Response to LITW's Card Check Post

I just noticed that Matt over at "Left in the West" has been reading a few of our comments on card check as of late. His post is here (for some reason LITW's post doesn't link to our card check posts).

The problem is that Matt misses the irony in the Employee [Forced] Choice Act. He doesn't really address the fact that in order for the union to supposedly come in and represent workers, they have to push a bill that takes away a fundamental American right of those same workers. I think that if unions are anxious to increase their numbers and actually represent the American worker, they should not use a tactic that infringes on one of those worker's rights.

Unions in the private sector have seen their numbers shrink over the past twenty years. To reverse this trend, unions are trying to change the rules established back in the 1930's. Perhaps the unions should go back and look at the multiple reasons workers have decided against a union in their workplace over the last decade rather than taking away secret ballots. Many workers are opposed to a union coming into their place of employment, and their rights are at stake here as well.

Matt cites employer intimidation as a reason to put through card check, as if some union organizers are not engaging in some intimidation of their own. As the law is currently written, intimidation or firing workers because of unionizing efforts is illegal, as it should be. No worker should be subjected to intimidation from employers or union organizers. Bottom line is that whether there is employer or union intimidation, workers at the very least have that one protection of keeping their ultimate decision private in the ballot box. Neither the employer or the union have to know how they voted in the end.

If Matt is concerned about employer intimidation, the EFCA is like using a grenade to kill a mosquito.

UPDATE: Rabid Sanity has a few comments of his own on the subject, including a little fact-check on the quote that Matt incorrectly attributes to a Bush administration official. Check it out here.

Comments

[Andy B. Hammond]

I love Matt's argument about employer intimidation - with a secret ballot. How about allowing the employer the same opportunity to do a card check as the union.