Obama’s Dangerous Sop to Unions
Posted on August 15, 2008
-By Warner Todd Huston
Donald Lambro had a great piece warning about the promises that Barack Obama has quietly made to the nation’s unions on August 8. Of course, we have talked about it many times here on the blog, but the union’s “card check” plan in their so-called “Employee Free Choice Act” is a bad, bad bit of policy that would deprive union members of one of the oldest benefits of a democracy: the secret ballot.
Lambro does remind us of Obama’s union promises, but he makes two great points that I have not really seen discussed.
Firstly, Lambro mentions that Obama’s union support has been quiet.
Obama doesn’t talk about this issue much before general audiences, but it his No. 1 promise when he speaks to unions — pledging that the so-called Employee Free Choice Act will become law in 2009 if he wins the presidency in November.
Unlike past candidates, Barack Obama has not used his union support very obviously in stump speeches. Its as if he is trying to hide from the general voting public his union support. This is an interesting observation.
Secondly, Lambro brings out a singular fact that should be talked about more often.
The House passed the card-check bill last year, but when it went to the Senate, it fell nine votes short of the 60 votes needed to end a Republican filibuster. With predictions of a six-seat Democratic gain in the Senate this year, Obama Democrats hope they can get just close enough to a 60-vote majority to pass this dangerous and very anti-democratic legislation.
If John McCain does not win and the GOP loses more seats n the Senate, a victory for the anti-democratic unions seems a sure thing. We anti-unionists should be discussing this thin wall blocking “card check” in the Senate far more often than we have.
» Filed Under Elections, Fiscal Responsibility, Liberal Media/Bias, News, Union Mafias/Thugs
Trackback URL
Comments
2 Responses to “Obama’s Dangerous Sop to Unions”
Leave a Reply
Obama has the better plan for the middle class, the working class hero. McCain on the other hand, is an elitist who spends $500 on his loafers! and he’s blaming Obama for being Elitist! Please, vote for Obama! Visit WhyObama08.ORG!!
When it comes to unionization, the secret ballot sounds like it protects worker choice, but it really doesn’t. In order for a secret ballot to occur, employers must be made aware that their employees are considering unionization. There is then a waiting period during which employers, in the vast majority of cases, hire union-busters, meet with employees one-on-one in order to intimidate and dissuade them from voting for the union, and frequently attempt to bribe employees with raises and other favors in order to secure “no” votes. Finally, after all of this, a secret ballot is held wherein the union effort is often defeated. Pro-union employees regularly lose their jobs. Many states prohibit this type of employer retaliation but rarely enforce penalties in any meaningful way. If this offends your sense of freedom and liberty, it should.
Employees ought to be free to form unions without interference, and if the secret ballot were held off-site without employer meddling, the secret ballot would be great. But right now that’s not how it works.
The Employee Free Choice Act allows worker’s unions to be formed without threats or intimidation from employers. With the Employee Free Choice Act, if a majority of workers sign union cards during a given year, then they are free to form a union which must be recognized by their employer. This is the way it should be because this is America.
Does anyone else find it interesting that conservatives, who consistently favor business interests, not working-class interests, are suddenly so concerned about a worker’s right to decide in private whether or not to form a union? The Employee Free Choice Act will give Americans real privacy when it comes to unionization. This is the sort of legislation that has been sorely missing from our political landscape over the last decade as New Deal programs have been dismantled and the everyman has fallen into destitution.
If you are reading this post, do the American workingman a favor, pick up a pen and write to your congressperson encouraging him or her to vote “yes” on the Employee Free Choice Act. GO UNION LABOR!