At this point, everyone has heard about the intention of Democrats to reward their union backers by passing the Employee Free Choice Act, which would permit unions to organize workers by simply getting them to sign so-called card checks and thus avoid secret-ballot elections.
There is a less well-known part of the proposed Employee Free Choice Act. It calls for the NLRB to seek a Federal Court injunction against any employer if that employer discharges or discriminates against employees during an organizing campaign or during a first contract negotiation. If an employee is discharged during such a period, the employer would have to pay three times the amount of lost back pay. Furthermore, if there are willful or repeated violations of employee rights during a first contract negotiation or organizing campaign, the employer could be fined $20,000 per violation, per employee.
It is apparent that the Democrats will eagerly pay the price demanded by unions for their support during the mid-term elections. Yet, the most severe price will be paid by Corporate America and their workers. As labor laws become more onerous, corporations will seek to move more of their operations to other lands. And when that happens, more workers will find themselves unemployed, and the ones to blame will be those whom they put in office.
