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McGovern Opposes EFCA

Posted by PATRICK EDABURN in At TMV, Economy, Politics, Society.
Aug 7th, 2008 | Comments

In something of a surprise former Senator and Presidential Candidate George McGovern has come out in opposition to the so called Employee Free Choice Act which is being pushed by labor unions.

The EFCA seeks to amend current labor laws with regard to how they deal with the formation and certification of unions in the workplace. Right now there can be a secret ballot to decide whether or not there should be a union in the workplace. This allows workers to make a choice without worrying about the response of pro union co workers.

If EFCA passes, the secret ballot would no longer take place if they could get a majority of workers to sign a petition calling for a union. On the surface this would seem reasonable but the truth is that often workers are tricked, intimidated or otherwise coerced into signing these petitions.

With a free and secret election the workers would be able to make an informed choice.

I am sure that there will be voices on the left condemning those who oppose the EFCA as being evil awful big business types who hate the common worker. That is why it is good to have people like McGovern on the right side. He can hardly be so labeled and as he says, we should all respect the right of the secret ballot.

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SteveK

George McGovern??? Quite a reach into the past but what the hell... How about an article about Hoover or Roosevelt (either Frank or Teddy would be fine)?

Patrick E

Well since Senator McGovern wrote an op ed piece for this in the WSJ I thought it proper to post the report.

If Mr. Hoover or either Mr. Roosevelt write articles too then I will be glad to comment on those articles.

casualobserver

It's comforting to know that its possible for some lefters to eventually see the light as they acquire age and wisdom.

See, I can argue anything but the merits too.

GeorgeSorwell

You're willing to accept reinforcement of your already-existing beliefs, no matter where it comes from.

Neocon

The labor unions are not stupid.

Peer pressure is pretty powerful. If you are no longer able to have a secret ballot but in fact must stare down 3 or 4 Pro union people and say "no, I'm not signing that" then it becomes pretty hard to say no.

This is nothing more then strong arm tactics and quite frankly I'm surprised that many on the left here who support Unions would blindly support this obvious and transparent tactic.

Imagine if our elections were held this way. Democrats going door to door with their thugs while the GOP went door to door with their thugs getting us to vote for their candidate.

mikkel

I'm kind of confused. It seems that on its face having a secret ballot would be pro-labor. Why would anyone not support a secret ballot unless it's about groupthink?

moderatetruth

I have great respect for Senator McGovern. But this time, he is simply wrong.

In an ideal world, a secret ballot election might be an ideal way to determine employees’ choice regarding unionization. In the real world, the union election process has too often become anti-democratic.

Employers’ power over employees and the workplace gives them overwhelming built-in advantages that no incumbent union has in a democratic political election. Employers bombard employees with anti-union propaganda in mandatory meetings, often one-on-one with employees’ own supervisors.

The Employee Free Choice Act would help allow employees to gain the collective voice in the workplace that many say they want and need to bargain for decent wages and working conditions.

ctaylor09

This article is horribly short sited and lacks actual fact. The fact is that currently it takes 51% of employees to sign cards to force an election that will be held anywhere from 6 weeks to 2 months after the cards are signed. It is during this time that employers fire pro-union employees, spread anit-union propaganda, and force employees to sit through various anti-union movies and presentations. All of these things are illegal, but the NLRB is filled with Bush appointments and sides with companies everytime possible. Very democratic! I am glad people are out there defending "democracy" in the workplace.

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