Americans Oppose Burdensome Regulations Starting With Those Enacted By Obama’s Labor Board

Fred Wszolek
September 20, 2011
Townhall

For some time, we have been saying that Americans are concerned with the overly burdensome and stifling regulations coming from unelected bureaucrats in government agencies more concerned with rewarding special interests than facilitating job creation. This week, two separate polls revealed that voters believe government is getting in the way of business and that there is wide-spread opposition to the actions of the Obama Administration’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

A recent Tarrance Group poll shows the extent of the voter opposition with 74 percent saying they believe “businesses and consumers are over-regulated.”

Certainly many Americans have heard of the NLRB’s decisions that threaten a loss of jobs and business closures in an effort to payback Big Labor bosses who funnel hundreds of millions into Democrat political campaigns. Whether it’s the NLRB’s decision to require nearly all the nation’s private employers to post partisan notices of employees’ right to unionize, its proposed rule to close the election window and ambush employees and employers with a union vote, or to permit the formation of micro-units watering down the definition of a collective bargaining unit to give labor bosses a better chance to gain a foothold in the workplace, Americans are fed up with the job-killing rules this administration is adopting by regulatory fiat.

These anti-growth actions of government agencies include the National Mediation Board (NMB) that overturned nearly a century of precedent in order to force unionization on workers in the airline and railroad industries. It also includes the Department of Labor’s proposed rule expanding the public disclosure requirements for employers, law firms, consultants and trade associations that provide labor relations advice to employers during a union organizing drive. This rule, if implemented, will result in depriving employers of advice they need and in essence gag them from expressing their views in opposition to the formation of a union in their workplace.

But anti-regulatory sentiment is best reflected in response to the NLRB’s complaint against the Boeing Company for opening a new non-union facility in the right-to-work state of South Carolina. According to the Tarrance Group, “78 percent of voters side with Boeing in agreeing that a business should be able to open a facility in any state, and that the government should not be involved in the decision about where Boeing or any company locates new plants.”

The result of the Tarrance poll is fully supported by this week’s Rasmussen poll that demonstrates the depth of the opposition to Obama’s labor board with 59 percent of union members agreeing that Boeing should be able to operate its South Carolina plant.

It appears that President Obama is in tune, at least rhetorically, with the sentiment of the American people. He recently stated in his address to a joint session of Congress that “[w]e should have no more regulation than the health, safety, and security of the American people require.”

Yet when it comes time to stand up for workers and businesses, the president’s words are hollow and he is nowhere to be found. Instead, union bosses seem to be calling the shots. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) President Richard Trumka even brags about speaking with someone from the White House every day, including weekends.

With our economy stalling and millions of workers unable to find employment, Americans want strong and pragmatic leadership. Yet the Obama Administration is unwilling to respond and restrain its left-wing regulators who are smothering job creators with onerous and burdensome new rules and regulations that inject uncertainty and anxiety into the marketplace instead of stability and confidence. As a result, few employers are hiring, purchasing new equipment or expanding their businesses. They are leery of the agenda being aggressively pursued in Washington and the effect it will have on their business.

If President Obama wants to turn our economy around, the polling data demonstrates a clear way. He should step out from behind the teleprompter and tell his labor agencies to cease and desist from punishing employers and immediately stop the regulatory assault that is strangling our economy.

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AZ Daily Sun--Coconino Voices: PRO Act legislation would hurt local businesses

— 05.13.2021 —
By: Julie Pastrik Arizona businesses and workers have had an incredibly challenging year given the economic slowdown that followed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. However, local businesses and industries across the state are resilient and on the road to a strong recovery that will mean more jobs for Arizona workers and increased economic development to strengthen our communities. That is, as long as Congress does not move forward with potentially devastating legislation that would hurt local employers and employees alike while impeding our state’s economic recovery. Unfortunately, some members of Congress seem determined to do just that by pushing through the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. As harmless as the name may sound, the PRO Act would have serious repercussions for local businesses, particularly smaller ones, while undermining long-standing rights for employees and threatening the growing gig economy that has helped provide much-needed income for so many during this time. Arizona is fortunate to have leaders like Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, who have both refrained from joining the vast majority of their Democratic colleagues in cosponsoring the PRO Act. In a slap in the face to Arizona workers, the PRO Act removes one of the most fundamental rights a worker has when it comes to voting in elections to determine whether to unionize: the secret ballot. Instead, workers could be forced to sign union authorization cards in front of other employees, their employer, or union organizers. This bill would also destroy workers’ right to privacy by allowing unions access to personal information, including their home address and personal phone number. If that doesn’t open the door to union intimidation and harassment, I don’t know what does. As if that was not bad enough, the PRO Act would create major new challenges for Arizona businesses, making it harder for them to create jobs, expand in their communities, and even keep their doors open. It would redefine what it means to be a “joint employer” under national labor law, greatly complicating existing relationships between franchisors and franchisees as well as between business owners, contractors, subcontractors, and vendors and suppliers. At the same time, it would interfere with attorney-client confidentiality and make it much more difficult for small businesses to secure a legal advice on labor issues. Particularly harmful during these times, the PRO Act would apply a failed policy from California to national labor law by using the “ABC” test to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee. This makes it much harder to qualify as an independent contractor, threatening the freedom and flexibility that tens of thousands of Arizonans find in independent contracting and gig economy work. Ultimately, the PRO Act is bad public policy that only works for union leaders to inflate their falling ranks while threatening workers’ rights, undermining small businesses, and jeopardizing a growing part of our economy. This is not a good solution for Arizona, and Senators Sinema and Kelly should stay firm and not cosponsor this misguided legislation.
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