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http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/5319/Monday, January 12, 2009
Dr. Evil is BAAAACK! UnionFacts.com’s new anti-union campaign repeats “Secret Ballot” myth (5:41 pm)
In a series of ads in Politico, the Hill and other outlets, the anti-union front group led by Rick Berman, dubbed “Dr. Evil” by “60 Minutes,” has unleashed a new ad campaign citing right-wing newspaper opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act. The ads’ main arguments, drawing on baseless propaganda spewed by anti-union organizations: the bill would take away the secret ballot and hurt the economy. For a corporate PR mastermind who previously spent his corporate donors’ money bashing Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other do-gooder causes, it’s not surprising he is distorting and ignoring the truth about this pro-worker legislation. In this case, the ads seem to be offered in response to a new SEIU campaign citing a New York Times editorial endorsing quick passage of the legislation as a boon to the economy. Here’s an excerpt of the editorial written in support of Labor Secretary nominee Rep. Hilda Solis:
The main issue is whether the Obama administration will assert a forceful labor agenda in the face of certain protests from business that now — during a recession — is not the time to move forward.
The first and biggest test of Mr. Obama’s commitment to labor, and to Ms. Solis, will be his decision on whether or not to push the Employee Free Choice Act in 2009. Corporate America is determined to derail the bill, which would make it easier than it has been for workers to form unions by requiring that employers recognize a union if a majority of employees at a workplace sign cards indicating they wish to organize.
Ms. Solis voted for the bill when it passed the House in 2007. Senate Republicans prevented the bill from coming to a vote that same year. Mr. Obama voted in favor of bringing the bill to the Senate floor and supported it during the campaign.
The measure is vital legislation and should not be postponed. Even modest increases in the share of the unionized labor force push wages upward, because nonunion workplaces must keep up with unionized ones that collectively bargain for increases. By giving employees a bigger say in compensation issues, unions also help to establish corporate norms, the absence of which has contributed to unjustifiable disparities between executive pay and rank-and-file pay.
The argument against unions — that they unduly burden employers with unreasonable demands — is one that corporate America makes in good times and bad, so the recession by itself is not an excuse to avoid pushing the bill next year. The real issue is whether enhanced unionizing would worsen the recession, and there is no evidence that it would.
There is a strong argument that the slack labor market of a recession actually makes unions all the more important. Without a united front, workers will have even less bargaining power in the recession than they had during the growth years of this decade, when they largely failed to get raises even as productivity and profits soared. If pay continues to lag, it will only prolong the downturn by inhibiting spending.
FULL article at link.
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