Re: wave goodbye to American freedoms ... you elected a rabid socialist, and now you're getting what you deserve.
- From: Jerry Kraus <jkraus_1999@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:21:13 -0800 (PST)
On Jan 30, 11:42 am, SwampMidget <webmas...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://theunionnews.blogspot.com/2008/10/obama-to-ban-secret-ballot-u...
One of our most cherished rights as Americans is the ability to vote,
freely and without intimidation. A bill pending in Congress would deny
that franchise to an important segment of our population, rank and
file workers. It's an issue before the candidates for the U.S. Senate
in Virginia this fall. One has taken a stand. The other has not and
should.
The legislation is formally called "the Employee Free Choice Act" or
EFCA. A key provision is a change in the way unions are formed and
recognized. Instead of a private election with a secret ballot
overseen by an impartial federal board, union organizers would only
need to gather signatures from more than half of the employees in a
workplace or bargaining unit. This system is known as "card check."
There would be no election and no opportunity for both parties in this
critical decision to make their case with the rank and file. Before
many workers realize what they had signed, they would be paying dues
to a union they know little about and praying their jobs and futures
will be secure.
This is not democracy, and neither liberals nor conservatives should
support this kind of intrusion into our plants, factories and stores.
We can all acknowledge that unions deserve some credit for the rise of
the middle class and for laws that have protected workers from abuse.
This is not 1920, though. Enlightened management and progressive
legislators have improved the lot for employees and are doing more
every day. Further, employers have an obligation to make them aware of
both the costs and benefits of union membership, but they would be
denied that opportunity under the EFCA.
Former Gov. Jim Gilmore, who is running for the U.S. Senate in
Virginia, has said he would vote against the EFCA if elected on Nov.
4. In an editorial in the Harrisonburg press recently, however, it was
clear that his opponent, Democrat and former Gov. Mark Warner, has not
taken a position. To quote from the piece, "Asked no less than three
times this past Friday during a question and answer session at the
Winchester Star whether he would vote 'yes' or 'no' on this
undemocratic bill, Mr. Warner ... wiggled and danced and gave
explanations for his wiggling and dancing, but never did answer the
question."
Given his party's close alliance with labor, it's understandable that
Warner is having a hard time making up his mind. Standing up for the
rights of workers, however, is not a partisan issue. In fact, former
U.S. senator and 1972 Democratic presidential candidate George
McGovern penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in August titled
"My Party Should Respect Secret Union Ballots." In it, he states: "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 ... coercion from
all sides would be a betrayal of what we have always championed."
By raising the question of card check at this time, the Virginia State
Chamber of Commerce is not taking sides in the November election. We
have great admiration for Warner and appreciate his struggle to make a
choice that will not hurt him politically, either in this election or
a future one for national office. The principle, though, is clear. As
McGovern says, "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."
This is a time when both Democrats and Republicans should state
unequivocally that they will not deny workers a right to vote, just to
sustain unions and their dues-fed treasuries. In the days left before
the election, citizens in Hampton Roads and throughout the
commonwealth should press candidates for the Senate and House of
Representatives to state their positions on the EFCA and remind them
that the ballot box is a sacred feature of American democracy, whether
it's at a polling precinct on Election Day or at work sites across the
commonwealth of Virginia every other day of the year.
- Hugh Keogh is president and CEO of the Virginia State Chamber of
Commerce.
No unions, no decent jobs. Very simple, really. Why place obstacles
in the way of forming this essential element in the workplace? The
easier it is to create unions, the better.
.
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