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A Union Power Grab
By Tom Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
March 17, 2009
 President Obama's hard-charging chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, says that you should "never allow a crisis to go to waste." Big labor appears to be heeding that advice. It's trying to sell the badly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)--better known as card check--as a cure to rising unemployment and the ticket to a better life for the middle class.
If you're going to fib, you may as well make it a whopper!
The unions are also insisting that the legislation be rammed through Congress as quickly as possible before the economic crisis passes or Americans discover the real facts about what it would do. Namely, it would effectively eliminate secret ballot elections in unionization votes and, through binding arbitration, give government authorities the power to dictate wages, benefits, and other fundamental business operations.
Why should every business care? Because card check would make union organizing cheaper and faster, thereby putting even the smallest companies in the unions' crosshairs. Why should every worker care? Because it would strip away America's tradition of secret ballot elections and expose workers to intimidation and coercion. The bill would ultimately destroy jobs by making it more difficult for businesses to adapt and innovate. This is exactly the wrong prescription for our ailing economy.
A new study, which was conducted by the nonpartisan consulting firm LECG, determined that card check legislation would negatively impact the landscape of the U.S. economy, increasing unemployment and stifling job growth for all Americans. In fact, the predicted increase of 1.5 million new union members in one year would lead to the loss of 600,000 jobs by the following year.
Additionally, a recent analysis conducted by labor experts at the U.S. Chamber found that increased unionization is anything but a ticket to the middle class. The states with the highest rates of union membership also have the lowest rates of job growth.
Why would Congress even consider passing such legislation? I can give you 450 million reasons--that's how many dollars big labor shoveled into the 2008 elections. Now, it's payback time.
The U.S. Chamber in partnership with the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce is leading the fight against this power grab by the unions. In these troubling and uncertain times, we know one thing for sure--when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Card check would delay and undermine economic recovery, and that's why it must be defeated. Every worker should have the right to join or leave a union under fair rules. Card check is not fair--and it's not right for America.
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