Free Republic

Speaking at the National Press Club this afternoon, AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka made a bold prediction: The Employee Free Choice Act--the flagship legislation of the labor movement--will pass in the first quarter of 2010. "I think you'll see the Employee Free Choice Act pass in the first quarter of 2010," Trumka said. "You'll have it have some real effect. We'll start creating and making new jobs in this country again."

If you want to teach those unscrupulous Democrats down there in that Congressional Cesspool the value a secret ballot follow these instructions. 1. Establish a small temporary office manned by two people in each congressional district. Post a big sign in the office “Your share could be thousands of dollars !”. 2. Put the following ad in the newspapers, on the radio and television. “Order your absentee ballot now – bring your blank ballot to the office listed below and receive your share of the canceled one trillion dollar stimulus package if the republicans gain the majority in the House...

Controversial legislation that would make it easier to organize unions will pass this year, Vice President Joe Biden said today. Appearing at a Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh, Biden praised the role of unions in building the middle class and said the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will make it through Congress before the end of the year, the Associated Press reports. That's a very optimistic timeline, considering that Democrats are already putting all their legislative muscle behind healthcare reform.

Some scholars squabble about the particulars, but there is no question that democracy's roots go back at least 2,500 years to practices developed in the Greek city-state of Athens. But the adoption of a key pillar of democracy — the secret ballot — came far more recently. In England in the 1830s, disenfranchised working-class men and sympathetic members of Parliament launched the Chartist movement. The most crucial of its six objectives was universal suffrage for all men over 21, but not far behind was the secret-ballot provision. It took decades, but eventually the secret ballot became the democratic norm —...

It has to be the ultimate hypocrisy, but the Democrat Party has been touting its support for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a bill that would eliminate the secret ballot for potential union members, but recently decided that a secret ballot for Senators on whether or not to vote in committee chairmen is quite important. The hypocrisy is stark. I say again, even as Senate Democrats have found no reason to protect the democratic right of the secret ballot for union workers they’ve decided that it is a must for themselves when voting in or out Senate committee chairmen....

One of the main premises of the Orwellian-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is the card check feature. This feature eliminates the right of potential union employees to have the benefit of a secret ballot when they vote for or against organizing under a union. Recently, Rasmussen did a poll on the basic concept to see what the prevailing feelings were and it looks like the union position comes out heavily on the losing end of the stats with this one. What’s more, most people agree with the Republican position that opposes the union’s... Read the rest at Publiusforum.com...

An interactive game about present day Organized Labor (Unions) push for doing away with the secret ballot and replacing it with public card signing. Play this interactive flash game to learn what life would be life if the so-called “Employee Freedom of Choice Act” passes and “card check” becomes the law of the land. Be sure to Contact Your Legislator Forward this link to your email forwards

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is getting squeezed by business and organized labor over her neutrality on legislation that would make it easier for workers to form unions. Feinstein was a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, commonly known as “card check,” in 2007. But she is the only Democrat in the California congressional delegation who is not a co-sponsor of this year's bill, which is labor's top legislative priority. The senator has expressed reservations about forging ahead with such a fundamental change in union-organizing rules during a deep recession. “This is an extraordinarily difficult economy, and there are very strong...

The next governor of Virginia will have little impact on the heated debate over the Employee Free Choice Act, but that's not stopping one candidate from using the controversial issue to win headlines. Former Attorney General Bob McDonnell (R) has spent several weeks repeatedly bringing up the legislation, the so-called "card check" measure that would make it easier for unions to form. At a time when Virginia, like the rest of the nation, is hemorrhaging jobs, McDonnell casts card check as bad for businesses that need all the help they can get to begin rehiring employees. "It's a big issue...

Big Labor: If you thought "card check" legislation that would kill off workers' right to a secret ballot is dead, think again. Despite public repudiation, it's back — with its advocates using sneakier tactics.The Employee Free Choice Act would permit the establishment of new unions solely on the signatures of a company's employees, taken either on the fly or with union thugs standing in their doorways. Besides denying workers a right to a secret ballot, "card check," as it's known, also forces federal arbitration onto companies for union contracts, ensuring that either unions dictate the wages they want or a...

As Democrats and Republicans stand increasingly at odds over measures to help improve the economy, one bill under consideration highlights how critical party loyalty could be in determining policy measures. Mitt Romney, a likely contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, joined a forum of business advocates in Northern Virginia on Thursday to denounce a union-backed bill, the Employee Free Choice Act, as little more than political payback from Democrats that would worsen the nation's economic footing. The bill would be "catastrophic for the economy," Romney said. "The impact long term is people start less businesses here. It's not great...

Washington (CNSNews.com) – Union leaders, clergy and liberal members of Congress gathered in the mostly empty U.S. Capitol Visitors Center early Tuesday morning to hear multicultural choir music, speeches from religious leaders--and to pray for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The event was a prayer breakfast sponsored by Faith Leaders for Workplace Fairness--a coalition of liberal religious groups that was formed for the sole purpose of promoting EFCA, commonly known as the “card-check” bill. Under this bill, union organizers could compel an employer to recognize a union as representing the employer's workers any time more than...

The Employee Free Choice Act, which would take away employees’ free choice about whether to join a union, has brighter prospects now that Arlen Specter is in the mood to compromise. This is wretched news, of course, because secret ballots matter (I'll point out why in Sunday's Journal Sentinel) and because the bill also imposes binding arbitration on company-union negotiations. As George McGovern recently put it, this is lunacy. Diana Furchgott-Roth points out that Specter’s compromise might well be to give way on the secret ballot – unions would have to swallow not winning 100% of the time – but...

Both business, labor claim recess victories By Michael O'Brien Posted: 04/18/09 06:59 PM [ET] After two weeks of wrangling over the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) during the congressional recess, both business and labor groups are claiming victory before the return of Congress this week. Organized labor groups have cited what they claim was the largest grass-roots mobilization since the election as a sign of their success over the congressional break, while business groups point to signs that the legislation will fall short of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) declared Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s (D-Ark.)...

If you have a long enough lever, you can move the world. That's an old saying attributed to Archimedes. But what Archimedes didn't add is that a long enough lever may splinter in your hands if the material is not strong enough. You may end up not moving the world where you wanted it to go and finding yourself in a position you didn't want to be in. That's pretty much the position of organized labor -- the leaders of America's large labor unions -- today. For the past several years, they have been attempting to move the world by...

Organized labor is “very close” to winning a breakthrough legislative victory that could help restore a healthy middle class, a top national union official said in Lincoln. “We want to reverse a 30-year assault on the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively,” said Stewart Acuff, special assistant to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Acuff is spearheading the drive to win enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would allow workers to choose union representation at their workplace without a secret ballot vote. Under current law, employers can demand a secret ballot vote even if a majority of...

HARRISBURG - Americans for Prosperity (AFP) will defend workers’ rights to cast secret ballots in Pennsylvania as part of its nationwide Save My Ballot tour in opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as “card check,” which would strip workers of their rights in union organizing elections. “Some lawmakers want to abolish private ballot elections through the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act, and allow unions to organize just by collecting signatures on union cards. This would give them the ability to pressure and intimidate workers in public,” said AFP President Tim Phillips. “We support the secret ballot so...

If anyone were still in doubt as to the importance of a Senate filibuster, we'd point them to Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter's announcement yesterday that he will not support "card check." Maybe Big Labor won't be able to up-end the economy, after all. Mr. Specter's decision means Republicans now have 41 votes against "card check" -- legislation that would do away with secret ballots in union organization elections. The Pennsylvanian was the only Senate Republican to have previously voted in favor of a debate on the bill, and as such had been the target of a furious lobbying fight by...

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) announced Tuesday he will oppose card check, giving an apparent death blow to the most important congressional issue to organized labor. Specter made the dramatic announcement in a floor speech. His opposition means Democrats can count on a maximum of 59 votes to move the bill forward, one short of the 60 required to clear Senate rules. Winning 59 votes would require Democrat Al Franken to beat Republican Norm Coleman in the still-contested Minnesota Senate race. Democrats also would have to count on holding the rest of their votes, and several centrists have raised doubts about...

AFTER MUCH PRESSURE, SPECTER TO OPPOSE CLOTURE & PASSAGE ON CARD CHECK… According to multiple sources, Senator Arlen Specter will vote against cloture and passage on Employee Free Choice Act legislation…