LaborPains.org

At a Chamber of Commerce forum in Portsmouth, NH, Jeanne Shaheen had yet another opportunity to defend her support of the Employee Free Choice Act, and again she she chose to attack the questioner rather than answer the question.

In Monday’s Manchester Union Leader, the editorial page has taken note of the Employee Free Choice Act, which they call an “Orwellian-named proposal [that] would actually remove free choice from the unionization decision.“  The writer cuts to the heart of the issue when he writes:

The act would allow shops to unionize by “card check.” That is, it would allow organizers to form unions by collecting signatures of employees face-to-face. Gone would be the protection of secrecy. Employees’ choices would suddenly be public, not private, and therefore subject to retaliation and intimidation.

This is anti-democratic and un-American. And yet, if Democrats gain stronger majorities in Congress, it might become law very soon. The party is pushing this bill at the behest of unions that have funneled money and votes to Democrats precisely for the purpose of getting this kind of anti-employee legislation passed.

As more people hear the truth about the Employee Free Choice Act, editorials like this will probably become much more common.  The supporters of the EFCA hold an untenable position, and now that they are being challenged on it they have no response.

Governor Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat running for Senate, has decided that her town hall meetings should be confidential. There is no other explanation for her decision to use her staff as a human shield to avoid being taped at a recent Deering, NH town hall meeting. In the video, you’ll see a little bit of Governor Shaheen, and a lot of the backs of peoples’ heads. The view becomes miraculously unobstructed when Shaheen calls her staff up to introduce themselves. What do you have to hide, Governor Shaheen?

At her last two public events, Governor Jeanne Shaheen has taken time out of her stump speeches to point out a constituent with a video camera. Shaheen says:
“…I also wanted to introduce the gentleman in the back, so everyone understands who he is. He is here tracking for an anti-union organization, and if you’ve seen the full-page ads they’ve been running against me and against working people, that’s who he’s with. I happen to disagree with the positions that they’ve taken, I think it’s important to support workers in this state and most of us would agree that workers should have the right to orgainze, they should have the opportunity to make a living wage, and to get benefits and health care, and that’s one of the things I support in this race for the United States Senate.”

Interestingly, the only question this constituent has submitted to Governor Shaheen has been whether she thinks that workers should have the right to a private ballot on whether they organize. He’s said nothing about the right to organize, the right to get benefits, or any of the other list of woes she projects against him.

It’s unfortunate that Governor Shaheen feels the need to attack constituents who want simple answers to simple questions.