Obama Admits To Favoring Big Labor - Workforce Fairness Institute

Katie Gage

September 16, 2010

Daily Caller

Earlier this week, President Obama confirmed what small business leaders and concerned workers fear most: that he will spare no effort to achieve Big Labor’s goals. The president admits that labor’s top priority, the job-killing, rights-stripping Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act (EFCA), does not have the votes it needs to pass in the Senate. And with his own words, the president acknowledged that he has unambiguously aligned himself with union bosses seeking to bypass Congress and cram their priorities down the throats of the American people.

“What we’ve done instead [of getting EFCA passed in the Senate] is try to do as much as we can administratively to make sure that it’s easier for unions to operate and that they’re not being placed at an unfair disadvantage,” Obama said.

Considering Big Labor bosses already win the majority of workplace elections, the comments are as dishonest as they are gratuitous.

How is the Obama administration delivering on Big Labor’s agenda administratively? Let me count the ways.

The Obama administration inserted former American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) attorney Craig Becker into the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after Beck was rejected by the US Senate. Considering that he has refused to recuse himself on decisions the NLRB makes affecting his former employers and Big Labor friends, Becker’s credibility is in serious question, while his bias is not.

Secondly, in a recent report to the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee, the Obama administration claimed that organizing a union in America is difficult and that that difficulty constitutes a human rights offense. The audacity of this claim is bad enough, but for our own government to make it on an international level is a perfect example of the great lengths to which the president will go to draw attention to Big Labor’s demands.

The third example of the Obama administration’s pro-union boss agenda is the undemocratic regulation put through by the National Mediation Board (NMB). This three-member board, which oversees airline union elections, contains two Obama appointees. Both appointees have ties to airline industry unions and both support a new system of voting that would overhaul a rule that has been in place since 1935. Under the new system, votes not cast would count as votes for union bosses. Under the current system, the NMB recognizes a workplace as unionized if a majority of its workers who vote support unionization.

The new system assumes that workers who do not vote support having someone else in charge of representing their interests. Who proposed this new voting system? The AFL-CIO, Craig Becker’s former employer. And why does the AFL-CIO deserve special treatment? Because union bosses contributed nearly half a billion dollars to get President Obama elected and have demanded “payback.” In the coming months and years, we can expect to see more and more “payback” to Big Labor bosses as this president prepares for his re-election campaign and feels the need to produce results for his biggest benefactor.

More union members translates into increased dues, which, coupled with a pension bailout, is exactly what these union bosses want and, it appears, exactly what Obama intends to give them at the expense of worker freedoms and small business jobs.

Katie Gage is executive director of the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI).

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

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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.