John R. Lott, Jr. - WORKERS, BE WARY

[Cole Firearms Inc.]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11042008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/workers__be_wary_136830.htm
Article published Tuesday, November 4, 2008, at New York Post.
WORKERS, BE WARY

By John R. Lott, Jr.

WOULD you like elections without secret ballots? To most Americans, the
notion is absurd. But, if Barack Obama becomes president, secret ballots
seem destined to end for at least one type of election: union
certifications.

The reasons for secret ballots are obvious. Not everyone feels
comfortable making his or her political positions public; many would
rather vote without fear of offending or angering someone else. Secret
balloting essentially ended an old abuse, vote buying, in US elections.

Yet Obama promises to sign into law the so-called Employee Free Choice
Act - which would end secret-ballot elections when it comes to
unionization of workplaces.

Unionization is now a two-step process: When 50 percent of workers in a
company sign statements requesting a unionization vote, that merely sets
up a second stage, where workers vote by secret ballot on whether to
unionize. Under the "card-check" system, however, unionization would be
certified as soon as half the workers had signed cards stating that they
favor union representation.

In other words, a worker can now placate union supporters by signing a
statement saying he wants a union, but then vote the other way when
protected by the secrecy of the voting booth.

Unions now win about 60 percent of certification elections. The rules
change would not only make that 100 percent - adding 500-plus new
unionized shops a year - but also ensure that unions seek many more
certifications. You can see why the AFL-CIO calls the Employee Free
Choice Act its "million-member mobilization."

Unions are desperate to increase membership, which has been falling for
decades - from 35 percent of the private-sector workforce in the 1950s
to 8.2 percent in 2007.

Big Labor is making an all-out push to get this passed, having budgeted
$360 million on this year's election, $200 million more than in 2004.
The Service Employees International Union alone is spending $75 million
this year - and committed to making 10 million phone calls to Congress
early next year to ensure the bill gets enacted.

Obama claims that strengthening unions is good because unions will "lift
up the middle-class in this country once more." If so, why are these
very people voting against unions?

In fact, unionization virtually always raises some workers' pay at the
expense of others. (In particular, companies typically have to
compensate for the higher payroll costs by using fewer employees.) They
also equalize wages within jobs - preventing harder working, more
productive employees from earning more than less productive ones.

And those aren't the only problems. Protecting teachers unions from
competition comes at the expense of students. Protecting workers from
trade competition comes at the expense of customers and even other
workers. (If you protect steel workers from competition, for example,
the price of US-made cars rises relative to foreign-made ones.)

Sen. George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, has
broken with his own party over card-check. In an ad opposing the bill,
he says, "It is hard to believe that any politician would agree to a law
denying millions of employees a right to a private vote." McGovern is so
concerned that he has let the ad be targeted against Democrats
nationally as well as in seven states with close Senate races.

Obama may feel that card-check will help US workers, or he may simply
believe he needs to reward Big Labor for its support. Either way, ending
secret-ballot union votes is guaranteed to make the country - and most
workers - poorer.

*John Lott is the author of Freedomnomics and a senior research
scientist at the University of Maryland.