Mitch McConnell: Shows Scorn for the American Worker, Again
As many of us are aware, Mitch McConnell led the charge in the Senate to kill Card Check Neutraility. He and his Republican colleagues in the Senate did so under the guise of "protecting the secret ballot in the workplace". Lets look at what the ultimate hypocrite in the Senate had to say about denying an even playing field for our workers over big business:
Any worker who has ever been involved in a union fight at their workplace realizes how ridiculous this statement really is.
First, lets talk about what the law McConnell was so proud of defeating would do. Currently when workers seek to unionize their workplace, they must have a majority of their co-workers sign a card saying they wish to have union representation. Some unions require as many as 70% of the workers sign the card. After a majority of the workers have signed, a union vote, the "secret ballot" McConnell talks about is scheduled.
Lets look again at one of McConnell's statements:
I can attest as a veteran of two union drives that both failed by one vote that the only party that was protected by McConnell's and his little big business slaves in the Senate was management. This is because when a large majority of union cards are filled out by employees, they go to the union rep who is trying to form the union. They are not shared with the company. In my opinion, once a majority of employees have filled out these cards, the union should be allowed to represent them, and negotiate a fair contract for them to work under.
Instead, we get the status-quo that McConnell and all his disciples in the Senate have fought for. We get to wait 6-8 weeks AFTER a majority of employees have decided they want the protection and benefits that only a union negotiating for them can provide. During this time, the company is free to pull them off one by one, and threaten, and if that doesn't work, bribe them with higher wages, promotions over more qualified people, and so on if they will vote against the union.
This has happened to me before. In both cases, when the company peeled off enough support to defeat the union by one vote, they shut the place down a couple of months later. The people who got all the promises made to them for being loyal to the company? Unemployment line.
So don't let McConnell or anyone else lie to you about why they defeated this bill. They want to preserve the right of companies to come in and poison the process with promises and threats. They seek to make sure that companies who face a union vote can coerce and intimidate their employees into voting no.
The fair thing would be to allow a union to organize and represent workers in a company when more that 50% have filled out cards saying they want the union to represent them. That is a workers right, not to wait for a vote while the whole time the company poisons the process with lies, promises and threats.
Once again, Republicans led by Mitch McConnell have decided that the rights of big business far outweigh the rights and futures of American workers. With the free-reign given to business over the American worker in the last thirty years, they flat out fear what will happen if workers really choose between union, and non-union. Don't let them hide behind the "secret ballot" excuse, because that is just an excuse to let companies poison the process and further deteriorate the one thing that gives the American worker a fighting chance, our labor unions.
McConnell and the Republicans in the Senate, and anyone who voted against card check neutrality are showing just what they are- whores to big business!!
Washington, D.C. â€" U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement after Senate Republicans succeeded in protecting workers’ right to conduct secret ballot elections:
"The principle of a secret ballot is deeply rooted in the American tradition, and workers here have enjoyed this freedom at the workplace by law for 60 years. While it is unfortunate that Democrats would seek to reverse this right, Senate Republicans today stood firm in defending it. By preserving the secret ballot in union organizing drives, Republicans made sure America's 140 million workers are not intimidated or coerced into siding with either labor or management -- and that anyone who would consider launching a future assault on the right to a secret ballot thinks twice before doing so."
Any worker who has ever been involved in a union fight at their workplace realizes how ridiculous this statement really is.
First, lets talk about what the law McConnell was so proud of defeating would do. Currently when workers seek to unionize their workplace, they must have a majority of their co-workers sign a card saying they wish to have union representation. Some unions require as many as 70% of the workers sign the card. After a majority of the workers have signed, a union vote, the "secret ballot" McConnell talks about is scheduled.
Lets look again at one of McConnell's statements:
Republicans made sure America's 140 million workers are not intimidated or coerced into siding with either labor or management
I can attest as a veteran of two union drives that both failed by one vote that the only party that was protected by McConnell's and his little big business slaves in the Senate was management. This is because when a large majority of union cards are filled out by employees, they go to the union rep who is trying to form the union. They are not shared with the company. In my opinion, once a majority of employees have filled out these cards, the union should be allowed to represent them, and negotiate a fair contract for them to work under.
Instead, we get the status-quo that McConnell and all his disciples in the Senate have fought for. We get to wait 6-8 weeks AFTER a majority of employees have decided they want the protection and benefits that only a union negotiating for them can provide. During this time, the company is free to pull them off one by one, and threaten, and if that doesn't work, bribe them with higher wages, promotions over more qualified people, and so on if they will vote against the union.
This has happened to me before. In both cases, when the company peeled off enough support to defeat the union by one vote, they shut the place down a couple of months later. The people who got all the promises made to them for being loyal to the company? Unemployment line.
So don't let McConnell or anyone else lie to you about why they defeated this bill. They want to preserve the right of companies to come in and poison the process with promises and threats. They seek to make sure that companies who face a union vote can coerce and intimidate their employees into voting no.
The fair thing would be to allow a union to organize and represent workers in a company when more that 50% have filled out cards saying they want the union to represent them. That is a workers right, not to wait for a vote while the whole time the company poisons the process with lies, promises and threats.
Once again, Republicans led by Mitch McConnell have decided that the rights of big business far outweigh the rights and futures of American workers. With the free-reign given to business over the American worker in the last thirty years, they flat out fear what will happen if workers really choose between union, and non-union. Don't let them hide behind the "secret ballot" excuse, because that is just an excuse to let companies poison the process and further deteriorate the one thing that gives the American worker a fighting chance, our labor unions.
McConnell and the Republicans in the Senate, and anyone who voted against card check neutrality are showing just what they are- whores to big business!!