Labor Lover: Obama and the Employee Free Choice Act

One argument circling in the blogosphere is the idea that McCain is not a true conservative. Therefore many conservatives are planning to sit out the election or even to vote for Obama in hopes that he will be so terrible that it will re-ignite conservative passions across the country, and lead to better prospects in 2012 and beyond. This line of thought has many flaws, but most of all it ignores the absolute nightmare of a Barack Obama presidency.

One area where Obama's ideas will radically alter the course of the nation relates to his approach to organized labor. Obama pandered to labor throughout the primaries and the chickens will come home to roost if he is elected.

Some highlights of Obama's plans (from the HR Consultancy Hewitt Associates):

1. Massive expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

*Federally mandated time-off for elder care

*24 hours of expanded leave for parents to attend children's school activities

*Eliminate the FMLA exemption for companies with 25 employees or less

*1.5 billion in aid to State's to expand government sponsored paid leave programs

*Require employers to offer (7) paid sick days a year

2. OBAMA IS A CO-SPONSOR OF THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT!!!

If you think that the election in November doesn't matter, or that you should sit out in protest, maybe you should give some thought to a coming storm known as the Employee Free Choice Act. The EFCA will allow trade and industrial unions to form without an election by employees. The only requirement for the formation of a union would be signed union authorization cards by a majority of the employees.As we have seen in the American auto industry -- especially year with the devastating financial results coming out of Detroit -- unions are a disaster for the economy, as employers are forced through collective bargaining agreements to pay above the market bearing rate, thus failing to remain competitive in a globalized marketplace. The U.S. House has already approved the Employee Free Choice Act and the bill has been stopped in the Senate for now (McCain voted to cloture the bill).

However, the election of Democratic President would assure the passage of this economy killer. A Democratic President would also have the power to appoint partisan interests to the National Labor Relations Board, which would allow for increased anti-management practices to be sanctioned throughout the country. U.S. law has evolved to a point where American workers are sufficiently protected, and increased unionization throughout the country would be a recipe for economic disaster.

As an initial primer check out this summary from the Heritage Foundation. This Act is a coming storm for the American economy and Obama is a leading advocate for the bill:

The Employee Free Choice Act Will Disenfranchise 105 million American Workers