Dems Offer a Big Wet Kiss to the Unions

Union membership in this country is dropping, which explains some of the desperate attacks by unions and their Dem supporters on companies like Wal-Mart which continue to thrive without union labor. The Dems, as a payback for union support, are planning to vote to end secret union ballots in favor of a system that would make employees subject to all kinds of intimidation from union organizers:

The House of Representatives has scheduled a vote as early as today on a bill that strips 140 million U.S. workers of the right to decide in private whether to unionize. Naturally, it's called the Employee Free Choice Act.

Big Labor has been agitating to ease union-formation requirements for more than a decade. And prior to last year's election, the AFL-CIO, AFSCME and their allies made it clear to Democrats that this vote would be the most important return they expected on their investment in a Nancy Pelosi Speakership. This is payback day.

The union claim is that employers are engaging in rampant unfair labor practices to prevent employees from exercising their right to organize. But data from the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees union elections, show no rise in such activities. The reality is that union membership has been in decline for decades, and labor leaders are desperate to rig the rules in order to reverse the trend. In the 1950s, 35% of private-sector workers were unionized. By the early 1980s the number had fallen to 20%, and today it stands at just 7.4%.

The reason for this decline isn't illegal management meddling in organizing efforts. The problem is that unions haven't been able to persuade the workers themselves. Our own, longstanding position is that when a company is organized it is almost always the company's fault. But workers of all classes and skills can also read the news and understand that unions no longer provide job security, if they ever did. The most heavily unionized industries--such as airlines and Detroit carmakers--are typically those that are financially beleaguered and shedding jobs. Workers know that unions often provide short-term wage gains at the cost of longer-term job insecurity.

So, instead of a secret ballot, on of the most beloved rights of our democracy, union thugs want to be able to intimidate employees into signing cards calling for a union at their workplace, thus likely increasing union membership (and dues). If unions are such a blessing, why do they need to make a change in voting procedures? The OpinionJournal editorial explains why the unions are pushing for this change:

All of which explains the drive to rewrite the rules and do away with secret-ballot elections administered by the NLRB, a procedure in place since the 1935 Wagner Act. Under current rules, once 30% of employees at a workplace express interest in unionizing by signing an authorization card, organizers can go to management and demand voluntary "card-check" recognition. The employer then has the option of recognizing the union or demanding an election.

It shouldn't be surprising that many workers who sign these cards later have second thoughts after getting the employer's side of the story. Workers sign cards for all kinds of reasons, including peer pressure and intimidation. It's not uncommon for an organizer to approach an employer with cards that show 90% of the workforce wants to unionize, only to have the percentage plummet once employees hear about the downside of a union shop and have a chance to vote by secret ballot. So Big Labor wants to dispense with these petty elections and make union recognition mandatory as soon as a simple majority of workers sign a card.

The good news is the GOP will protect worker's rights and will probably stop this bill dead in the Senate. Even if it got out of the Senate, President Bush has threatened a veto.

There was a piece on Special Report yesterday which spotlighted the efforts of lefty Rep. George Miller to promote this anti-secret ballot measure. In typical fashion, Miller was found to have recently sent a letter to Mexican officials demanding that they allow secret ballots for Mexican labor. I guess secret ballots are good enough for Mexicans, but not good enough for Americans. Imagine my surprise. He probably doesn't get much campaign money from Mexican unions.