‘Card Check’ Compromise on the Move?

Member Group : PA Right to Work

Sources in Washington have informed us that the proponents of the sneakily misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) may try to run some "compromise" version of the nationwide unions’ #1 priority on Friday, June 26. What a horrible idea.

More accurately labeled "card check," the legislation would effectively eliminate a workers’ secret ballot in a union organizing election. That’s fundamentally un-American.

Equally onerous is the total sea change in private sector bargaining. Private companies with as few as three employees would be given a deadline to negotiate a contract with the union and then be submitted to binding arbitration if a contract isn’t agreed to. The outcome would be the effective end of private business ownership.

No, that isn’t an exaggeration. Businesses built on private capital and personal risk would be submitted to an unaccountable third party (the arbitrator) to determine how and on what conditions the business would operate.

In the name of ‘fairness’ and ‘equity for all’, lifetimes and generations of currently existing enterprise building would be turned upside down. Further, since small business has been the backbone of American enterprise and entrepreneurship, who would want to attempt to open a business under these kinds of conditions?

Union and non-union employees alike have told pollsters they don’t want this. Business and consumers don’t want this. So, the question is, who does think this is good for a "changed" America?

That answer is union officials, who for decades have been unable to sell unionization on its merits. What they did instead is to carefully and deliberately spend millions of dollars over several election cycles in a dogged determination to acquire the votes for this.

Have they succeeded in lining this up? If citizens from all walks of life weigh in, there is time for it to be stopped. Several United States Senators have stated publicly that in their entire careers, they’ve never received so much input on any other single subject. Some of those Senators have been in office for 30+ years, so that’s quite a statement.

Of course, the union officials are putting everything they can come up with into passage of this.

Encouraging is the fact that businesses and taxpayers, coast to coast, have urged that it be defeated. It’s encouraging because this proves people are not apathetic as far too many politicians would have us believe and they understand how devastating this would be for our children, our grandchildren and to the core principles on which this nation was founded and on which it has thrived.

This is the week prior to the celebration of the anniversary of the founding of our country and the outcome of "card check" will speak volumes about where we are headed. For all of our sakes and that of our posterity, the direction must be towards increased liberty, not coercion.

So this is a no-brainer. We must let our federal lawmakers know that the only reasonable and responsible vote on this legislation is a resounding NO.

Pennsylvanians for Right to Work, Inc., is a non-profit citizens organization, which supports the advancement of individual liberty and jobs and opposes coercive unionism in all forms. To schedule an interview, debate, or radio program with Mrs. Staub, contact Jada Baker, Vice President – 717-233-1227 or [email protected]