thetruthaboutefca.com | The Truth About The Employee Free Choice Act & Card Check

While some politicians are looking for a way to escape voting for the Employee Free Choice Act (and, therefore, against secret ballots in the workplace and against job growth) talk in D.C. has turned, as it inevitably will, to compromise. Today, an op-ed in the Washington Examiner lays out tough votes for any politicians who want to tinker with the National Labor Relations Act, and concludes:

Currently, Card Check supporters are portraying their opponents as

Be sure to check out all of the Free Enterprise Alliance’s videos against the Employee Free Choice Act, but in particular note the latest from members of the Oklahoma chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors. Real people, real worries about the EFCA.

This blog has received several kind links lately, so thanks to those helping us spread the word!

The latest: ‘Employee Free Choice Act’ is a push for legalized intimidation; EFCA Out of FU? Could be; This Ain’t Dickens, Say No to Employee Free Choice Act; Fake

It’s always nice when the other side of a debate makes your point. For years, opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act have warned that the bill’s “card check” provision to effectively eliminate secret ballots in the unionizing process would open up the process to intimidation (even some very pro-labor folks agree).

But union officials have been adamant that no such thing could occur. They would be shocked –shocked — to find liquor on the premises if a union official or organizer would use circumstances to use coercion to get their way.

But one can only hide from the truth for so long … and that time has expired. As if to prove that union officials will use their leverage in less than ideal ways, Politico.com reports union pension funds are sending threatening letters to American businesses not to oppose EFCA — or support groups like Associated Builders and Contractors (the sponsor of this site).

So, what can we say? We’re proud to oppose EFCA and stand up for employees and the free enterprise system. And we’re thankful that coercion can’t hide its face for long. Hopefully our elected leaders will recognize this episode’s importance and stand firm against efforts to deny secret ballots to working Americans.

In a relatively important article yesterday, Liza Featherstone claims “card check is dead.” We don’t think that’s the case yet, and even if it there’s “son of card check” compromise is still a major threat. But it’s worth noting just how far the debate over the Employee Free Choice Act’s card check provision has come. SEIU president Andy Stern has acknowledged card check is not going to pass. Featherstone, though, points out:

Not everyone committed to labor-law reform is mourning card check.

Columbia economist Jagdish Bhagwati, one of EFCA’s most prominent sympathizers, told TBM earlier this spring that he regretted the card-check provision of the bill: “I think that it was a mistake for us who are supporters of unions and unionization to go for card check. I agree that some employers intimidate workers who wish to unionize, but those who do not wish to unionize can also be intimidated by union organizers.”

It’s worth noting that we weren’t hearing this kind of deep introspection while card check looked like it was going to pass, so it’s not like there are plaudits to be handed out. But it’s better late than never to remember just how bad an idea card check is.

In a no-holds-barred article in Politico, Florida’s Senator Mel Martinez eviscerates the unjustly named Employee Free Choice Act. In particular is this line:

I escaped the communist oppression of Cuba, and it does not sit well with me to see a bill that eliminates the secret ballot and would impose contracts on workers and private enterprises without their vote or consent.

Certainly something worth remembering.