Charleston Small Business Owner to Speak Out Against Federal Union Bill
February 10, 2009
Chairman of NFIB’s state Leadership Council supports plan to defend secret ballots
COLUMBIA, SC – February 10, 2009 – Walter Carr, chairman of the NFIB/South Carolina Leadership Council, will go before the state House Judiciary Constitutional Laws Subcommittee on Wednesday, Feb. 11, to speak in support of House Bill 3305, a proposed state constitutional amendment protecting employees’ rights to cast secret ballots in union organization elections.
H. 3305, co-sponsored by 26 House members, was filed in response the cleverly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act, a federal bill intended to prop up the unions by making it easier for them to organize. Instead of allowing employees to cast secret ballots, the federal legislation calls for a public process called “card check.”
“It’s hard to imagine any legislation that would do more to hurt small businesses and their employees than the Employee Free Choice Act,” said Carr, owner of Carr Properties in Hanahan, near Charleston.
Under card check, unions could organize a workplace simply by persuading a majority of employees to sign authorization cards. Union organizers could approach people in the parking lot or even at home and pressure them to sign.
“Card check would expose employees to all kinds of intimidation,” said J.J. Darby, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. “It would be like going to the polls on Election Day and having the candidates watch how you vote.
“There’s no free choice under the Employee Free Choice Act,” Darby said. “It’s the Employee Forced Choice Act.”
H. 3305 is one of two House bills addressing the Employee Free Choice Act. So far, 29 members of the House have signed on as co-sponsors of House Resolution 3222, a resolution urging South Carolina’s congressional delegation to vote against the federal union bill.
Similar resolutions are pending in Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Nebraska and Pennsylvania.
“I think it’s clear that states are worried about what would happen under card check,” said Dan Danner, president and chief executive officer of NFIB, the nation’s leading small business association.
NOTE: Wednesday’s hearing on H. 3305 will be begin one hour after the House adjourns for the day in Room 516 in the Blatt Building.
NFIB is the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small and independent business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business. NFIB’s powerful network of grassroots activists send their views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system. NFIB’s mission is to promote and protect the right of our members to own, operate and grow their businesses. More information about NFIB is available online at www.NFIB.com/newsroom.
