Employee Forced Choice Act Hits Congress

Kudos to the Billings Gazette editorial board members who recognize the irony in a union bill (Card Check) that takes away a worker's right. Also, check out the letter to the editor from the President/CEO of the Billings Chamber who also weighed in on the card check bill that was introduced in the House and Senate this week.

The Montana Chamber submitted an op-ed of it's own yesterday, so make sure to be on the lookout for that piece. There is a lot of chatter about this issue including Obama's reassurance of his support, the lack of co-sponsorship from Senator Baucus and Senator Tester (who were co-sponsors last session), a few Southern Democrats who have expressed a lack of enthusiasm for the idea, and Senator McCaskill's opinion that Democrats didn't have the votes to close off debate in the Senate. In addition, I'm reading a thorough study that was done that shows huge negative economic consequences if card check is passed. I'll do a summary of it as soon as I finish it.

There will be a lot more information, debate and grassroots over the next month or so to stop this anti-business, anti-worker bill.

Comments

[Matt Singer]

Does the Montana Chamber support the binding arbitration and heightened penalties for violations of the NLRA contained in the Free Choice Act?

[montanamainstreetblog]

@ Matt

We oppose EFCA altogether. I have blogged about some of those other provisions before. The reason there is so much focus on the secret ballot provision is because it is very odd for unions to support a provision that is so anti-worker. I think that's why you've even seen some traditionally pro-union folks come out against the bill.

I think one thing labor unions forget is that not all workers want to be in a union. That's a choice they make in the privacy of their own ballot box. We understand that labor is trying to change the rules of unionization because they have been losing a lot of those battles in the past 50 years. When workers are able to hear both sides of the story (which would be less likely in a card check scenario), they more often than not decide to stay non-union. That is their free choice.