Obama’s job-killing agenda

That’s good for union bosses, but terrible for workers, businesses and democracy.

Assuming that anyone not casting a ballot is, in fact, in favor of abdicating their own right to negotiate with their employer and allowing a union to represent them is deplorable.  When it comes to a complete overhaul of the way an employee interfaces with their employer, the wages and benefits they receive and conditions of employment, shouldn’t the threshold be much, much higher?  And at a minimum, shouldn’t the number of employee votes required to certify a union be the same as the law requires to decertify a union in the event the workers are dissatisfied?

Many airlines are opposed to the new rule because they will be faced with higher costs, which are now virtually guaranteed.  Airlines have been struggling for years, and this rule change stands to hurt the industry even more, and could once again put taxpayers on the hook if the airline industry goes the route of the automakers.

Today, businesses in America – both small and large – have no greater antagonist than an administration disingenuously professing its top priority is job creation, while advancing job-killing policies.  The Obama Administration continues to prove that it is more concerned with paying back labor bosses than creating jobs and growing our economy.

This new ruling isn’t the only extreme union-organizing idea that has been embraced by President Obama or those on Capitol Hill who owe the union heads.

The Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act (EFCA) is a scheme that will allow Big Labor to take over America’s small businesses and force workers into unions.

EFCA eliminates the secret ballot for workers during union-organizing elections, opening employees up to intimidation and harassment from union organizers.  Their votes would be open for all to see.  EFCA also forces workers and small businesses into contracts determining wages and benefits and that are binding for at least two years.  A federal bureaucrat – with no required knowledge of the business or industry – would set these contracts forcing many employers to close their doors or move overseas.

Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) recently proclaimed that he has “no higher priority” this year than passing EFCA.  The administration has also been consistent in its support for the bill, which is not entirely surprising considering union bosses invested half a billion dollars getting them elected in the first place.

Unfortunately, EFCA has been shown to cause the loss of 600,000 jobs in the first year of passage alone, with more to come.  That’s a reality that should capture the attention of any politician who wants to give Big Labor another payback.

Of course, these days, it seems what labor bosses want, labor bosses get.  But catering to special interests doesn’t serve the needs of America’s workers or small businesses and results in one thing, more lost jobs.

While this administration certainly seems to have taken the short view, voters will long remember that their interests have been traded away in exchange for the continued support of Big Labor bosses who now appear to be calling the shots in the West Wing. 

Katie Packer is the executive director of the Workforce Fairness Institute (www.WorkforceFairness.com).