Labor Unions prepare to strip our right to privacy…

On January 20, as President Obama turned to the masses to deliver his inaugural address, at the same time the pent up demands of the liberal left, that leads most of organized labor, were unleashed on America’s employees.

The “Employer Free Choice Act” (EFCA) is only the first issue of what promises to be a parade of very damaging proposals to change the balance between employer and employee.

The “Employee Free Choice Act” would amend the National Labor Relations Act (NRLA) to make it possible for workers to organize unions by signing cards designating representation, rather than by using the existing system of voting by secret ballot to recognize unions.

Congressional Democrats have sponsored the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act”. The proposed legislation is referred to as “card check,” and was perhaps the labor movement’s top priority in the 2008 presidential and congressional elections. As a result, similar or identical legislation is expected to be rapidly approved by the new Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama. The “card-check” system would expose workers to coercion and intimidation, and thus make it more likely that unions will be successfully organized.

Presently, the NLRA requires designation of unions through an election by secret ballot. The proposed law would amend the NRLA to direct the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union if it finds that “a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in the petition as their bargaining representative.”

One of the most fundamental rights in a democracy is the right to a secret ballot. Private and personal voting decisions are the foundation of our country and have been enshrined in every institution from class president to the nation’s president. Having respected this principle for almost a century, unions have now found it to be an obstacle that should be removed. Card check style union organization would remove the right of workers to privately vote for or against unionization.

Union organizers would be able to troll through workplaces looking for signatures on cards that become public record. Your boss, coworkers, and neighbors would all know how you voted. Unions were established to protect worker’s rights and offer them representation. But representation without private ballots is nothing more than coercion and control.

Unions seem intoxicated with the idea of card check because it allows them to see who is not yet onboard with unionizing a specific shop. Those who have not yet applied their signature to the card are often visited at all hours of the day and night. Organizers intent on obtaining signatures pressure employees both at work and at home.

Once a worker is pressured into signing, often without hearing both sides of the issue, there is no recourse for them to change their mind. Signatures cannot be removed and without a private ballot no voting measure can overturn the unionization. In some extreme cases injunctions have been brought against union organizers to limit their harassment of workers.

Contained within the language of card check legislation is a provision that triggers binding arbitration if contracts are not reached within 90 days of the union’s formation. This would give unprecedented power to government officials to establish wage levels and working standards within an industry. The ruling made by the arbitrator extends for two years and prohibits companies from negotiating with unions or individual employees. Employers are prohibited from giving performance based wage increases; attractive benefits packages or other employee incentives as long as the arbitration is in place.

Arbitration also threatens free market competitiveness. As companies wait for drawn out hearings to determine what level of back pay they will be liable for, their capital is tied up and their business plans held hostage to the whim of an arbitrator. The free market will more equitably provide the answer to labor issues. Unions and workers are free to organize and leverage their power in the market to ensure proper compensation. However, when an arbitrator removes this option from the employee/employer relationship, the market is distorted beyond repair.

Joe Calomino
State Director
Americans for Prosperity-Illinois