Good Democrats support the Employee Free Choice Act. Are you listening, Michael Bennet?
By John Amato Tuesday Mar 03, 2009 6:30amWhen I read this story I almost puked.
When asked, Sen. Michael Bennet either "doesn't know" if he supports The Employee Free Choice Act or "hasn't decided" yet. Truly amazing. Bennet, who, you'll recall, was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO) to replace Sen. Salazar, hasn't had to be accountable to the people of Colorado so I guess doesn't see any reason to ruffle any feathers by actually taking a stand on one of the most important pieces of legislation he's likely to vote on in the coming year.
Great work by Darcy and CO-06 challenger David Canter for applying pressure on Bennet and the entire Colorado congressional delegation to come out strongly and vocally in support of The Employee Free Choice Act.
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The thing is, this really shouldn't be difficult or controversial. This is, as Darcy says, about the basic rights of workers to organize. EFCA is a bill that passed the House in 2005 and 2007 on a bi-partisan basis.
How can a Democratic member of Congress, (even if they were appointed because of a cabinet post) have no idea where they stand on EFCA? It's a joke. Big business does not want workers to unionize. It really is that simple. The unions helped make this country a great one. Sen. Michael Bennet should be ashamed of himself.
And it's clear that every vote will be needed this go-around, so Bennet's dilly-dallying just gives the Republican hardcases aid and comfort.
It's so nice to see Darcy Burner step up to the plate. This bill is a must. It gives workers the choice on how to unionize and not the employer. Again, it's that simple. There's no mystery about it. Republicans hate unions and they will do what they always do: Whine and Obstruct. Please go here and sign the petition.
Orrin Hatch will probably have a staged heart attack on Hardball just to emphasize how much he hates unions. He's already said it will destroy American civilization, so I imagine he's working on his method acting chops.
In a time when unions are outraged with Democrats for their pro-immigration policies, big labor has launched an unprecedented lobbying campaign to force workers into unions. Labor unions are supposed to protect workers’ rights, yet union bosses want Congress to pass a law that actually robs workers of their democratic right to a private ballot.
That's an outright lie and he will continue to lie about it.
The Republicans are well aware that stopping unionization is an imperative. They are the party which represents the owners of America above all others. (So are Democrats, mind you, just to a lesser degree because their coalition is much broader, which may also be why they are suddenly having a hard time putting together enough votes for this legislation now that it could actually be signed.) They are readying a full court freak-out --- if you think Rush's caterwauling about socialism and Stalin is bad now, just wait.
The Republicans are always going to stage a hissy fit on this, no matter what, so there's no point in trying to find "the right time." They have signaled that they have no intention of cooperating on any legislation that doesn't only benefit rich people it's useless trying to bargain either. In for a penny and all that rot. Might as well do it while the doing is possible.
Please go here and sign the petition.
Progressive congressional candidate David Canter (CO-06) called on every member of the Colorado delegation to endorse the Employee Free Choice Act. Can you add your voice to the cause by signing this petition today?
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"They are the party which represents the owners of America above all others. (So are Democrats, mind you,"
ahhh good old truth.
hey can we stop being red vs blue team for a minute and hold the owners accountable for selling out ALL of our futures to offshore interests?
hmmm?
x
Hey I too believe unions should be able to coerce employees into joining. This is America, right?
Silicon Valley and all it's tenacles isn't exactly Pro Union.
in a way they do make up for it. Bring your dogs to work, plenty of food, beer and Starbucks, hell why even have your own place just live here at work!
I'm sorry, but I can't get over the Orwellian newspeak being thrown around by both sides in this debate. It's "The Employee Free Choice Act" or the "card-check thingamabob". No one, I repeat, no one EVER explains the legislation in simple terms without bringing on a full court press to sway the reader into adopting whatever side they are coming from.
I'm a progressive on most issues, but I don't blindly subscribe to the union doctrine, so I can't support this legislation until someone objectively explains it, including both the pros and the cons, without me feeling like I'm being sold a used car.
Here is a reasonably good explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_Free_Ch...
What does it mean? It means that nurses in St. Louis would not have been ostracized and/or fired for trying negotiate better working conditions and better salaries. It happened about 5 or 6 years ago. The hospital did everything to make the lives of the organizers a living hell. This is one area, just one, where Free Choice Act would have benefited employees and as a side, would benefit the general public.
Bennet was head of the Denver school systems, never having to face an election for any position. He was appointed by Ritter over some strong objections from the public. It doesn't surprise me one bit that Bennet is in this position.
If you are working at a place that is NOT union, you are a employe at will. this means you have no Rights. The employer can fire you for any thing they want,and they do not have to tell you why. So if your employer is a repug and you are a dem or in the guy who complaines about a war started on lies, or you complain about the companies medical insurance. you will be gone. I worked for such a companie. it was a privat prison. they have a federal contract. there are ruled they are to fllow. they Don't. one of the things in the contract is they are getting $3.07 an hr per officer for medical insurance. this money is for medical only. We had 600 co's x $3.07hr for 1 year=$5,378,640. what kind of shit insurance did they get us. a $4500 per family member copay! We found out they were keeping the money. we had to pay $156 a for this shit insurance. when we bitched about, people were fired. So we got a union in. they were pissed.Now we filled charges on them for fraud. people had rights now. there were no more co's called into the capatins office with 3 or 4 of the brass and 1 co. the co had a rep with him and the capatins and Lt could NOT talk to the co with out his or her union rep there. The one thing I do not like about beeing a union rep is the slackers who cry when they f-up and want me to help them. The other thing is when we get a good contrtact, some of the menbers don't come to the meetings any more. Look at wal-mart, home depot, they hate unions, wonder why?
EVERYONE needs to understand that Bennett does NOTHING without checking first with Phil Anschutz...Bennett is Anschutz's butt boy and doesn't talk an afternoon walk on Sundays without checking with Phil first.
Yeah, right.
They are all the same, no matter how little the so called Progressives at C&L think otherwise.
Its a shame that true Progressives can't fathom this very simple idea. You have your Democratic party to uphold, right?
Basically what has happened is that C&L left progressive values to focus on a Party. My bet is that it is related to money now. Such is the world.
as soon as we had a candidate named this site went from being a go-to for truthful news analysis to another talking point filled red vs blue orgy.
has C&L even done a post on obama running with the bush doctrine? or not closing the 100+ other gitmos we're running around the globe?
Let me just first say that I support this legislation and I think the Democratic Party ought to do its best to rally its own behind getting it passed. I also know that this will likely never be read as it isn't a sexy thread and is down on the page now.
However, I cannot agree with the phrase "Good Democrats support..." Now I think Democrats generally will support this legislation, but I hate the idea that progressives would attempt to apply litmus tests to our candidates or elected officials the same way that is done by the GOP. Good Democrats will have differing opinions from time to time, even on issues that the majority see as being a core principal of the progressive movement. Should we cast aside these individuals? Should we expect our Senators and Representatives to march in lockstep behind our agenda? To me this sounds much too much like the GOP. They are a small party with few ideas and a lot of that is a result of them unquestionably supporting an agenda that had them walk in lockstep off a cliff. Unfortunately, they marched the country off that cliff with them.
So while I support this legislation and would encourage our Democratic Senators and Representatives to support it as well, I would not fall into the trap of labeling people "good Democrats" or "bad Democrats" based upon their support of one or two issues. Such language is harmful to the Democratic party and antithetical to the notion of good governance.
The principle of 'card check' puts the decision with the employees. There are no scheduling games, no meetings with management where individual employees are hit with veiled threats to their livelihood, no 'company meetings' to present anti-union propaganda.
Everyone shows up, everyone votes. Done.
The 'but they're taking away the secret ballot' argument is hogwash. If the majority votes in favor of the union, the negotiated contract applies even to those who voted no. If the majority votes against unionizing, surely, there isn't going to be retaliation against those who voted in favor? Knowing who voted yes/no is irrelevant to the issue of union representation.
Disclosure: I am a member of IBEW and a former shop steward
When everyone votes in secret they vote their wishes despite any veiled threats, scheduling games, company meeting propaganda. That's because they know their vote is secret.
Card check opens everyone to corrercion and intimidation. In California, a prime example was the Prop 8 supporters' revenge raids that destroyed lives and businesses. They had access to voting records.
Not hogwash.
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