Will unions force more businesses to move over seas?

In a time when unions are outraged with Democrats for their pro-immigration policies, big labor has launched an unprecedented lobbying campaign to force workers into unions. Labor unions are supposed to protect workers鈥?rights, yet union bosses want Congress to pass a law that actually robs workers of their democratic right to a private ballot.

In March, the House kowtowed to the unions and passed the so-called 鈥淓mployer Free Choice Act.鈥?Today the battle comes to the floor of the Senate. Union bosses will learn that the Senate isn鈥檛 going to roll over so easily.

I was a card-carrying member of the AFL-CIO Metal Lather union in my youth, and I understand the role that unions can play. But unionization is increasingly facing organizing challenges. Unions have seen a steady decline in membership, from 16.1 percent in 1990 to 12 percent in 2006. Right now they鈥檙e less interested in seriously defending workers鈥?rights than they are about simply holding onto their power. It seems obvious that big labor wants to rebuild its membership rolls 鈥?and its bank account 鈥?through a forced unionization process called 鈥渃ard check.鈥?br>

What is card check and why is it so bad? The bill now before Congress would overturn a 72-year law that guarantees workers the right to cast private ballots in union organizing elections. Card check has always been an option, if employers voluntarily choose to recognize a union that way. But this bill mandates the recognition of a labor union as the exclusive employee representative if only 50 percent plus one of the workers signs a card expressing interest in a union. It鈥檚 automatic. No discussion, no hearing from both sides on the issue, no election.