the Maine HR Cafe

Well, it is or isn’t the best practice to open a blog with a political controversial topic, but I did promise HR Punk Rocker Laurie a respectful response on my time, space and place. So here goes something.

George McGovern has spoken up and out quite eloquently on this initiative. I urge you to spend some time considering his thoughts. The title of his op-ed is My Party Should Respect Secret Union Ballots. I concur and fully agree for the reasons I am about to state.

EFCA

In this day and age of endless privacy notices, I believe that the sanctity of the secret ballot is the primary reason why the provisions of the EFCA will be found to be unconstitutional. The ballot booth falls within the Zone of Privacy created by various court opinions over the years and is derived from our Bill of Rights.

The Right To Privacy
The Constitution does not specifically mention a right to privacy. However, Supreme Court decisions over the years have established that the right to privacy is a basic human right, and as such is protected by virtue of the 9th Amendment. The right to privacy has come to the public’s attention via several controversial Supreme Court rulings, including several dealing with contraception (the Griswold and Eisenstadt cases), interracial marriage (the Loving case), and abortion (the well-known Roe v Wade case). http://www.usconstitution.net/constnot.html#privacy

Consequently, Congress has the obligation to strongly consider this factor when considering this legislation. If the secret ballot is no longer considered sacred, then all other protections to privacy, a very basic and civil right, are in danger.

I do not trust the democrat party with any democratic process, especially voting. Look at the various gimmicks they used during the most recent primary election to massage and manipulate the results. The Texas two-step, vote once, then vote again to see if you really mean it. Proportional voting where the value of your vote is weighted against the votes in your district from the last primary election. I will only briefly touch on Nancy Pelosi’s recent victory over the parliamentary “motion to recommit”, “forthwith”, and “promptly” debacle. This mail it in union election is just another gimmick that further erodes the democratic process.

The business case can be made for EFCA rejection. The Detroit Three and the United Auto Workers. Not enough said yet? It used to be said, what is good for GM is good for America. Really? Not anymore. The D3 gang of bandits are teetering on the lunatic fringe of denial over their archaic business model which includes blatant collusion with the UAW. Someone, anyone, explain to me why paying excess workers nearly full wages to do nothing at all, makes sense to anyone at all, beyond the false accepted right of entitlementatlity. I will listen to you with an open mind.

Five years ago you would not have seen a non GM vehicle in my driveway. My first GM was a 1976 orange Chevrolet Vega. Now, GM is in minority and banished from the garage. As soon as Subaru comes up with a 16k capacity towing package, the final GM will vanish as well. I’m not holding my breath.

Here in Maine, the head of the state employees union advocated for an increase in taxes to eliminate the need for union jobs elimination during these depressionary times. The private sector is holding onto what jobs it can through pay freezes and hours reduction. I know this, I wrote the memo. Some companies are imposing wage reductions in lieu of layoffs. And this one out of touch union head is advocating for the survivors to pay more in taxes in lieu of facing his own layoffs. He could have put a wage freeze on the table. Get real, get back in touch with the heartland of America.

The true bottom line is that unions have served their once good purpose. American workers are better for their past presence and necessary activism. Good, best and better business practices, along with appropriate governmental regulations now go farther to ensure the safety and security of the American workers. With this purpose essentially complete, union membership is in decline.

The true purpose of the EFCA is to preserve, ensure and enable the continued survival and expansion of unions. That expansion cannot come through the loss of civil rights. All Americans who opposed the loss of civil liberties through the Patriot Act should be equally and rightfully concerned.

Thank you for listening.

I reserve and preserve the right to strike and extend my remarks.

~ by RMSJr on January 18, 2009.

Posted in Politics
Tags: EFCA, Employee Free Choice Act, HR, HR Blogs, human resources, Maine