Employment Law Council Policy Review
October Edition 2008
Card Check is a Key Business Issue for Presidential Election
Trying to sort out the policy differences between candidates can be difficult at times. But for the Presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama on one of the most important labor management issues in decades there is a clear difference in the direction they would take the country.
Card check, misnamed as the “Employee Free Choice Act” (EFCA) by its proponents, would fundamentally turn labor law on its head by allowing an employer to be organized by a union without a secret ballot vote. Republican John McCain has indicated he would veto any such measure, whereas Democrat nominee Barack Obama is a strong backer of the measure and would sign it into the law if he is elected President.
Sen. Obama, an original cosponsor of the EFCA, urged his colleagues to pass the bill during a 2007 motion to proceed:
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“ I support this bill because in order to restore a sense of shared prosperity and security, we need to help working Americans exercise their right to organize under a fair and free process and bargain for their fair share of the wealth our country creates.
The current process for organizing a workplace denies too many workers the ability to do so. The Employee Free Choice Act offers to make binding an alternative process under which a majority of employees can sign up to join a union. Currently, employers can choose to accept--but are not bound by law to accept--the signed decision of a majority of workers. That choice should be left up to workers and workers alone.” (EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT OF 2007--MOTION TO PROCEED", Congressional Record, GPO (2007-06-26), pp. S8378-S8398.)
Sen. McCain opposes the EFCA saying:
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“I am strongly opposed to H.R. 800, the so-called Employee Free Choice Act of 2007. Not only is the bill's title deceptive, the enactment of such an ill-conceived legislative measure would be a gross deception to the hard-working Americans who would fall victim to it.” (EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT OF 2007--MOTION TO PROCEED", Congressional Record, GPO (2007-06-26).)” |
For more information about the issue go to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website. |
Constitutional Convention Question…Creating Chaos for the Future?
Illinois voters in November will decide whether a constitutional convention should be held to revise our state constitution. From a labor law perspective, a dangerous direction that could be taken is establishment of a voter initiative power. Currently the state’s Constitution allows voters to change law by initiative only to the Legislative Article of our Constitution.
If voter initiative were to be expanded, Illinois could face ballot questions such as that considered in Ohio in 2006 when Ohio voters raised the minimum wage in Ohio. California employers have spent millions of dollars in their state on initiatives. Many of the California initiatives have dealt with employment related matters such as workers’ compensation benefits, healthcare benefits, workplace conditions, employment discrimination, etc. Most of the California initiatives were detrimental to employers in that state.
For more information on why the Illinois Chamber is opposing the question of holding a state constitutional convention go to the Alliance to Protect the Illinois Constitution website.
Illinois’ Unemployment Continues to Climb
The August figures for Illinois’ unemployment rate has climbed to 7.3%. The national rate is 6.1%. Illinois only trails Michigan (8.9%), California (7.7%) and Mississippi (7.7%). Illinois has lost 239,000 high paying manufacturing jobs since 1990?this loss of 26 percent of in-state manufacturing jobs over 17 years was worse than the rate of loss for the Midwest (20.8 percent) and the nation (20.9 percent). See Chicago Tribune article
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