Big Business uniting to fight the ability of workers to unionize

[marmar]

:argh:


from The Financial Times:



US business unites to fight labour reform
By Jonathan Birchall and Francesco Guerrera in New York

Published: April 9 2008 22:04 | Last updated: April 9 2008 22:04

US business leaders are ­stepping up a campaign against proposed labour law reforms, backed by the Democrats, that could significantly enhance the ability of unions to organise workers.

Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have endorsed proposals that would waive an employer’s right to insist on a secret workplace ballot on union representation. Instead, a union would only have to secure the signatures of a majority of workers in the proposed bargaining unit.

If the Democratic candidate wins the presidency in November the issue will become a key battleground for business under the new administration.

Business groups including the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Retail Federation and the US Chamber of Commerce have formed a lobbying coalition to oppose what they insist is a threat to the principle of the secret ballot.

The Democratic-backed Employee Free Choice Act, dubbed the “card count bill” by employers, last year passed in the House of ­Representatives but failed to secure the backing needed in the Senate in a procedural vote that divided along party political lines.

Lee Scott, the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, the strongly anti-union retailer that is one of the largest ­private employers in the US, argued that the bill would lead to employees being “subjected to the individual pressure of people calling on you and knowing where you stand”.

“I think it’s just unfortunate that it has become something that has been driven by a small group of people that have just extraordinary political influence,” he told the Financial Times.

Senior private equity figures have privately warned of the potential impact on US business costs. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/62f23f7a-0666-11dd-802c-0000779fd2ac.html

[acmavm]

1. Gee, big business fighting to prevent workers from organizing.

Crap, it's like we've gone back to the 1800s.

[The2ndWheel]

2. Well if they didn't, there wouldn't be a need to organize a union

It's one form of organization against another. That's history in one sentence.

That's diversity for you. Only when everything is the same will these fights not take place. If we could just meld the corporation, the union, the government, the planet, the species, into a single form of organization, where everyone is the same, every place is the same, every situation is the same, while respecting the differences that can't exist, then we might be able to concentrate on what we're going to fight about once we reach the goal.

[tritsofme]

3. This bill makes me uncomfortable.

I would always tend to support the idea of a secret ballot.

Are we replacing undue pressure by business to stop unionization with undue pressure from union officials to unionize?