Will the Employee Free Choice Act rise in the 111th?

My Aisling Blog ^ | November 22, 2008 | My Aisling

[clyde_m]

Once the new Congress is seated, you can bet that the Employee Free Choice Act will be come up for cloture - that will mean that unions will be able to use the "card-check" system to compel new unions in small businesses. The mechanism is underscored by a system of fines that will result in small businesses being at the mercy of unions.

[HighlyOpinionated]

I’m sure it’s unConstitutional, but I haven’t finished the Introduction to The Federalist Papers yet.

The 1st Amendment protects the people’s right to practice religion, to speak freely, to assemble (meet), to address the government and of the press to publish.

The 9th Amendment is simply a statement that other rights aside from those listed may exist, and just because they are not listed doesn’t mean they can be violated.

Do these two Amendments speak to the problem?

[quadrant]

One of my favorite scenes from the Sopranos occurs when two “made men” approach the manager of a coffee shop outlet, presumably Starbucks but the identity doesn't matter. The two wise guys demand that the manager join the local merchants association - which is to say, they demand the coffee shop pay protection money. The manager demurs saying that only “Seattle” can approve such a payment and that he is regulated by the company down to the last coffee bean. The wise guys threaten violence to the manager. He replies, “The company will send someone to take my place the next day.” Then they threaten to damage the store. The manager replies, “The company will call the insurance company and the damage will be repaired. The wise guys leave, lamenting that corporate America has destroyed the small businessman.
If the Freedom of Choice Act passes, it will allow union thugs the same sort of power over small business that the Mafia has.

[Osage Orange]

LOL!!

Yeah, that was a funny scene.

[fella]

If the Freedom of Choice Act passes, it will allow union thugs the same sort of power over small business that the Mafia has.

I think the union is the mafia and that they've been in bed with the DNC going all the way back to Poppa Joe Kennedy and FDR. Even before that Tammany was in with organized crime before the Civil War. The DNC and organized crime have a long association.

[clyde_m]

the 9th is just the open door to find other rights - and tells us that the ones enumerated in 1-8 don’t hold any magical powers over new one found through this door. the primary example of the 9A right is the fundamental Right to Privacy.

it’s the Right to Peaceably Assemble that is interesting. i don’t know how labor unions have come travelled through this issue - if at all. is there a constitutional right to work without collective bargaining? i doubt it. but i am sure there are other folks with their finger on this pulse.

there must be plenty of SCOTUS cases because of all the federal legislation on the topic.

[aimhigh]

In Oregon, the union harrassed workers at their homes until they signed the cards.

[Askwhy5times]

Just say “no” to “card check.”
What Is the Card Check Bill?

The principle purpose of the Card Check Bill is to make it easier for unions to organize. Under current law, if union organizers collect signatures from at least 30 percent of the employees in a bargaining unit, the federal National Labor Relations Board will hold an election to determine whether to certify the union. This process, established and refined through decades of experience, carefully balances the interests of employees, unions, and employers in order to ensure that workers can hear all sides and then make up their minds and vote in private, without intimidation or coercion. Today a majority of elections are held within 39 days and a majority of union elections are won by organized labor.

Because union density has dropped so low (to about 7.5 percent in the private sector), organized labor is seeking to change the rules and make it easier to organize. The card check bill would do just that – instead of determining whether a union would be certified through a federally-supervised secret ballot election, the union would be certified the moment it collected a majority of signed authorization cards. The Card Check Bill would therefore eliminate the campaign period and the legal requirements that regulate it, not to mention eliminating the ability of employees to make an informed decision in private. Instead, employee decisions on unionization would be made in front of union organizers greatly increasing the opportunity for coercion and pressure in the union organizing process.

Here is an editorial about why Obama should drop this promise.
Paying off labor harmful to unity
Barack Obama and congressional Democrats should resist the urge to pass the divisive and unnecessary “card check” law.

By The Denver Post
Updated: 11/16/2008 07:17:23 AM MST

Barack Obama has pledged to be the president of all the people after he’s inaugurated Jan. 20.

We hope so. It could prove to be difficult, considering his party strengthened its majority status in Congress and some of the special- interest groups that helped propel the gains will want some payback.

Obama and the Democratic majority should resist the urge to pay off organized labor by passing the divisive and unnecessary law known as “card check.”

It passed the House this year but stalled in the Senate. It would force-feed union organizing drives by ending the current requirement that gives workers the right to a secret ballot when deciding whether to unionize. Pushing card check would immediately endanger the new administration’s ties to the business community and complicate the delicate but vital task of getting the American economy back on track.
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_10979034
http://bloggingredneck.blogspot.com/

[quadrant]

I lived through a similar situation. The plant were I worked was subjected to an organizing campaign. If you hadn't signed the cards, you better learn to hold your water (or go to the bathroom in the bushes outside the plant) because the men's rooms were off limits, unless you wanted a very unpleasant and physical confrontation with the union “organizers.”