Sneak Preview

A battle between two unions in California provides a preview of what the Democrats card check legislation would produce in labor relations in this country.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the struggle between the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) to organize 10,000 healthcare workers in Fresno, CA. The SEIU won the election earlier this year but the NUHW is suing to overturn the results, claiming the SEIU intimated workers to favor them over the NUHW.

Note, this is a battle over which union gets to represent the workers; it is NOT a battle between a union and a company.

The SEIU is alleged to have visited workers up to five times per day; to threaten them with a loss of wages and benefits if they voted for NUHW; and to question their immigration status.

This shows how valuable it is to union bosses to have more members, and more members' dues filling union coffers.

And it illustrates the type of tactics used by labor to pressure workers to vote for unionization that card check legislation would only make worse. Under card check, a secret ballot would no longer be used in union-organizing elections, and instead workers could just check a card during a period of time to vote for unionization. This means workers could be pressured by union activists, at work or home, to sign the card in front of the activists.

Fortunately, card check legislation has been losing steam due to these concerns. The union battle in California reminds us why it is important card check not be passed.