ENZI, SENATE LEADERS, DECRY DEMOCRAT EFFORT TO PAY OFF UNION BACKERS WITH LEGISLATION TO STRIP AWAY FUNDAMENTAL WORKER RIGHTS

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Senate Republican leaders today pledged to defeat a Democrat proposal that would rob America’s workers of their right to cast a government-supervised, private ballot when deciding whether to bring a union into their workplace, and leave workers exposed to pressure, intimidation and coercion by co-workers and labor union leaders. “This bill is all about the art of deception. It is all wrong for worker’s rights,” Enzi said, during a press conference with other Senate leaders. ‘The Employee Free Choice Act’ is really the ‘No Choice Act,’ and there is nothing free about it. It has enormous costs to our fundamental and democratic rights of freedom of speech, freedom of expression and the right to vote,” Enzi said. Enzi and other Republican leaders blasted the bill, which they said takes workplace decisions out of the workplace and places them in the hands of a stranger – a stranger who doesn’t understand the business and doesn’t have a stake in its future. The Republicans also criticized the bill’s mandatory arbitration provision, which they said would authorize the federal government to set the terms of private sector labor contracts. Under the bill, a government bureaucrat, who doesn’t understand a business and doesn’t have a stake in its future, would be authorized to impose working conditions - from wages and pensions to hours, schedules, vacations, leave, and more. The same provision would also deprive workers of a vote for a second time, denying them an opportunity to ratify any new contract terms the government would seek to impose. Enzi called the bill “an early Christmas present to labor unions to help them boost their sagging memberships,” and warned that it will guarantee every worker a ballot and “someone looking over their shoulder to tell them how to fill it out.” “Are my Democrat colleagues so indebted to union bosses that they are willing to delay legislation on issues like healthcare reform, and better opportunities for education and training – issues that working families are wrestling with every day? I hope not,” he said. “The cost of this pay-off will not only hit all Americans in their paychecks and their pocketbooks, but will turn back the clock on a century of worker protections and freedoms.” Recent polls show that American voters recognize what is at stake and overwhelmingly oppose the bill -• • •79 percent of voters oppose the so-called Employee Free Choice Act; 89 percent believe a worker’s vote on union organization should remain private;78 percent of union workers favor keeping the current system of organizing in place.“When we choose our city council members, our sheriffs, our judges, and our President, we expect and demand a private ballot. Workers deserve the same right,” Enzi concluded. “As Ranking Member of the Committee with jurisdiction over this bill, I will not stand idly by and watch private ballots taken away.” ###