HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 26
(By Delegates Andes, Ireland, Border, Anderson,
Armstead, Walters, Romine, Duke, Carmichael, Evans,
Cowles, Craig, Schadler, Ashley, Beach, Crosier,
Michael, Overington, Blair, Shott and J. Miller)
Expressing the will of the House of Delegates requesting that West
Virginia's Congressional delegation oppose legislation that
disenfranchises workers by removing their right to a private
ballot union election.
Whereas, The right to a private secret ballot when voting on
external representation is fundamentally inherent in our
representative Republic and shall not be infringed upon; and
Whereas, Passing the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will
replace a federally supervised private ballot election with a
system that facilitates coercion and intimidation, known as "card
check," whereby employees publically sign cards to vote for
unionization; and
Whereas, Seventy-nine percent of the American people support a
worker's right to a federally supervised secret ballot election
when deciding whether or not to join a union; and
Whereas, The tripartisan agreement to oppose the EFCA is
overwhelming: seventy-seven percent of Republicans, eighty-two
percent of Democrats and seventy-nine percent of Independents
believe in protecting private ballots; and
Whereas, The Chairman of the U. S. House of Representatives
Education and Labor Committee, Representative Miller (D-CA), and staunch supporter of the American "card check" bill, sent a letter
to Mexican government officials that stated: "We feel that the
private ballot is absolutely necessary in order to ensure workers
are not intimidated into voting for a union they may otherwise not
choose; and
Whereas, The EFCA's mandatory binding arbitration provisions
deny workers the right to participate in the collective bargaining
process between employees and the union; therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Delegates:
That the West Virginia House of Delegates finds that the so-
called "card check" legislation such as the Employee Free Choice
Act is detrimental to the rights of workers and is offensive to
democratic principles, we urge all five members of the West
Virginia Congressional delegation support worker freedom by
opposing the EFCA, any of its components or similar bills in 2009
and future years; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates
forward a certified copy of this resolution to United States
Senators Robert C. Byrd and John D. Rockefeller IV, Representatives
Nick J. Rahall, Alan B. Mollohan and Shelley M. Capito.