Labor Pains: Because Being in a Union can be Painful

I don’t know where to start

Folks, its been one hell of a morning here. First of all, Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus was on CNBC talking about the deceptively-named Employee Free Choice Act. As I mentioned yesterday, Marcus had an Op-Ed in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. I think it was safe to say he was definitely fired up and ready to go. Take a watch here:

Speaking of the Wall Street Journal, they are on a roll. The editors have a fantastic lead editorial on “Big Labor’s Comeback.”:

More tellingly, rewriting federal law to promote union organizing is now near the top of the Democratic agenda. The main vehicle is “card check” legislation, which would eliminate the requirement for secret ballots in union elections. Unable to organize workers when employees can vote in privacy, unions want to expose those votes to peer pressure, and inevitably to public intimidation. This would arguably be the biggest change to federal labor law since the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. The Democratic House passed card check last year, and Mr. Obama has pledged his support. With a few more Senators, it might pass.

Card check is merely the start. Next on the agenda is a campaign to repeal “right to work” laws in the 22 U.S. states that have them. Right to work laws allow employees to decide for themselves whether to join or financially support a union. Former Michigan Congressman David Bonior told a union event in Denver on Monday that limiting right to work laws is essential both to lifting union membership and promoting more Democratic political victories. He pointed out that John Kerry didn’t win a single right to work state in 2004, while Al Gore won only one — Iowa — and only by a few thousand votes in 2000.

Categories: Center for Union FactsEFACEnding Secret Ballots