US Chamber: We Hate Arbitration. Except For When We Love It.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

http://www.seiu.org/2009/05/us-chamber-we-hate-arbitration-except-for-when-we-love-it.php

In a post on the US Chamber of Commerce's blog, Brad Peck attempts to argue against our point that corporate lobby groups - such as the Chamber itself - were long for arbitration before they started assailing the process as a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad thing.

One problem about his argument: it has no argument.

Anti-worker groups have attacked the "first contract arbitration" portion of the Employee Free Choice Act. That provision seeks to stop employers from using endless foot-dragging against workers who have voted for a union, but have yet to secure a contract.

The Chamber's Peck throws some names out against us, calling us "moronic." There's even a reference to the cartoon character Fat Albert, for reasons unclear as of the time of this blog post. But, nope, no actual argument.

Perhaps it's because they actually have no argument other than "we like arbitration - but only when we get to set the rules."



Here are just some of the quotes that opponents of Employee Free Choice have said about arbitration in the past:

"For more than 80 years, arbitration has helped Americans settle disputes fairly, quickly and inexpensively, without having to file a lawsuit or navigate the court system." - Lisa Rickard, president of the US Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform (4/2/08)

"Arbitration is mutually beneficial, which is what we have always thought." - Arne Wagner, assistant general counsel for Bank of America

"Federal policy... favors the use of arbitration as an efficient, effective, and less expensive means of resolving disputes...Arbitration, has served as an essential valve for the nation's overburdened civil justice system." - Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee signed by US Chamber of Commerce, Retail Industry Leaders Association, National Retail Federation, National Association of Manufacturers, Jackson Lewis, et al (2/7/08)
Just a little bit of a double standard, no? Arbitration is the best thing ever when it comes to protecting their wallets, but when it comes to adding the safety net of first contract arbitration during collective bargaining, it's the devil incarnate that must be stopped at all costs.

There's one position that CEOs have been fairly consistent on, however: if it allows them to hold on to their corporate power against working families, then they're all for it. Even if it means being a little "flexible" in their public stances.

[nichomachus]

1. The average American has more to fear from the US Chamber than from Al Qaida

[Earth Bound Misfit]

3. That's funny.

Not funny "ha-ha", funny "ironical".

[nichomachus]

5. More Americans have died because of the US Chamber

and its assault on worker rights, worker protection, consumer protection, environmental rules etc. than Al Qaida could ever dream of.

I used to deal -- indirectly -- with the Chamber. They are truly despicable. If fascism has a headquarters in the US, it is their office.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

11. This post echoed in my mind throughout the last 24 hours or so...

While at first it struck me as one of those really good "snarky" comments that manage to make a great point, it became much more than that as the day wore on. I have taken the liberty to add your comment to my sig-line...hope that is ok with you, if not I will remove it.

Thanks,

EBM

[Omaha Steve]

2. K & R!

Thanks for the great post!

[Earth Bound Misfit]

4. Their argument against EFCA is UNRAVELLING...

If we can find a way to compromise on the card-check provision, without making it toothless, they have no other argument that they can frame in their favor.

[FredStembottom]

6. Just this morning I am tyring to get a better look.....

...at what this "vote annonamously at home" compromise that appeared yesterday really means.
I'm all for taking away the Corporatists one and only tactic - scare people about public voting - but I will suspect some minor "wrinkle" ...that spoils everything for workers... until proven otherwise.

Onward.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

7. I hadn't read or heard about that until you pointed it out

Thank you. Huff-Po's Jane Hamsher Wrote about it here. I'm skeptical, but need to read more on this. Do you have any info/links? It would be appreciated.

An article at Workforce.com has some interesting things to say: http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/26/41/67.php

Employee Free Choice Act Legislation Undergoing Changes During Negotiations

When Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pennsylvania, recently switched parties, he vowed to remain opposed to a bill that would make it easier for workers to join unions.

But Specter’s move has stoked negotiations over the Employee Free Choice Act that may lead to two key provisions being modified.

One would allow the formation of a union when a majority of workers sign cards authorizing one. Another would mandate binding arbitration if a company and a union don’t reach an agreement on a first contract within 120 days of the union being recognized.

-snip-

The so-called card-check provision may be replaced with a plan to shorten union elections to a range of seven to 21 days after a petition has been filed, according to a source familiar with the talks. The mandatory arbitration proposal might be replaced with one focusing on expedited mediation.

-snip-

The card-check provision may be fading because supporters see an opportunity to achieve it, or something like it, through National Labor Relations Board rulings when the appropriate case comes up, according to one source. The NLRB membership is set to swing to a 3-2 Democratic advantage now that a Democrat is in the White House.

Union advocates don’t mention card-check by name when they discuss the principles they want to see in a final bill.

“Workers need to have a real choice to form a union and bargain for a better life, free from intimidation,” AFL-CIO spokeswoman Alison Omens said.

She also said companies should not be able to “engage in endless delays and stalling tactics” to prevent a first contract, and that penalties for violating workers’ rights should be strengthened.

Kate Cyrul, communications director for Harkin, used similar language in outlining the EFCA principles that should survive negotiations.

“One thing all Democrats can agree on is that the current system is broken and we need real reform to level the playing field,” Cyrul said. “ believes we are on the right track, and we will get a bill to the president’s desk that achieves these important goals.”

[FredStembottom]

8. Thanks Earthbound!

That is a helpful article. This is still clear as mud - but to read that NLRB options are possible (stuff I didn't know about) is encouraging... for now.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

9. UR Welcome...

Yes, the EFCA is not an all or nothing, no other option thing and as such, when we hear "compromise", we should not automatically panic or head for the nearest ledge (we're Dem progressives, it's in our DNA, LOL). The way it's been explained to me by some of the Union PAC guys, a lot (most?) of the NLRA is based on extensive case-law rulings, which change according to whomever is in power at the time, Much like Presidential Orders. Much of the damage done by *'s Board will eventually be reversed or refined, if and when the appropriate case comes before the board. In that regard there is much cause for optimism, because Pres Obama's NLRB Chair appointee, Wilma Liebman, was the sole dissenter on virtually all of the * board's many harmful rulings, and also a very strong proponent of the much needed overhaul of this country's labor law. Still, it is much more difficult to reverse or amend a law than it is to reverse a case-law finding, obviously, so I'm still nervous about how much we need to "give up" to make it law.

Also, as with other bills, there are 2 seperate bills which need to be reconciled in committee, once they are voted on and (hopefully) passed--senate and house. Where things may be "lost" in the senate's version they may be "re-gained" in the congress' version, where we hold a stronger majority (I think?).

Side note: Did you read the comment on McGovern in Hamsher's article?:

George McGovern was recently dis-invited from the Progressive Magazine's 100th anniversary event because of his outspoken opposition to the bill on behalf of his good friend Rick Berman. If McGovern is interested in reclaiming his reputation among progressives as something more than the pawn of a right wing astroturfing scumbag, he now has the opportunity to acknowledge that these compromises would satisfy his concerns.

WOW, Jane, tell us what you REALLY think.

[FredStembottom]

10. I needed to know this.

I've been ignorant of another pathway through the NLRB - because that committee is such a mystery overall - in large part because it is always being F*cked around with by each administration.

And... as you point out.... like so many Bush era agencies, it has been used to do the opposite of what it was set up for.

I need to follow this better.

The McGovern thing? That is sure harsh, but McG's stand on EFCA is utterly baffling.:freak:

[Earth Bound Misfit]

12. About McG...

"McG's stand on EFCA is utterly baffling"

Goes back to the Union's not backing him in '72. (IMHO)

http://institute.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2008083419/mcgovern-mystery
It's one of the subplots of NIXONLAND: the bright-eyed anti-war reform Demorats who formed the core of McGovern's movement became locked in a civil war with the old-line union leaders who were as uncomfortable with reform as they were comfortable with the Vietnam War. It got ugly. Long story short: AFL-CIO president George Meany, who chose to remain neutral in the 1972 presidential election but who obviously favored Richard Nixon, got the last word. At a Steelworkers convention in September, he explained that the "Democratic Party has been taken over by people named Jack who look like Jills and smell like Johns."

To understand is not to forgive. But I thought I might help explain where this insane betrayal might be coming from. And there's a Big Con lesson: our enemies are insidious, cunning, and resourceful. They took an old man seething with bitterness from thirty-six year old slights, AND MADE HIM AN INSTRUMENT OF THEIR WILL.(emph mine)

McGovern sits on the board of FirstJobs
http://www.firstjobs.org/participants.cfm
another pro-business Berman front group, alongside the likes of Bush Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens, the editorial page director of the Washington Times, and the head of Sam's Club.

Actually, I find the most telling of McGovern's fellow board members to be Al From. I wonder if From regales McGovern at board meetings with his conviction that McGovern turned the Democratic party into a monstrous aggregation "defined principally by weakness abroad and elitist, interest-group liberalism at home."
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251690&kaid=1

The fact is, George McGovern is one of those Democrats who, along with Al From, has never had much use for the AFL-CIO.