The fight over the Employee Free Choice Act has been a tough one, with pro-union forces looking for more freedom to start unions and corporations wanting to stifle worker collectivity. For decades corporations have largely been winning, evidenced by a long-term decline in union membership. With a majority of people supporting the Employee Free Choice Act, some companies are trying to pull a fast one on union supporters by offering a fake compromise.
From ThinkProgress:
The Wall Street Journal reports today that Costco Wholesale Corp., Starbucks Corp. and Whole Foods Market Inc. are seeking to compromise with union groups to support a modified version of the Employee Free Choice Act. The compromise would allow a union to be formed if 70 percent — instead of the current bill’s 50 percent proposal — sign a card favoring unionization. However, the anti-union lobby refuses to back the deal:“These huge companies are apparently willing to sell out hundreds of thousands of small ones under the guise of making some phony and misguided compromise with Big Labor,” Mix said in a statement. “We believe we have this draconian bill defeated outright, so these actions may well lead to the bill’s passage.”
The Workforce Fairness Institute’s (WFI) Danny Diaz slammed the proposal in his morning e-mail, Politico reports, calling it a “non-starter” and “even worse” for workers. WFI’s executive director Katie Packer said, “Calling a proposal which exposes 70% of employees to intimidation instead of 50% a ‘compromise’ is beyond absurd.”
Basically this is a last-ditch effort by corporate America, who are using the names of somewhat progressive companies to tout a "compromise" that is anything but. I wonder what group of PR flacks hatched this convoluted plan? Trying to trick us is simply a waste of everyone's time. Now imagine if all the money that goes into subverting the working class from getting better represenation at the companies they work for were used for helping employees. Now that would be a novel idea.
|