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CDW Letter to Senators

February 1, 2010

Dear Senator:

We write in opposition to the nomination of Craig Becker as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and we strongly encourage you to vote against his nomination, as well as against cloture on the related procedural motions. We are concerned that Mr. Becker will spearhead efforts to impose many aspects of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) through rulemaking and decisions, including attempts to promote card-check organizing and ambush elections.

The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) consists of more than 580 business and trade associations united in our collective opposition to EFCA. EFCA would effectively eliminate secret ballot elections as a method for determining whether employees wish to join a union; replacing it with a card check a system, under which an employee’s private decision would be made public to employers, union organizers and co-workers. Further compounding the problems with EFCA, a study by noted economist Anne Layne Ferrar estimates that card-check will cost 600,000 American jobs a year. In short, EFCA deprives American workers of the ability to make a fully informed decision and exercise their right to vote in a secret ballot election without fear of intimidation or recrimination, while also resulting in job loss at a time we can least afford it.

We are concerned that, if confirmed, Mr. Becker will attempt to impose aspects of the Employee Free Choice Act through NLRB rulemaking and decisions. Recently, William Gould, NLRB chairman during the Clinton Administration, stated that the NLRB could issue a ruling that would impose card-check without any change to the law by Congress.

Mr. Becker currently serves as Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations, both of which adamantly support EFCA and card-check.

Moreover, throughout his career, Mr. Becker’s writings have revealed his extreme views about labor relations and the role of the NLRB. Among other things, Mr. Becker said that “employers should be stripped of any legally cognizable interest in their employees’ election of representatives.” In other words, Mr. Becker argues that a union’s assertions during an organizing should not be discussed or challenged by employers, thus limiting employee access to critical information that should be part of the decision-making process. Much like the ability to vote in private, hearing both sides of the argument, from the union and the employer, is vital to the employees’ ability to make an honest and fully-informed decision.

If Mr. Becker is confirmed and he imposes aspects of EFCA and his other extreme ideas through NLRB rulemakings and decisions, both worker privacy and our economy could suffer. For the aforementioned reasons, we urged you to vote against Mr. Becker’s confirmation.

Sincerely,

THE COALITION FOR A DEMOCRATIC WORKPLACE

CDW Press Release on EFCA status

Big Labor Still Pushing Their Out-of-Touch Agenda

Union Bosses Ignore the Lessons from Massachusetts, Continue to Push EFCA

While politicians across the country are reassessing their agendas based on Tuesday’s rejection of big government and higher taxes by the voters in Massachusetts, the labor bosses in Washington remain committed to passing the jobs-killing Employee Free Choice Act..

Andy Stern, head of the SEIU, saw Tuesday’s election results as meaning that “every member of Congress and the Administration must act with a renewed sense of purpose to show working families whose side they are on and deliver meaningful change to every American.”

The Hill quotes an AFL-CIO source, regarding Senator-elect Scott Brown’s victory, “"If officials go running to the center like some are calling for, and away from what they campaigned on, they learned exactly the wrong lesson from this election."

Brian Worth, chairman of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, stated, "Despite yet another rejection of their job-killing agenda, Big Labor still demands that Congress pass the mis-named Employee Free Choice Act..”

"Shoving this unpopular, anti-worker bill down the throats of the American people is exactly the kind of thinking that compelled the people of Massachusetts to take this Senate seat away from Democrats for the first time in almost 40 years,” Worth continued.

CDW has released national polling that has consistently shown that the vast majority of voters, including those in union households, oppose job-killing proposals such as card-check and government-mandated binding arbitration. To view CDW’s research, please visit www.MyPrivate.Ballot.com.

Between a rock and hard place?

Obama supporters oppose bill that favors unions

Now enter the billionaires that supported President Obama's campaign. Even the President's finance chairperson, Penny Pritzker, who is a director of the Global Hyatt Corp., is opposed to the bill.....

Click here to read the full article.

EFCA's Bad 'RAP'

Nice!

New Sheriff in Town

Labor Chief moves on job safety, workers rights'

WASHINGTON -

Soon after she became the nation's labor secretary, Holda Solis warned coorporate America ther was "a new sheriff in town."

Less than a year into her tenure, that figurative badge of authority is unmistakable. Her aggressive moves to boost enforcement and crack down on businesses that violate.... Click HERE to read the full article.

Card Check Grows...

Card Check Grows in Union Organizing

Even as union leaders press for card-check legislation in Washington, more local unions already are turning to the controversial method of organizing -- and making some gains.

Current law allows unions to organize workers by having them check a box on a card, as opposed to holding an election, if a company approves....

Click here to read entire article.