US business unites to fight labor reform

US business leaders are ­stepping up a campaign against proposed labor law reforms, backed by the Democrats, that could significantly enhance the ability of unions to organize workers. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have endorsed proposals that would waive an employer's right to insist on a secret workplace ballot on union representation. Instead, a union would only have to secure the signatures of a majority of workers in the proposed bargaining unit. If the Democratic candidate wins the presidency in November the issue will become a key battleground for business under the new administration. Business groups including the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Retail Federation and the US Chamber of Commerce have formed a lobbying coalition to oppose what they insist is a threat to the principle of the secret ballot. The Democratic-backed Employee Free Choice Act, dubbed the "card count bill" by employers, last year passed in the House of ­Representatives but failed to secure the backing needed in the Senate in a procedural vote that divided along party political lines. Lee Scott, the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, the strongly anti-union retailer that is one of the largest ­private employers in the US, argued that the bill would lead to employees being "subjected to the individual pressure of people calling on you and knowing where you stand." Only about 7 percent of the US private sector workforce is unionized, down from 16 percent in the early 1980s, according to US government statistics. Bruce Raynor, head of the Unite Here union, said the current system was unworkable and that his union no longer tried to organize if an employer insisted on opposing union activity. He said that the proposed legislation would also strengthen the penalties on employers for dismissing union sympathizers. "Currently it almost behooves an employer to dismiss union supporters and break the law, because the penalties are so slight," he said.