09 LC
94 0116
Senate
Resolution 49
By:
Senators Smith of the 52nd, Hudgens of the 47th, Tolleson of the 20th, Heath of
the 31st, Hill of the 32nd and others
A
RESOLUTION
Urging
the Congress of the United States to oppose any efforts to adopt the so-called
"Employee Free Choice Act"; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
special labor interests have been trying to force a new law through Congress
that could change the American workplace and strip workers of the sacred right
to a secret ballot for or against union organization; and
WHEREAS,
current federal law allows companies to petition for a federally supervised
secret ballot election on whether to have a union in their workplace, which
provides employers and union workers the opportunity to make their case to
employees; and
WHEREAS,
under the current system, workers can cast their ballots for or against a union
in private; and
WHEREAS,
under the "Employee Free Choice Act," the secret ballot option would be
eliminated, and instead, a union could be installed if a majority of the workers
are pressured into signing authorization cards; and
WHEREAS,
with no secret ballot to protect them, employees could be faced with a situation
in which they are subjected to influence and pressure to sign authorization
cards which will result in dues being automatically extracted from their
paychecks; and
WHEREAS,
with no federal government supervision of union activities, business owners
would likely be unaware of union organizing drives aimed at their employees; and
WHEREAS,
under the "Employee Free Choice Act," if union organizers are able to convince a
majority of employees to sign authorization cards, business owners will have 120
days to agree to a contract, that is, 90 days plus 30 days mediation;
and
WHEREAS,
if an agreement is not reached, a business owner must enter into binding
arbitration where a federal arbiter will dictate the terms of the employer's new
labor contract; and
WHEREAS,
a coalition of more than 300 business and free enterprise organizations oppose
the "card check" process; and
WHEREAS,
the 28th National Convention of the Communist Party USA unanimously endorsed the
"Employee Free Choice Act"; and
WHEREAS,
the passage of this legislation would prove detrimental to the overall integrity
of the American workplace.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA that the members of
this body join in urging the United States Congress to oppose any efforts to
enact the "Employee Free Choice Act" or any similar legislation aiming to remove
the secret ballot vote from the union organizing process.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to each member of the Georgia
congressional delegation.