GOP Rep Don Young: Key Republican Talking Point Against EFCA Is Bogus
GOP Rep Don Young isn’t exactly known for his reluctance to toe the Republican line on key issues. So it’s kind of a big deal that he has openly broken with his colleagues when it comes to their leading talking point against the Employee Free Choice Act: The claim that it would eliminate the “secret ballot” option for joining unions.
Young told a recent gathering of his constituents that the claim is false, and said he supports the measure, reports the Anchorage Daily News…
One questioner obviously didn’t like his stand in favor of union card check legislation.
Don said he’s “prejudiced” on this one because he’s a Teamster. “I believe in unions. I believe in working people. They say the secret ballot is eliminated. That’s not true. A secret ballot can be requested.”
Business groups allied against EFCA are plowing huge sums of cash into a campaign to make the claim that EFCA kills the secret ballot, which they say proves that the measure is undemocratic. The campaign is working; some Dems, such as Delaware Senator Tom Carper, have been echoing the claim, too.
Young’s skewering of the anti-EFCA talking point could have something to do with the uncommonly high union density in Alaska, which has led union officials to hold out hope for winning over Alaska GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski. Either way, expect labor to jump on Young’s comments, which will create a rather odd spectacle, given the equal parts disdain and ridicule many on the left direct at Young on a regular basis.
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tom carper is the senior senator from delaware
Representative Young is correct. The secret ballot does not go away under EFCA. Finally, a Republican who tells the truth. People wrongly believe that the secret ballot process utilized by the NLRB to determine union representation is the same process that we use in general elections. IT is not like a general election because the employer controls this WHOLE process with forced anti union meetings and intimidation on company time up to the election. Union organizers are on the outside in this process while the company can do whatever it pleases and in some cases, fire employees for exercising their rights. The so called secret balloting process in NLRB elections is broken because of employer interference. It is documented by the NLRB. How can an election be fair if an employee believes that his job is on the line based on employer actions during a campaign ? EFCA, YES!