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

Jim Kistler of Associated Builders and Contractors Heart of America chapter in Kansas City has a no-holds-barred article in the Springfield News-Leader, where he writes:

Why are Democrats and unions afraid of secret ballot elections? I pose this question in response to the opinion editorial by Len Eagleburger entitled “Republicans’ anti-labor bill unlikely to survive court tests.” The vocal opposition Democrats and labor unions express regarding the cornerstone of our system of government — maintaining elections by secret (confidential) ballot — is both amazing and scary. Nothing is more sacred than our right to vote free of intimidation and coercion.

An excellent article, to be sure. Nice work, Jim!

Not hard to understand why union officials — but not union members — are so desperate for passage of the unfortunately misnamed Employee Free Choice Act:

Union bosses have said that EFCA would generate millions of new members. The head of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) projects 1.5 million new dues-paying union members every year for at least 10 years if EFCA is passed.

It’s pretty simple to understand. With more dues-paying members, unions have a lot of money to gain and spend.

A recent estimate of the average union dues among the top 15 unions by Labor Notes suggests that as of 2004, dues amounted to $377 in 2004, or about $425 in today’s dollars. According to the United Auto Workers (UAW), dues for a typical autoworker were $552 as of 2000, or about $682 in today’s dollars. Therefore, assuming membership growth of 1.5 million per year and the lower average dues estimate ($425), enactment of EFCA would increase union receipts by $637,500,000 per year.

The Birmingham News has warned Rep. Artur Davis that his chances of winning Alabama’s governorship will get much “longer” if he doesn’t reconsider his support for the Employee Free Choice Act:

Davis said he believes the playing field is currently tilted toward management. Because union votes are held by secret ballot? The same kind of secret ballot that elected Davis to the U.S. Congress? Or that will, if he’s successful, put him in the governor’s mansion?

There’s no question that if the card-check bill passes, the playing field will be tilted toward organized labor. Where a worker might have voted against a union when his vote is private, that might be more difficult with all his co-workers watching as he signs a card authorizing a union. Under card check, simply getting a majority of workers to say they want a union is enough to certify the union. That sets the bar too low.

Davis wants — and needs — business support in his effort to become Alabama governor. Alabama is a right-to-work state; our people push back against unfair manipulation and the attempt to provide undue influence.

Davis may think he owes the unions for supporting him in his House races. He doesn’t owe them that much.

Heh.

We’re not going to link to it because it would in some way validate this comment by Dave Johnson responding to the recent shooting at the Holocaust museum:

This is one more reason why we need the Employee Free Choice Act.

But we will pass on this comment from Carter Wood at Shopfloor.org:

The writer probably doesn