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Author Topic: Misnamed Employee Free Choice Act - "Card Check Workers Can Only Check In"  (Read 1730 times)
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WhiskeyGirl
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« on: March 31, 2009, 10:25:17 PM »

Card Check Workers Can Only Check In
By Diana Furchtgott-Roth

This piece originally appeared at Real Clear Politics, 3-12-09. Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Quote
Contrary to its name, the bill's main thrust is not to widen employees' choices, but to narrow them. It eliminates the secret ballot for union elections. Under the law now, if a sufficient number of workers petition the National Labor Relations Board to join a union, the Board conducts an election--by secret ballot--to see if a majority wants a unionized shop.

The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workplaces to be unionized without secret ballots. If a majority of the employees sign a card that says an employee wants to join a union, a process known as "card check," the workplace can be unionized. This process strips workers of the protection of a secret ballot and exposes them to coercion by union organizers and leaders.

read more here -
http://www.pointoflaw.com/columns/archives/2009/03/card-check-workers-can-only-ch.php

What this reminds me of is United Way funding from many years ago.  It was supposed to be 'voluntary' - but many felt pressured to participate.  It worked like this - the boss or big boss counseled anyone who didn't return a pledge card with a pledge or a pledge above a certain target.  Companies wanted to be recognized for their giving and leaned on the little people.  Alternatively, some may have given management bonuses or such to those with the highest levels of giving.  Some people were soured on the United Way due to some of these practices.  Others soured on the United Way because they support charities that may not get popular support due to their self selected mission.

United Way does a lot of good, but the giving cards of the past were sometimes a problem.

I believe in the secret ballot.  What's next, public voting on election day?  Broadcast voting?  Internet voting and tracing people through the net?

jmho
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WhiskeyGirl
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« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2009, 10:28:43 PM »

This snip from the same article -

Quote
What Mr. Miller is asking for American workers is less than what he once sought for Mexican workers. In a letter dated August 29, 2001, coauthored with 15 other congressmen, Mr. Miller wrote to the arbitration council in Puebla, Mexico, "We feel that the secret ballot is absolutely necessary to ensure that workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might not otherwise choose."

Why would Mr. Miller strip American workers of that protection? With union membership declining and now at a weak 7.6% of private sector workers, building up dues-paying membership is the unions' paramount goal, despite the harm it would do to the economy.

Isn't the 'secret ballot' a key to democracy?  A key to voting rights? 
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WhiskeyGirl
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« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2009, 10:31:59 PM »

I think 'card check' will kill many jobs that remain in this country and send them offshore.  Why isn' the focus on jobs?

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It doesn't do any good to hate anyone,
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