The overwhelmingly Democratic Congress and that new guy in the White House means that a bunch of stuff that didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of becoming law over the last 14 years has a decent chance of actually happening in 2009. I guess as a card-carrying liberal I should be fairly pleased, but there's one item that everybody's talking about that I simply don't get, even though as a union member, not to mention a left-leaning dude, I'm "supposed" to be a slam-dunk supporter.
It's called the Employee Free Choice Act (and who could oppose something with a name like that?), and it's a measure that supporters say could reinvigorate the labor movement in America. I don't have a problem with the end --not as much as some of you reading this probably do -- but what worries me is the means. There's no doubt the labor movement is at a low ebb in this country -- membership is about half what it was when Ronald Reagan fired the striking air-traffic controllers in 1981 -- and vital workplace protections have suffered as a result.
Indeed, when you read what the advocates say about the current proposal, it tends to focus on the outcome rather than the proposed change in the process, which makes it easier to certify a new union by would-be members simply signing a card, as opposed to the longstanding tradition of a secret ballot. Here's the AFL-CIO's position:
People call the current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election system a secret ballot election—but in fact it's not like any democratic election held anywhere else in our society. It's really a management-controlled election process because corporations have all the power. They control the information workers can receive and routinely poison the process by intimidating, harassing, coercing and even firing people who try to organize unions. No employee has free choice after being browbeaten by a supervisor to oppose the union or being told they may lose their job and livelihood if workers vote for the union.
Much of that is no doubt true, but I believe that a democratic process should be the goal in any decision process like this, and the gold standard for democracy has always been the secret ballot. God knows that in our broader political system, there are all sorts of problems with American elections, from too much big-money influence to issues with voting machines, and the solution was always to try and make the election system better -- not to scrap it for something else. Without the secret ballot, everybody -- both the employer and the union organizers -- knows where employee stands, and strips them of basic right to privacy.
Of all people, George McGovern, who should be enjoying a well-deserved retirement these days, had to step up to the plate with the conscience of a liberal to explain why the Employee Free Choice Act is a bad idea:
To my friends supporting EFCA I say this: We cannot be a party that strips working Americans of the right to a secret-ballot election. We are the party that has always defended the rights of the working class. To fail to ensure the right to vote free of intimidation and coercion from all sides would be a betrayal of what we have always championed.
Some of the most respected Democratic members of Congress -- including Reps. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, George Miller and Pete Stark of California, and Barney Frank of Massachusetts -- have advised that workers in developing countries such as Mexico insist on the secret ballot when voting as to whether or not their workplaces should have a union. We should have no less for employees in our country.
I worry that there has been too little discussion about EFCA's true ramifications, and I think much of the congressional support is based on a desire to give our friends among union leaders what they want. But part of being a good steward of democracy means telling our friends "no" when they press for a course that in the long run may weaken labor and disrupt a tried and trusted method for conducting honest elections.
McGovern was right about Vietnam and the war in Iraq, and he's sold me on this, too. If union elections are unfairly rigged toward the employer -- and I agree that they most certainly are -- then let's come up with legislative solutions that will make the secret ballot process a more fair one. But the solution to a flawed democratic process should never be to make it less democratic.
Comment removed.
I'm pro-labor, and I gotta agree with you on this one, Will. I'd rather see government focus on the widespread intimidation that corporations use to prevent unions from taking hold than look to this initiative as a means to counteract it.— Talking point sleuth- Isnt there also less chance of rigging the election if names are attached to ballots? The need for transparency here outweighs the fear of, the "boss".— CharlieDontSurf
- I could care less about the act. My employees know that I don't own the company, so I am free to walk away if they unionize, and that's the end of that.— SteveMG
- "I'm pro-labor, and I gotta agree with you on this one,.."Yea, the teachers union has done wonders for public education in this country.— E Plebnista
- Comment removed.
- Swifty, your promises are worth about as much as our outgoing president's (known in GOP circles as he who shall not be named).— AHiredGun
- Will, you mention that management may intimidate workers. But nobody ever mentions the pressure that unions put on workers to join. The teachers union is a great example. I know many teachers that want no parts of joining the union, but feel compelled to do so for fear that they will be blackballed. If the EFCA passses, I think there is a real concern about unions intimidating those employees who don't vote in favor of the union. Workers should have access to the pros and cons of unionizing, and should be entitled to a private vote.— jfar86
- Hey Atkinson, drop the Nazis references. You and your pathetic right wing ilk have tried to find one insult after another, no matter how inappropriate, ever sicne the majority of Americans realized that all your kind has been generating for the last two decades is fear, hate and an astounding veneration of any excess corporate America could generate. You are so pathetic you are laughable. Zeig Heil, baby— excaliber
- ""I'm pro-labor, and I gotta agree with you on this one,.."Yea, the teachers union has done wonders for public education in this country."...---}}} Not a member of any union, fake Pleby. Just an exploited non-union worker like many other Americans. But I did used to be a member of a teacher's union - and your characterization of American teachers really is pathetic. Most teacher are extremely hard-working and dedicated. They do a very tough job for relatively little pay. Still, public schools were the backbone of what made this us preeminent among the world's countries. And America's teachers were the backbone of America's public schools. But don't let that get in the way of your simple-minded bashing teachers and their unions for the current problems with schools. Hey, I know, why don't we make teaching even harder and provide less money for teachers and our schools. That'll help.— Talking point sleuth
- Comment removed.
Do you see where the almost total domination of unions got the American auto industry? Those union members are a hair away from being out on the street.— jmc- jmc, thats a bad combo of greedy union members and stupid management.— RG
- A boarder and critical question for unions and unionization given the current economic crisis, how does a union workforce better the company’s performance? If manufacturing can be performed globally with little to no human interaction, then how does a union worker enrich America over someone, somewhere else? To date, we find the world making higher quality items at a lower cost. Therefore, unions have not helped companies compete. Ford and GM cannot compete for two reasons: union labor cost and bureaucratic delivery methods. Both have cars with JD Powers state good cars. Labor to build a car at GM is nearly 85%, while less than 50% Honda in Alabama (Bloomberg-Center for Automotive Research. The Honda version of the union works to better the plant and plant efficiency. Agility to deliver suitable goods to the market place hampers them from remaining competitive. Unions need to stop thinking they deliver labor and think they deliver solutions for growth. Else, membership will continue to decline and balloting matters even less.— Fisher
- RG: that's greedy union members, stupid management that agrees to union demands, powerful representation in congress and strong lobbying that refuses to force the American auto industry to produce the fuel-efficient cars that many buyers want. I'm going to be very dissapointed if congress doesn't let these companies go bankrupt so they can start over with new management and a productive, cost effective labor system— philly2flag
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
PLEASE COMMENT WITH PASSION...
...but not with racial slurs, potentially libelous allegations, obscenities or other juvenile noise. Such comments will, at our discretion, be deleted in their entirety, and repeat offenders will be blocked from commenting. ALSO: Any commenter advocating killing any government official will be immediately banned.
Thanks.
- Atrios
- Kiko's House
- Suburban Guerilla
- Booman Tribune
- All-Spin Zone
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Afro-Netizen
- Rowhouse Logic
- MyDD
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- iFlipFlop
- CorrenteWire
- upyernoz
- Tattered Coat
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- Slacktivist
- Citizen Mom
- The Next Mayor
- Philly Future
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Young Philly Politics
- Phillyblog
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Phawker
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Keystone Blog
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- BlankBaby
- Above Average Jane
- Phillyist
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- The Clog
- Josh Marshall
- Daily Kos
- Juan Cole
- Oliver Willis
- Andy Borowitz
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- BuzzFlash
- Raw Story
- Cursor
- Crooks and Liars
- Swing State Project
- Kevin Drum
- Talk Left
- AmericaBlog
- Hullabaloo
- Mad Kane
- Think Progress
- Jesus' General
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Majikthise
- Echidne of the Snakes
- David Sirota
- Glenn Greenwald
- TBogg
- Fire Dog Lake
- Taylor Marsh
- Matthew Yglesias
- Jon Swift
- Drudge Report
- Beer Leaguer
- The 700 Level
- Dick Polman
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Shallow Center
- Philling Station
- Phillies Nation
- A Citizen's Blog
- The Good Phight
- Romenesko
- Editor and Publisher
- Pressthink
- Buzzmachine
- The Inksniffer
- Media Bloodhound
- Eat the Press
- Mickey Kaus
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Blinq
- The Corner
- Instapundit
- Andrew Sullivan
- Free Republic
- James Taranto
- Blonde Sagacity
- ScrappleFace
- Blogorrhea
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- January 2008
- News | Sports | Business | What's Happening | Restaurants & Food | Entertainment | Living | Marketplace | Jobs
