Centrist Pundits

I’ve been thinking about the Employee Free Choice Act a lot lately.  I have some friends who are quite in favor of it, and some who are quite against it.  And it pretty much falls down party lines.  But that’s not really what has me thinking.

Nor do I really want to get back in to the discussion of whether or not the modern world needs Unions.  That’s a perfectly legitimate discussion, but it is not the discussion at stake with the EFCA.

No, what’s really on my mind here is what my problem with the EFCA is, and I think I’ve figured it out.  It’s that it doesn’t solve the problem.  Or, more precisely, it merely replaces one problem with another.

The problem here is that businesses cause delays when there is an attempt to form a union.  They can then use that time to do anything from discourage the union (perfectly legitimate) to spread disinformation about unions (less legitimate) to intimidate, bully, and threaten people in to voting against the union (actually illegal).    Basically, it is considered to the union’s disadvantage that a business can cause a long period of time between the call for a union vote and the actual vote.

The solution, as defined by the Unions who are helping get the EFCA passed, is to have unionization be automatic upon 50% of the employees signing a card saying they want a union.  This sounds fairly logical, I mean, if 50%+ of the people voting have already said they want it, then a vote sounds like an extraneous step.  But this is where the secret ballot issue comes in.  If businesses apply pressure during the time between the call for a vote and vote, unions (or more precisely, pro-union activists) can apply pressure during the time building up to the call for a vote.  Did I sign a card – that anyone can see if I signed it or not – because I wanted a union, or because I didn’t want to feel ostracized from my friends, or because I felt “Knuckles” was gonna beat me down, or for whatever reason imaginable?

This is why, in the end, there HAS to be a secret ballot.  A secret ballot is the only place where you can vote the way you want to vote, without any intimidation from any side of the issue.

The solution as proposed by the EFCA is flawed.  The real solution is twofold – when forming a union, the cards should not ask if you want to form a union, they should ask if you feel there should be a vote on union formation.  This way, no matter how you feel on the union, you can comfortably say yes.  And then the vote should be done very, very quickly.  Right now, the rules say “within a few weeks” but that doesn’t always happen.  It should.  It should never be more than a month, even at the largest corporations.

But I am not an expert.  That’s just a proposal.  I’m sure it is flawed, but I’m sure we could come up with something that’s fair.  But what the EFCA seems to do, in my mind, is replace one system with glaring flaws that favors business with another system with glaring flaws that favors unions.  Maybe, just maybe, the best thing would be a fair solution with, at least, less glaring flaws.

JC Economy card check, elections, unions

Imagine it’s election day, 2008. You’re walking down the street, and a guy grabs you and pulls you into a dark alley. He’s wearing a button with a GOP elephant on it. As he pushes you against a wall, he says:

You’re patriotic, ain’t ya, bub? If you know what’s good for you, you’ll vote for McCain today.

The ruffian pushes you back to the sidewalk, and you walk away quickly, reflecting on the crazy idiot supporters some candidates attract. You’re about to contact the police when another arm reaches out and pulls you into an abandoned building. The man in front of you, as burly as the last one, has a button with a Democratic donkey on it. He says:

You look healthy. You should stay that way. Obama is going to fix healthcare for all of us. You should vote for him. Otherwise, I’d hate for you to find yourself… not healthy.

You leave the building. You think about calling the police… but who would believe you? You see the polling place up ahead. You walk in, and stand in line. You’re handed your ballot, and you walk into a voting booth. To your shock, you see both heavies in the booth with you! You call over to the election judge. She explains that the law has been changed, and that your vote is no longer secret, and these two get to know how you vote.

Suddenly, you realize it’ll be a long and dangerous walk home.

Now, that might sound like some piece of science fiction, but that’s exactly how labor unions want to have happen in the workplace.

Right now, in order to form a union in a company, cards are passed out among the workers. If 30% of the workers turn in cards that indicate they want a union, then a secret ballot vote is administered by the National Labor Relations Board. If a majority of the employees vote to form a union, then it’s done. If not, then no union is formed. Pretty straightforward, balanced and fair.

The unions want to take the secret ballot out of the equation. They’re promoting the passage of a “card check” law, which basically would say that if a majority of the employees turned in cards supporting a union, then there’s no secret ballot vote.

The proposed legislation, marketed under the misleading title “Employee Free Choice Act”, would allow unions to harrass workers until they check yes on the card. They can, and would, come by the workers homes each and every night until they get what they want — a checked card.

The reason that the current system isn’t good enough is because that type of coersion doesn’t work in a secret ballot. Someone who checks yes on a card because they want to get rid of the union organizer, or because he fears for the safety of his family, would no longer have the option of voicing his true opinion in a secret ballot.

Now, I don’t want people to think I am anti-union. Unions serve a vital role in this country, and we need them. But unions have an ugly history of violence and intimidation, and a law like this does nothing more than encourage that behavior.

But the card-check law is something that has no place in a civilized society. Like other laws that are pro-union and anti-freedom, this is the kind of thing that can only happen when a political party is owned lock, stock and barrel by the labor unions.

And that party now controls both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Greg Congress, National Politics card check, Congress, unions