EFCA and Secret Ballots

Spread the Truth

False Attack: MARK UDALL SUPPORTS ELIMINATING THE SECRET BALLOT IN UNION ELECTIONS.

Wealthy, out of state interest groups are pouring millions of dollars into the state of Colorado to fight against working people's rights. Their ads focus on the Employee Free Choice Act, which they falsely claim eliminates the right to a secret ballot.

The Truth: MARK UDALL DOES NOT SUPPORT ELIMINATING THE SECRET BALLOT IN UNION ELECTIONS AND HE HAS SAID SO ON THE RECORD.

EFCA does not eliminate the secret ballot, but rather gives legitimacy to both card check and secret ballot elections. Companies like Cingular Wireless and Kaiser Permanente have already adopted the principles of EFCA voluntarily.

"But as I said 2 years ago, I have serious reservations about lessening the role of the secret ballot in union elections. Workers should not be intimidated by pressure from either business or labor in making decisions about organizing a union. However, it is clear that the NLRB has clearly failed to protect workers from intimidation and union-busting. That is why I support this bill even though it is far from perfect." [Mark Udall Statement in the Congressional Record, 3/1/2007]

Mark Udall does not support elimination of the secret ballot-- in union elections or anywhere else. Mark Udall has consistently fought for working families in this country and his support of Employee Free Choice Act confirms this.

The attack against Mark is based on his support for the EFCA legislation. Mark supports this legislation because the Bush Administration has turned its back on working families, and the choking of our middle-class is the result.

Mark believes working people should be able to join together and negotiate for the benefits, the health care, the retirement security, and the working conditions that they deserve. The Bush Administration has repeatedly sided with people who have gone out of their way to intimidate and even fire workers who have attempted to organize. The Employee Free Choice Act re-levels the playing field WITHOUT being overly punitive toward businesses.

That's why companies like Cingular Wireless and Kaiser Permanente have actually already adopted the principles of EFCA voluntarily.

Right now, employees can form a union by conducting a secret ballot election or by having a majority of workers sign cards asking for union representation. However, right now, employers can reject organization by the card-signing method. This is problematic because employers can then delay the vote and use the time to put pressure on employees not to organize.

EFCA would change this law so that employers can't reject the card-check process if that's how workers choose to organize. This does not mean that EFCA will do away with secret ballot. Instead, it strengthens the rights of employees because it requires employers to respect a card check vote that wins over 50% of the staff.

The Bush Administration and its allies like Bob Schaffer have turned a blind eye to working people, instead of ensuring a level playing field in the workplace. EFCA helps restore that balance without being punitive toward businesses.

BOB SCHAFFER'S RECORD:

BOB SCHAFFER WANTS TO DO ANYTHING BUT LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD.

Schaffer Calls Himself Pro-George Bush and Says He Has a Solid Record to Prove That: "I am pro-George Bush - and I have a solid record to prove it." [Bob Schaffer, Post Independent, 07/29/04, http://www.postindependent.com/article/20040729/OPINION/40728007

Schaffer is Convinced Having the Same Positions as George W. Bush is the Right Place To Be: "Schaffer pointed to his record and its striking similarity to Sen. Wayne Allard's and President Bush's. "I'm convinced it's the right position to have," he said. (Fort Morgan Times, 07/26/04)

BOB SCHAFFER IS MORE INTERESTED IN GIVING TAX HANDOUTS TO CORPORATIONS WHO SHIP AMERICAN JOBS OVERSEAS

Schaffer Supported Keeping a Tax Loophole that Allows Corporations to Locate Their Headquarters Offshore in Order to Avoid Paying Federal Taxes. Schaffer opposed a measure to close a loophole that allowed corporations to locate their headquarters offshore in order to avoid paying federal taxes. It would prevent the practice of ‘corporate inversion,' under which a U.S. company inverts its corporate structure so that the parent firm is technically located in a tax-free nation and only a subsidiary is located in the United States, for the purpose of escaping federal taxes. (HR 4931, 6/21/02, Vote #247)

Schaffer voted to subsidize corporations that lay off American workers: (HR 2871, Vote #120, 5/1/2002)

Schaffer voted for billions in tax breaks for overseas corporations: Schaffer voted for proposal that included a $6.5 billion tax break extension for financial corporations with overseas operations. (HR 3529, Vote #509, 12/19/2001)

"Many analysts say it's true. ‘The U.S. tax system does provide an incentive to locate production offshore,' says Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor to Tax Notes, a non-profit publication that tracks tax issues. At issue is the U.S. tax code's treatment of profits earned by foreign subsidiaries of American corporations. Profits earned in the United States are subject to the 35% corporate tax. But multinational corporations can defer paying U.S. taxes on their overseas profits until they return them to the USA - transfers that often don't happen for years." [USA Today, 03/21/08]

Schaffer Voted to Give Homeland Security Contracts to Offshore Tax Dodgers: Schaffer opposed an effort to bar companies that avoid paying U.S. taxes by moving their headquarters overseas from being awarded contracts with the new Homeland Security Department. [HR 5005, Vote #366, 7/26/02]

BOTTOM LINE:

MARK UDALL IS FIGHTING FOR WORKING FAMILIES, WHILE BOB SCHAFFER STANDS FOR THE BUSH ECONOMY AND SUBSIDIZES COMPANIES WHO SEND THEIR JOBS OVERSEAS