Better in their words…

Review & Outlook: The Union ‘Quickie’ – WSJ.com.

When Big Labor failed to persuade even a Democratic Congress to pass “card check” legislation, it turned to Plan B: the National Labor Relations Board, which yesterday delivered a plan for “quickie” union elections designed to make organizing easier.

Current law already gives unions an advantage in their ability to work covertly for months, quietly approaching employees to gather signatures for an election petition until springing the news on employers at the last minute. Companies then must make their own case to workers in the month or so it usually takes to hold an election. Unions typically win two out of every three elections.

The rules proposed yesterday would “streamline” the election process by denying companies longstanding election rights. The rules would set shorter time limits for hearings and filings, robbing employers of preparation time. The regulations would also strip companies of the right to litigate some issues—such as whether certain employees (supervisors) qualify to vote—until after an election. They’d also curtail employers’ abilities to challenge pre-election rulings the agency makes against them, since those challenges also take time.

The lone Republican on the current NLRB, Brian Hayes, estimates the new rules could allow elections to take place in as little as 10 to 21 days from petition filing. “Make no mistake,” he wrote in his dissent, “the principal purpose for this radical manipulation of our election process is to minimize, or rather, to effectively eviscerate an employer’s legitimate opportunity to express its views about collective bargaining.”

The three Democratic members claim the rules are necessary to “better insure that employees’ votes may be recorded accurately, efficiently and speedily.” But as Mr. Hayes notes, that already happens. In 2010, more than 95% of all union elections were held within 56 days of a petition filing (with a median time of 38 days), and 86% of all representation cases had been closed within 100 days. The NLRB’s acting general counsel described these results as “outstanding.”

The push for “quickie” elections is a sign of labor desperation, The percentage of private workers in unions last year dropped to 6.9%, the lowest rate in a century. Labor asserts that “unfair labor practices”—including companies that “intimidate” workers during “long” union-election campaigns—are a cause of this decline. But the current election time frame is roughly what it was in the 1950s, when some 35% of private workers were unionized. Unions have lost members because fewer modern workers want to join unions.

The NLRB is supposed to be an independent outfit that ensures fair labor practices, but under this Administration it has become hyper-politicized and an advocate for unions. President Obama has stacked the board with former union lawyers, including Craig Becker, who needed a recess appointment because even a Democratic Senate refused to confirm him.

The result has been the complaint against Boeing for locating a new plant in right-to-work South Carolina, a broad assault on companies that fire union employees, and other initiatives to increase union membership. Meanwhile, Mr. Obama can invite Fortune 500 CEOs to the White House and claim to want private job creation. No one should be fooled about the President’s real political priorities.