Passing card check is good policy and good politics . . .
Corporations have found every loophole in the National Labor Relations Act to delay and thwart worker's efforts to organize themselves so they may collectively bargain in the free market for their labor. Moreover, the Act's penalties are outdated and do nothing to deter unfair labor practices.
Democrats have introduced legislation to amend the NLRB to give employees the option to elect to collectively bargain if a majority of the employees sign a card agreeing to be represented by a union. Amendments have also been introduced to increase the penalties against employers who engage in unfair labor practices to deny workers their right to collectively bargain.
With the suppressed incomes of American workers over the last decade, we need to give middle class workers the right to bargain so they may obtain higher wages for their higher productivity, which would boost growth in the economy.
We should pass these reforms to the NLRB. Unions and their members have worked to elect a Congress friendly to these reforms. We can, with a few compromises, pass a real reform bill before the 2010 elections.
And, in this case, good policy is good politics: We would energize a very important part of our base, organized labor.
We have the votes. Let's pass card check in the next 90 days.