Marathon Pundit: Enzi seeks to head off ambush union elections

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Enzi seeks to head off ambush union elections

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)

While the so-called Warren Buffet tax now appears to be dead--thanks to the Senate standing up to President Obama--Congress still has more overreach to battle, including 'ambush elections,' as the Workforce Fairness Institute's Fred Wszolek tells us in Townhall:

After a few weeks of recess, Members of Congress will return this week to address a number of issues, including the budget, transportation bill and Buffet Rule. One of the issues that will likely come to a vote in the U.S. Senate in the coming weeks is a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which seeks to reverse a recent regulation promulgated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The change amends workplace election procedures limiting the ability of employers, especially smaller ones, from obtaining the fair representation and legal counsel they need to communicate with employees about the consequences of unionization. The new rule significantly minimizes the amount of time for union elections in private workplaces and deprives workers of their right to make an informed choice free from pressure or intimidation.

All of this comes as the nation continues to struggle and the backbone of America’s economy, small businesses, need greater confidence and certainty about the future. Unfortunately, though, unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. are less concerned with job creation and instead focused on paying back union bosses who were President Obama’s top political contributor in 2008 and have committed more than $400 million in support of his campaign in 2012. In cutting the amount of time for union organizing elections at least in half, Obama’s labor board has taken steps to implement by regulatory fiat the failed Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act, which does not have support in Congress and is adamantly opposed by the American public.

It is a breathtaking overreach that completely ignores the will of both employees and employers. The NLRB, which is stacked with members who have direct ties to Big Labor, decided last year to completely ignore the will of the majority who submitted 65,000 comments largely in opposition to undoing decades of Board law in favor of ambush elections.

Senator Mike Enzi, the author and sponsor of S.J. Res. 36 and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, recently wrote in the Washington Times, "This resolution will not change current law, which allows employees to call an election to persuade their colleagues to agree to form a union. It simply will protect employee privacy and the rights of employers from an aggressive federal agency pushing a pro-labor agenda. Failing to act will leave employers without the ability to comment in a timely manner on union promises or simply have a fair chance to give their side."