Card Check Backers Choose Big Labor Largesse Over Jobs

At this point, it should come as little surprise that the Obama Administration’s fleet of bureaucrats would prefer Big Labor’s political machinations to any hint of common-sense.

Sadly, predictability doesn’t lessen the blow when bad policies hurt American employees and employers alike.  Card check or the Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act (EFCA) has been temporarily side lined, but some on Capitol Hill seem intent on pressing forward and supporting the disastrous initiative.

It should seem hard to believe that the elimination of the secret ballot for votes determining whether a collective bargaining unit has been formed would even be taken seriously in the first place.  Choosing to unionize is a critical decision that poses lasting consequences for workers and small businesses.  Allowing union leaders to advance a political agenda eviscerating this process is a kick to the gut to fairness.  Intimidation and coercion are norms for Big Labor, so why give them the opportunity to do it legally in our workplaces?  A public card signing is hardly the same as a private vote and most Americans know this.  According to U.S. Chamber of Commerce data, 70 percent of surveyed voters “agree that a private election is better than card check.”

Not only would the Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act strip away privacy, but it would put even more power in the hands of bureaucrats, while punishing job creators.  The deeply flawed law would empower government bureaucrats to mandate contract terms on employees and employers alike.  This would allow Uncle Sam to side with Jimmy Hoffa over local employers.  Our economy is in the midst of an endlessly sluggish recovery, and President Obama’s idea of helping businesses is more regulations, bureaucratic control and higher costs?

Some might wonder why and the answer is simple: follow the money.  Does it really come as such a shock that these politicians are placing Big Labor’s agenda over American jobs?

In July, a Wall Street Journal story detailed the depth of union bosses’ spending on politics totaling $1.1 billion from 2005-2011.  Not to mention the additional $3.3 billion spent over the same amount of time on ‘”political activities” in general.  While labor bosses spend billions leveraging the dues paid by workers, union retirees suffer serious cutbacks to pension and retirement programs.

The card check bill was brought forward in 2009, much to the chagrin of workers and small businesses alike.  History shows some lawmakers pushing forward with EFCA have placed the priorities of Big Labor over those of American workers.

In fact, union bosses are demanding payback in the form of EFCA.  Not too long ago, “Teamsters President Jim Hoffa said in an interview that Obama would try to push through union-friendly measures like the Employee Free Choice Act in a second term.  ‘We’ve got to motivate people to get out and vote.  That’s what this is all about,’” Hoffa told Michigan delegates.

Big Labor is working frantically to buy support for its agenda.  In fact, they have already shelled out close to $80 million in political donations.  In the face of a massive membership decline, it’s expected union bosses will continue their effort to leverage donations made to politicians in an effort to forcibly unionize workers.

Simply put, the Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act is a policy that would advance the agenda of Big Labor bosses at the expense of already struggling small businesses and middle-class workers.  Economic studies demonstrate that this ill-conceived legislation would result in the loss of 600,000 jobs in one year alone.

Though already defeated in previous Congressional sessions, some lawmakers are working to revive the law and using a taxpayer-funded pulpit as a platform.  Their actions will continue to fall flat whether in this Congress or the next because the American people do not support forced unionization and will hold to account individuals who choose to advance the job-killing policy.