Posts Tagged ‘Quickie Elections’
“Why Quick Elections Are A Bad Idea”
EFCAreport.com has a great post with three strong reasons why the kind of “quickie” elections under consideration by politicians won’t make for good policy. The conclusion:
Of course, the reported expedited election proposal is not really about giving workers the opportunity to make informed choices or to avoid litigation. It is, as Mr. Newman admits, about giving unions an opportunity to increase their membership though ambush and silencing opposing views.
Employee Free Choice Act: No In Its Current Form, No Compromise On Key Issues
Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat, is saying no to the Employee Free Choice Act:
“I cannot support that bill,” Lincoln said, according to one attendee. “Cannot support that bill in its current form. Cannot support and will not support moving it forward in its current form.”
But organized labor isn’t giving up on EFCA in its current form, according to Politico:
AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale just sent us a statement taking issue with the idea that this is the “final nail” for EFCA, noting that Lincoln says she can’t support the bill in its current form.
Sen. Lincoln is right to note the bill is unacceptable as is — but as Associated Builders and Contractors members will tell you, there can’t be any compromise that involves the effective elimination of a well-considered election period (read: no shifty quickie elections) and government interference in private contracts.
Employee Free Choice Act: When “A Quickie” Is Unsatisfying
Much talk of late has revolved around potential compromise on the Employee Free Choice Act. Associated Builders and Contractors, as well as the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and others, have strongly said there is no compromise on the bill. That said, one idea that has been floated is a “quickie election” to meet the (unfounded) concern that the current elections process is too long.
Today, the Heritage Foundation’s James Sherk released a new analysis explaining why a “quickie election” doesn’t actually help employees:
Snap elections would allow EFCA supporters to claim they preserve the secret ballot–the loss of which is EFCA’s most controversial component. Secret ballot elections exist to protect voters’ right to make an informed, private choice free of intimidation and pressure and with the time to sort out misinformation from facts. Snap elections preserve the secret ballot in name only, because they compromise the election process: While the direct process of casting a vote in snap elections still occurs in private, with only a few days to hear both sides of the issue, employees are deprived of the ability to make an informed choice when they vote.
With regard to their ability to make an independent, informed choice on union organization, snap elections are no better than card check.
Read the entire article – it’s important.
