Why Business is Hysterical About Card Check...And Why America Needs It

[Earth Bound Misfit]

The "Card Check" Hullabaloo
By Mike Whitney

March 19, 2009-- Big business has launched a no-holds-barred propaganda blitz against the Employee Free Choice Act. Their goal is to scare people into believing that if the bill passes it will trigger higher unemployment and a deeper recession. According to opponents, there's even the threat of creeping socialism. The truth, of course, is far less dramatic. The Employee Free Choice Act or so called "card check" simply makes it easier for unions to organize.

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The lies and disinformation about the EFCA have been so extreme, they border on ridiculous. These guys are playing for keeps and it shows. The Wall Street Journal has run five anti-EFCA articles this week alone, each one more vicious than the last. It will take a superhuman effort to get this bill passed. It all depends on how much pressure the unions can bring to bear on Congress. If they get sidetracked or bogged down, they'll lose, for sure. They must stay focused.

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"Powerful Corporate Front Groups... are carrying out one of the biggest Anti-Union Busting campaigns in history, hoping to wrench public opinion in their direction and spread misinformation about the Employee Free Choice Act...Several anti-union Corporate Front Groups plan to collectively spend almost $100 million in the next year against the bill and those who support it. The breakdown is as follows (from the National Journal):

Chamber of Commerce: $20-30 million

Coalition for a Democratic Workplace: $30 million

Employee Freedom Action Committee: $30 million

Freedom's Watch: $30 million (from one anti-union contributor)

Center for Union Facts: unknown, but in the millions (http://cleveland.indymedia.org/news/2009/03/35512.php)

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The anti-EFCA coalition has tried a number of strategies, but has yet to settle on any one course of action. Sen. John Thune blurted out one of the talking points earlier in the week in an interview with the Washington Post. Thune said, "In a time when we have an economy that's already struggling, we can't put more burdensome regulations on employers. This is a job killer for our economy when we really don't need it."

This sounds reasonable, but in fact, Thune's got it all wrong. As Sen. Tom Harkin points out in the same article:

"In 1935, we passed the Wagner Act that promoted unionization and allowed unions to flourish, and at the time we were at around 20 percent unemployment. So tell me again why we can't do this in a recession?...This is the time to do it. This is exactly the time we should be insisting on a fairer playing field for people to organize themselves."

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After the 1929 crash, the economic downward spiral was caused mainly by falling wages. Despite all promises of maintaining production, goods could not be sold as fast as they were produced because of a collapse of income due to layoffs and wage reductions. Globalization in the past two decades temporarily kept US purchasing power increasing despite a slow growth of domestic wages. This resulted from still lower wages in the emerging markets. Now the world is awash with overcapacity in relations to low demand caused by insufficient wage levels. ("The Global Economy in Transition", Henry C.K. Liu)

Unions have steadily lost ground since the 1950s when they represented 32 percent of the total workforce in the US. Today, union membership has dwindled to less than 8 percent, which is too small to have any real impact on policy. Even if we ignore the appalling lack of political power or the growing wealth gap, which is greater than any time since the Gilded Age, the same fundamental problem still arises: How does one sustain aggregate demand if wages stay stagnant? The answer is; it can't be done, which is why labor must have a bigger place at the table to level the playingfield. The only way to build a strong, stable economy, and avoid the boom and bust cycles brought on by speculative bubbles, is by empowering workers and making sure they are fairly compensated for their labor. The Employee Free Choice Act is an important first step in that direction.

ETA link: http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22250.htm

[ellenfl]

1. on th ebright side . . . how many union workers read the wsj? eom

[Omaha Steve]

2. Great post

[AdHocSolver]

3. Reality check. It isn't stagnant wages that is a cause, it is exporting of jobs that is a cause.

To build a strong stable economy requires that at least 75 percent of what we purchase is made here in america, so that most dollars we spend go to other Americans, not to China.

It is the outflow of capital that is the root cause of our economic problems. Until trade and tax laws are changed, not merely to stop the outflow of jobs and capital, but to promote the return of jobs to the US, the economy will continue to deteriorate irrespective of the stock market, and in spite of bailouts and stimulus packages.

The problem is NAFTA, the WTO, the IMF, and the other cartel agreements that need to be exposed to the general public for how they are destroying our economy. The public must be enlightened as to how tax laws have enabled corporations to avoid taxes through offshoring jobs. The public must understand that the trade deficit is causing the devaluation of the dollar so that imported goods are going to get more expensive even for those who somehow hold on to their jobs.

The labor laws enacted during the 1930's worked because there was no competition of cheap labor from Asia. I am not opposed to pro labor laws. However, for pro labor laws to be beneficial requires that the cartel-sponsored trade agreements and tax laws be changed.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

4. No argument here.

Great post, as are the great majority of your posts, IMHO. :patriot: