Employee Free Choice Act
One day, while attending to my usual daily task at my job, something changed me. It was a normal day with the same old repetitive work I am so use to doing and in the middle of this I was visited by a co worker that was performing a task for our local union. Because of curiosity and a much needed change in my normal swing, I needed to see what he was up to. He had a list of names that consisted of all the current union members in my department, this was odd because this task would normally be done by a union official, and he was handing out small mailers that were asking for signatures for the Employee Free Choice Act. On the front of the card it was addressed to “the new president and U.S. congress. Now when someone hands you something you usually reply with “what is this?” (As if he would even have a clue) as I did, he replied with “I don’t know, its union stuff just sign it”. Now at his point, possibly for the first time in my 39 years, I clearly seen this HUGE light bulb shining brightly above my head as I calmly said “I’ll check it out”. Now I think the light came on when I seen who this card was addressed to or maybe because of the abruptness of this issue. In any event I couldn’t wait to read about this.
Just so we are clear here I want to explain a few things about myself. I am a proud Union member and a proud American, I don’t always agree with what my union does and I don’t always agree with what my Government does, I consider myself a patriot by definition and I believe in solidarity. With that said, and since I consider myself informed, a fan of the U.S. Constitution, a card toting union member, and always willing to educate or be educated I dug into this issue. Here it is, through the looking glass.
The employee free choice act (H.R. 800, S. 1041).
• Increase fines for employers who try to coerce or discriminate against employees who want to organize. Now this is a 1st amendment thing, “peaceful assembly”. In my understanding of this, the employer and the union should have equal time to present their side of the argument. Without interference from anyone. This peaceful assembly is authorized by the U.S. constitution
• The union could choose not to use a private ballot, they could use the card system which means the employee would be asked if he or she wants to sign a union card (this would probably be done in front of all workers, not in private) Now here we have what I would like to call “a trilateral Quagmire” 1: This would take the power that is wrongfully in the hands of the employer and put it in the hands of the union and employees to possibly force a signature on reluctant employees. 2: Democracy (majority rules) only a private ballot could determine the honest fait of weather or not to organize. 3: Unions traditionally lean democratic and now they want to strip away the employee’s right to a democratic system of a secret ballot election and still call this bill “employee free choice”?
Now this is a partial summary of the actual bill and is what I came up with as I was reading it. While I continued my research on this issue and was reading all the opponent’s and proponent’s arguments
I noticed that annoying light above my head, brighter than ever, I knew something was wrong, but what? Than it hit me, this is U.S. Legislation to amend the National Labor Relations act! This is a 10th amendment issue, Powers not delegated by the constitution, nor prohibited by it, are reserved for the states, so, if the union wanted to do right by everybody they should try to pass legislation in their own state, then they could try to pass federal legislation to void the NLRA because it is unconstitutional. This would create a sort of free market system for labor relations. Why stop there, this same system would also work for many other issues like the department of education, and so on. Funny thing about all those articles I read about this issue, the last being the one in our own Fargo Forum, they never mentioned that the whole thing is unconstitutional.
Upon my arrival back to work the following day there were a few of my union brothers waiting for me and wanted to know what I came up with, they got an ear full and then some. I even got visits from other people I didn’t think cared but wanted to know, maybe I sparked some kind of interest to rational thought, maybe not, but I felt empowered and confident in my conclusion and this deal was special interest all the way. I back my union whole heartedly when they play by the rules, and let me say that my local does a great job at this. The rule is the contract between the employees and the employer, but the people have a rule also, it’s called the constitution, so let’s start by playing with that set of rules first.
In conclusion: It doesn’t matter what your opinion on labor is or any other subject for that matter, what truly matters is that the members of the Valley Grassroots and its message of the protection of civil liberties and constitutional law have inspired me. This is what we are all about, education, information and involvement, fundamentals that can start right now, wherever you are. This is a great group with exceptional leadership, outstanding organization, and members with a vision for the future. I am proud to be a member.
Marty S.
November 26th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Nicely Done, Marty. Very interesting too. I had no idea that there was such a thing. Thanks for sharing. Interested to hear people’s thoughts on this.
Brians last blog post..Holiday Lights Parade
December 19th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Congress is considering legislation that will have a negative impact on business. After careful consideration of presentations from proponents and opponents, your Chamber of Commerce of Fargo Moorhead opposes the Employee Free Choice Act. If enacted, it would eliminate an individual’s right to a secret ballot when forming a union.
More facts about the Employee Free Choice Act:
It would mandate binding arbitration if a majority of employees provide signatures asking for union representation. Currently, collecting a majority of signatures triggers an election, where voters decide by secret ballot.
In addition to current remedies provided for in the National Labor Relations Act, the Employee Free Choice Act imposes civil penalties (up to $20,000 per incident) against employers who are found to have discriminated against an employee seeking representation by a labor organization.
It eliminates the employer’s right and opportunity to make a case for or against unionization.
The current National Labor Relations Act is equitable to both employers and union workers and provides remedies to workers facing contract violations.
We encourage you to become more familiar with this legislation* and to let your members of Congress** know how it could impact your business. Call Kelli at 218.359.0511 for more information.