“Employee Free Choice Act” on The Daily Caller

It seems like lately at every turn the National Labor Relations Board tries something new to upend years of fair workplace practices and standards. As the board drifts more and more into being an official taxpayer-funded extension of Big Labor, it gives new meaning to the old adage, “if you can’t win the game, change the rules.” (more)

The Republican victories last November dashed organized labor’s hopes of Congress passing the Employee Free Choice Ace (EFCA), especially its card check provision, which would effectively eliminate the secret ballot in union organizing elections. (more)

In November, 2008, we entered an Orwellian world in which slavery has come to be called freedom. As you may remember, despite all of the efforts of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, Congress stopped short of passing the Employee Free Choice Act – a piece of legislation, sponsored by the AFL-CIO, which was aimed at denying employees a genuinely free choice via the secret ballot when it came to deciding whether to unionize their workplace or not. To his great credit, George McGovern emerged from the shadows to speak up against this proposal, and his opposition provided cover for those Democrats in the Senate who shared his misgivings. (more)

During this past election cycle, labor unions invested over $200 million in support of Democrat candidates. Much of that money came from four of the country’s largest unions: the AFL-CIO and SEIU’s combined contribution was $88 million, AFSCME added $91 million and the National Education Association $40 million. This money was donated to Democrat candidates in hopes of helping them maintain a majority in the House. These hopes were crushed on November 2nd when the Republicans took back control of the House with a resounding win. This loss has effectively ended the unions’ dream of getting the Employee Free Choice Act (card check) enacted in the near future. (more)

For nearly two years, talk concerning labor law reform has centered on the Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act (EFCA). As the Congressional session progressed and the small business community organized, the likelihood of EFCA’s passage — or any legislation eliminating the secret ballot and mandating binding arbitration — diminished. And as EFCA’s chances of passage began to fade, Big Labor shifted its attention to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an independent federal agency whose mission is to “prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions.” (more)

As millions of Americans head to the polls to exercise their right to vote privately in today’s elections, the National Labor Relations Board is considering whether to roll back the right to a secret ballot in union organizing in favor of card check. (more)

Earlier this week, President Obama confirmed what small business leaders and concerned workers fear most: that he will spare no effort to achieve Big Labor’s goals.  The president admits that labor’s top priority, the job-killing, rights-stripping Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act (EFCA), does not have the votes it needs to pass in the Senate.  And with his own words, the president acknowledged that he has unambiguously aligned himself with union bosses seeking to bypass Congress and cram their priorities down the throats of the American people. (more)

The function of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is to administer the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the primary law governing relations between unions and private sector employers.  In the past year, the NLRB has become increasingly anti-employer.  It started with the recess appointment of labor radical Craig Becker, a former attorney for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) who did not receive enough support in the Senate to get confirmed.  As a result, President Obama delivered “payback” to Big Labor bosses by naming Becker to the board through a recess appointment, doing an end-run around Congress. (more)

With Democrats fighting to hold onto their majorities in the House and Senate, they have enlisted their most ardent supporter — Big Labor — to help push back against a resurgent Republican Party. No interest group has been more vital to the Democratic Party’s recent success than organized labor, which spent nearly $400 million on Democratic candidates during the 2008 election cycle. (more)

Free market organizations that are now mobilized against the possibility of a repackaged version of “card check” legislation should remain mindful of administrative actions that could enshrine union favors without congressional approval. With mid-term elections looming, union bosses who spent millions to elect a Democratic president and congress are going for broke to secure transformative policy changes that could reinvigorate their membership rolls. (more)

Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter’s failure to win his state’s Democratic nomination was a crushing defeat for organized labor, which went all-out in supporting Halter in order to punish incumbent Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln for her failure to support the unions’ top legislative priority, the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, which was unpopular in her fairly conservative state. (more)

Legislation introduced last week could shift costs of union pension plans to taxpayers in an attempt to stave off organized labor’s pension funding crisis. (more)

The annual Union Members Summary—the U.S. labor unions’ own State of the Union—encourages us to assess the state of the unionized workforce. And, much like the profit margins and job-loss the rest of America has experienced, the construction union outlook proves no better. (more)

Recent developments are sending Big Labor scrambling to salvage its goal of increasing union membership. This is an important goal, inasmuch as unions are in serious danger of extinction. (more)