March 24, 2009
Chains Seek Compromise on Card Check
Costco, Starbucks
and Whole Foods are looking for an alternative to both the proposed law
that would enable retail workers to become members of a union by signing
a card and the current voting system that labor activists claim gives management
the ability to crush any efforts to organize.
The retailers
are looking to keep the option of private ballots (some employers in other
industries have foregone elections and recognized cards) but with new rules
that would provide for much harsher penalties if an employer attempts to
circumvent the legal process or refuse to bargain after workers have voted
to unionize.
As a number
of reports pointed out, retailers have simply opposed any change to labor
organizing laws in the past but the prospect of passage of a card check
provision with the Democratic Party in power, has brought them to the table.
"We
believe in and trust our employees, which is neither anti-union nor pro-status
quo," said James Sinegal of Costco. About
20 percent of Costco’s workforce is unionized. Starbucks and Whole Foods
are non-union.
Lanny Davis, a former member of the Clinton
administration, is representing the retailers and says his client’s "third
way" has the support of about two dozen senators from both sides of the aisle.
"I’m proud to call
myself a pro-labor liberal Democrat who believes that reforms are needed
to provide a level playing field for both labor and management, but not
at the expense of a guaranteed option for a secret ballot by both workers
and management and certainly not at the expense of preserving the historic
process of private, voluntary collective bargaining," Mr. Davis said.
The
chief sponsors of the card check legislation, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and
Rep. George Miller of California, dismissed the proposal put forth by the
retailers and said it was "written by CEOs, for CEOs."
Discussion Questions: Should Costco, Starbucks
and Whole Foods be looking for a compromise over card check or should
they simply oppose it as most retailers have done in the past? What will
passage of card check legislation mean for retailers and workers?
Discussion Questions
Poll
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The phrase “slippery slope” comes to mind.
Retailers should certainly oppose this movement but this issue has implications well beyond the self interests of either retailers or their employees.
What if you showed up to work one morning and found that a third party was claiming the right to determine your salary because they had a petition signed by others in your organization?
What if you went home tonight and found someone claiming the right to tear down your house because they had a petition signed by others in your community?
Election of a representative for collective bargaining should be no different than election of public officials or voting on public referendums. It should be conducted by open elections using a secret ballot.
I would do both–oppose card check and look for a compromise. Everyone has to justify their actions and their reason for being. Why should the unions operate under different rules? Due process worked in the past because it gave everyone a chance to state their case.
As to politicians looking for a 10-second sound bite, where were they when the financial services industry needed proactive fix and a kick in the ass?
Any measure that does away with a secret ballot is a huge step in the wrong direction regardless of your views on unions and management. I find it hard to believe that any legislator would be so blindly obedient to special interests that they would vote away our freedom and liberty even though I know that they will.
Compromise sounds more politically correct than opposing card check. The bottom line is retailers don’t want it because it has a negative ROI. Unions do nothing to enhance the wealth of the investors. Unionizing financially-challenged companies like Starbucks and Whole Foods could be devastating. Starbucks is fighting for its survival and having a union hassling them probably would send them on a fast track towards bankruptcy. Whole Foods has been brought to its knees and forced to eliminate their dividend. Perhaps Ron Burkle can put in a special request to give Whole Foods a pass.
We all pay more when unions take control and eventually they bleed companies dry like with the auto companies. Prices have to be raised so workers receive more money to kick upstairs to the union bosses. The workers make out better in the short run but when their employers go out of business, they are out of a job. Or even more embarrassing, standing around with a picket sign. Probably better to earn a few dollars less and keep your employer healthy.
While I’m personally opposed to card check, there is no doubt that employers have gone well beyond the spirit of labor relation laws in seeking to keep unions out. Playing the devil’s advocate, actions such as harassing and even firing workers seeking to organize as well as closing stores or departments after a vote for representation weakens the credibility of companies professing to want what’s best for their workers. If every company operated as Costco did, than we wouldn’t need to have this discussion.
If, as in the earlier article, consumers are providing answers that make themselves look good in an anonymous survey, what is the additional pressure to provide socially acceptable answers in vote that is not a secret ballot? That appears to be a major change and problem.
Where can you squeeze another Costco or Starbucks at this point that isn’t unnecessary? Retail saturation, credit markets contracting, and now a huge threat of labor costs skyrocketing doesn’t look good. The card system would make it so easy to organize that it would destroy the business models that created these giants. The old shoot, shovel, and shut up theory won’t work anymore where you can just shut a store down that organizes and open it up six months later.
Where has the poor treatment of the majority of retail workers and outsourcing brought us to? Is our quality of life improving? Look at the issues with food quality and children’s toys. It’s greed for the top 1% that’s prospering.
Harkin and Miller are in the back pockets of the union lobbyists and couldn’t care less that they are taking away American’s freedom of choice (secret ballot) in favor of a totalitarian system (card check would give unions unbelievable power to intimidate workers to sign up). Opponents need to take the fight to every Congressional district, but especially eight key states identified by Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. Only grass roots action is going to defeat this anti-American bill.