Today's congressional hearing spotlights true administration position on jobs

President Obama has recently set his sights on passage of a new “Jobs Bill” after a long summer of massive unemployment numbers, and a wave of public opinion polls showing that fewer Americans approve of his handling of the economy.

While some may applaud the President’s rekindled rhetoric on jobs, a closer look at his actual policies shows his Administration continues to put politics before people.

The case of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a clear and compelling example. The allegedly independent board sided with the International Association of Machinists and AFL-CIO and is challenging the Boeing corporation’s right for trying to open a new $1 billion facility in South Carolina, a right-to-work state.

The NLRB also announced recently a series of union supported workplace rules allowing smaller groups of employees to demand union elections, and putting them on an even faster track.  These heavy-handed tactics bolster union bosses at the expense of small business owners, non-union employees, and even union members themselves.
 
This week, a key congressional committee will hold a hearing on legislation aimed at rolling back the NLRB’s union sponsored workforce rules.  The legislation, introduced by House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline of Minnesota, would give employers at least 14 days to prepare their case for a NLRB election officer. It would also change the law so that no union election could be held until at least 35 days after a petition is filed.
 
Congressman Kline’s legislation also reinstates the traditional standard for determining which employees will vote in the union election, and allows workers to decide the type of personal information provided to a union.
 
If this legislation sounds less than radical, even boringly common sense, that’s because it is.   However, the NLRB and its union allies are already vowing to stop it.   
 
The congressional hearing on Congressman Kline’s legislation, called the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, will take place today, Wednesday, October 12. You can bet that small business owners and their employees around the country will be watching for a response by the Obama Administration and congressional democrats in support of this legislation.
 
With an economy yet again on the brink of recession, Americans just barely hanging on will be watching this hearing for signs that President Obama is actually placing their interests before his own.

By Brett McMahon is the VP of Miller & Long Construction and member of the Associated Builders and Contractors.

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