I had to “steal” the title for this post directly from the author, as the analogy was just too good. Let me quote directly several passages of this lucidly written editorial by Tim Nerenz, Ph.D.:
Like many people, I oppose unions on principle. That principle is: never negotiate the dinner menu with cannibals.
American workers overwhelmingly reject unionism. According to a 2010 study by university researchers Barry Hirsch and David Macpherson, only 7.2% of private sector workers belonged to unions in 2009. 93% prefer to work union-free.
But union bosses, like socialists everywhere, do not recognize the will of the people; they claim to embody the will of the people.
Unions protect incompetents from the consequences of their own actions, and force those consequences onto others – observe the Milwaukee Public Schools and General Motors. Individualism breeds exceptionalism, and exceptionalism is intolerable to the union collectivist.
Under Card Check, unions would have been imposed upon those workers by their own government without any election. Pause for a moment to reflect on the obscenity of that proposition: the right to remain union-free will be denied by the very government [under EFCA] tasked with protecting that right.
We can now add government and education to the list of American industries devoured by the union cannibals: mining, shipbuilding, logging, steel, automobiles, appliances, electronics, textiles, airlines, machine tools, consumer products, furniture, musical instruments – the list is too long to recite.
To a cannibal, success is being the last one in his tribe to die of starvation. His union campaign is your invitation to dinner; Card Check lets the government RSVP on your behalf. Fight back now, before it is too late.
The article is a great read.
Tell the truth…..the EFCA bill WILL NOT take away the rights of employees to have an election by secret ballot if THEY SO CHOOSE…..its their choice….if they choose to have the election by secret ballot then under the EFCA bill the NLRB must hold the election for union representation by secret ballot…..TELL THE TRUTH…..
WHY LIE?
Jack, Jack, Jack. I’m going to refrain from calling you a liar since I think lying is an intentional act and from your comment it is clear that you have no clue what you’re talking about. Let’s start with the text of proposed legislation. It SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITS the NLRB from holding an election in any case where a union presents cards from a majority of an appropriate bargaining unit. The text of HR-1409 reads:
Not to put too fine a point on it, Jack, but do you see anywhere in there where employees get to choose? That’s because it isn’t there. Oh, by the way, they don’t get to choose under the current law either. Under today’s law the union is required to request recognition when they submit their petition to the NLRB. If the employer recognizes the union the employees don’t get to vote, even if they wanted an election.
By the way, if you don’t agree with anything I’ve said here I’d love to hear your argument. But don’t bring up the fact that there can still be elections if a union doesn’t actually have a majority of the cards in a unit. That still isn’t the employee’s choice – since the union hasn’t proven majority status in that case the Board is required to hold an election. Again, employees don’t choose.
Now, the next time you tell someone that EFCA (or the NLRA for that matter) gives employees the “choice” to vote in an election you WILL be lying.
you are lying……phil…..and you dont tell the complete story….Contrary to claims made by opponents of the EFCA bill, the legislation does not abolish the “secret ballot” or the right to a representation election. Under the bill, workers are entitled to CHOOSE whether they want to utilize representation elections OR majority sign upto decide wheter to join a union. Under current law, the employer makes this decision. Workers need to have the freedom to make this decisionso that they dont have to face over six NKRB elections just to form a union, as the Comcast workers did when they tried to join CWA.
The bill also requires that if 1/3 of the workers want to have a secret ballot NLRB election for union represenation at their worksite they can ask and petiton the Board to hold an election…..This EFCA bill gives them a choice…..union representation thru majority sign up OR thru secret ballot election.
Jack, you can call me anything you want, but you should stop digging and read the proposed legislation (as opposed to the AFL-CIO talking points memo). I quoted to you directly from the language of the resolution. Show me anywhere in HR-1409 where employees get to choose anything. HR-1409 PROHIBITS the NLRB from conducting elections if a majority of employees sign cards – employees have ZERO choice in the matter. That does in fact abolish the secret ballot election in the vast majority of cases. If less than a majority sign up (like the 1/3 example you give) there is NO OTHER OPTION but to conduct an election because it is ILLEGAL for the Board or an employer to recognize a minority union. If you are interested in the truth at all you can download the text of the Employee Free Choice Act right from our site. This isn’t complicated – all you have to do is show us somewhere in the resolution where employees are given a choice about anything. But I’ll save you some time – it’s not there.
Hi Jack: I think Phil gave up on you. Probably that “L” word. Let me give it a shot, and if you try to be smarter about your objections, I’ll try to be nicer. Deal? I was a union officer for 27 years, so I understand your allegiance and belief that you’re being smoked here. The truth is you are being smoked, but it’s not by Phil or anybody else on this site. That’s OK…I used to drink from the same cooler as you.
Let’s assume 50% plus one in a unit signs a union card, and 100% of that same unit somehow declares that they want an election. Do you think that they get one? The truth is, they don’t! The unit gets certified. Jack, the rhetoric surrounding the “employees choice to hold the election” often cited by pro-EFCA pundits merely refer to unions who manage to get 30% but less than 50% of the cards signed. In this case, the employees “CHOSE” to have an election because the “CHOSE” not to sign a card. Get it?
Now, Brother Jack…a small challenge for you: Show me the verbiage in the act where the employees actually can make the request that you refer to. How does that work? Is there another card to sign that asks prospective members this question? Do you go through the Board for this request or through the Organizer? Enlighten me!
and Jack…keep coming back, Brother! And bring your open mind. You have much to learn.
Ahh the brotherly love. I don’t have much use for unions. They had a place once, a long time ago. I was exposed to them during my college years (1976-80), working in a Firebrick plant. They reward senority and that was it. I saw maintenance workers drag their butts during the normal work week only to come in on Saturday to get the “backlog” done in an hour and get paid for 4 at time and a half. Piece workers would haul “butt” and get done with their “quota” in way less than 8 hrs and go home. Both scenarios kill the incentive to do your best. What ever happened to an honest day’s work!