What Do the Hawaii Senate & the Communist Party USA Have in Common?
The answer is really simple...apparently they both support "card check" as a means to disnfranchise workers. AWF sent the below press release out highlighting the most recent assault on worker rights in Hawaii.
What Do the Hawaii Senate & the Communist Party USA Have in Common?
Hawaii Senate Passed “Card Check”; Endorsed by Communist Party USA
Washington, D.C. — Last week, the Hawaii Senate almost unanimously voted to pass, Senate Bill 1621, a “card check” bill that will take away Hawaii workers’ rights to a private, federally supervised secret ballot election when voting on union representation. AWF successfully lobbied against this same legislation in April of 2008 when Governor Lingle vetoed the bill.
According to AWF executive director Brian M Johnson the unions are getting more and more ferocious in their attempts to push the envelope. “Hawaii workers and business owners need to understand that losing the secret ballot provision is just the beginning,” said Johnson.
Endorsed by the Communist Party USA, AWF has lobbied against similar legislation at the federal level for several years. The federal bill, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would eliminate a worker’s right to a federally-supervised private ballot election. If passed, private ballots in Hawaii would be replaced by a kind of open-air petition known as a “card check” and businesses would be forced into a mandatory bargaining system that would force many businesses to close.
“If passed, the workers of Hawaii can thank their union-backed representatives for creating a workplace where corruption and intimidation replace honest negotiations and diplomacy.” Johnson however still remains hopeful that Gov. Lingle will veto the bill. “Last year it came down to Gov. Lingle vetoing this bill. I remain confident she will stand on principle and make the same, right decision. If this bill passes and she doesn’t veto it, I’d check the union payroll.”
In December, the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) launched a state-based anti-EFCA legislative grassroots campaign. Currently, AWF has commitments from hundreds of state legislators to introduce anti-EFCA resolutions in their state congressional bodies. Michigan, Washington, Alabama and Georgia have already passed the resolution.
AWF’s resolution has been introduced in Kansas, Nebraska and South Carolina with legislative commitments in Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Utah. Visit www.workerfreedom.org for more information.
