Here is an excellent WSJ article by Mark Mix of the National Right to Work Committee on Barack Obama’s support for the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act.
Mix recounts the role of the National Labor Relations Act, which vastly strengthened the hand of unions in 1936, in prolonging the Depression. The wave of strikes that rocked the economy in 1937 contributed greatly to the depression within the depression of 1937-38.
The new piece of special interest legislation, which Obama supports because union bosses want it (and will undoubtedly recycle some of the expected increase in dues money back into Democratic coffers) would do away with secret ballot elections. To zealots who think unions are invariably good, that may sound appealing, but the fact is that unions don’t have magical powers to make worker paychecks go up without any consequences. Mix points out that one reason why this bill is objectionable is that is would keep workers from hearing from the management as to why unionization might not be in their interests. I’d add that it would also keep workers from hearing from other workers who may have had bad experiences with unions in the past. It’s possible that union organizers might secure enough signatures (and by methods that might be dishonest or coercive) before there was any opportunity for real discussion of the question.
It’s incongruous that this bill is supported by so many people who otherwise are all in favor of maximum freedom of information exchange and debate. Evidently, enhancing the power of a political ally is more important than that.
