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By SAM HANANEL, Associated Press – Fri Jan 14, 4:58 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The National Labor Relations Board on Friday threatened to sue Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah over constitutional amendments guaranteeing workers the right to a secret ballot in union elections.
The agency's acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon, said the amendments conflict with federal law, which gives employers the option of recognizing a union if a majority of workers sign cards that support unionizing.
The amendments, approved Nov. 2, have taken effect in South Dakota and Utah, and will do so soon in Arizona and South Carolina.
Business and anti-union groups sought the amendments, arguing that such secrecy is necessary to protect workers against union intimidation. They are concerned that Congress might enact legislation requiring employers to allow the "card check" process for forming unions instead of secret ballot elections.
In letters to the attorney general of each state, Solomon says the amendments are pre-empted by the supremacy clause of the Constitution because they conflict with employee rights laid out in the National Labor Relations Act. That clause says that when state and federal laws are at odds, federal law prevails.
Solomon is asking the attorneys general in South Dakota and Utah for official statements agreeing that their amendments are unconstitutional "to conserve state and federal resources."
In his letter to South Carolina's attorney general, Solomon asks the state to take measures that would prevent the Legislature from ratifying the amendment. Solomon requested that Arizona's governor decline to make the amendment official.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he believes the state is on solid ground. He plans to coordinate a response with the other three states.
Feds threaten to sue states over union laws - Yahoo! News
Fight back guys, fight the Feds. It is the rights of the workers at stake here.
We shouldn’t over react here.
It’s not like the feds allow dead people and their pets to register to vote. Secrete ballots are clumsy and subject to employer intimidation. If an employee fears for his life because a couple union thugs have him backed into a corner with a clipboard shoved into his face, he can tell them to kiss it where the sun don’t shine and nothing will happen to him.
The feds will make sure every cartoon character, personal pet and dead person who voted isn’t disenfranchised but those evil employers who have the audacity to expect a certain level of production in return for a certain level of pay, they will probably spike the koolaid and rig the vote right under the NLRB’s noses and people will either find themselves to be payed slaves or unpaid civil rights fighters holding a cardboard sign and a tin cup at an intersection near you.
Please turn union votes into a federal election that resembles voter registration.
The National Labor Relations Board on Friday threatened to sue....
You're a card check guy aren't you?
Please turn union votes into a federal election that resembles voter registration. [/COLOR]
I support the rights of workers but oppose all Unions as they are corrupt and work only to garner more members for dues and as in California are choking the State budget. Further more the teachers Union is a big part of the reason California has gone from number one in education to number forty nine. The children come in second to the teachers.
California is not alone in this either the Federal Government suffers from it too.
Unions were great when workers weren't being protected by strong Federal law but today they are.
Unions such as SEIU, the Teamsters, I.A.M. & AFLCIO are all the same and are run by people who are questionable character.
Right now so many Unions back the Socialist/Marxist Obama it's not funny worth a damn.
Yeah! You have union card or not?
you are confused
if you actually supported the rights of workers you would support their legal right to organize
so, tell the truth and admit you are opposed to workers' rights
ok, here is the post to which i respondedAnd having a secret ballot prevents this how?
please point out his mention of the secret ballot in the above expression of anti-union animusI support the rights of workers but oppose all Unions as they are corrupt and work only to garner more members for dues and as in California are choking the State budget. Further more the teachers Union is a big part of the reason California has gone from number one in education to number forty nine. The children come in second to the teachers.
California is not alone in this either the Federal Government suffers from it too.
Unions were great when workers weren't being protected by strong Federal law but today they are.
Unions such as SEIU, the Teamsters, I.A.M. & AFLCIO are all the same and are run by people who are questionable character.
Right now so many Unions back the Socialist/Marxist Obama it's not funny worth a damn.
Maybe there's some historical or sociological subtlety I'm missing here, but it seems to me that if secret ballots are good enough for our elections (and they are, if we're careful to check voter registrations and use a method that leaves a paper trail), they should be good enough for permitting a body of workers to decide as a body whether or not to unionize.
do the math
if 50% plus one of the employees sign a form requesting unionization at their workplace, that renders the need for a formal election unnecessary
do the math
if 50% plus one of the employees sign a form requesting unionization at their workplace, that renders the need for a formal election unnecessary
Why would you need to sign your name to anything?
Why not just verify that you have a right to vote on the issue and then stick a slip of paper in a box?
reading many of the posts here about the big bad unions is like listening to a group of eunuchs talk about the joys of sex.
Maybe there's some historical or sociological subtlety I'm missing here, but it seems to me that if secret ballots are good enough for our elections (and they are, if we're careful to check voter registrations and use a method that leaves a paper trail), they should be good enough for permitting a body of workers to decide as a body whether or not to unionize.
Well, just to play devil's advocate...
One problem with the secret ballot is the possibility of tainted elections, or ballot stuffing. So in actuality a group of workers could want to unionize and have voted for it, but the votes for it don't get counted, and so unionization doesn't happen even if more workers favor it.
That's why there's a pro to card check - how people vote can be verified to prevent illegal voting procedures.
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