The US Chamber of Commerce is currently running an ad on the DailyKos front page. If you click on it, they provide some alarmist propaganda about the NLRB's attempts (finally, after 8 years of neglect and hostility) to enforce the law to protect workers' rights to unionize. Of course, the Chamber doesn't quite see it that way. But here's the beauty part of this: they solicit you to write to your Representative and Senators, provide a handy form to do so, and proposed text of a letter spouting all their lies.
Well, I took them up on their offer, and so can you. Of course, I creatively edited their form letter before hitting the submit button. You can see my edited letter below the fold. (In case the ad's not up when you read this, you can go to the link here.
I find it delicious irony that I utilized the Chamber's resources to send out a pro-union letter to my representatives, one that most likely I wouldn't have sent otherwise. Thanks, US Chamber of Commerce! It was a pleasure doing business with you.
Here's my letter, as revised.
Over the past two years, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has finally begin making an attempt to enforce the law protecting workers' rights to organize, form unions, and bargain collectively. This comes after 8 years of neglect and even hostility to workers under the former administration.
Unfortunately, legislation has been introduced to reverse the reasonable, fair policies implemented by the NLRB. The US Chamber of Commerce and other right wing, pro-big business, anti-worker groups are promoting four bills that would cripple the NLRB's attempts to enforce the law. These bills are (note the Orwellian, misleading titles the bills' sponsors have attached to them):
• The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 3094)
• The Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act (H.R. 2587 and S. 1523)
• The Job Protection Act (H.R. 1976 and S. 964)
• The Secret Ballot Protection Act (H.R. 972 and S. 217).
These pieces of legislation would destroy what few rights unions retain, making it virtually impossible for workers to join a union and protect themselves from predatory businesses that view their employees as an unnecessary cost center, rather than a valuable resource. Adoption of these bills would only encourage more union busting and outsourcing. I urge you to do everything in your power to defeat all four of thes monstrous pieces of sham legislation.
The misnamed Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act would prevent the NLRB from implementing two rules designed to restore balance to the workplace and put employees on an even playing field with employers. where a majority of workers have rejected unions.
The Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act and the Job Protection Act , under the guise of merely protecting the right of employers to decide where to produce a product, would reverse the NLRB's findings in the Boeing case, where Boeing retaliated against unionized workers by shipping their jobs to a non-union plant -- a clear violation of existing law, and one that Boeing's CEO bragged about.
The so-called Secret Ballot Protection Act would force elections, even where a majority of employees had already expressed their support for unionizing. The sole reason for doing so is that employers want the opportunity to intimidate, threaten, and propagandize their employees to scare them away from exercising their rights to unionize -- the exact opposite of the democratic values the bill's sponsors falsely claim to promote.
As you can see, there is a huge pressure campaign to force these bills through. The US Chamber is putting vast resources behind them. I urge you not to fall for the lies and propaganda, and to protect employees from this campaign to further hamstring unions, by preventing employees from exercising their rights. Please vote against all these outrageous bills.