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

Swing State Virginia Dead Set Against Card Check?

Admin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:15:14 +0000

Virginia is nearly the definition of a political “swing state.” If you don’t believe us, just check out the truthiness of Wikipedia. It has two Democratic Senators and, until, November, a Democratic Governor. But it’s a business-friendly state, too, and has been recognized as the best state in the union for business by CNBC.

So what should it tell political watchers that a swing state elected its new governor in large part on his opposition to policy proposals like card check (via the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act)? There’s no doubt that Governor-elect Bob McDonnell made card check a key of his campaign.

And now the state’s recently elected Attorney General hints that he still views opposition to card check as a political winner. The Washington Times reports:

In the Republican state senator’s acceptance speech after winning the election in November, he promised to fight for Virginians

From Whence Card Check Compromise Comes?

Admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:40:14 +0000

As business leaders have been warning for quite some time, “compromise” on the Employee Free Choice Act is going to be hard (if not impossible) to come by because the original bill is so bad. Anything that attacks workplace democracy, imposes government bureaucrats to run small businesses, and kills jobs just isn’t going to be workable with a few tweaks around the edges.

Yet as the public has increasingly decided that EFCA is a no-go, real talks for improving labor law has been a no-show because unions and top Democrats seem to be “compromising” amongst themselves — which is not a real compromise. Which is why this story in today’s The Hill is important:

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is one of a half-dozen senators trying to craft a compromise on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which if passed would make union organizing much easier.

Sen. Brown says he’s corralled some Republicans into talks, though we find it difficult to believe that productive negotiations can be led by the Senate’s most liberal member — one who feels it appropriate to introduce legislation attacking ostensibly unpatriotic employers.

Only when EFCA is totally scrapped can there be productive discussions on addressing labor laws, and all parts of the political spectrum need to be at the table.

Builders Report Notes Card-Check-Less Card Check Bill Still A Threat

Admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:14:07 +0000

The Daily Journal of Commerce in Oregon, a builders publication, notes “card-check bill won

VIDEO: Card Check and Ambush Elections

Admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:18:32 +0000

Check out the video for this Pennsylvanian talking to Sen. Arlen Specter on card check and cap and trade:

Card Check Alternatives: Debatable

Admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:42:09 +0000

Apparently some politicians didn’t like that the public got educated and angry about the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act, so they are trying Card Check 2.0 without time for the public to discuss the issue. Roll Call reports:

As Senate Democrats struggle to hammer out a compromise bill on union organizing, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is sketching a process for railroading the bill through the floor as quickly as possible to prevent Republicans from rallying a major campaign against it, senior Democratic aides said.

If the reforms are good for working Americans, wouldn’t it stand to reason that they are worth taking time to consider and have a public discussion over? Well, consider this quote from Roll Call’s report (behind a login):

Card Check: Why “Mail-In Ballots” May Not Be The Best Reform

Admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:27:01 +0000

Ah, it all gets so confusing. First, some politicians said there was enough momentum to pass the anti-democratic Employee Free Choice Act as “payback” for union support during the last elections. Then the secret-ballot-stripping “card check” provision of the bill was called “toxic” and sent EFCA proponents in search of fancy euphemisms (like “majority signup”).

But as rumors of card check’s possible demise have heated up, so have rumors of potential “alternatives” such as ambush elections and mail-in ballots. Ambush elections are unfair to both employers and employees, and evidence out of Missouri this week suggests mail-in ballots may not be a perfect way to protect employees, either.

The Associated Press reports that a Missouri judge has temporarily “blocked the certification of a union election for in-home care providers” after the company alleged flaws in the elections process:

A hearing is set for Aug. 4 on whether to grant a preliminary injunction against certifying the election.

[Judge] Beetem’s order was brought to the attention of The Associated Press on Thursday by an attorney for Integra Healthcare Inc., which filed the lawsuit claiming the election lacked safeguards to ensure the legitimacy of mail-in ballots and wrongly excluded some eligible voters.

Mail-in ballots may be slightly better than card check, but they’re not necessarily as good as the current system. Remember that there have been strong and recent allegations that leading card check proponent SEIU has abused the mail-in ballot process in a fight to prevent many unsatisfied members from departing for a rival union (“Homecare providers reported scores of incidents of voter intimidation, illegal threats, and ballot manipulation by SEIU staff,” according to a press release).

It appears there are many problems with the mail-in ballot notion, as employees are sure to learn the hard way if Congress tries to pass reckless “reform”.

Rep. John Kline Stands Up For Workers on Card Check

Admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:12:05 +0000

Washington Examiner reporter Kevin Mooney has a great article on the problems with “compromise” or alternatives to the Employee Free Choice Act. Frankly, it’s hard to beat the explanation of Rep. John Kline, the new ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Labor:

Adjusting To Renamed Card Check

Admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:03:28 +0000

Card check isn’t really dead, despite reports. It’s important to keep an eye on developments, so we’re continuing to track them.

A Harrisonburg, Virginia paper reminds readers:

So by agreeing to eliminate the

Card Check: The War Of Words (Or Names)

Admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:01:18 +0000

Many in the employer community are concerned that proponents of the sadly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act have seized on a confusingly timed bit of news suggesting the “card check” provision of the bill is dead. That’s not the case — we hear constant stories about folks up on Capitol Hill trying to re-brand EFCA because it has become, in the words of Sen. Tom Harkin, “toxic.”

So we recently weighed in with a reference to The Usual Suspects, adding our two cents to musings by our friends at Shopfloor.org. Now we want to draw your attention to analysis of EFCAreport.com, the great resource from McKenna Long & Aldridge management attorneys. They write:

The response to the Times story was immediate and forceful. Business interests and EFCA opponents quickly condemned the possible development and began to focus more intense criticism on EFCA’s mandatory interest arbitration provisions.

Lest it be lost in the shuffle, however, there appears to have been a simultaneous increased effort on the part of labor to re-brand the mechanism proposed by Section 2 of EFCA as “majority sign-up.” While that has been terminology used by supporters for some time, and increasingly as labor realized how politically toxic the term “card-check” had likely become. But in the wake of Friday’s developments, there appears to be a stronger and more concerted effort to change the vocabulary of the discussion on this particular issue — perhaps to soften it politically while we await the ultimate announcement of what comes next. We shall see as the conversation continues.

Click through for their links and to check out the blog.

The Devil, Keyser Soze, and Card Check

Admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:28:53 +0000

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” It’s a scheme that worked for the devil, for the speaker of this quote in The Usual Suspects, and the increasingly-toxic card check provision of the Employee Free Choice Act.

First it was the canard that EFCA didn’t eliminate secret ballots. It is just a plain fact: once union organizers collect more than 50 percent of union cards — even if employees were uninformed, under-informed, misinformed, or “nudged” as they signed — the National Labor Relations Board cannot direct an election. It’s a myth that has been busted again and again, but like all great lies it continues on among the darkest corners of the Internet (and a few of our own lesser-hinged commenters).

But now it seems that rumors of card check’s death have been greatly exaggerated for a specific purpose (or several). Our friends at Shopfloor.org have been tracking the mysteriously timed pronouncement of card check’s death, even while Beltway insiders say it’s not so. So herein the latest analysis from Shopfloor:

The flogging of the