Not only are unions pushing hard for the adoption of the Employee Free Choice Act, but union friendly state legislators are joining the battle as well.
In the Vermont state house, for example, Democrats carried the day for unions by passing a bill that waves the need for a union vote if a majority of workers sign representation cards.
Republicans worked hard to delay, alter, and defeat the bill, but their efforts were for naught.
Under the new law, Vermont state workers can become union members if 50% of their ranks sign cards asserting that they want to belong to a union.
One opponent of the legislation complained that the new law attempts to solve a workplace issue by denying workers the right to vote. It is, indeed, anti-democratic. It further opens the door to union intimidation, for a worker will not be able to make a clear-headed, reasonable decision with a union organizer standing in front of him with pen and card in hand, saying, “You must sign this card now.”
While the new law will apply to state workers, state colleges, and the University of Vermont, private industry believes that it, too, will shortly become vulnerable to the new law.
The battles are waging across the country, and unions are determined to win. Corporate America must learn to deal effectively and creatively if it is not be crushed by onerous union demands.
