An Unpopular Measure Robs the Worker of Secret Ballot
Democrats in Congress recently introduced the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a bill more accurately described as "card check" legislation. The bill is a payback for years of big labor lobbying from unions and labor activists' groups. Those groups have taken their case to Capitol Hill claiming that card check legislation is necessary to protect workers' free choice of whether or not to join a union. In truth, card check will strip away the secret ballot in workplace organizing elections and stifle job creation. And, to make matters worse, it is not supported by the majority of the Americans.
Besides being egregiously misnamed, the EFCA is also wholly undemocratic. The secret ballot is the foundation of American democracy. And forcing workers to publically disclose their decision about whether or not to join a union is not 'free choice.' Workers could be subject to bullying, pressure and intimidation based on their choice. And while I support the right of American workers to join a union if they choose to do so, I strongly believe that they should have the right to make that choice through the use of a secret ballot.
Have no doubt - the EFCA is a bad bill that is at odds with the will of the American people. A recent poll from McLaughlin and Associates reveals that 74 percent of Americans oppose card check measures that would end the secret ballot. But even with overwhelming majorities of unionized workers and non-unionized workers opposing card check, labor activists are brazenly moving forward in support of the legislation. With union membership sinking it seems that big labor kingpins will stop at nothing to advance their own interests - even when those interests are at odds with the interests of the very workers they purport to represent.
Perhaps the most unsettling element surrounding the timing of the EFCA's introduction in Congress is that it comes during a period of economic recession and job loss. A recent report from an economist with the non-partisan firm LECG Consulting found that we will likely see a 1 percent point rise in unemployment for every 3 percentage points gained in union membership through card checks and mandatory arbitration. That could mean a loss of 600,000 jobs in card check's first year, given that union leaders claim 1.5 million existing jobs are unionized through the EFCA. In short, card check is also a job killer.
If the EFCA is enacted, the landscape of organizing elections will change dramatically in a way that deeply disenfranchises the American worker. That's why I've signed onto counter-legislation that will preserve workers' rights to a private vote. The bill I support, H.R. 1176, the Secret Ballot Protection Act would ensure that employers and unions cannot take away an employee's right to vote by secret ballot.
In these tough economic times Congress should never embrace policies that destroy jobs. Unfortunately, the legislation being advanced by big labor and their liberal allies destroys jobs and undercuts workers rights. We cannot turn our backs on the fundamental traditions that have made this country great - like the right to cast a secret ballot.
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