Card check bill denies workers real free choice

Legislation that is making its way through Congress is causing a lot of concern among the business community of South Carolina, and rightly so.

It is known by the misnamed title as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and it's all about making it easy for unions to organize. South Carolina is a Right to Work state, which protects workers from being coerced into union membership by preserving their right to vote by secret ballot in union elections. The so-called Employee Free Choice Act has nothing to do with free choice by doing away with the secret ballot, which has always been a fundamental right of everyone in the workplace until now, if union kingpins have their way.

The way it works if EFCA becomes law is as soon as a union collects signed authorization cards from a majority of workers in a bargaining unit, the union is recognized and the employer is legally required to bargain with the union. Workers who don't sign the card and don't want a union no longer have the choice of negotiating their own pay and conditions of employment with their employer – they have to accept whatever terms the union and management agree to.

Imagine, if you will, the scenario in a workplace when employees are confronted by union organizers in front of other union sympathizers and they are asked to sign a card on the dotted line. They receive only one side of the story – the union's. Management is left out of the process. In the meantime, union organizers have the names of those who will sign the card and those who won't. Given the hardball tactics union organizers have traditionally used to intimidate workers, it becomes even more difficult for employees who want a real choice with the sanctity of a secret ballot to resist. We remember what happened to the Yuasa (Exide) plant here in Sumter when a union made overbearing demands on its management that led to its closure, killing hundreds of jobs.

It gets even worse if a business is organized. According to EFCA, the union and business must work out a contract in 90 days, and failing that, the matter first goes to mediation and 30 days later to binding arbitration where a government arbitrator can set all the terms of the union contract. This is the government under the Obama administration which is solidly pro-union and supportive of unions making greater inroads into the private sector. There is much more in EFCA that tilts the playing field in favor of unions, but abolishing secret ballots is the poison pen that corrupts the entire process.

Unions have had great success in organizing government employees, whose salaries are paid by taxpayers whether they like it or not. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 36.8 of government employees belong to unions compared with just 7.6 of workers in the private sector. Union membership has dropped precipitously in the past 25 years, reaching a peak of 20.1 percent in 1983 to 12.4 percent of the overall work force in 2008. There's a reason for that. The management and owners of businesses and industries aren't stupid. They understand full well that fairly-paid employees with good benefits in a pleasant workplace environment is good for morale and productivity. Most well-run businesses and industries are committed to worker satisfaction in order to avoid the intrusive and divisive presence of a union.

There's more: One of the best ways to kill an industrial prospect is an organized union presence in a community. That is one of the first questions prospects ask when they are recruited by local development boards, including Sumter's. Our community desperately needs more jobs with unemployment currently at a whopping 13.7 percent. A union presence would be a job-killer for Sumter.

With EFCA now rearing its ugly head in Congress, it becomes even more critical for South Carolina's senators and House members to take a stand against this pernicious, anti-democratic legislation. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint have made clear their opposition to EFCA, and we applaud them for that. However, Rep. Jim Clyburn has signed on as a co-sponsor of the House version of the bill, which is unfortunate given that South Carolina has enjoyed great success in improving its economy and job creation because it has always been a Right to Work state. That success would be sorely damaged if not set back for decades if EFCA becomes law. Rep. John Spratt is not a co-sponsor of the bill but his position on it is unclear. He needs to be heard from, while Clyburn needs to hear from his constituents who do not subscribe to the radical agenda of the House majority led by hyper-partisan leftist Speaker Nancy Pelosi that is totally at odds with the values of South Carolinians, particularly when it comes to Right to Work. Clyburn needs to break with his party bosses and take a stand for his district and state.

It will be a sad day for the nation and South Carolina if EFCA becomes law and rewards unions that want to take away the sacrosanct right of real free choice in the secret ballot.

To contact House members:

Rep. John Spratt, 5th District
202-225-5501 (Washington office)
Email: www.house.gov/spratt/contact.shtml

Rep. Jim Clyburn, 6th District
202-226-3210 (Washington office)
Email: www.majoritywhip.house.gov/