Apparently it is very hard to remove a chair in the middle of a term. 2/3 of RNC members would have to vote to have him removed at their semi-annual meetings. And the vote would have to be in public. Would 2/3 of RNC members publicly vote to fire the first African American who has ever held the post?
This week EFCA (Employee Free Choice Act) is in the news. If passed it would allow a union organizer to collect cards from 50% of a company's workforce. Once a majority of workers sign the cards the union would have to be recognized. How is this a change from current law? Currently, organizers collect 35% of the workers cards and then a secret ballot vote is held.
The loss of the secret ballot has the right wing up in arms. "It's unAmerican!" Apparently, the RNC is unAmerican.
I haven't commented EFCA before now for two reasons: 1. It won't pass. There are too many squishy Democrats in the Senate. 2. If it did pass it would have very little impact. The notion that bullies and organizing thugs could twist arms and force unions on workers is way overrated. The power of a company to say, "Fine, you want a union? We are shutting this plant down." is too strong, particularly now. Among all the Wal-Marts in the world ONE unionized. Wal-Mart shut it down. The act had its intended affect: No serious attempts to unionize since then.
2. If it did pass it would have very little impact.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't disagree more. Think about a divided workforce where you now KNOW who has and who has not signed. If your building were at 49% and you were one of the ones on the fence (or a firm no) how comfortable are you going to be coming to work? Peer pressure all day.
Plus, the collective bargaining limitations screw business and labor. Contracts will almost definitely go to arbitration given the short timeframes. What is an arbitrator going to do? Probably cut the pie in half. Neither side will win.
I am only responding because I fear an act of retribution from beyond if I don't. Spellman served as an arbitrator for many years. To say an arbitrator would simply cut the pie in half is simply ignorance of what arbitrators do. I'm sure Doc would have used more colorful language.
ReplyDeleteIf it's not much different than before, then why bother changing it. Love the example of being "unamerican."
ReplyDeleteI spent many years typing Doc Spellman's arbitration decisions. I can assure you his decisions were far from that simple. I always resisted the urge to read the final decree, choosing instead to follow the arguments and facts as I typed and see if my (non-Business uneducated) decision agreed with his. It rarely did. I always enjoyed talking with him on how he reached his decision.
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