Report from the bloggers call with Rep. John Kline on the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act

Rep. John Kline (R-MN)

Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, held a bloggers conference call this afternoon to discuss the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, which the lower chamber is expected to vote on tomorrow.

Kline represents his state's 2nd Congressional District.

He started off by with a comment about a little-known but radicalized agency. "The Obama National Labor Relations Board" Kline said, "has been really busy this year. It's very clear to me that we're seeing the rights of employees and employers under attack." Kline then summarized earlier NLRB assaults--blocking Boeing from opening a large factory in a right-to-work state and easing the formation of unmanageable micro-unions--before getting to the heart of the call--his bill, which will prevent the outlier board from forcing "quickie" union elections upon unsuspecting businesses.

Currently, businesses have a little more than a month to prepare for a union election, the proposed "quickie" election rules could bring that timeframe down to 10 days, leaving firms just a week to work with legal counsel and prepare their case for their employees. Workers would only have ten days to ponder joining a union, according to the proposed NLRB rules. Businesses--and workers probably won't like this move--would have to turn over to the prospective collective bargainers information such as employee home and cell telephone numbers and email addresses.

Northfield--Minnesota's
2nd Cong. Dist.

The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act sets a 14 day period for a business to seek legal advice and present their case before an NLRB officer. It also stipulates that a union election cannot be held less than 35 days after a union requests it. The bill also give workers the choice on what personal information they wish to provide to a union. I assume they won't want to be pestered.

But the NLRB may be running out of time. Former SEIU lawyer Craig Becker's NLRB recess appointment expires soon. Also, the sole Republican on the board, Brian Hayes, is threatening to quit the agency to deny it a quorum.

"There is an absolute rush to get this done," Kline explained about the snap election proposal, "before Craig Becker's term expires next month."

In addition to the expected vote in the House, the NLRB is expected to vote on its quickie election rule change tomorrow. It will be a wild day in the capital on Wednesday.

I asked the congressman how much support he expects from both the GOP and the Democrats. He expects "overwhelming" support from his party, along with a smattering of votes from the minority party. He bases his estimate on a September House vote on a bill that would prevent the NLRB from blocking the opening of workplaces in right-to-work states, commonly called the Boeing bill.

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