Welcome to the Cline Wood Agency Special Report, a new, monthly news flash that provides timely information about transportation and agricultural topics for your consideration.

Cline Wood opposes “Card Check” legislation

While we are confident that you are aware of the proposed Card Check legislation in Congress, we are adding our voice to encourage the urgent opposition that we believe is called for.

The Employee Free Choice Act of 2009 (EFCA) was introduced March 10 in the House of Representatives by George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, and in the Senate by Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. This proposed legislation is also known as the “Card Check” bill, and it is something that every trucking and agribusiness company owner needs to be familiar with. Trucking and agribusiness associations including the American Trucking Association (ATA), Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) are opposed to this legislation for a variety of reasons.

The first change EFCA proposes removes the requirement for a secret ballot as the instrument to register votes for or against organizing employees into a labor union. Instead, the legislation calls for a simple card that employees would fill out — in public. The cards and each individual vote would be available to union organizers, employers and fellow employees. We believe there is every chance that intimidation, misdirection and confusion can result in positive votes from employees who would actually prefer to remain non-union.

The second part to the legislation is the stipulation that if a contract agreement isn’t reached within 120 days of the formation of the union, a government arbitrator will set the agreement. Neither the company nor the employees’ best interests will be served by an uninvolved third party acting arbitrarily.

The most obvious outcome of unionizing a company is an increase in compensation and/or benefits. Unfortunately, most companies’ current operating model and rates will not support higher compensation costs. The economy simply will not sustain higher rates from shippers and agriculture producers to offset these costs. In industries with thin margins to begin with, we believe this legislation threatens the survival of many companies. Fewer companies mean fewer jobs — everybody loses.

Cline Wood Agency, Inc., is committed to supporting the trucking and agribusiness industries, and we oppose Card Check. There is an abundance of information about this issue available on the Internet. We urge you to educate yourself. We are sending letters to our representatives opposing this legislation. We encourage you to consider doing the same as quickly as possible. There are sample letters available on the ATA web site and on the Agriculture for a Democratic Workplace site. You also may learn more about the issue at the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace web site.