This election year, the economy is front and center in the minds of most Americans. Many of our concerns are being fueled by a perception that corruption and cronyism are hindering our recovery. From the bailout of the United Auto Workers to the millions of dollars that flowed to Solyndra, the Obama administration has done little to hide its political favoritism. The current alliance between special interests and government has re-created Chicago politics on a national level. Washington Examiner Senior Political Columnist Timothy P. Carney has described this as the “Obama model”: rewarding businesses that play ball with the administration on issues like energy subsidies and factory construction in areas that help pro-Democratic unions. AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka once remarked that he visits the White House two or three times a week — and is in contact with someone in the administration almost every day. Close and unhealthy relationships like this are cause for concern over the state of our democracy.
Cronyism is a threat to our prosperity, and the suicide pact between unions and the president is at the heart of it. They’ve perfected a system to game Washington, using union members as cash cows to fund the political allies who keep union leaders riding high on the hog.
Unions bosses may be to blame, but the solution is found in reforming our archaic, Depression-era federal labor laws. That’s exactly what Americans can accomplish with the Employee Rights Act, a piece of legislation sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Instead of struggling on their own to endure union exploitation, workers would be empowered by the ERA to retake control of their own destiny.
The ERA’s fundamental reforms address every facet of cronyism and corruption currently propagated by labor leaders. Unbelievably, union members lack basic protections to keep their dues from going to fund partisan political activities and politicians they don’t support. The ERA would guarantee union members paycheck protection, requiring labor unions to obtain prior approval from employees to spend dues money on behalf of political parties, candidates or advocacy.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Labor Relations Board indicate that less than 10 percent of currently unionized employees voted for the union that represents them in their workplace. Meanwhile, when employees vote on whether to unionize or recertify the union in their workplace, they often lack the secret ballot Americans hold as a sacred right. The ERA enshrines and protects the right of all workers to a secret-ballot vote on whether to unionize or recertify their union.
Americans are broadly united in opposition to corrupt practices that drag our economy down while rewarding the special friends of public officials and partisan heavyweights. In a single bill, the ERA tackles the problem in a way that restores unions to their original, legitimate purpose: representing the interests of their members — no more and no less.
Rick Berman is executive director of the Center for Union Facts (unionfacts.com).
