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Sunday, November 2, 2008
S. 1041: Employee Free Choice Act of 2007
How many of you have heard of this Congressional
Act which was introduced March 29 2007 by Senator Edward Kennedy? What would this act do? Well, let's let Senator
Orrin Hatch explain it.
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NDNhZmI1YzAxZjg3NjcwMGM1YTM2ODgxNDVkNzkyNmI=
I rarely agree with Senator Hatch on anything, however, I do agree with him on this issue. This Senate bill,
S.1041 would strengthen big labor unions but in a way that gives the workers little or no choice about
it. Casting secret ballots to decide whether there is sufficient support for a union is a system that has always served
us well. S.1041 would do away with secret ballots. S. 1041 has 46 Democratic co-sponsors (and no Republican co-sponsors),
in addition to Senator Kennedy who is the sponsor. The corresponding House bill is H.R.800. Everyone who is interested in
union issues should be watching these bills which are still in the legislative process in the Senate and House.
You can track these bills in Congress by using a very good site called govtrack. The link to it is:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/
Go to the top right corner where it says Bill Search and type in the number of the bill, its name or whatever
info you have. You will get detailed information about the bill. I use govtrack all the time.
Why do I bring this
up? Well, Senator Hatch, as a leading member of the ultra right Federalist Society, is an opponent of big entrenched
unions and of card checks as a tool for union organization. So, did he speak out when we were denied all ability to fight
a big entrenched union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, by federal judges who denied us all due process and issued a ruling
that does, indeed, strengthen and protect corrupt, entrenched unions? Did Senator Hatch object when we were
denied all ability to vote, secret or otherwise, on our representation? No. He was uncharacteristically silent. But of
course the judges principally involved, former judge Paul G. Cassell and appelate judge Timothy Tymkovich, are both members
of the Federalist Society. (Actually, I'm not sure about former judge Cassell. He was a member when he was a
judge but it is unknown if he still is.) Now why in the world would those two issue orders that are not only contrary
to all established labor law but are contrary to their own ideologies?
The Federalist Society is having their
annual convention in Washington, D.C. this month and incredibly, Judge Tymkovich is going to be the moderator on a panel discussion about
labor law and the bills I cited to above. http://www.fed-soc.org/events/id.529/default.asp I have written to the Federalist Society, both by email and letter, informing them that Judge Tymkovich, who showed
such contempt and disdain for the rights of workers in our case, is an inappropriate choice for moderator of a panel on labor
law. I included information about our case as well as links to several websites. You may read my letter which is in the
section titled Federalist Society.
10:09 am mst
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Please check out our " Statement of Purpose " Site. If you find
that you agree in whole, or in part, then you should consider signing on. There will be no dues or financial obligation. The
only thing we would ask is that you be honest about your intentions. It is the goal of this web site to correct the deficiency
in proper union representation for bargaining unit employees of the Utah Transit Authority.
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This web-site will be edited by me: Michael Carper, also sometimes known as 318, (my radio
call number). I will endeavor to treat all visitors to this site respectfully. You do the same. |
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