Labor unions have been trying hard to get “card check” passed in the 111th Congress. They have so far failed and this outcome isn’t likely going to change. Tuesday’s election results send a strong signal that voters object to the Employee Free Choice Act, currently pending in Congress. 4 states, Arizona,South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah passed initiatives protecting the secret ballot in worker organizing elections.
Heritage’s blog has a good explanation on why voters don’t want card check, especially in this economy where fueling economic and job growth are top priorities:
The American people do not want the government to take away workers’ right to a secret ballot and they do not want workers to be pressured into joining a union. Unions do not always benefit workers, and workers should be free to decide privately whether they want to join. Unions often hurt the companies they organize. Studies typically find that unionized companies invest less than nonunion companies and lose jobs at higher rates. When unions do win above-market wages it puts workers at particular risk of losing their jobs. Economists have also found that states with more union members took considerably longer than those with fewer union members to recover from the 1982 and 1991 recessions. Workers should have the right to privately decide whether they want to join a union. Yesterday the American people said they agreed.
This outcome sends a powerful message to Democrats in Congress who may have considered making one final push in a lame duck session to pass the so-called Employee Free Choice Act. Voters in all four states said “YES” to preserving workers’ right to vote against unionization of their establishment without fear of exposing themselves to pressure, or worse, from co-workers and union recruiters.
I doubt that Democrats, who took a severe beating by Republicans in this election, will try to pass the more accurately termed Employee Coercion Act this lame duck session. With the 2012 elections already in mind, Democrats won’t risk losing the Presidency by shoving another, unwanted, Act down voters’ throats. This time they can’t get away with “you’ll like it once it’s passed.”