Issue Position: Small Business Support

Issue Position

A stronger economy is based on our support of smaller businesses

Small- and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the American economy. I believe that we must do everything that we can to strengthen and support small and medium-sized businesses. These owners/entrepreneurs are self starters who believe strongly in the American dream and the ideals of hard work. That's why I firmly oppose the federal Employees Free Choice Act ("card check"), which would amend the current National Labor Relations Act. I believe that the purpose of unionization is to protect the employees from improper or unfair labor practices on the part of employers.

Unions were created to help individual workers stand collectively against the face of corporate giants and large corporations. When workers want to unionize, they usually gather the signatures of a majority of the company's workforce and present them to the employer. The employer can then call for a vote to validate the signatures, if, for example, the employer thinks that some workers were bullied into signing or signatures were forged. The vote is conducted by private ballot, giving each worker the opportunity to voice their support or opposition to unionization without fear of repercussion.

Card check, however, would eliminate the right of the employer to call for such a vote. Especially in small businesses, where employers have a close relationship with their employees, eliminating the private ballot vote would destroy the very fabric of the organization. The very purpose of the secret ballot is to protect the choice that each worker makes. It would also prevent reprisals from other employees and more employers who disagree with their choice. Our re-emergence as a leading global economic power depends upon the supportive, symbiotic relationship between employer and employee. The privacy of union ballots are a basic American right.

Furthermore, the card check legislation would force employer and employee union to agree upon a collective bargaining agreement within 90 days, after which the process would be referred to compulsory mediation, and then binding arbitration. As anyone familiar with union negotiations knows, three months is an unrealistic timeline in most industries for both sides to reach agreement, which means that most bargaining processes will be referred to compulsory mediation or binding arbitration. The binding arbitration provision in particular would be harmful to small and medium businesses, because it would sideline the employer in the negotiation process. In the worst case scenario, an arbitration panel could set wages and benefits that imposed unrealistic requirements on the employer, even going so far as to drive them out of business. Why would unions bargain in good faith when they have only to wait out the first 90 day negotiation period to get Cadillac union terms? Card check will thwart the private sector businesses' recovery, something we can ill afford in these challenging financial times.

I understand that Congress is also contemplating legislation that will unreasonably expand employee benefits. Workers should be treated fairly and equally by their employers, but some of these provisions will unduly burden small- and medium-sized businesses, and that's why I will also be vigilant against these side door attempts at federal intrusion on employer-employee relationships. The current legislation covering medical leave is called the Family and Medical Leave Act; it guarantees unpaid leave for serious illnesses, to take care of a sick family member, or to care for a new child. But it does not apply to businesses with fewer than fifty employees.

I don't believe that workers at small businesses should be denied these rights, but they should be negotiated between employer and employee, not mandated one-size-fits-all by the federal government. This kind of federal intrusion is unnecessary. A worker with the flu should stay home, but how, when, and if that happens should not be determined by Washington.

Source