The Future of Unions in a Flat World
Not-so-Big Labor eyes the Democratic Congress.
Most the words below are the authors:
This Wall Street Journal Commentary is about the Union agenda to make it easier to recruit members. Currently there is a secret ballot to join a Union, which apparently most Unions lose. The Unions want a law that recognizes them as the bargaining unit for a workplace if a majority of the workers merely sign a card indicating their support. Under current law, companies are required to recognize a union only after a secret ballot of the workers–and unions have been losing an increasing number of those elections.
The article points out that if a beefy organizer greets you at the plant gate and asks you to sign a card in favor of representation by a union, are you really going to say no?
The fact that unions now call card-check their No. 1 legislative priority should be seen as a sign of weakness rather than strength. Labor’s far more ambitious schemes to insulate themselves from international competition, such as trade barriers, haven’t gotten very far. And labor’s ability to use mandatory worker dues for political purposes–which amounted to more than a quarter of the AFL-CIO budget in 2005 and probably far more in 2006–is under legal pressure at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Even card check might not produce the desired results. Dana Corp., a major auto supplier, several years ago agreed to a card check campaign at two Virginia plants, which were duly organized by the UAW. But both plants are now scheduled to be closed because of mounting competitive pressures both from abroad and non-union plants in the U.S. Would increased Union power simply accelorate the movement of jobs overseas?
I agree that we could be making a serious miscalculation if we bow to union demands for card check. Many workers themselves would view it as a sellout of their basic rights–trading away the secret ballot, which gives them some leverage over union bosses with whom they might disagree, for short-term political gain.
