Unionization by card check is a dangerous process in which companies are forced to grant union recognition after a majority of its workers sign cards indicating they favor a union. Unions are lobbying Congress to pass a bill, The Employee Free Choice Act, introduced by Senator Kennedy (D) MA, so that it can use this procedure to replace the traditional secret-ballot elections supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.
Corporate America opposes card checks because the procedure makes it much easier for unions to secure majority support, giving management little, if any, chance to present its case against unionization.
Last year, 70% of private sector workers who joined unions did so as a result of Card checks. That translates to 150,000 workers. That number includes 4,600 workers at Wynn Las Vegas, 5,000 janitors in Houston, and 16,500 workers at Cingular. Two decades ago, the percentage of workers who joined unions following card checks was a mere 5%.
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Responsibly, Representative Charlie Norwood, (R) GA, who is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, has sponsored legislation that will outlaw card checks. His bill has 81 co-sponsors.
“Union thugs are allowed to confront individual workers on the job and at their homes, and demand the worker sign a card giving the union exclusive rights to representation,” Rep.. Norwood wrote in The Washington Times.
The US Chamber of Commerce has established a Web site, www. secretballotprotection.com, that criticizes the card check legislation, and I advise my readers to read the information on the Chamber’s website.
Corporate America, if it is to maintain its independence and its competitive edge, must fight against this dangerous threat to its very viability.
