The Future Of Card Check
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 by AdminThe future of the Employee Free Choice Act remains shrouded in mystery as we head back toward the September reconvening of Congress. There is little “news” but plenty of chatter.
Consider this report from The Hill’s Michael O’Brien:
A top labor official said Monday that President Obama and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have indicated that they will not bring up “card check” legislation until after healthcare reform is done in Congress.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, the expected incoming president of the influential union, pledged during a web chat on the liberal blog firedoglake that organized labor would work to pass healthcare reform in order to move onto one of its top priorities, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
“The President/and Emanuel have both said they dont intend to bring Employee Free Choice Act up until Health Insurance Reform is done,” Trumka wrote on the blog. “Which gives us an additional reason to do Health Insurance Reform now!”
Meanwhile, over at the Washington Examiner, Brian Johnson writes “there is one provision that labor will never give up: binding arbitration.”
He’s absolutely correct. While unions such as SEIU may want to invest themselves in the “card check” provision to increase the dues-paying membership in the short run, many AFL-CIO unions are dead-set on binding arbitration because it’s the key to getting new employees to prop up failing pension funds.
Johnson concludes on this note:
EFCA-Plus leaves too many questions about arbitrators unanswered while simultaneously giving them unprecedented power. There is no provision that lays out how arbitrators will be chosen, leaving questions about qualifications and bias.
Government is increasing its influence in every part of your life, from what car you can buy to your health insurance. Now they want to dictate to employees and employers the terms of negotiation. Go figure.
August 27th, 2009 at 5:02 am
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