There's a weirdness to this anti-union hysteria that's genuinely puzzling. I mean, I'm not actually the biggest union sympathizer in the world, and I sort of get the fear of unions that some people have. If it were 1975, I might sympathize more.
But it's not 1975. We don't live in an era of corrupt union bosses, inflation-busting contracts in dying industries, or endless strikes that threaten to cripple the economy. We live in an era in which unions are as decently managed as any other similar-sized enterprise, middle-class workers haven't gotten a raise in three decades, and management locks out workers unless they agree to pay cuts and benefit reductions. If you thought labor had too much power 30 years ago, fine. I'll let it pass. But today? You must be kidding. |Kevin Drum|
This is what EFCA is about. It's about the fact that unions are unable to organize effectively, and that this has had bad effects for workers. Card check will make organizing easier. This will increase the bargaining power of unions, and will, thereby, allow them to negotiate better terms of employment for workers. And this is a good thing because, for the last thirty years, the working class has been getting the shaft. Simple.
I can hear you asking, though, "What about the secret ballot? Isn't it the foundation of American democracy?" Well, no. But leave that aside. Here's a compromise proposal. Instead of card check recognition, let's just legislate that each workplace shall have a union recognition election not less than once every five years. With secret ballots and the whole shebang. What do you say to that bub?
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