The American Freedom Network

Letter to Congress: “Card Check” union election legislation

January 11, 2009 – 3:39 pm

Dear Congressman:
Congratulations on your election and best wishes for a happy new year.  I’m writing about proposed ‘card check’ legislation for union elections.  I am a member of OPEIU Local 2002, by choice, as we do not have a contract for collective bargaining with my employer, and have been for seven years.  i helped organize elections for the USW and SEIU in the past.  I favor secret ballot elections.  “Card Check” is an invitation to a process tainted by coercion.  As such, it is patently un-American.  If this becomes law, I will resign my union membership, and I will work to oppose union elections in the future, as I will not be associated with intimidation, coercion, or any other form of un-Constitutional interference with the rights of Americans to freedom of association.

The quote below comes from the Detroit Freee Press 91/10/09).  I could not agree more.

” Card check critics say it can lead to workers being pressured by other workers to join the union. “The problem of having no secret ballot is intimidation,” said Richard Epstein, a law professor at the University of Chicago.

Epstein said card check legislation is unnecessary because the current law is working. He said National Labor Relations Board data shows that 38 days was the median time between when a petition for an election was filed and when an election occurred, and 93% of all elections occurred within 56 days.

And deciding a first contract through binding arbitration, Epstein said, is unconstitutional. By imposing contract terms, a company’s private property could be effectively taken without just compensation, he said. “

I urge you to do the right thing, and work to strip ‘card check’ from labor law legislation when such comes before the House of Representatives.

Respectfully,
-Lloyd A. Conway