Lost perhaps in the recent frenzy of Congressional pillaging is the fact that President Barack Obama's labor union payoff is not yet complete. That means card check is headed back to the front burner.
U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Georgia), speaking on a national media conference call Wednesday morning, expressed concern about the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act," which wipes out secret ballot protections for workers in union elections and forces binding government arbitration on American businesses. It's called "card check" and it means unions will be allowed to vote themselves into workplaces by forcing workers to sign cards out in the open instead of voting a secret ballot. Then, if unions and management can't reach agreement, the federal government will swoop in and dictate terms.
Rep. Ben Chandler is in favor of this.
Price said he is concerned the bill sets the stage for "making employers liable for union pensions." That would represent very large costs that will ultimately be passed along to consumers.
Price also said he expects the card check bill to go through the Senate first, where Sen. Tom Harkin is putting together a "compromise." Price is skeptical that this move will work out well for workers.
"I don't think one can compromise away the right to a secret ballot," he said.
The devastating impact this bill would have on American prosperity combined with the cap and trade fiasco, another Chandler "accomplishment," should greatly concern central Kentucky voters.
