Passing Free Choice Act will improve conditions
As someone who has worked both for union and non-union companies, I have witnessed safer and better working conditions at unionized workplaces.
My union has helped generate a healthier and happier work force, benefiting my family and our industry over all.
I am dismayed to learn that opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act cannot present their opposition without resorting to misrepresentation and lies.
They claim that the “secret ballot” voting rights are under attack. This isn’t true. Under current law, many employees avoid the election process because it is company-controlled, coercive and unfair.
But under the Employee Free Choice Act, if at least 30 percent of workers still want a secret ballot election, they can get one.
The proposed legislation amends the National Labor Relations Act system by modifying the already existing majority sign-up system.
The new legislation allows workers, not companies, to choose how they form their unions by eliminating the veto power that companies now have. The proposed bill also provides real penalties for breaking the law.
Let’s face it: America is hurting right now. We need protection against corporate greed. We need a level playing field for working families. We need the Employee Free Choice Act.
JoAnn Glover
Greensboro
Comments (9)
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The unions have done such a stellar job in leveling the playing field at GM and Chrysler that the workers there are yearning for a field to play on...they seem not too concerned at the moment just how level it is.
Posted on May 13, 2009 8:00 AM
Yesterday, Joe Biden said Unions will help build the middle class. Last time I checked, Detroit's middle class was gutted.
Posted on May 13, 2009 8:43 AM
As someone who has worked both for union and non-union companies, I have witnessed unions demand for more and more.
What I never witnessed was, we are willing to give anything.
Posted on May 13, 2009 8:55 AM
As one who has worked on both union and non-union jobs (carpenter) I couldn't tell a bit of difference when it comes to safe working conditions. The only difference I could see was a difference in output: non-union job sites get more work done, a lot more.
I belonged to the carpenter's union in the early 1970's, decide to get out of the union when it became obvious how much unionism added to the cost of any construction job with their silly union rules. I have sympathy for General Motors, or anyone else who has to deal with those cretins.
And I don't want to hear about quality of work, either. I worked for two years with Willie Melvin Christmas (Mr. Melvin) from Jacksonville, Florida. We were building restaurants, and we did everything except the mechanicals (plumbing, wiring, etc.). If it didn't require a special license, we did it. Mr. Melvin had one tolerance: 1/16". If it wasn't within a sixteenth of an inch, you moved it. When Mr. Melvin finished a building, you could not find a fault, he had already found it and had it corrected.
Detroit deserves what it is going through these days. Union greed and sloth are not the only causes of their suffering, but they are a large part of it.
Meanwhile, in Alabama, Kia and Hyundai (non-union) are rolling along happily. In my book you can take your unions and put them where the sun doesn't shine.
Posted on May 13, 2009 9:00 AM
"We need protection against corporate greed. We need a level playing field for working families"
The automotive industry has had unions for years. Their executives make just as much as other industries. I guess the writer would agree those executives are part of the "corporate greed" crowd.
Tell me, how is that union thing working out for the automotive industry and how has the unioins "leveled the playing field" for that industry?
Greed is a trait of individuals, not of corporations. Just this morning I heard Chrysler executives will be able to get out from under the "Obama" salary caps, once they have merged with Fiat. Because once that happens they will be considered employees of Fiat, not of Chrysler. So it doesn't seem the unions are able to stop the "corporate greed" of Chrysler’s executives. Chrysler is in bankruptcy, 1000s have lost their jobs. I just don't see where the unions have helped that industry at all. As a matter of fact, I think the unions are a large part of the problem with their own "greed".
Posted on May 13, 2009 9:31 AM
Michelle Malkin's column today deals with the SEIU, one of Obama's major backers. Glenn Beck (Fox News, 5 pm) is doing a report on ACORN and its ties to SEIU. Looks to be an interesting investigation, many of the chief characters are convicted criminals, as might be expected of Obama's supporters.
Posted on May 13, 2009 10:23 AM
Ms. Michelle "One Side" Malkin.
Is she married to Michael Savage?
Posted on May 14, 2009 6:31 AM
http://blog.news-record.com/opinion/letters/archives/2009/05/closing_tax_loopholes_helps_th.shtml
Posted on May 14, 2009 7:07 AM
OK .. I'm confused Sandy Beach .. you say "Greed is a trait of individuals, not of corporations", then rail at "the unions [as] a large part of the problem with their own 'greed' ".
So I guess Unions are Greedy Individuals while the Executives leading Chrysler are Pastoral Corporations?
Posted on May 14, 2009 7:12 AM