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