Payoffs to Big Labor continue

Also high on the list of priorities for unions is a new attempt at contracting favoritism. Called “High Road” Contracting, this policy would enforce an evaluation of wages and benefits in relation to government contracting, which would give clear advantages to unions, while cutting out businesses. Small businesses would not be able to compete for contracts and larger employers would be at a significant disadvantage as they already struggling to meet payroll, and keep the lights on and doors open. The advantage would lie squarely in the hands of union bosses with their government-subsidized and taxpayer-funded bankrolls.

And as Congress works to bail out union pensions which have been recklessly and incompetently handled by Big Labor and the Obama Administration works to issue an executive order placing billions of dollars in government contracts in the hands of union bosses, the Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act (EFCA) waits in the wings.

EFCA would remove workers’ rights to a private ballot in union organizing votes meaning that intimidation and coercion in the workplace would increase dramatically as would union membership. With additional members, even more money would flow into the hands of bosses as the increased dues would allow them to reward lawmakers with millions of additional dollars in political contributions and activities.

Going further, the forced unionization of workers in EFCA would result in the government writing labor contracts addressing wages, benefits and workplace conditions that would force small businesses into insolvent pension programs without the consent of the employee or employer.

Whether workers pay additional taxes as a result of Casey’s legislation or small businesses are forced into bankrupt pension plans to cover the costs of Big Labor’s mismanagement, the result is always the same, union bosses win and the public at large loses.

The current leadership in Washington should spare workers and small businesses the soaring rhetoric and lofty aspirations concerning job growth and economic development and simply tell us the truth, jobs be damned, the payoffs to union bosses will continue.

Katie Packer is the executive director of the Workforce Fairness Institute.