Thread: Amnesty and the Secret Ballot Protection Act

The Real Politics of Immigration: Amnesty & Secret Ballot Protection Act
How far will Pro Amnesty Republicans go to appease, Big Labor Unions?


Op-Ed


The Real Politics of Immigration: Amnesty and the Secret Ballot Protection Act
How far will the pro Amnesty Republicans go to appease, Big Labor unions?


By

Will Fine, Executive Director National Alliance for Worker
and Employer Rights




With the passage of a guest worker amnesty bill Senate Republicans are on the
threshold of signing away to the biggest and most corrupt labor unions
an important part of our American freedom -the right to a secret Ballot
election in the American workplace. Starting four years after NAFTA
passed in 1998, John J. Sweeney, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.,
began a two-day trip to Mexico--the first by a AFL-CIO president
to Mexico--where he said his aim was to encourage Mexican and
American unions to help each other in cross-border organizing drives and to find
other “practical ways to work together.” Sweeney has opened the
borders to all immigrants in his rhetoric today: ” The AFL-CIO and
our member unions demand a path to citizenship for Immigrant workers
and fair treatment and freedom from exploitation for all the workers
of America."


Illegal immigrants know what Sweeney means as many of those same
Immigrants are now a part of Sweeney’s plan in this country. These same
illegal immigrants realize two things fully: They are here seeking what
they think are better jobs but they also understand where to look for
them knowing about their own unions and what ours could be via
Sweeney’s plan. Sweeney desires in America what all Mexican
immigrants know about their unions. In Mexico all public
sector workers are unionized and union density rates are still as
high as 30 % for the private sector while unions in America are
demoralized and in decline. Sweeney has a trap which the unions
are about spring on the Republicans that is left out from the
current immigration debate but should not be buried. Sweeney’s
trap starting in 1998 is a targeted campaign on this side of
the border by Big Labor casting aside a means of our
democracy-Secret Ballot Elections.



The campaign is really a series of organizing campaigns called card

check drives that are making huge inroads in traditionally Republican
areas of the South beginning with union successes in Houston and Miami.
Why the South for these union card check campaigns that the Democrats
haven’t won in years? Could it be because of the proximity to our
porous southern border bolsters what may appear now as a small minority
election victories into greater union successes boding ill against our
working freedom to come?



As pro- amnesty supporters will argue these same illegals help us by

taking jobs that no one wants. This is especially true when 11,000,000
illegals become legal through the guest worker program proposed by
Congress. These new legal citizens will become a part of the American
workforce. But this population explosion in our labor force is being
targeted by the unions in their card check organizing drives. Pro-
Amnesty supporters, whether they know it or not, are guaranteeing the
future of the unions by increasing the pool of workers into industries
the unions are targeting--precisely those jobs no one wants....

Realizing this boon, unions have organized pressure on pro-amnesty
Republicans to raise the white flag. During the Mayday strikes in LA,
which was one of the largest marches of illegal immigrants, unions
raised more than $100,000 and were responsible for security,
constructing stages and mass mobilization of illegals in the LA county
area. Republicans also know that unions payback Democrats at the polls.
Unions will use all their might to bring these new immigrants to polls
for the Democrats in 06 and 08 to defeat the Republican majority.



There is one counter the Republican conference can take as whole to
change this outcome. The counter will take the prime weapon of the
Democrats and their union minions away--the end to their card check
organizing drives. Such a counter spells out the erosion of union
support for pro -amnesty laws in this country. For If unions cannot win
elections by their rigged "card check" campaigns why target immigrants
at all? Such a counter would also nullify the negative election dynamic
if you are pro-amnesty Republican you are not also pro-union. Without a
counter Americans will live in fear before a Mexican reshaping of the
American labor force along the lines of its vast corruption and greater
magnitude of political influence on the Government of Mexico. That
single counter that should be used now is the Secret Ballot Protection
Act.


The Secret Ballot Protection act gives all legal citizens the
right to a Secret Ballot vote. Republicans need to defend this counter
that is being challenged by the Kennedy-Miller Bill enshrining the
defeat of Democracy in the American workplace. The best defense of the
Secret Ballot Protection Act is bringing SBPA to a vote. Without such a
vote American workers continue to be subjected to the intimidation and
violence of the unions in the public card check process. Unions do not
win elections when freedom is involved. By bringing the Secret Ballot
Protection Act to a vote with the Immigration Bill and passing it pro-
amnesty Republicans will be seen as supporting Democracy in the
workplace. Not passing SBPA now but passing amnesty in the immigration
Bill will allow unions to grow steadily in power and corruption over
the newly legal immigrants betraying the true promise of America to its
citizens. SBPA will send a strong signal to illegal aliens everywhere
with ideas to shut down cities with their union inspired violence that
the path from Mexico City to New York is not a reward for their
illegality by making certain a right to the illusory prize of union
membership.


The National Alliance for Worker and Employer Rights calls on
Majority Leader Frist, HELP Chairman Enzi, Speaker of the House
Hastert, Majority Leader Boehner and Chairman Mckeon of Ed & Workforce
to strengthen our national border protections against illegal
immigrants with even stronger internal borders in our workplace by
voting on and passing the Secret Ballot Protection act post haste.


http://www.congress.org/congressorg/web ... id=8813401

Having never been a union worker I am totally confused.

What are "card check" campaigns? What secret ballots are they talking about.

Isn't there any attorney who could explain what is this about?

I can't understand either.

I can't understand either.

Yep, it kind of sucks because I really DO want to understand. I want to know exactly how these union traitors are planning to undermine the jobs of potentially millions of hard working American citizens.

Card Check Q&A
Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about card check procedures. Click here for a fact sheet summarizing why workers need card check—a fairer alternative to the way union elections are now run—a critical component of the Employee Free Choice Act. For a general summary of the Employee Free Choice Act, click here.
1. How do card check procedures work under current law?

2. How do card check procedures work under the Employee Free Choice Act, and how are they different than current law?

3. What do union authorization forms/cards actually say?

4. Do card check procedures and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) elections require the same measure of majority support?

5. Why aren't secret ballot elections supervised by the NLRB more democratic than card check procedures?

6. How do card check procedures protect employees against pressure and coercion by union organizers?

7. How can the authenticity of union authorization forms be guaranteed?

8. Why is there an effort to enact card check legislation now, when traditional NLRB elections have worked for almost 70 years?
Q: How do card check procedures work under current law?

A: Under current law, employers can recognize a union if a majority of employees demonstrates that they wish to be represented by a union—usually by signing forms designating the union as their collective bargaining representative. It is illegal for employers to recognize a union that does not have majority support. On the other hand, employers are under no obligation to recognize a union even if 100 percent of employees have signed such authorization forms. For this reason, employees in many workplaces ask management to enter into so-called "card check" agreements, in which management agrees to voluntarily recognize the union if a majority of employees sign authorization forms or "cards." Employers may enter into these agreements to maintain good relations with their employees, to maintain good relations with unions at their other worksites, or to maintain a favorable public image. Respected community leaders or professional arbitrators are typically designated as neutral third parties to monitor the agreement and to verify that authorization forms have been signed by a true majority.

Q: How do card check procedures work under the Employee Free Choice Act, and how are they different than current law?

A: Under the Employee Free Choice Act, when a majority of employees sign union authorization forms, they can file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the NLRB must investigate the petition. If the NLRB determines that authorization forms have been signed by a majority of employees, it must certify the union as the employees' collective bargaining representative. The principal difference with current law is that the union must be certified when authorization forms have been signed by a majority of employees, whereas under current law the employer can refuse to recognize the union and insist instead on an NLRB election. Another difference is that the NLRB, rather than another neutral third party, must directly determine whether a majority of employees have designated the union as their collective bargaining representative.
Q: What do union authorization forms/cards actually say?

A: Union authorization forms typically contain language designating a particular union to represent the employee in collective bargaining negotiations on wages, hours and working conditions. Authorization forms also typically request other necessary information to identify the voter and verify the results, such as name, address, and Social Security number. The cards must be signed and dated in order to be counted. The Employee Free Choice Act directs the NLRB to develop model language for union authorization forms, which will ensure that the authorization form accurately advises employees of the consequences of signing the card.
Q: Do card check procedures and NLRB elections require the same measure of majority support?

A: No. Card check procedures—under current law as well as the Employee Free Choice Act—require a higher standard of majority support. Under card check procedures, a majority of all the employees in the bargaining unit must support union representation, and employees who cannot be identified or located are presumed not to support union representation. In NLRB elections, only a majority of those employees who actually vote is required.
Q: Why aren't secret ballot elections supervised by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) more democratic than card check procedures?

A: NLRB elections are actually less democratic than card check procedures. Card check procedures are better at ensuring employee free choice by allowing employees to express their true wishes free from employer coercion. Card check procedures avoid the anti-democratic and inherently coercive anti-union campaigns that are typical of the NLRB election process. See our card check fact sheet for more information on the problems with NLRB elections.
Q: How do card check procedures protect employees against pressure and coercion by union organizers?

A: It is illegal for anyone to coerce employees to sign a union authorization form. There is no evidence that existing remedies are insufficient to deter or remedy such coercion. Nor has pro-union coercion proved to be a problem in the Canadian provinces where card check procedures similar to those of the Employee Free Choice Act have been implemented.
Q: How can the authenticity of union authorization forms be guaranteed?

A: There is no evidence that falsification of authorization forms is a problem in either the United States or in Canada. Procedures commonly used to verify authorization forms include comparison of signatures on the form to signatures from the employer's payroll records. Signed authorizations are a widely recognized method of choosing legal representatives. The Employee Free Choice Act directs the NLRB to develop procedures to establish the authenticity of signed authorization forms.
Q: Why is there an effort to enact card check legislation now, when traditional NLRB elections have worked for almost 70 years?

A: Actually, the NLRB election process is more recent than card check procedures, and has not been the means by which most collective bargaining relationships have been established in the Unites States, either before or after enactment of the National Labor Relations Act. The Employee Free Choice Act is necessary today because employers have become increasingly bold in violating employees' rights and violating the law under the NLRB election process. The NLRB process was developed at a time when employer hostility to collective bargaining was much less vehement. In the 1950s and 1960s, employers did not routinely engage in the massive legal and illegal violation of employee rights that is commonplace today.
http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/tak ... ca_q_a.cfm