Public Sector Unions and Lessons as yet Unlearned
Daniel Howes asked an excellent question in the Detroit News yesterday: What will it take for public-sector labor — with no ties to private, for-profit employers — to understand that the steady gravy train of the past 50 years has ground to a halt? In autos and steel, the UAW and the Steelworkers finally learned brutal [more...]

Posted Fri, 19 Mar 2010 .

Accepting the inevitable, AFL-CIO will back health care bill
Richard Trumka’s one block sprint to the White House yesterday afternoon paid off. This just in, from Politico: “A union official says the nation’s largest labor federation is strongly endorsing the Obama administration’s health care overhaul bill and plans to push wavering lawmakers for support. A union official familiar with the proceedings says [more...]

Posted Thu, 18 Mar 2010 .

What is Card Check or the Employee Free Choice Act?

Executive Summary
The best decisions are made with the best information—and without coercion. That is true for employees deciding whether to join a union. It is equally true for politicians who are being pressured by labor leaders to codify the union organizing method known as “card check,” a scheme rife with intimidation, coercion, and confusion.
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Introduction
Union officials’ top priority? Ending the secret ballot elections process and the associated protections for employees choosing whether to join a union.
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Shifting Strategies
Few would complain about winning six of 10 fair elections or increasing the number of elections resulting in certifications, but union organizers aren’t looking for fair elections. They want big numbers. And they want them now.
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History
Between 1935 and 1947, the National Labor Relations Act allowed for secret ballot elections or “other suitable methods” to determine union recognition. Union spokespersons often note this fact, but stop here. They fail to acknowledge that in representation cases handled by the NLRB, only an estimated 20 percent were through the card check method.
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