2009. The act was fi libustered and never made it to a fl oor vote. Filibusters stopped similar
moves by labor-backed congress- men in 1978, Sherk says. “That’s why the unions want to get rid of the fi libuster,” he says, noting eff orts in Congress to limit the use of the procedure. “If the fi libuster went away entirely, they would have gotten it passed in 2009.” Sherk describes the card-check
push as “a very tough lift for the unions.” Making workers vote on whether to unionize is a “very unpopu- lar policy,” he says. Sherk and Mix say big labor’s only
realistic path to card check is via the National Labor Relations Board. And certainly the Obama administration has shown no reluctance to use exec- utive-branch powers when it can’t get its way in Congress. “Organized labor knows, and his-
tory tells us that, if they can just get their foot in the door . . . and get the statutory authorization, they can build a structure that would surprise just about anyone,” Mix says.
LABORING AGAINST A TREND
American union membership has experienced a precipitous drop since the 1980s. The unions want to turn that trend around with new rules.
18 17 16 15 14 13 12
UNION MUSCLE Protesters in Michigan failed to block right-to-work legislation in December.
As an example, he cites the Nation-
al Labor Relations Board’s 2011 deci- sion declaring that Boeing Co. had committed unfair labor practices by moving part of its 787 Dreamliner air- plane production from Washington state to South Carolina, a right-to- work state. About 1,000 South Caro- lina jobs were created. The board dismissed the complaint
after the Machinists Union ratifi ed an agreement with Boeing regarding air- line production in Washington. “If we hadn’t blown it up publicly, Boeing might have agreed to some-
A RIGHT TO WORK
A right-to-work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union. Many states are enacting such laws, and more are considering them.
thing to get the case to go away — and they probably would have agreed to a card-check unioniza- tion drive,” Mix says. “The board could say, We now have a prec- edent that says we can impose card-check unionization drives on companies that are adjudicated as having committed an unfair labor practice.” But facing their falling enrollment numbers, unions con- tinue to push the envelope. Sherk cites a case before the NLRB that would require employers to turn
over personal information of employ- ees to unions, including home tele- phone numbers and email addresses. “The unions will come back again
and again to the homes of workers who won’t sign the cards and press them to change their minds,” he warns, which would invite harassment. Sherk doubts that Trumka and the
unions will be able to seize their card check prize, however. “The president and the Democrats in Congress would be happy to give the unions card-check if they could,” he says. “The votes just aren’t there.”
14.366
l
l
l ’83 ’85
l
l
l
l
l ’90
l
l
l
l
l ’95
l
l l
l
l ’00
l
l
l
l
l ’05
l
l
l
l
l
l l ’10 ’12 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Right-to-work state Forced-unionism state
MAY 2013 | NEWSMAX 19
PROTESTERS/REBECCA COOK/REUTERS/LANDOV / FIST/ISTOCKPHOTO
membership in millions
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