One Teamster officer, three former Teamster employees indicted on election fraud charges in Chicago
I'll say it again in the land of the free, use your freedom of choice. Devo, "Freedom of Choice,"
But will workers really have "Freedom of Choice?"
Organized labor, through the Democratic Party, is trying to enact something into law with the deceptive name of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Workers hoping to unionize will be able to, if the bill becomes law, choose to join a union by signing a card--bypassing one of the most sacred foundations of American society--the secret ballot. The legislation passed the House of Representatives in the spring, but it faces a doubtful future in the Senate. If it somehow makes it out of the Senate, President Bush vows to veto the bill.
Opponents of the bill have raised the valid (to me) concern that workers, via the card-signing option, could be bullied into voting in favor of joining a union. In other words, their freedom to make a choice will be taken away from them by the "Employee Free Choice Act."
Unions have been hemorrhaging members since the 1950s, mostly because fewer Americans work in manufacturing jobs. However, government workers being an exception, workers have been less willing, via the secret ballot, to say "Union, Yes!"
The "Employee Free Choice Act" is an attempt, a desperate one, to if not reverse that trend, at least slow it down.
Can union officials be trusted to run an honest "free choice" card signing? Based on the alleged actions of three former Teamster Local 743 employees and one current officer from that local, I have my doubts.
That local, by the way, has a long history of corruption. For more, read this story from not the Wall Street Journal, but the Socialist Worker Online.
From CBS 2 Chicago:
Teamsters Local 743 officer and three former union local employees were indicted on federal charges of stealing ballots in an effort to rig two elections in favor of an incumbent slate of officers in 2004, according to the U.S. Justice and Labor departments.
In two closely-contested elections just months apart, the defendants and others allegedly diverted to their friends, family and confidantes hundreds of mailed, official ballot packages intended for delivery to Local 743 members, then cast the ballots or caused them to be cast to ensure election of the incumbent slate, the indictment alleges.
Local 743 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, based in Chicago, represents more than 12,000 members engaged in warehouse, office, medical, service and other industries, and is one of the largest Teamsters locals in the country.
The seven-count indictment was returned Thursday by a federal grand jury, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. All four defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud by depriving Local 743 of their honest services and to embezzle, or steal, the official ballots, the release said.
Organized labor is not a good environment to exercise "Freedom of Choice."
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