The Democratic candidates for governor, along with Democratic lieutenant-gubernatorial candidate Jody Wagner, recently made plain their ideological predilections when they supported a picket line against Hilton in Northern Virginia -- just a few days before the Hilton corporation announced plans to move its headquarters from Beverly Hills to Fairfax. Some welcome.
Nationally, Democrats are working hand-in-glove with union interests to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, better known as card check. Card check has three principal prongs, all of them bad: (1) It could effectively eliminate the secret-ballot election, a cornerstone of representative democracy; (2) it would short-circuit the collective-bargaining process after 120 days, allowing an arbiter to impose contract terms neither the union nor the company has sought; and (3) it would replace remedial penalties for NLRB violations with Draconian punitive fines that could drive some firms into bankruptcy -- while imposing no fines for union misconduct.
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling has condemned card check as "horrendous," which it certainly is. The other day, GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell also spoke out forcefully against the measure. In a letter to the state's congressional delegation, he wrote:
"In Virginia, both Democrats and Republicans have worked together over many decades to create an economic environment that nurtures long-term economic growth. We have largely succeeded in this endeavor as management and labor have worked together for job growth and prosperity. Virginia's strong right-to-work law has been one of the cornerstones of this prosperity.
"Now is not the time to imperil our free enterprise system. I ask you to vote NO on legislation that would upset the longstanding and carefully crafted balance with respect to whether an employee should participate in a union. The so-called Employee Free Choice Act, known as 'card check,' dramatically threatens this balance and could usher in an era of labor and management instability. It is patently unfair to employees to take away the right to a secret ballot regarding union organization matters. This bill will undermine our right-to-work laws, and trample on the spirit of the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It will also unfairly force arbitration on private companies when arms-length agreements cannot be reached. We cannot afford such unnecessary federal intrusion into our efforts to reinvigorate our economy and ensure jobs for all Virginians."
He's right. The last thing Virginia -- or any state -- needs now is a monkeywrench the size of card check sticking in the economy's gears. The November gubernatorial election remains several months away, but on at least this issue the contrast between the candidates could not be more stark.
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