Archive for July, 2009

Card Check: Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing?

That’s the thought over at Shopfloor, where Carter Wood writes on the curious appearance of yesterday’s front-page New York Times article on dropping card check from the sadly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act:

Here

Continuing Reaction To Rumors of Card Check’s Demise

The rumors may be overstated, or maybe not. Today, the New York Times is reporting that the “card check” provision of the Employee Free Choice Act will be dropped from consideration. Here are some more thoughts on the matter:

  • Marc Ambinder says “card check is as good as dead”: “A canvass of labor leaders and strategists this morning confirms the diagnosis reached by the New York Times: there is not enough support in the Senate to change federal law to allow ‘card check’ elections anytime soon. This is the first time since the start of the fight that labor leaders are conceding in private what has seemed to be apparent in public for a long while.”
  • Liz Wolgemuth says Employee Free Choice Without Card Check: “Card Check Lite?”: “Other possible revisions to the bill include granting union organizers access onto business property–a revision the chamber would oppose. Perhaps the group’s biggest beef is that the bill retains a provision that would speed up the often lengthy contract negotiations by allowing either employers or unions to request federal mediators if agreement hasn’t been reached within 90 days of bargaining. If the mediators don’t succeed, government-appointed arbitrators would be brought in to decide the contracts. The chamber has argued that arbitrators could force employers into contracts that would threaten their financial positions.”
  • Over at the Cato Institute they’re reminding us

The Bell Tolls For Card Check

The New York Times reports:

A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers.

The so-called card-check provision

Card Check: The Hawaiian (Sucker) Punch

Hawaiian politicians have been trying to pass their own little version of the Employee Free Choice Act insomuch as island legislators seem to also be trying to do away with secret ballots:

Hawaii lawmakers on Wednesday overrode Gov. Linda Lingle

ABC Member: How Employee Free Choice Act Would Harm My Business

The Heritage Foundation has a great new video asking a business leader how the Employee Free Choice Act would affect their business. Who did they turn to for insight? None other than ABC member Brett McMahon from Miller and Long. Check it out!

Card Check: Still Unpopular

It’s clear: the Employee Free Choice Act’s provision to effectively remove the secret-ballot election process from union organizing isn’t well loved by the public. The latest evidence comes from Rasmussen Reports:

Thirty percent (30%) of Americans say it is fair to form a union without having a secret ballot vote if a majority of a company