Democrats put workers' rights at risk

By Charles Lehmann October 5, 2008

Politicians are notorious for giving flowery definitions to legislative bills by using words that camouflage the real intent of a proposed piece of legislation. A perfect example is the "Employee Free Choice Act" that Democrats are trying to shove down our throats because of fear of alienating one of their biggest financial supporters, the national trade unions.

The "Employee Free Trade Act" would do away with the "secret" ballot voting system that workers now have when they vote to accept or not to accept representation by a union. In it's place, they want a system whereby someone ( a union organizer) would be able to come up to a worker and ask that worker to sign a card (called a "card check") stating that they want to have the union represent them.

Sounds fairly benign and harmless, until you add in the possible intimidation factor of having a worker having to tell the "union organizer" that he doesn't want to sign that card to have the union represent him.

Do you think he would be prone to sign that card if he knew that others would know that he didn't want the union? Well, that's what they, the unions and their flunkies in the Congress, want to do by proposing this EFCA — they want to take away a workers right to choose or not to choose union representation in the privacy of the voting booth.

This is just a ploy, by the unions, to try to increase their membership. The " big enchilada" for the unions is to attempt to organize the mammoth Wal-Mart company, a company where the workers have consistently rejected union representation in the past. By using the "Employee Free Choice Act" as a hammer over the heads of the workers, they feel their efforts would be much easier to accomplish with the goal of getting hundreds of thousands of new dues-paying union members in the fold.

This, to me, is un-American and an invasion of our privacy. The Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, is co-sponsor of this ill-conceived piece of legislation, and he said he would sign it if it came to him as President.

Here's what Obama has said publicly: "We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act. It's not a matter of when. We may have to wait for the next president to sign it, but we will get this thing done."

John McCain, his opponent, said he would not sign this piece of legislation.

Just recently, a liberal icon, former senator and former Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern, wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal urging his fellow Democrats to abandon this assault on the Constitution and to withdraw that un-American bill from further consideration.

Even a far-left liberal and ardent union supporter, like George McGovern, can understand why this bill must not become law. In our local congressional elections, incumbents Robert Wexler (D-19th district.) and Ron Klein (D-22nd district) are in favor of this piece of legislation while their respective challengers, Edward Lynch and Allen West are against it and in favor of the "secret ballot" in union elections as it stands now.

The "choice" is clear to all right thinking Americans No "Employee Free Choice Act," because there is no "free choice" in it.