Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Business fears a union renaissance

  1. #1
    Member gonerail's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Olean,NY
    Posts
    1,056

    Thumbs up Business fears a union renaissance



    WASHINGTON, D.C. - Who's afraid of a little organized labor? U.S. business, that's who, the Forbes Magazine Web site reports.

    Union membership encompasses just 7.5 percent of the private sector, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is fearful of a potential resurgence in the United States.

    Now the group, which represents business interests, is opposing a laundry list of bills fluttering about Capitol Hill, which the chamber says would make it easier to organize a union, expand worker benefits at the expense of employers and lift the caps on punitive damages sought by employees in lawsuits.

    "What's going on on Capitol Hill right now is nothing less than a radical rewrite of our nation's unemployment laws," says Randel Johnson, the chamber's vice president for labor, immigration and employee benefits.

    As a result, the group is about to revamp its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill and in states like Colorado and Minnesota--which will host the presidential nominating conventions later this year--to turn the tides on union expansion.

    But forget 2008. "We're very concerned about the next four years," Johnson says. The prospect of Democrats controlling Congress and the White House is unsettling for foes of labor expansion.

    Even before Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., sealed his party's nomination for president this week, he'd already scooped up endorsements from big unions like the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the United Steelworkers Union and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

    Labor issues do seem to be front and center this election season. Obama said he would consider renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement to keep more American jobs from being outsourced.

    Democrats in Congress have been firm about ensuring that labor clauses are part of international trade agreements, some of which are still pending. Labor disputes were reportedly part of what derailed merger discussions last week between UAL and US Airways Group. SEIU has waged a highly public campaign to close tax loopholes on so-called "buyout billionaires"--private equity and hedge fund managers.

    Teamsters spokesman Galen Munroe says, "It's pretty much accepted that Americans want change after the Bush administration," adding that the Employee Free Choice Act, designed to make it easier for workers to choose a union, would help strengthen the middle class. The measure didn't make it out of the Senate last year, but Obama has vowed to revive it if elected.

    That's exactly what the chamber and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, an alliance of local chambers of commerce and other business associations, fear. The groups say that because the bill would do away with the secret ballot voting that allows employees to choose a union, it would pressure individual workers to sign on. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, opposes the bill.

    Even if Democrats sweep Congress and the White House in November, the chamber and other business groups appear to have an ally in the Supreme Court. In several cases last year, the court ruled in favor of business interests, including several decision that limit frivolous lawsuits against employers.

    As early as next week, the court could rule whether a federal labor law pre-empts California's prohibition against employers using state money to deter union organizing campaigns. With many winds in Washington blowing in Big Labor's favor, business groups are hoping the justices come out on their side once again.

    (This item was posted on the Forbes Magazine Web site June 6, 2008.)

  2. #2
    Member raoul duke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    soup line
    Posts
    4,292
    Imagine that. . . suppress wages, take away job security, retirement security and make people worse off and they somehow get the idea that consolidating their collective power (something big business considers part of their gospel) just might work to their advantage.

    There was a well written academic essay that predicted and gave reasons for a resurgence of organized labor, only this time in the white collar sector. If I can find it, I will post it. (Though I got a feeling that I found it on Lexus/Nexus or another database I currently do not have access to.) It was written by a Chicago School Economist who did not come across as an ardent supporter of most unions, but the arguments he makes and the research and scholarship he uses made the case very persuasively.

    Basically the thesis was, as best I remember, that the labor movement will, ideologically, be a similar fight to the ones during the New Deal, except that the groundwork establishing the ability to organize is, as Supreme Court Justices like to say, "stare decisis et non quieta movere." So while the fight will be contentious, the venue within which to have the fight is already long established. Getting to the point where there was a "venue" was half the battle of the labor movement in the first half of the 20th Century.
    One beautiful thing about having a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations is that every disaster is measured in terms of economic loss. It's sort of like getting your arm sheared off in a car accident and thinking, "Damn, now it'll take longer to fold the laundry" as blood spurts from your arteries. - The Rude Pundit

  3. #3
    Unregistered Cgoodsp466's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Posts
    8,239
    And the carrier pigeon will make a comeback?

  4. #4
    Member raoul duke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    soup line
    Posts
    4,292
    Quote Originally Posted by Cgoodsp466
    And the carrier pigeon will make a comeback?
    It did. Except it was called a 747 Cargo Plane and it carried tons of mail.
    One beautiful thing about having a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations is that every disaster is measured in terms of economic loss. It's sort of like getting your arm sheared off in a car accident and thinking, "Damn, now it'll take longer to fold the laundry" as blood spurts from your arteries. - The Rude Pundit

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Unions use Union money to fight for the employment of illegal aliens?
    By Sylvan in forum USA Politics and Our Economy - President Joe Biden
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: December 10th, 2008, 05:53 PM
  2. The Union Boss Mindset
    By GG716 in forum A Monopoly on Our Community Services
    Replies: 56
    Last Post: October 21st, 2008, 06:18 PM
  3. Malvestuto Jr Fingered CONGI.LIBERALE for the FBI
    By Bringthetruth in forum USA Politics and Our Economy - President Joe Biden
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: April 30th, 2008, 09:42 PM
  4. School Board Members Pin Heads?
    By Cgoodsp466 in forum Schools and Education in Buffalo NY and surrounding area
    Replies: 68
    Last Post: February 22nd, 2008, 06:15 PM
  5. The Taylor Law and how it kills taxpayers....
    By takethepowerback in forum Morning Breakfast - Breaking News
    Replies: 118
    Last Post: April 10th, 2005, 06:27 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •