New penalties on employers for unfair labor practices in the Build Back Better Act are deeply unpopular among voters. The New Hampshire Journal just released a poll taken last weekend showing 75 percent of individuals oppose the new penalties, and only 10 percent approve.
Section 21006 of the Act contains civil penalties of $50,000 for unfair labor practices such as errors in handbooks or vaguely pressuring an employee not to join a union. Penalties rise to $100,000 for repeat practices that result in “the discharge of an employee or other serious economic harm to an employee.”
With consumer price inflation over 6 percent, and producer price inflation over 9 percent, workers don’t need money taken out of their paychecks for union dues. And employers can’t afford a new set of penalties.
Those penalties could decimate a small business, and give a major advantage to larger firms that can afford legal departments.
The new penalties were originally in the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), a bill that seeks to expand the power of union leaders at the expense of workers. Although the PRO Act passed the House of Representatives in March, it does not have enough votes to pass the Senate. That is why the penalties have been transplanted into the 2,366-page Build Back Better bill, now awaiting a Senate vote.
Workers are rejecting the union bosses’ agenda. In 2020, 11 percent of workers belonged to unions (6 percent of private sector workers), down from almost 35 percent in the mid-1950s. Employers are competing for labor with higher wages, bonuses, and flexible hours.
Increasingly, workers see no need to enroll in underfunded pension plans. More than 95 percent of union workers—over 10 million—are in pension plans that have less than 60 percent of funding needed to pay current and future retirees.
President Joe Biden’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) wants to help unions sign up new workers to provide a flow of dues to union bosses and bail out the underfunded plans.
One example can be seen in Alabama. Even though only 13 percent of Amazon workers at the Bessemer, Ala, warehouse voted to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) in April, the NLRB this month ordered a new unionization vote.
The NLRB’s request shows how desperate union bosses are to sign up new recruits—even though workers clearly do not want to join a union. Workers made their voices clear, and the majority did not choose union representation.
The stated reason for the revote is Amazon requested a new U.S. Postal Service mailbox be installed close to the plant to make it easier for votes to be mailed, and Amazon had Vote No signs in the facility.
Neither are illegal. The U.S. Postal Service mailbox was provided for the convenience of workers to cast their private ballot votes while at work.
When the NLRB picks on Amazon, Amazon has the resources to defend itself. But small businesses do not have that luxury.
The push to organize the labor force by penalizing businesses under the Build Back Better Act comes at a time when the economy is struggling with supply chain problems and inflation. Instead of layering on the penalties, let workers have their say.
