Payback: Democrats poised to ram Card Check through

The Washington Post reports that House and Senate Democrats are preparing bills that would ram the ill-named "Employee Free Choice Act" through Congress.

"Legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize will be introduced on Tuesday in the U.S. Congress, escalating a battle between Democratic lawmakers and corporate America... Known as "card check," the legislation would let employees form a union if a majority of them in a workplace sign authorization cards.

That would change the present practice in which workers usually vote in elections on unionizing, although the bill would leave the election option open for employees to choose."

But do unions help or hurt workers? In 2005, the Montreal Economic Institute published a study that analyzed the macro-effects of unionization in the United States and Canada. Its conclusions were stunning.

The available data show that a strong union presence... is accompanied by lower levels of employment and investment. Any labour market rigidity can have negative effects on employment. In Europe, for example, other types of institutional rigidity besides those connected with union privileges have been identified as causes of an endemic European unemployment rate that is much higher than in North America.

In contrast, more flexible labour relations create an environment better suited to greater economic dynamism. This dynamism results in higher business demand for labour and thus increased value for work and better remuneration. Workers benefit by finding jobs more readily and also by receiving good wages based on their qualifications and productivity rather than on union membership.

It is not unionization as such – nor the right of association – that causes these effects, but rather union privileges and the resulting constraints. To the extent that unions have privileges and use them either to set wages higher than would be the case without them, or to impose constraints that threaten the profitability and viability of businesses, they diminish employment and general prosperity.

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) -- a Democratic paean to Union bosses who've spent millions electing them -- provides almost unlimited power to unions over businesses. It strips a uniquely American institution -- the secret ballot -- from the playing field and instead publicly lists employees who've voted for and against unionization. It is a transparent and primitive attempt to bully workers.

Study after study after study confirms the fact: high rates of unionization -- facilitated by pro-union labor relations laws -- constrains free enterprise and hampers small business growth.

"...private unions were found to have a detrimental impact on productivity and economic growth in the most recent period without having any beneficial effect on wages..."

Need proof? Analysts are downgrading Wal-Mart as we speak due to concerns that Card Check will "hurt its competitiveness."

Call your Senator and voice your opposition to the ill-named "Employee Free Choice Act." The job at stake may be your own.