RedCeltic
7th December 2003, 05:43
Jonathan Tasini is the national director of American
Rights At Work.
When corporations talk about protecting the sanctity of
workers' right to vote in a secret ballot union
representation election, hold on to your wallet because
something is amiss. Though it's hard to take seriously,
that's the recent spin from corporations as they try to
scuttle a union-backed proposal that would actually
lessen conflict in the workplace and lay the groundwork
for harmonious relations with employers.
The proposal is called card check. As the name suggests,
the workers literally sign a card that expresses support
for the union; then, a neutral third party checks the
cards, and, by previous agreement, if a majority
indicate their support for the union, the employer
recognizes the union and the parties sit down to bargain
a contract over wages, benefits, job security and other
issues. The beauty of the card check initiative is that
it effectively eliminates the campaign of intimidation
that employers routinely embark upon during a union
organizing drive.
A union representation election in the workplace is
nothing we would recognize as a fair and democratic
process. Indeed, the reality more closely resembles a
scene from a dictatorship in a repressive country:
workers (voters) are fired or threatened with the loss
of their jobs, and they endure a steady stream of
negative videos, forced meetings and written messages in
their paychecks warning them of the dire consequences
that await them if the union should win.
By the time the day arrives for workers to cast their
ballots, the tense atmosphere is akin to that you've
probably sensed watching footage of people lining up to
vote in a military regime-sure, there is the appearance
of democratic process, but it is a sham. People cannot
express their true sentiments in a climate of fear and
repression, which the National Labor Relations Board,
the government agency vested with the power to
administer the nation's labor laws, has done little to
alleviate and, in fact, has made worse through delays
and inadequate enforcement.
Employers are understandably in a state of panic over
the possible spread of card check. They are claiming
card check is undemocratic, that it takes away the right
of workers to cast a ballot for the union and that
companies who adopt card check are making illegal deals
with "Big Labor." All this is pure nonsense-labor laws
allow many democratic options to gauge support for a
union.
It's understandable why employers are desperate.
Removing their ability to brutalize their employees will
mean tens of thousands-perhaps millions-more people
joining unions. For example, using a card check process,
in just two years, the Communications Workers of America
has organized 17,000 workers at Cingular Wireless, which
is owned jointly by SBC and BellSouth. Without the
residue of pitched combat, the union and company have a
good working relationship.
Here's how one card check enthusiast puts it: "I don't
want to have a lot of distractions in three-year NLRB
cases. Let's make this plant productive, not three years
from now after a lot of lawyers have wasted our money...
It has nothing to do with ideology... This has to do
with business, this has to do with jobs, this has to do
with livelihood, this has to do with how we can work
together as management and employees."
The words of a union leader? No, David Stockman. Yes,
the very same David Stockman who was the Reagan White
House's budget director charged with implementing
supply-side economics and the dismantling of social
welfare programs. Stockman is now CEO of Collins and
Aikman, which buys up struggling industrial firms, so
don't mistake him for a born-again left-winger. His
hard-headed, business analysis lead him to conclude that
waging war on unions leads to disruptions, a decline in
productivity, a waste of corporate resources and a loss
of competitive advantage. "If the workers want to be
represented [through] a card check and we will be
neutral in the process, let's have those workers be
represented..." he told an audience of United Auto
Workers leaders on October 17, where he and UAW
president Ron Gettlefinger announced a deal to allow
card check at companies Stockman's company acquires.
Stockman, a man who understands ideological impulses,
understands that obsessive anti-unionism is hurting
business. Companies may defeat unions with a scorched-
earth campaign but they leave a demoralized, fragmented
workforce. And when a union does win, the legacy of a
bitter fight does not auger well for long-term
relationships.
Until now, card check has been voluntary. However, Sen.
Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.)
have put together a bill that would inscribe card check
into law: the Employee Free Choice Act. Card check gives
workers what they cannot get in an essentially rigged
process: a chance to express their views in a fair,
democratic manner.
On Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, tens of
thousands of people will rally in cities across the
nation to declare that workers rights are human rights.
To find out more about workers rights and the Dec. 10
activities , click here.
<A
HREF="http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/takeaction">http://www.america
nrightsatwork.org/takeaction</A>
Rights At Work.
When corporations talk about protecting the sanctity of
workers' right to vote in a secret ballot union
representation election, hold on to your wallet because
something is amiss. Though it's hard to take seriously,
that's the recent spin from corporations as they try to
scuttle a union-backed proposal that would actually
lessen conflict in the workplace and lay the groundwork
for harmonious relations with employers.
The proposal is called card check. As the name suggests,
the workers literally sign a card that expresses support
for the union; then, a neutral third party checks the
cards, and, by previous agreement, if a majority
indicate their support for the union, the employer
recognizes the union and the parties sit down to bargain
a contract over wages, benefits, job security and other
issues. The beauty of the card check initiative is that
it effectively eliminates the campaign of intimidation
that employers routinely embark upon during a union
organizing drive.
A union representation election in the workplace is
nothing we would recognize as a fair and democratic
process. Indeed, the reality more closely resembles a
scene from a dictatorship in a repressive country:
workers (voters) are fired or threatened with the loss
of their jobs, and they endure a steady stream of
negative videos, forced meetings and written messages in
their paychecks warning them of the dire consequences
that await them if the union should win.
By the time the day arrives for workers to cast their
ballots, the tense atmosphere is akin to that you've
probably sensed watching footage of people lining up to
vote in a military regime-sure, there is the appearance
of democratic process, but it is a sham. People cannot
express their true sentiments in a climate of fear and
repression, which the National Labor Relations Board,
the government agency vested with the power to
administer the nation's labor laws, has done little to
alleviate and, in fact, has made worse through delays
and inadequate enforcement.
Employers are understandably in a state of panic over
the possible spread of card check. They are claiming
card check is undemocratic, that it takes away the right
of workers to cast a ballot for the union and that
companies who adopt card check are making illegal deals
with "Big Labor." All this is pure nonsense-labor laws
allow many democratic options to gauge support for a
union.
It's understandable why employers are desperate.
Removing their ability to brutalize their employees will
mean tens of thousands-perhaps millions-more people
joining unions. For example, using a card check process,
in just two years, the Communications Workers of America
has organized 17,000 workers at Cingular Wireless, which
is owned jointly by SBC and BellSouth. Without the
residue of pitched combat, the union and company have a
good working relationship.
Here's how one card check enthusiast puts it: "I don't
want to have a lot of distractions in three-year NLRB
cases. Let's make this plant productive, not three years
from now after a lot of lawyers have wasted our money...
It has nothing to do with ideology... This has to do
with business, this has to do with jobs, this has to do
with livelihood, this has to do with how we can work
together as management and employees."
The words of a union leader? No, David Stockman. Yes,
the very same David Stockman who was the Reagan White
House's budget director charged with implementing
supply-side economics and the dismantling of social
welfare programs. Stockman is now CEO of Collins and
Aikman, which buys up struggling industrial firms, so
don't mistake him for a born-again left-winger. His
hard-headed, business analysis lead him to conclude that
waging war on unions leads to disruptions, a decline in
productivity, a waste of corporate resources and a loss
of competitive advantage. "If the workers want to be
represented [through] a card check and we will be
neutral in the process, let's have those workers be
represented..." he told an audience of United Auto
Workers leaders on October 17, where he and UAW
president Ron Gettlefinger announced a deal to allow
card check at companies Stockman's company acquires.
Stockman, a man who understands ideological impulses,
understands that obsessive anti-unionism is hurting
business. Companies may defeat unions with a scorched-
earth campaign but they leave a demoralized, fragmented
workforce. And when a union does win, the legacy of a
bitter fight does not auger well for long-term
relationships.
Until now, card check has been voluntary. However, Sen.
Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.)
have put together a bill that would inscribe card check
into law: the Employee Free Choice Act. Card check gives
workers what they cannot get in an essentially rigged
process: a chance to express their views in a fair,
democratic manner.
On Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, tens of
thousands of people will rally in cities across the
nation to declare that workers rights are human rights.
To find out more about workers rights and the Dec. 10
activities , click here.
<A
HREF="http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/takeaction">http://www.america
nrightsatwork.org/takeaction</A>