the matter of unionization? Please read this letter below and give me some ideas by wednesday, sept. 10th, 2008, if you can. Thanx in advance. Haruna. Haruna Darbo The Global Democracy Project Dear Haruna, There simply may not be a more important issue facing American business today. Legislation to change business-employee relationships forever – and change them for the worse; hurt our nation’s ability to compete in our global economy; expose businesses to significant new legal liabilities and fines; and give labor unions unprecedented power over business decisions is awaiting Congressional approval in early 2009. HR 800 – the grossly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, also known as S. 1041) – passed the U.S. House of Representatives on March 1, 2007, by a margin of 241-185. On June 26, 2007, the Senate voted 51 to 48 on a motion for cloture on HR 800, in attempt to end debate and move to a vote on passing the bill. The cloture vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to end debate, and the bill is unlikely to pass this session. But it is expected to be one of the first votes when Congress convenes in 2009. At the core of the bill is a fundamental and volatile change in current labor law. HR 800 would eliminate an employee’s right to a secret ballot in deciding whether to unionize. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce supports the right of workers to voluntarily join unions under a process that is fair to both the employee and the employer. However, we strongly oppose efforts by union organizers to take away from employees the right of each individual to decide whether or not membership in a union is in their best interest. The elimination of secret-ballot elections strikes at one of the essential founding principles of American freedom and democracy: the ability to cast a vote in confidence and privacy, free from coercion, harassment and intimidation. Make no mistake: this legislation, if enacted, would mean a dramatic new direction for our country’s labor laws. It would give labor unions an overwhelming advantage in establishing union representation. Their influence would quickly spread to companies where there is now no union presence whatsoever, stretching even to our nation’s 22 “right to work” states, including Georgia. Should 50-percent-plus-one of a company’s employees sign “union authorization cards,” the union would automatically be given the right and standing to negotiate under mandatory arbitration for all applicable employees. Whether or not employees want union representation; whether or not they want money deducted from their paycheck to pay union dues; whether or not they want to be called off the job for a prolonged strike – none of it would matter. They would be forced to do so. I fear that most CEOs of U.S. companies are unaware of this legislation and the severe consequences it will bring about. Unions lost over 3,500 elections from 2003-2006. Their ranks have been dwindling. This bill is designed to wind the clock back to 1945 – when more than a third of all American workers belonged to unions – by forcing more workers to join them. It would make it almost impossible for any enterprise of 50 employees or more to resist or prevent unionization. I invite you, as a top official in your organization, to join us on a conference call hosted by Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot and to be joined by presidents and CEOs of some of America's greatest companies, for an important discussion of this issue. This call is intended for CEOs, presidents and top company officials only, and is scheduled for........ Please review the attached document for further information, and RSVP to .......... Upon confirmation, dial-in information will be furnished. Thank you, George President & CEO **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014) To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask]