Bob McDonnell, Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Attorney General of Virginia, expressed his strong opposition to federal “Card Check” legislation being introduced in the United States Congress today. He also urged Virginia’s congressional delegation to oppose the measure when the legislation appears before them.
McDonnell has previously expressed his opposition to the “Card Check” legislation. In an early February letter to Virginia’s congressional delegation McDonnell wrote, “Now is not the time to imperil our free enterprise system. I ask you to vote no on legislation that would upset the longstanding and carefully crafted balance with respect to whether an employee should participate in a union. The so-called Employee Free Choice Act, known as ‘card check,’ dramatically threatens this balance and could usher in an era of labor and management instability. It is patently unfair to employees to take away the right to a secret ballot regarding union organization matters.”
McDonnell reiterated his opposition to “Card Check” today noting, “This is the most anti-jobs bill in decades. Rarely are elected officials and candidates presented with such a clear cut choice. Every Virginia official and every Virginia candidate should let the public know whether they stand in support of the spirit of Virginia’s Right to Work Law and the job-creating environment it has established, or do they stand with big unions and their desire to take away the secret ballot from employees in the workplace? I strongly support Virginia’s Right to Work Law, and the Commonwealth’s reputation as the most business-friendly state in the nation. I adamantly oppose this legislation which will hurt free enterprise and kill jobs. I continue to urge Virginia’s congressional delegation to vote no on the big unions ‘Card Check’ legislation.”
Officially titled the “Employee Free Choice Act” this anti-business legislation would eliminate a worker’s most basic right: The right to cast a secret ballot in elections to determine if a union will be organized at their place of employment. Instead it would allow unions hoping to organize to circulate what are known as authorization cards. Once a majority of employees at a workplace sign such a card, with no time limit for the collection of signatures, a union would be recognized and management would be required by law to bargain with that union. Further, in newly organized workplaces, if the employer and the union do not agree to a contract in the first 130 days of negotiations, an arbitration panel from the federal government can be brought in and its decision would be binding on the employer.
Virginia is one of 22 Right to Work states in the country. In Right to Work states employees cannot be forced to become union members or pay union dues as a condition of employment.
Unions have dramatically increased their political presence and donations to Virginia candidates and parties in recent years. The Washington Post reported that this past election cycle three individual Unions gave over $500,000 to the Democratic Party of Virginia in just September and October. These donations were some of the largest received by the Party in recent memory.
