Edwin Hill, Jr. – 3/27/09

This page was last updated on March 29, 2009.

A level playing field for unions, workers; Edwin Hill, Jr.; Beaver County Times; March 27, 2009.

Mr. Hill may be the International President (Edwin D. Hill) of the IBEW or his son. If so, this would be at least the second time a union official wrote a letter supporting the card check bill without disclosing his affiliation with labor union management.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Congress will soon vote on the Employee Free Choice Act. The legislation will improve the opportunity working Americans have to join unions and bargain collectively with their employers.”

[RWC] You can find most of my comments in my critique of “Bill makes it easier to form a union.”

“The current system is broken and working families are suffering:”

[RWC] Aren’t all families “working families?” The use of this terminology is to encourage an “us vs. them” atmosphere.

“--Between 2000 and 2007, productivity increased 18 percent, yet the median working-age family income declined nearly 3.5 percent.”

“-- Nearly 60 million Americans desire a unionized workplace, yet less than 60,000 achieved unionized status in 2007.

“-- An MIT study reveals 44 percent of those who organize fail to obtain a contract with their employer — ever.

“-- In 2007 alone, the federal government found that companies violated labor law and the rights of working people 29,559 times; more than 7,000 were illegal terminations.

“This act helps resolve these issues by amending the National Labor Relations Act in three ways: it enables employees to utilize majority sign-up, in addition to the secret-ballots election option; it increases fines that can be levied against companies that violate established federal labor laws; it provides for arbitration and/or mediation should the employees and the company not reach a contract within 120 days of union certification.

“Contact your member of Congress in support of this measure.”

[RWC] Theoretically, employees could still call for an election with secret ballots, but it’s unlikely an employee intimidated to check the card for a union would also check the box (if provided) demanding an election.

Finally, let’s remember the employer is the guy providing the jobs and will pay the bill for whatever choice the employees make, yet folks like Mr. Bosh believe the employer should have no input in the certification process. Is it asking too much to allow the employer to request an election with secret ballots? As I’ve written before, labor union management won’t admit it, but the employer’s current right to call for an election protects both the employer and the employee. Currently, an employee who feels intimidated (whether by the employer or labor union management) knows that regardless of what he does with the organizing petition, he can vote his true position in secret. If a person is afraid of an election with secret ballots, he’s hiding something.