Employers from Eight States Blitz Capitol Hill to Express Opposition to Card Check

Over 250 Participants Cite Threat to Job Creation, Economic Recovery

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Small business owners and community leaders from eight states today flooded Capitol Hill to urge Congress not to advance any version of the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act" or Card Check bill in 2010. Roughly 250 participants joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's fourth Workforce Freedom Airlift to express their opposition to the bill or any related "compromise" variations because of the threat to job creation and economic recovery.

The controversial Card Check bill would effectively strip workers of a private vote in union organizing elections, allow federally-appointed arbitrators to impose wages and working conditions through binding arbitration, and impose one-sided penalties on employers. Certain "compromise" proposals floated by some members of Congress would essentially achieve the same results by instituting quick-snap elections to form unions and last-best-offer arbitration in contract negotiations.

Though the bill has struggled in the U.S. Senate, organized labor may press for a "head count" vote to get members on record ahead of this fall. A similar vote occurred in 2007 and passed the U.S. House before ultimately failing in the Senate.

"Main Street job creators want the Card Check job-killer off the table once and for all," said Steven J. Law, chief legal officer and general counsel for the U.S. Chamber. "They are flocking to Washington to say no to an anti-employment agenda in Congress and at the National Labor Relations Board."

During the event, business and community leaders from Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia will meet with their elected officials. In addition to sharing their views on Card Check, participants will voice opposition to the controversial nomination of SEIU lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board, which failed a key Senate vote in February.

In 2009, three Workforce Freedom Airlifts helped galvanize opposition to the Card Check bill in the U.S. House and Senate. Events in March, April, and June last year brought hundreds of small business owners and community leaders to Capitol Hill.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

# # #