Excerpted from the WSJ, “Wal-Mart Warns of Democratic Win”, August 1, 2008
Through almost all of its 48-year history, Wal-Mart has fought hard to keep unions out of its stores … (When) a small number of butchers (unionized) in early 2000 … the company phased out butchers in all of its stores and began stocking prepackaged meat. When a store in Canada voted to unionize … the company closed the store, saying it had been unprofitable for years.
(Now) Wal-Mart is … warning that if Democrats win power in November, they’ll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies.
Wal-Mart executives claim that … unionization could mean fewer jobs as … payroll and health costs (rise) for companies already being hurt by rising fuel and commodities costs and the tough economic climate.
Wal-Mart’s worries center on a piece of legislation known as the Employee Free Choice Act … the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made defeat of the legislation a top priority.
Wal-Mart makes it clear that voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in (since) Sen. Obama co-sponsored the legislation … known as “card check,” … Sen. John McCain, the opposes the Employee Free Choice Act and voted against it last year.
The Employee Free Choice Act … would simplify and speed labor’s ability to unionize companies. Currently, companies can demand a secret-ballot election to determine union representation.
The proposed legislation, would let unions form if more than 50% of workers simply sign a card saying they want to join. It is far easier for unions to get workers to sign cards because the organizers can approach workers repeatedly, over a period of weeks or months, until the union garners enough support.
Employers argue that the card system could lead to workers being pressured to sign by pro-union colleagues and organizers.
Unions consider the Employee Free Choice Act as vital to the survival of the labor movement, which currently represents 7.5% of private-sector workers, half the percentage it did 25 years ago. (see chart below)
Business-backed lobbying groups are running ads … using an actor from the “Sopranos” TV series about mob life to hammer home their point.
For full article (worth reading):
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121755649066303381.html
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My POV
1. I was surprised to see how low the private sector unionization rate had fallen.
2. The Sopranos ad — which was playing on news shows over the weekend — is quite effective. It plays off historical sterotyping to make a strong visceral point.
4. The argument that secret ballots are a bad thing seems to have some holes … should we eliminate the secret ballot for presidential elections, too?
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From the WSJ article:
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