Card Check

It's coming, but hopefully there's enough sanity in the Senate to keep it bottled up for good. When the LA Times hints that now might not be the best time to institute it, that's something.

But if the president-elect pushes for the legislation, he risks alienating business -- which also contributed heavily to his campaign and his party and will be crucial to his efforts to fix the economy and overhaul the healthcare system.

Just to be clear, they're not saying that card check shouldn't be implemented, just that now isn't the best time to do so.

To me, card check is fundamentally un-American. Even arch-liberal George McGovern calls it undemocratic. But if that isn't enough of a reason for you to be against it, try this:

We're not children here. We know how those majorities can be reached. There's repeated harassment, bullying and more inventive tactics, such as getting workers drunk, then sliding sign-up cards under their noses. Meanwhile, any strong-armed tactics by employers can be dealt with.

Unclear is why unions even want to go there. Their decline is one reason for the falling fortunes of American workers, particularly those without college educations. Unions have an interesting product to sell. Surely, they can persuade workers to support them in the privacy of a voting booth. That's how Obama and the enhanced Democratic majority in Congress got where they are. (Boldface mine--Darren)

I'm compelled to ask here: what is it that unions do for workers today? Yes, they did great things in the past, but now it's government that enforces overtime pay, work safety standards, holidays, and minimum wage. All unions can do is ask for more, until, like the parasite they are, they kill the host. Your Honor, we present Exhibit A, the United Auto Workers Union.

In principle, I'm not against collective bargaining--especially at the local level. I am against behemoth organizations whose primary purpose is their own power, not the welfare of the workers from whom they extort tribute on payday.