check, and that’s why you’ll never hear of the unions running propositions instituting card check state by state.  They’d rather try to force it through congress.  In 2007 it passed the house by 56 votes but failed in the senate.  After the successful 2008 election, the unions are calling in their chits.  Barack Obama announced his support during the election, and union leaders intend to make him consummate the deal.

So what are the implications of increased unionization?  In the Washington Times this morning Gary Shapiro offers his educated opinion:

Card check would dramatically change U.S. labor laws, overturn a half-century of balance in labor-management relations and strip workers of core protections. By depriving workers of a secret ballot vote in union elections, this legislation would allow for coercion of workers who don’t want to unionize and could force millions of Americans to join unions against their will.

Democratic members of Congress struggle in how to say card check is good for the nation, for productivity or for creating jobs. Yet they are eager to pass this legislation to pay back unions for their support. One prominent union leader said publicly he would gladly use union opposition to pending free trade agreements as a political bargaining chip to get card check passed quickly.

In an economy in recession, how wise it is to burden business right now?

Unions once shouldered a burden of protecting worker safety, but these protections are now law and unions and their supporters ignore that we are competing on a world stage. More, they are using their political force to block free trade agreements with countries that can add to American jobs by removing tariffs on our exports. Unions are making our companies less competitive.

Today, our nation is a world leader in technology and all the content creation it allows. From our semiconductor companies to our computers, from Hollywood to music, from games to Internet services, the United States remains the world’s innovator. Our strategy should be to allow these companies to prosper and export – not to burden exports with tariffs, tax their output at the second highest rates in the world, or restrict their flexibility with union rules.

A fast-moving, successful tech company with differential compensation and incentive compensation and the need to adapt quickly is inconsistent with the straitjacket of a union environment. The tech industry executives I represent simply can’t believe Congress would enact a card check law that could force jobs overseas.

We’ll find out soon enough what President Obama’s priorities are – America’s workers, or America’s unions.

Possibly Related Posts:


Stumble It!
Topics: Union Politics

2 Responses to “Obama’s First 100 Days: Paying Back The Unions With ‘Card Check’”

Jenn Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 4:30 pm

Because like y’know um y’know like Unions do so much y’know um y’know like good.

Great post.

Jenn´s last blog post..HAPPY NEW YEAR! OPEN THREAD-DRINKS ON ME!

Evrviglnt Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 4:41 pm

Jenn – if Tina Fey can become entertainer of the year just for mimicking Sarah Palin – maybe you can earn a million dollars doing Caroline Kennedy impersonations! You’ve got the speech down perfect!

 

All comments are moderated, all trolls will be strapped to plywood boards and lobotomized. Proceed with caution!

CommentLuv Enabled