HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Wash Times Boehner Op-Ed: Broken Promises

“In November, House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, triumphantly declared that ‘Democrats are prepared to govern and ready to lead.’ She said Democrats would make the 110th Congress ‘the most honest, ethical and open Congress in history.’ That was then.”

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Democrats’ Deja Vu: One Month Later, Another “Power Grab” | Dems Give Voting Rights to Non-Members of Congress, Take Away From American Workers

ONE MONTH AGO

House Democrats pushed a controversial rules change giving Delegates and Non-Members of Congress the right to vote on the House floor, boosting the number of votes Democrats can count on for their agenda. An affront to the plain language of Article I of the Constitution, the move was derided as little more than a “greedy power grab.” The Washington Times wrote:

But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told the San Francisco Chronicle:

THIS WEEK

House Democrats will strip American workers of their right to a private ballot election when deciding whether to unionize, leaving them open to harassment, intimidation, and union pressure. This bill is little more than a ploy by Democrats to forcefully boost Big Labor’s numbers, thus ensuring a critical source of campaign cash continues to flow – another “greedy power grab.” House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) wrote today in Human Events:

A month ago, Democrats were giving non-Members of Congress a vote. This week, Democrats are taking voting rights away from American workers. If Democrats are “interested in extending opportunities for democracy, not limiting them,” why would they give votes to individuals who aren’t supposed to have them and take votes away from workers who should?

Perhaps the bigger question is: How will the Democratic Delegates and non-Members – bestowed with a House vote just weeks ago – use said vote on this bill stripping American workers of their rights?

READ MORE:

• Card Check Bill Stripping Workers’ Rights Opposed by 91 Percent of Democratic Voters (2/27/08)
• Dems’ Card Check Bill A “Payoff to Union Leaders” for Campaign Contributions (2/26/07)
• Dem Leaders Set to Pay Off Union Bosses at the Expense of Union Workers (2/26/07)
• Democrats’ Bill Leaves Workers “Vulnerable to Intimidation, Strong-Arming and Retribution” (2/6/07)

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Card Check Bill Stripping Workers’ Rights Opposed by 91 Percent of Democratic Voters | Dem Bill A Payback for “Desperate” Big Labor Contributors

Why would House Democrats push the misleadingly titled Employee Free Choice Act to undermine the most basic right of working Americans – the right to vote via secret ballot – even though a large majority of Americans, including most Democrats, oppose it?

A recent McLaughlin & Associates survey found that 89 percent of the public want to preserve the right to a secret ballot when deciding whether to form a union and oppose the Big Labor-backed card check procedure that leaves workers vulnerable to threats, harassment, and intimidation – including 91 percent of Democrats.

Why would House Democrats continue to insist on doing this favor for their union boss friends even though the public roundly rejects it? Could it be because organized labor gave more than half a billion in contributions to Dem candidates since 1994 – with more than $1 million in direct contributions to House Dem leaders in the 2006 cycle alone?

An op-ed in Townhall.com by Rep. John Kline (R-MN) talks about the real reason behind this bill:

A column today by George Will in the Washington Post says the declining membership is making labor leaders “desperate”:

This bill is little more than a ploy by Democrats to forcefully boost Big Labor’s numbers, thus ensuring a critical source of campaign cash continues to flow. If Democrats are willing to take away a right as fundamental as the private ballot to pay off the union bosses for their support, what else could be in store for hard-working Americans?

Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), senior Republican on the Education & Labor Committee, today released a sampling of organizations steadfastly opposed to the bill.

READ MORE:

• Dems’ Card Check Bill A “Payoff to Union Leaders” for Campaign Contributions (2/26/07)
• Dem Leaders Set to Pay Off Union Bosses at the Expense of Union Workers (2/26/07)
• Democrats’ Bill Leaves Workers “Vulnerable to Intimidation, Strong-Arming and Retribution” (2/6/07)

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Dems’ Card Check Bill a “Payoff to Union Leaders” For Campaign Contributions | Norwood: “Democrats and Their Big Labor Bosses Are Seeking to Steal Workers’ Rights to Cast Ballots in a Private Voting Booth”

House Democrats’ comically misnamed Employee Free Choice Act will outlaw workers’ right to a federally-supervised private ballot election when organizing a union, forcing all workers to submit to the Big Labor-favored “card check” process. An editorial in the San Francisco Examiner calls the bill “exquisitely Orwellian,” and labels it “anti-freedom, anti-democracy”:

“There’s no love for freedom in the legislation now moving to the House floor. … “Abuses of workers’ true wishes not only are potential, they are guaranteed. There is no ‘free choice’ in this travesty, clearly a payoff to union leaders who contributed so handsomely to the Democrats’ November election victory.”

The Examiner hits the driving factor in Democrats’ effort to outlaw federally-supervised private ballot elections altogether: money. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, organized labor gave more than half a billion in contributions to Dem candidates since 1994 – with more than $1 million in direct contributions to House Democratic leaders in the 2006 cycle alone. The easier it is to force workers into unions – and keep them there – the more money will be available for Democratic candidates and causes.

Phil Kerpen, policy director for Americans for Prosperity, writes in National Review that there is no other reason for Democrats to ban private ballot elections. After all, if workers want to unionize, they “will vote for them in federally supervised, secret-ballot elections.” Kerpen notes how unpopular this undemocratic scheme is with the public:

“A recent McLaughlin poll found that 89 percent of the public prefer the current process to the card-check procedure, and a recent Zogby poll found that 78 percent of union members prefer the current process to one with less privacy protection.”

The late Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA) introduced alternative legislation, the Secret Ballot Protection Act, preserving workers’ right to a federally-supervised private ballot election. In December, Norwood told the New York Times:

“‘It is very telling that first up on the Democrats’ agenda after taking power is rolling back voting rights,’ Mr. Norwood said. ‘Democrats and their big labor bosses are seeking to steal workers’ rights to cast ballots in a private voting booth.’ “In calling card checks unfair, Mr. Norwood said union thugs had used physical force to have workers sign pro-union cards.”

Republican Members of the House Committee on Education & Labor offered a series of amendments aimed at protecting workers’ rights, all of which Committee Democrats rejected. Read more here.

READ MORE:

• Dem Leaders Set to Pay Off Union Bosses at the Expense of Union Workers (2/26/07)
• Democrats’ Bill Leaves Workers “Vulnerable to Intimidation, Strong-Arming and Retribution” (2/6/07)

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Dem Leaders Set to Pay Off Union Bosses at the Expense of Union Workers | Detroit News: “The Move Is Clearly a Payoff For Big Labor’s Help in the Election”

In a calculating move to pay off Big Labor for helping Democrats take the majority in Congress, Democratic leaders will bring to the floor this week legislation aimed at boosting the power of union bosses at the expense of the workers they claim to represent. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, organized labor gave more than half a billion in contributions to Dem candidates since 1994 – with more than $1 million in direct contributions to House Dem leaders in the 2006 cycle alone.

Aimed solely at boosting flagging union membership and operating cash – rather than protecting their members’ democratic rights – the Dem bill would strip American workers of the right to make their own decision, freely and anonymously, whether to form a union, while leaving them open to harassment, intimidation, and union pressure that is still commonplace today.

The Democrats’ bill does away with the normal process that protects workers’ rights to make this choice freely and of their own volition – the federally-supervised private ballot election – and instead forces workers to accept unions through a “card check” system without giving them the opportunity to express their wishes free from intimidation by co-workers, union organizers, and employers.

The Detroit News has editorialized recently about the real motivations of House Democrats, saying: “The move is clearly a payoff for big labor’s help in the election.”

Want more? The Democrats’ duplicity have already been exposed, having insisted on secret ballot union elections in Mexico, even though the card check bill they support would end that right for workers here in the United States. On August 29, 2001, many current sponsors of the ill-conceived “Employee Free Choice Act” told Mexican officials:

Democrats have also been exposed by demanding secret ballot rights for workers seeking to decertify a union. Big Labor has passionately insisted on a secret ballot election in these cases, calling the vote a “solemn” occasion, imperative to preserving “privacy and independence.”

Don’t fully understand yet? Bruce Raynor, president of Unite Here, a union representing hotel, apparel, food service and other workers, told the New York Times what everyone already knows. Union bosses can’t afford to let workers make their own choice:

If Democrats are willing to take away a right as fundamental as the private ballot to pay off the union bosses for their support, what else could be in store for hard-working Americans? After all, the easier it is to force workers into unions against their will – and keep them there – the more money and power will be available for union bosses’ and their Dem candidates and causes.

READ MORE:

• Democrats’ Bill Leaves Workers “Vulnerable to Intimidation, Strong-Arming and Retribution” (2/6/07)

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Democrats’ Bill Leaves Workers “Vulnerable to Intimidation, Strong-Arming and Retribution” | “Union Leaders and the Democrats… Ought to Explain Why They Are So Afraid” of Private Ballots

Imagine it is November 2008 and your community leaders decide not to hold elections. Instead of heading into a voting booth like you always have, you’re told to show up at town hall and declare publicly – in front of your neighbors and community leaders – for whom and what you’re voting. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Well hold on to your punch card because House Democrats are proposing something similar for your workplace.

A bill introduced this morning by House Democrats would strip American workers of the right to choose – freely and anonymously – whether to unionize, while leaving them open to harassment, intimidation, and union pressure.

Current law allows for unions to organize through either a federally-supervised private ballot election or a “card check” system – a process whereby union bosses gather “authorization cards” purportedly signed by workers expressing their desire for the union to represent them. The Democrats’ bill does away with federally-supervised private ballot elections altogether, forcing workers into unions without even allowing them the opportunity to express their wishes free from intimidation by co-workers, union organizers, and employers.

An editorial in today’s Grand Rapids Press blasts the proposal, arguing that “[e]very American should have a government-protected right to join a labor union. But there must be an equal opportunity to not join.” The editorial explains:

Ranking Republican on the House Education & Labor Committee, Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), recently pointed out that card check supporters claim private ballot elections aren’t necessary, except for when workers want to break ties with a union. As McKeon said:

It’s clear that this bill is little more than a sop to the Big Labor bosses that helped Democrats take the majority in Congress – special-interest payback aimed at boosting flagging union membership. After all, the easier it is to force workers into unions – and keep them there – the more money will be available for Democratic candidates and causes.

If Democrats are willing to take away a right as fundamental as the private ballot, what else could be in store?

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