The American Spectator : Beyond Card Check

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Beyond Card Check

By Kevin Mooney on 12.1.09 @ 6:07AM

Card check may be unpopular, but a repackaged version of the Employee Free Choice Act remains in the works.

(Page 2 of 2)

The manufacturing economy of the 1940s and 1950s has been replaced by an information-based economy that leaves little room for organized labor. Private sector unionization has fallen from its high of 35 percent of the eligible workforce in 1954 to about 8 percent today.

EFCA is needed because it would help to reverse this trend by way of coercion. Stern, the SEIU president, forecasts that union membership would grow by 1.5 million members every year over the next 10 to 15 years, if the bill became law.

But there's the rub. If Democrats cannot reach the magic number of 60 in the U.S. Senate now, the opportunity for transformative labor legislation could well be lost for a generation. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has already said that she would oppose card check.

Katie Packer, executive director of WFI, has identified other swing votes. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) could be pliable, she suggested.

Sen. Specter (D-Pa.), who announced earlier this year that he would oppose card check, now appears to have a more congenial view of the legislation after attending an AFL-CIO convention in September.

The compromise being considered on Capitol Hill calls for workforce representation elections to be held 10 days after 30 percent of workers sign cards in favor of organizing. Although the card check phrase would be dropped, the legislation would be still very weighted against business, Greg Mourad, director of legislation for NRTW, has observed.

"This so called compromise is really just window dressing," he said. "These quick snap elections would give the unions as much time as they want to propagandize the workforce and collect petitions, while the other side has just 10 days. The current average is 42 days when petitions are turned in to when elections take place and we think this is a reasonable time frame."

Brett McMahon, vice-president of Miller and Long, a Maryland-based concrete construction company, concurs. The maneuvering on card check and proposed substitution of new, seemingly benign language is a typical labor tactic, he warned.

"They usually give ground on one of their most unreasonable demands after all the objections have been made," he said. "Then they come back with something even worse and claim the moral high ground for having 'compromised' on their first demand."

So far, labor bosses have received little return on their campaign investments in the way of new legislation. Once Democratic leaders clear the deck with healthcare, they will be expected to reintroduce card check, but under a different name.

Page: < 12

topics:
Card Check, Big Labor, Andrew Stern

About the Author

Kevin Mooney is an investigative reporter and Fox News contributor based in Washington D.C., who has written for the Washington Examiner and Cybercast News Service.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (46) | Leave a comment

Northern Rebel| 12.1.09 @ 8:49AM

I've lived long enough to see a massive transfer of power in America. In 1960, the most powerful entity in the country was NOT the federal government. (Shocking, ehh?)

The Mafia was the most powerful organization in America, with the Labor unions by their side, laundering their money.

The 1957 Appalachia scandal focused the average American on the mob for the first time, and they demanded action.

They got it.

The federal government set out to dismantle much of the mafia's influence, and when they succeeded, co-opted the power for themselves.

Big labor, shameless and pragmatic, quickly switched sides, and followed the money.

Given the choice of the mafia, or federal government, I'd reluctantly choose the mafia.

At least the mafia believed in capitalism!

Margie| 12.1.09 @ 12:30PM

Mr. Rebel,
Now that's the 2nd post I've seen where you seem to be "in favor" of the Mafia. :^(

Obama college grants| 3.3.10 @ 3:00PM

I don't think I agree with the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). There are flaws that need to be fixed. Why does government need to take forever to make some real changes. Its saddening.

Income Drawdown| 3.4.10 @ 3:20AM

I can't believe that you choose the mafia. But i'ts your own choice, and you must be have your own argument.
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Nick| 12.20.10 @ 3:27PM

I do not agree with the EFCA either it doesn't seem like it can really hold up well.

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Herschel Krustovski| 12.1.09 @ 9:14AM

The video of this Andy Stern with Bill Moyers has him saying something like "...if we can't use the power of persuasion, then we'll use persuation of power..." Seems to fit their goals of a thugocracy to me. Time for a re-lect nobody platform among the electorate.

Northern Rebel| 12.1.09 @ 3:30PM

Margie:

I mean it only as Rush likes to describe it:

Illustrating absurdity with the absurd.

Margie| 12.1.09 @ 4:16PM

...well, thank goodness. (whew.)

Lazy Jack| 12.1.09 @ 5:41PM

An excerpt from an older blog from March 2009 entitled ‘No Mistake Too Big To Repeat.’

In 1935, for example, a major piece of legislation, the Wagner Act, became the capstone of three years of Keynesian and populist experimentation. This piece of labor legislation sought to redress some of the imbalances of power between labor and management at companies operating in the U.S. Today’s version is the Employee Free Choice Act. Within twenty-four months of the Wagner Act’s enactment, the unemployment rate in the U.S. increased from 14% to 19%.

What do you suppose are the odds it will happen again?

For More:

http://thanksforthelaughs.word.....to-repeat/

Lazy Jack

Dale| 3.3.10 @ 1:01PM

I just hope that a fair balance between employer & employee can be found!

john t taxes| 3.4.10 @ 8:38PM

Yes but will any of this actually help out any of us with serious debt?

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BestBingoSpots| 3.5.10 @ 12:42PM

I think that the secret ballots are the way to go. Without that, the bosses can take advantage of who voted good, and who voted bad.

heath leeds| 3.7.10 @ 8:49PM

excellent post there! really informative!

Grants For New Business| 3.9.10 @ 3:42PM

This post has really interesting points. With votes being private, who can say that the voters will actually vote according to what they believe in? Politicians who're at risk of losing their puppet salaries will surely be able to alter the outcome!

dvd ipod| 3.24.10 @ 10:54AM

That's definitely a good article. Great job, keep up the good work.

Derek Cullen| 3.28.10 @ 12:52AM

I didn't know that over 60 percent of Americans favor the use of secret ballots in unionization elections, while only about 30 percent support card check as an alternative. I thought we are more prone to using new technologies and faster methods.

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Quee| 5.8.10 @ 3:36AM

The Employee Free Choice Act, supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, would enable working people to bargain for better benefits, wages and working conditions by restoring workers’ freedom to choose for themselves whether to join a union.

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