Monday, February 26, 2007

Democrats Set to Pay Off Union Bosses at Expense of Workers

Via email:
In a calculating move to pay off Big Labor for helping Democrats take the majority in Congress, Democratic leaders will bring to the floor this week legislation aimed at boosting the power of union bosses at the expense of the workers they claim to represent. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, organized labor gave more than half a billion in contributions to Dem candidates since 1994 - with more than $1 million in direct contributions to House Dem leaders in the 2006 cycle alone.

Aimed solely at boosting flagging union membership and operating cash - rather than protecting their members' democratic rights - the Dem bill would strip American workers of the right to make their own decision, freely and anonymously, whether to form a union, while leaving them open to harassment, intimidation, and union pressure that is still commonplace today.

The Democrats' bill does away with the normal process that protects workers' rights to make this choice freely and of their own volition - the federally-supervised private ballot election - and instead forces workers to accept unions through a "card check" system without giving them the opportunity to express their wishes free from intimidation by co-workers, union organizers, and employers.

The Detroit News has editorialized recently about the real motivations of House Democrats, saying: "The move is clearly a payoff for big labor's help in the election."

Want more? The Democrats' duplicity have already been exposed, having insisted on secret ballot union elections in Mexico, even though the card check bill they support would end that right for workers here in the United States. On August 29, 2001 , many current sponsors of the ill-conceived "Employee Free Choice Act" told Mexican officials:
"We understand that the secret ballot is allowed for, but not required by Mexican labor law. However, we feel that the secret ballot is absolutely necessary in order to ensure workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they may otherwise not choose."

Democrats have also been exposed by demanding secret ballot rights for workers seeking to decertify a union. Big Labor has passionately insisted on a secret ballot election in these cases, calling the vote a "solemn" occasion, imperative to preserving "privacy and independence."

Don't fully understand yet? Bruce Raynor, president of Unite Here, a union representing hotel, apparel, food service and other workers, told the New York Times what everyone already knows. Union bosses can't afford to let workers make their own choice:
"There's no reason to subject the workers to an election." ("Labor Turns to a Pivotal Organizing Drive," New York Times, May 31, 2003)

If Democrats are willing to take away a right as fundamental as the private ballot to pay off the union bosses for their support, what else could be in store for hard-working Americans? After all, the easier it is to force workers into unions against their will - and keep them there - the more money and power will be available for union bosses' and their Dem candidates and causes.