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Dems to Take up Card Check on Tuesday

Submitted by Warner Todd Huston on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 05:26

The Senate has secret elections for its leaders. The House of Representatives also uses a closed ballot, one not open to public view, for its own members. We all, you and I, have a secret ballot when we vote for president or for our local officials at our local polling place. It's one of the oldest aspects of the democratic system.

Yet, Democrats want to take that oldest part of the democratic process away from 105 million Americans.

For their support in the last election Democrats are poised to launch an effort to force a payback to Big Unions through Congress, perhaps as early as Tuesday. That payback will be in the form of the woefully misnamed "Employee Free Choice Act" -- which is neither free nor any choice. In this legislation, unions can dispense with the ages old secret ballot for union members and force them to sign public cards revealing their personal vote to everyone. Naturally, when a voter’s choice is known to everyone, pressure will be greater to conform and the conscience of the union member can easily take a back seat to that of getting along with union bosses.

In an effort to inform as many people as possible on this unAmerican payoff to corrupt Big Labor Associated Builders and Contractors and Contractors Free Enterprise Alliance is launching www.cardcheckquiz.com.

Right now, Congress is considering the misnamed "Employee Free Choice Act." But it would strip an estimated 105 million working Americans of the right to a private ballot in union elections. Instead, employees would be subject to "card check" -- a process that's pen to coercion, confusion, and intimidation.

Take the quiz to find out if EFCA will steal your private vote.

Why do Democrats want to take away the very access to a secret ballot that they jealously guard for themselves? As a corrupt bargain for the millions upon millions that Big Labor pumped into Democratic Party campaign coffers, of course.

And if the Democratic Party gets its way, union thugs will be intimidating union voters with impunity.

It’s up to us to stop them and save the conscience vote for millions of American workers.

Be sure and Visit my Home blog Publius' Forum. It's what's happening NOW!

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Comments

I'll ask you the same question I asked Saul Anuzis

Submitted by NextRightNando on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 08:50.

I'll ask you the same question I asked Saul Anuzis when he also posted that the EFCA takes away the private ballot: please post the language from the bill that has that effect.

What EFCA really does is allow both options for unionizing -- secret ballot and card check (in which a union is formed when a majority of workers sign cards certifying their desire to organize). The difference is that workers themselves would get to choose which is used. So if an employer is harassing his or her workforce, employees can ditch the election and decide whether or not to unionize on their own terms.

If you are so sure I am wrong, just post the language from the bill that has the effect that you are complaining about so that we can all see that you are right.

I think it is interesting that Saul has been back to the site two or three times since I posted my challenge but yet he hasn't taken me up on it.

This is just silly and embarrassing

Submitted by davidfarrar on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 09:24.

Workers fighting within a company for the simple right to organize and to collectively bargain are doing so in an adversarial position. It is the company who is fighting against the workers from fulfilling a right that is fully recognized and supported by the Republican party.

If this country was ruled by a dictatorship that was out to stop free elections at any cost, by every measure, would patriots simply call for free elections and hope the dictator would see the error of his ways and go along? Of course not. They would first have to organize and come together without elections to fight for the right to free elections.

What card check is doing is trying to give the worker just a little bit of help to fight company oppression. Even with card check in place, the power to stop any organizing effort is still overwhelming in the hands of company officials.

On several occasions we have asked people who are opposed to the EFCA to simply produce the section of the legislation where they think takes away the worker's right to a secret election to organize. To date, none have, not even the so-called Chairman of Newt Gingrich's Freedom from Fear program. They can't because at anytime during the card checking process the WORKERS now have the ability to call on the NLRB to step in and hold secret elections of its workers. They have the ability to do this up until an overwhelming majority of workers sign their organizational cards calling for union representation.  

ex animo

davidfarrar

Card-check OK for DE-certifying a union

Submitted by NextRightNando on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 09:27.

David, I'd like to commemorate this unprecedented and unlikely to reoccur instance of you and I agreeing on something by pointing out that, under current law, card-check can be used to DE-certify a union. I haven't noticed Newt or any of his minions lamenting the gross injustice of the lack of private ballot in that case.

Thanks. I did not know that.

Submitted by davidfarrar on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 09:49.

I also had no idea Saul Anuzis was sanuzis. Looking back on it, I should have, of course.

Well, as I said; what we have here is a graphic illustration of just how far the Republican party has been taken over by the corporate wing of the party. Unless the grassroots can somehow re-empower themselves within the party, we might as well rename the Republican party the Corporate America party and be done with it.

Thanks, for the enlightenment. I owe you one.

ex animo

davidfarrar

ps: That crack about making you look good was just a literary trick. I didn't really mean it.

This might amuse you as well

Submitted by NextRightNando on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 20:41.

Perhaps this won't surprise you, but Newt is paying Saul to help spread his EFCA misinformation.

It has already been reported that Wall Street failures like AIG and BOA were lobbying against EFCA within days of receiving their bailout funds; I wonder if any of the bail-out money found its way to Newt and then into Saul's pockets.

No, I did not know that either

Submitted by davidfarrar on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 22:27.

But it all makes perfect sense. Corporate America has made no secret they are going to pump funds into defeating this legislation, no matter what the cost. Saul has become just another bottom-feeder willing to dance the corporate tune.

ex animo

davidfarrar

EFCA is really about good faith negotiation AFTER an election

Submitted by Crow on Tue, 03/10/2009 - 20:36.

is certified.  Under the current law, companies fire employees engaged in LAWFUL organizing activity because the penalties for that are almost meaningless.

Once an election is certified, many companies refuse  to negotiate in good faith because, again, the penaties are ludicrous.  A lot of people seem to be for democracy in Iraq but not for their own employees. 

So we are shocked, shocked! when so many conservative, gun-owning white males vote for Obama.