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Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Archives
- Big union reels as card-check fight looms (1-29-2009)
- Reid: Vote on card check bill, a labor priority, likely in summer (1-27-2009)
- Leaders of Culinary parent union embroiled in nasty lawsuit (1-27-2009)
- Card check issue stalls panel’s vote on nominee (1-23-2009)
- Left relieved by Obama’s words on card check (1-17-2009)
- Mum about card check, a key issue for labor (1-10-2009)
If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was campaign season. The two parties have been battling all week over a union-backed bill that would make it easier for workers to organize.
The Employee Free Choice Act has yet to even get floor time in the new Congress but the campaigns to secure its passage — and defeat — have been dueling as if the vote were tomorrow.
This week saw the release of a poll, ad campaigns and attacks and counterattacks unfolding. Thousands of workers are expected to storm the Hill in coming days to support the bill.
On Friday Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of American Rights at Work, a pro-Employee Free Choice Act group, held a conference call to counter opponents’ latest poll. And the other side was setting up a conference call to counter the counterattack.
All this comes as President Barack Obama’s choice for labor secretary, Rep. Hilda Solis of California, continues to face opposition from Republican senators on the Hill stalling her confirmation in part because she was unable to clearly give her opinion on the legislation.
“Free Hilda Solis,” ran the headline on a news release sent Friday by the environmental group League of Conservation Voters.
The group is pressing for her confirmation so the Labor Department can begin developing green energy jobs.
Solis, who was among the first of Obama’s nominees to have a Senate hearing, may be the last to be confirmed.
She has been a strong supporter of the bill as a Democratic congresswoman, but declined during her confirmation hearing to clearly state a view, saying she had yet to discuss the issue with Obama.
The stakes are high for the bill, which would alter the workplace landscape more fundamentally than any labor law in years, experts say.
The bill would make it easier for unions to organize by giving workers the option of simply signing cards if they want to form a union. The bill would return the system back to the one that had been in place for decades before business intervened and required secret ballot elections.
Secret ballot elections would still be allowed, but workers would have the option of bypassing them. Union officials say in the time it takes to hold elections, managers often pressure employees against the union.
The bill is being closely watched in Las Vegas and across the country by labor unions and business interests.
On the Strip, passage of the bill would allow workers at the remaining nonunion casinos to more readily form unions.
“We must level the playing field and give workers a free choice in joining a union,” Maxwell said. She pointed to a poll taken in December that showed 73 percent of those surveyed support passage of the bill.
“They get it — they get that the current company-dominated system isn’t working.”
But the Center for Union Facts, one of the anti-Employee Free Choice Act groups, put out a poll earlier in the week that found voters believe the bill will cost jobs.
Both sides are burning through cash in the race to sway voter opinion, saying they plan to spend $10 million on the campaigns.
Maxwell said her group has spent that much since Labor Day, and plans to spend more. She declined to give an amount.
"Free Hilda Solis," ran the headline on a news release sent Friday
Tell Hilda Solis to call her Boss today for an answer.
Organized labor without card check, increased membership by 428,000 in 2008 and 311,000 in 2007. The Unions have had no problem unionizing where they make a case to represent workers. Why do we need to change the law.
Rep. Hilda Solis as an unabashed union supporter [not a business supporter] should not be embarrassed to state her position on card check. Tell Hilda Solis to call her Boss today for an answer.
But what she needs to address is what law language she will add that will prevent card checks tactics of intimidation by union enforcers, to force union bosses will on unwilling employees.
Basically the Union will always choose check card process. The law should allow group of say 15% of the workers should be able to appeal directly to the labor board to call for a secret ballot
Coalition for a Democratic Workplace Exposed
You'd think a group called the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) would be dedicated to promoting the needs and desires of America's workers.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, CDW spreads half-truths and lies about the Employee Free Choice Act to wage an ill-conceived assault on the rights and opportunities of millions of men and women across the country.
Here's the real scoop on the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace...
CDW is a front group for business associations, industry lobbying groups, and right-wing policy centers who are against workers getting a fair shake in this economy. Its financial backers include some of the most virulent anti-worker and anti-union organizations in the country.
CDW is doing the dirty work for CEOs and corporate special interests.
The CEOs and multimillion dollar business industry groups backing CDW don't care about democracy or privacy. They're distorting the truth because they want to stop workers from having a better standard of living, access to health care, job security, and the rest of the benefits that accompany union membership.
These same groups oppose everything from paid sick days to fair pay and even the hugely popular Family and Medical Leave Act. It's unbelievable that business interests would suddenly care about privacy now, when corporations increasingly monitor employees' every move - including e-mail, phone calls, personal belongings, and even interactions outside of the workplace.
CDW spreads misinformation. Contrary to the lies and distortions displayed in CDW's new TV ad and on its website, the Employee Free Choice Act does not take secret ballots away from workers. The legislation instead offers employees an alternative to the current, broken system that is slanted heavily in favor of management against workers.
CDW's own data and research is flawed. Instead of using well-respected academic research and public opinion surveys to test the merits and support for the Employee Free Choice Act, CDW released a poll in April 2008 claiming widespread opposition to the bill. However, even the most conservative political scientists and pundits could easily review the poll's loaded questions and determine that it in no way accurately tested the public's perceptions on the issue.
Get the Real Facts about the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) please visit our website and blog
www.employeefreechoiceactnow.org
http://efcanow.blogspot.com/
www.FreeChoiceActNow.Org
www.LaborUnionResources.Org
www.SolisForLaborSecretaryNow.Org