RSSDeath of Card Check?
Tom Bowler | April 22, 2009
According to Thomas Frank Card Check is dead. Card Check refers to the proposed legislation that would make it “easier for workers to unionize.” And how would it be easier for workers? Why, it would “would allow workers to organize in many cases merely by signing cards instead of holding elections.” Mr. Frank laments:
Congress, as they did to put Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in the White
House. And now, just as in those previous two periods of Democratic
governance, labor’s friends are having trouble enacting basic labor-law
reforms.
To understand why we need new rules governing unionization, look no
further than yesterday’s New York Times, where Steven Greenhouse told
the story of a Louisville, Ky., hospital whose nurses tried to form a
union but failed after they were reportedly threatened with losing
their benefits among other things.’
The sanctimonious Mr. Frank puts up a transparent pretense of concern for workers. He says Card Check “would allow worker to organize.” Actually it would allow unions to organize workers. For the workers there is a downside to “merely signing cards.” Names are on cards. Union thugs would know precisely who does and who doesn’t need to be “persuaded.”
As any student of democracy knows, without the secret ballot democracy would not exist. Mr. Frank is oblivious to the concept, and he says anybody who brings it up is like the Soviets.
‘Before I go on, I should acknowledge that this whole thing might be a
clever bit of jiu-jitsu by the unions. After all, the mere threat of
EFCA has turned business almost Soviet in its feigned concern for the
proletariat. The Chamber of Commerce is now exhorting the public to
“stand up for workers’ rights,” running a “workforce freedom airlift,”
and, along with other trade associations, supporting groups with names
like “Coalition for a Democratic Workplace” and “Workforce Fairness
Institute.”‘
A virtual caricature of the good leftist, Mr. Frank believes workers need to be forced into union membership for their own good. People are really quite ignorant, you know.
‘Why does labor always get it in the neck?
First, there are those Democrats who don’t care much for labor to
begin with. Then there is the wide spectrum of Democratic donors and
supporters who simply don’t understand the problems of blue-collar
life. They might dislike the religious right, but they didn’t give
money to Democratic political campaigns to increase union membership.’
Ah, but then light dawns on Marblehead. It’s about the money, says he. Of course it’s about the money. Spouting off about freedom and fairness while working to eliminate of the secret ballot, Frank isn’t going through these mental gymnastics for the sake of intellectual exercise. The beauty of unions is not that they help American workers. Their value is in the big campaign contributions to Democrats. Time and again Mr. Frank shows us he is one of those liberal intellects who really understands. American workers have to be fooled into voting for what is obviously in their own best interests. Mr. Frank is doing his part.
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