WFI responds to House Committee On Oversight reviewing rule change

The Republican push back against union payback contiues, which the Workforce Fairness Institue applauds.

From a WFI press release:

WFI Responds To House Committee On Oversight Reviewing Rule Change

Congressional Leaders Express Concern Over Regulatory Agency Upending Nearly A Century Of Precedent

Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2011) – The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) today released the following statement in response to Rep. Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Dennis Ross, Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on Labor Policy issuing a letter to the National Mediation Board (NMB) concerning its rule change forcibly unionizing workers in the airline and railroad industries:

"It is only appropriate that Members of the U.S. House express concern and review the National Mediation Board election rule change, which was designed to force workers into unions against their will," said Fred Wszolek, spokesman for the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI). "The rule requiring the support of a majority of workers to form a collective bargaining unit in the airline and railroad industries had been a bipartisan policy in place for nearly a century before the NMB recently made a radical change by administrative fiat requiring only a majority of those voting. Under President Obama this is more 'payback' to the union bosses who bankrolled his campaign. It is clear to any objective observer that the NMB’s actions were a giveaway to Big Labor bosses, and worker freedoms deserve both the protection and attention of the Congress."

BACKGROUND:

"Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., chairman of the oversight subcommittee on labor policy, are concerned labor union political influence may have compromised independence of the group charged with mediating airline labor disputes. In a letter to National Mediation Board (NMB) Chairman Harry Hoglander sent May 17th, Issa and Ross wrote that they 'are particularly troubled by evidence tending to show that this change in the rule was the result of a predetermined effort to advance a partisan policy agenda' … A June 2010 decision of the NMB, an independent agency that according to their website 'performs a central role in facilitating harmonious labor-management relations within two of the nation's key transportation modes – the railroads and airlines' altered the 75-year old 'majority rule' which held that only a majority of employees could affirmatively select a union for their representation.' (Press Release, "Friendly Skies For Big Labor?" Committee On Oversight & Government Reform, 5/17/11)

Related post:

NMB wrong can be righted

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