Since the Employee Free Choice Act went on legislative life support – meaning there’s little chance that unions will find it easier to organize workers – the administration has hit the issue from a different angle. Here’s the latest example of that.
The National Mediation Board, the labor regulatory body for railroads and airlines just made the path to unionization smoother in those industries, by changing the union voting rules, by a 2-1 vote, with support of the Airline Pilots Association.
Under the old rule a union could be certified only if it was approved by a majority of the workforce that would be organized. Under that arrangement, workers who didn’t cast ballots were essentially counted as “no” votes. Now, under the new rule, if a majority of the voting employees say “yes,” the union gets in.
Will it spread?
OK, so the agreement for now only affects the two industries – airlines and railroads. And it might be alarmist to say there will be a spread of unionization from this latest action. But consider the story behind the story.
The NMB’s vote was made possible by the Obama administration’s appointment of a new member to the board, one who was the swing vote in favor of changing the voting rule. Now, connect the dots and tie that to the latest Obama appointments to the National Labor Relations Board: two lawyers who have represented unions. The NLRB has control over a broad range of industries and general matters of unionization.
Where’s it all going? Stay tuned.
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Tags: Employee Free Choice Act, National Labor Relations Board, National Mediation Board, Obama, union
May 20th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
What is wrong with Unions. They have done more for workers rights than big business has. They bring the wages up to “living standards” for everyone. Don’t knock it til your try it. All people have a chance to vote Yes or No! Let the vote be counted.
May 20th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Wow that is absolutely terrifying. Another foot in the grave for american enterprise, it’s not like American railroad has been able to produce anything worth a hill of beans under federal supervision and now they are going to add more unions into the mix! ugghh (sound of disgust with hands being thrown in the air)
May 20th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
This ruling is fair, reasonable, and consistent with American voting rules. In our political elections we only count those who voted. Non-voters do not count. This ruling makes union votes held to the same standard as our political voting.
May 20th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Unions have served their purpose in the US. They should all be obsolete. Why do you think the cost of Governement is so high. The Erie county government is at the mercy of 6 goverment unions. They don’t take a pay hit when the rest of the county does. They get raises. That’s just local. Pennsylvania’s socialist “Liquor Stores” pay union wages, retirement, medical….
May 20th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Like they drove manufacturing out the unions will drive other industries out of the country. I was on the Board of Selectman in our town for six years and saw first hand the unions greed. It’s more important for them to save their bennies than jobs.
After all whose public safety are they compromising if there are lay offs? Yours and mine. Whose childrens education suffes if there are 30 or 40 kids in a class? Yours and mine. The unions had their day and we should all be thankful for that. However that day has long passed. We have a number of state, local & federal employment laws to protect employees in 2010!
May 20th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Why am I not suprised!!! Our government is as corrupt as the unions and the wall street robber barons!
May 20th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
He is so transparent……. nothing he does shocks after the health care bill…..
May 20th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
I guess we’ll find out how smart unions are with the Government takeover of Chrysler and the arm-twisting of the contracturally-preferred investors to give majority ownership to the union. Now you have an entity in charge of a puplic company with strong vested interest to the shareholders (including themselves) to maximize their return ….. when all they know how to do is bleed a business dry for the union members and their parasitic representation.
Agree unions had their purpose at one time, but they have now made most manufacturing in the US highly uncompetitive. No investment for the future has been allowed for the last 50 years.
May 20th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Unions have done lots of harm to government, manufacturing, mining, and transportation with their work rules and inflexibility, but greedy management is equally to blame.
We could make an argument unions were not needed:
If senior executives did not make an average of 400 times the plant workers salary:
If senior executives did not get golden parachutes when they leave a company after their mismanagement:
If plant workers pensions were not lost when senior executives bankrupt a company
Then maybe there would be no need for unions.
May 20th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
I agree with John Miller. Our problems in America are not because of “unions” per se; they are a result of unethical, corrupt practices that can be found at all levels of business and government. I have worked with big business and I have worked for unions, so I have a pretty fair perspective.
A little more hard work, a lot more honesty and a lot less greed would fix most of our problems.
May 20th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Just what the country needs, more union members. It is bad enough that the average government union worker makes 32% more in wages and benifits than a person in the private sector doing the same job. Now we will have more folks doing less and getting more.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Good point about senior management greed, misdeeds, poor management and golden parachutes. But unions aren’t solving that problem. They are two separate problems. We need alternatives and/or solutions to both. Unions may have been the answer 40+ years ago, but no longer. They are as corrupt, if not more so, as many of the big corporations we see in today’s headlines. Who suffers? Small business, among others.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Most union members are hard workers providing a “middle class” lifestyle for their families. Take out the protections of unions and corporations will drive wages down even further. Do you want to be able to afford a decent home, send your children to college and retire in comfort (not wealth)!! Unions are more important today than ever before. You would not have a 40 hour work week, vacation benefits or health & welfare benefits or pensions without the help and assistance of unions. Corporations are greedy and they just think only of profits not public.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Since I am a modern American, anything I say will be interpreted as self-serving.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Uh, hello? This is not new. This does not only affect those two industries “for now”. This is already how it works in all NLRB elections. A simple majority of all those that vote is what it takes to win the election. Thats been the law for years. So much for the Obama bashing and his “backdoor approach to unionization”. Guess you need to go make up some other nonsense to bash him on.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
This sounds like a great idea. If we have 1,000 workers and only 10 vote, and 6 of them vote union, we’re union! Brilliant, and so effective against corruption. The only real question is who will fill the gaping vacuum in the Republican party so we can bid goodbye to Karl Obama.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Peter, how is that different from our next general election? 30 Tea Party folks vote for Palin, the rest of the country sits out the election in disgust and Palin is our next President. If the non-voters care they would vote. And what is wrong with socialism? Socialism and Communism are not the same thing. Norway is a far more successful country than we are economy wise and they are capitalist and care for their people. No reason why a janitor should not make enough money to keep his family out of poverty and the biggest bank owner does not need to make $100,000,000 especially as his money is not at risk like in the good old days.
May 20th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Wake up people….this is not Obama. This has been how NLRB elections have worked forever. It might be new to Railroads and Airlines but are any of them not organized already? And where it really matters, NLRB elections, its nothing new.
May 20th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
John, despite her occasional gaffe, I would take Palin over Obama in a nano-second. And what is wrong with socialism? Have you not studied history, or have you ever worked in Europe? When I was running a company there I was told that if I hired a woman and the next day she told me she was pregnant, I would lose her, at full pay, for at least six months of her pregnancy. Can you appreciate the unintended consequences of such rules? Grecian hairdressers get hazard pay for working with “dangerous chemicals”, then get to retire, on the rest of society, at age 50. This is why Europe is going berserk — entitlements. Such rules are everywhere in Europe; following them into economic catastrophe is pure folly. And who, John, is wise enough to decide what a janitor or a bank owner deserves to make? Take away the opportunity to make a few billion like Gates, Jobs, Buffett and Spielberg and you gut the lifeblood of this country. Say hi to the Norwegians for me.
May 20th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
I’m not pro union, never joined one, and own a business. But I see this rule change as sticking with the common US voting practices. Unions aren’t always beneficial in the long run. But I also think that often, if workers feel they are treated fairly, and they aren’t fed a line of bull about cuts while the execs make multi millions, they won’t jump on the union bandwagon.
Federal workers and UAW (the job bank) are examples of unions that over reach. UPS is another. C’mon, $80k a year for a delivery driver? I know they work hard, but really?
But sometimes unions help with working conditions and fair pay.
May 20th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
I can understand why those that support unions think they are good. They have no idea how economics work. I own a manufacturing shop and I can tell you this. If a union even tried to form I would fire all involved. Why you ask? For those of you libtards, if I have to pay more then I have to charge more resulting in less sales and eventually close down the company and all your union people are out of a job while union managment still get paid. The reason why the cost of living is higher is because of the high unio wages. While yes prive sector would beniffit more, guess what they also would create more jobs on other businesses. That is exactly what I do if I had a union shop I would have a company with 60 tp 80 employees but I am able to have 120 employees at that company as well as an aditional 100 emplyees in three other companies. Try thinking big picture not personal gain
May 20th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
“And what is wrong with socialism? ” I can’t believe you actually said that John!
Yes socialism is different from communism. Look what a great thing the National Socialist Party was to Germany in 1935!
Just look at the nirvana that is Greece today, with several others countries close behind. Socialism works great until you run out of other peoples money!
May 21st, 2010 at 4:55 am
Look! I don’t know a lot about other unions. But on this I have some insight. I’ve been a manufacturing business owner for 37 years. I don’t have an adversarial relationship with my employees, of which I have had over 60. No suggestion of union has ever come up. But the airline unions are a joke and powerless internally and externally. Since the Reagan Days (for whom I voted) Unions have been legislatively gutted. And so the middle class. I spent $100,000 on our sons education to become a pilot. His fist job as a ALPA union member he started at $18,500 a year, was on duty 50+ hrs a week and home for no longer than a full day per week. Recently his Airline was charging him $30. for a seat on his own plane to fly to home from his base. He has meet many pilots whom after 10 years have worked up to Captain, earning as much as $90,000 per year. Only to have to start over as co pilot with no seniority and $18,500 income after there company goes bankrupt (example Aloha). I could go on and on. Large corporations are out of control as our financial institutions and BP have so aptly proved.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:16 am
Visit the site http://www.democraticroad.com and pick up a copy of “Every Worker Should be in a Union” if you would like to learn the real truth about unions and what the results would be if this nation were to have everyone enrolled.
May 21st, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Matthew, you’re being as blind as the people who think unions are the greatest thing since sliced bread. To think that only you know how economics work. Statements like that show that you really don’t, you only know what has worked for you. I would be interested to see what you would really do if your employees went union. I think you’re just blowing smoke, and you would deal with it.
I’m not saying it would be a good thing. It often isn’t, for anyone. If you’re treating your employees fair, you should have nothing to worry about. I just know smoke when I see it and smell it.
May 21st, 2010 at 12:42 pm
A few last thoughts for you, John.
1. Millions of people are not risking death and their life savings to get into Norway. Despite huge differences, our assimilation of foreigners is second to none, and our country and its values remain the envy of the world.
2. Without the US, what’s left of the Norwegians — and countless others — would either be speaking German or Russian today.
3. Tack on the actual cost of defense that Europe doesn’t have to spend because we protect their butts and we’ll see just how generous these nations remain toward their citizens.
May 21st, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Another egregious grab of power by the Obamacons – these mofo’s think the taxpayers should
bail out the union pensions. This country is on the brink of a complete
commie takeover by BO and his Chicago thugs. It makes me sick!
May 21st, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Another reason Norway is still somewhat viable financially, they have done a splendid job of exploiting their national resources, actually drilling in the ocean for oil.
Oil and gas account for 50% of their exports, and about a quarter of their economy.
It also helps that they voted NOT to join the EU, so they have their own currency.
May 21st, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Peter,
One difference is that the US lets these foreigners in. We don’t even deal harshly with illegals. Canada, the UK, Australia, France, etc all have a fair amount of immigrants, often from those same countries people risk life and limb to leave. However most other 1st world countries deal much differently with immigrants, particularly illegal. Try going to Norway illegally and finding a job. The US ranks 26th in net migration per capita, behind Canada, and Australia, with Sweden just behind us.
I agree with your comments regarding cost of defense. One reason I get sick of people comparing our taxes to Ireland is that they fail to compare the cost of our defense budget and infrastructure.
May 21st, 2010 at 2:25 pm
D Schaer,
It would be nice if you knew what you were talking about, because I don’t. The PBGC insures most pensions, and operates much as the FDIC does. It gets no money from the general tax revenues, but collects a premium from the pensions it insures.
I am not pro union or pro capitalist. I am a realist. Corporations will screw you just as much as unions will, and screw the government as well. Example: Hartford takes bailout money, then makes a $39 million (yes, you read that right) pension payout to the retiring CEO. Taxpayer bailout money to the guy driving the ship when it struck the reef. 1 guy. $39 mil.
May 21st, 2010 at 4:23 pm
You enjoy your weekends? Thank the unions!
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:22 am
The Largest cause of loss Manufacturing Jobs in America is globalization. Do you expect American employees to work for the same wages as China to be competitive? China also artificially holds their currency down to make exports more affordable. Last time I looked price parity on the dollar was over 2 to one. One dollar buys over twice the goods in China as it does here. On top of that the Chinese Government subsidizes is exporters. I think you’d better look deeper than unions if you want someone to blame. If you think government regulation and controls are the problem how do explain China’s success with a single party Communist system. China now has more billionaires than any other country I’m all for capitalism but the self interest that makes it work is supposed to be for the benefit of the whole. I don’t think that self interest, in that context is synonymous with greed. Consciousness and benevolence needs to be a guiding principle in business and government for humanity to succeed on this planet. It’s amazing how many people who call themselves Christians (not me) don’t get this.
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:42 am
Hey Marcell.
Just wanted you to know Hitler was against Unions and Marxism which he considered to be Jewish constructs. By the way he almost conquered the World with his model.
May 23rd, 2010 at 6:09 pm
I am afraid D Shaer is right, here is a link to a recent article on MSN:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/up-next-a-huge-pension-bailout.aspx
Remember, this is the same administration that turned the financial market upside down by giving 51% of GM to the union, while paying bondholders 15-22% on the dollar.
There is a reason retirement funds have invested in bonds, they always get paid first, unless of course there is a union that elected the president is involved!
Any wonder the market is shaky? We are in sooooo much trouble!