Paul D. Kovalesky – 2/20/09

This page was last updated on February 23, 2009.

Bill makes it easier to form a union; Paul D. Kovalesky; Beaver County Times; February 20, 2009.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“An important piece of legislation is making its way through Congress.”

[RWC] As you read this letter, keep in mind the author is trying to convince us elections with secret ballots are bad.

“The Employee Free Choice Act will make it easier for workers to form a union. Workers are harassed by employers at every stage of an organizing drive. They are forced to sit through one-on-one meetings with the company in an attempt to scare them.”

[RWC] Those of you who live in Beaver County may remember what happened when the SEIU tried to gain certification at The Medical Center – Beaver in 2002. Union “organizers” showed up uninvited at employee homes and it wasn’t too tough for the employees to figure out the message union management was sending.¹ Despite the intimidation, however, employees defeated SEIU certification.

“Often, they are threatened with plant closings if the union wins. Many are illegally fired for their union activities.”

[RWC] Keep in mind the secret ballot was one of the big things labor unions wanted back in their infancy and used the same reasons as above. Indeed, it’s one of the demands U.S. labor union management still makes of foreign governments. The alleged reason is to minimize the effect of intimidation by anti-union organizations. Today, however, labor union management now claims a non-secret ballot (checking/not checking a card provided and collected by a union organizer) is needed in the U.S. to minimize the effect of alleged intimidation by employers.

The claim that “many” union activists “are illegally fired for their union activities” is a common rallying cry, though folks like Mr. Kovalesky never seem to provide any proof. I’m sure there are bad actors on both sides, but eliminating the secret ballot isn’t the cure. If employers or labor union management are violating laws as claimed by Mr. Kovalesky, et al, the solution is to enforce the law. If poor enforcement really is a problem, it shouldn’t be difficult for President Obama and a Democrat-majority Congress to fix, should it?

“Unions played a big part in creating the middle class in this country, and one can see that the decline in the standard of living follows the decline in union membership. This legislation will take from the employers the right to determine how workers will organize a union and give it back to the workers.”

[RWC] The “decline in the standard of living?” You’ll note Mr. Kovalesky didn’t provide any data to support this claim.

This paragraph is an outright misrepresentation of the current process and the “card check” bill Mr. Kovalesky advocates.

Employers don’t have “the right to determine how workers will organize a union” as Mr. Kovalesky claims. If labor union management gets at least 30% of employees to sign an organizing petition, both the employer and labor union management can call for a government-supervised election with secret ballots. If 50% + 1 of employees vote for the union, the NLRB certifies the union as the employees’ bargaining agent. At any point in the process the employer may choose to accept union representation without an election.

The misnamed EFCA (aka “card check”) would effectively eliminate the secret ballot. How? With card check, the employer would no longer have the right to call for an election with a secret ballot. The union would be certified if labor union management got 50% + 1 of employees to sign a petition or check a card. In short, it would allow union activists to intimidate employees into signing the petition. Theoretically, employees could still call for an election with secret ballots, but it’s unlikely an employee intimidated into checking the card for a union would also check the box (if provided) demanding an election.

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.

“U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey are cosponsors, but U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter is not. Specter has been a good friend to working families, but now, more than ever, we need him to step up and show his support again. We need him to pledge his support for this legislation.”

[RWC] FYI, not all opposition to card check comes from the right. Former presidential candidate, representative, and senator George McGovern (D-SD) opposes card check. In an opinion piece entitled “My Party Should Respect Secret Union Ballots” (The Wall Street Journal; August 8, 2008), Mr. McGovern wrote, “To my friends supporting EFCA I say this: We cannot be a party that strips working Americans of the right to a secret-ballot election. We are the party that has always defended the rights of the working class. To fail to ensure the right to vote free of intimidation and coercion from all sides would be a betrayal of what we have always championed.”

1. Letter to the Editor - Union not a good idea; Elaine Scarsella; Beaver County Times; September 19, 2002.