Oregon’s Mini-Card Check Law Seen As Test Tube for National Policy
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 by adminThe Wall Street Journal turns its gaze across the nation to Oregon, which has passed a mini-Employee Free Choice Act known as the “Worker Freedom Act” designed not only to make unionizing easier but to silence employers who would dare speak to their own employees about unions.
The Journal reports:
Oregon is the only state to pass such a law so far, but it is considered a test case, with developments closely watched by national business groups and state-level labor leaders around the country.
Similar bills prohibiting mandatory workplace meetings about union organizing passed this year in the Connecticut Senate and the Michigan House, both controlled by Democrats, but stalled in each state.
Both sides see the Oregon law as a local variation of the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as card check, which allows unions to organize workers by getting them to sign cards, often without an employer’s knowledge.
Patrick Semmens, with The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which opposes efforts to expand unionization, said Oregon’s law is similar to card check because both limit an employer’s access to workers during union organizing. The Oregon law is “a step toward card check,” he said.
The Journal goes on to look at other possibilities, but these kind of state-based speech-limiting laws pose another significant threat to employer speech, employee rights, and ultimately jobs.
Tags: Oregon
