Romney Campaign Press Release - Unlike Obama, Romney Will Stand Up to Big Labor

President Obama Has Tilted The Field In Favor Of Big Labor At The Expense Of American Businesses And Employers

The Obama Administration's highly politicized labor policies have dampened business investment and made the employment climate worse:

• Pursued "Card Check" legislation that would have stripped workers of the right to vote by secret ballot on whether to unionize
• Issued an order requiring workers on stimulus projects to become union members
• Appointed Big Labor cronies to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) where they have wreaked havoc on the law

Labor Unions Spent Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars To Elect President Obama And His Democratic Allies In 2008:

• In 2008, Unions Reported Spending More Than $200 Million To Elect President Obama And Other Democrats — As Well As Additional, Unreported Money For Get-Out-The-Vote Activities. "When we looked at the public disclosures after the election, we found the unions reported $206.7 million in spending for all Democrats. It's clear that the unions raised additional money for get-out-the-vote activities, but we don't know how much more..." ("The RNC Said Unions Raised $400 Million For Obama In 2008," PolitiFact.com, 2/24/11)

• Former SEIU Head Andy Stern: "We Spent A Fortune To Elect Barack Obama — $60.7 Million To Be Exact — And We're Proud Of It." (Michael Mishak, "Unplugged: The SEIU Chief On The Labor Movement And The Card Check," Las Vegas Sun, 5/10/09)

President Obama Has Repaid The Favor To His Political Supporters In Organized Labor:

• As Part Of His Auto Bailout Package, President Obama Gave The United Auto Workers Union A Majority Ownership Stake In Chrysler. "The union's healthcare fund, known as the UAW's VEBA trust, is considering a range of options to cash in on its 45.7 percent stake in Chrysler at a time when the value of that investment is rising, these people said. ... The Obama administration's decision to bail out Chrysler gave the union trust what was initially a majority ownership position of 55 percent of its shares." (Deepa Seetharaman And Soyoung Kim, "UAW Trust Not Planning Quick Chrysler Exit: Sources," Reuters, 6/3/11)

• President Obama's Manufacturing Czar — A "Longtime Adviser" To Labor Unions — Reportedly Claimed His Work On The Auto Bailout Was "For The Unions." "Ron Bloom ... was named President Barack Obama's top adviser on manufacturing earlier this year. Before that, he served as the administration's so-called auto czar ... He took heat recently for denying to a congressional panel that he joked his work on the bailout was 'for the unions.' He later said he couldn't be certain he didn't make the comment. [Bloom was] a longtime adviser to the United Steelworkers union..." (Sharon Terlep, "Obama Adviser Bloom To Depart," The Wall Street Journal, 8/9/11)

• In February 2009 — The Same Month He Signed The Stimulus Bill — President Obama Issued An Order That Federal Agencies Should "Consider Requiring" Union-Friendly Project-Labor Agreements. "On Feb. 6, Obama issued Executive Order 13502 that encourages federal agencies to 'consider requiring the use of project labor agreements in connection with large-scale construction projects in order to promote economy and efficiency in Federal procurement.' A project labor agreement requires contractors and subcontractors to pay union wages and to recognize collective bargaining agreements." (Joe Miller, "Did Obama Require That All Infrastructure Jobs In The Stimulus Bill Go To Union Workers?" FactCheck.org, 2/26/09)

• Workers In Union Health Care Plans Have Received Over 50% Of Waivers From Obamacare Provisions. "The plans newly approved for waivers cover more than 160,000 people, bringing to nearly 3.1 million the number of individuals in plans exempted from the health law's requirements. Of the participants receiving waivers, more than half — over 1.55 million — are in union plans, raising questions of why such a disproportionate share of union members are receiving waivers from the law's requirements. The percentage of participants receiving waivers that come from unions also continues to rise — the number was 48% in April, and 45% in March." ("Waiver Wire: Over Half Of Obamacare Waiver Recipients Union Members," U.S. Senate, Republican Policy Committee, 5/16/11)

• President Obama Supports The Employee Free Choice Act, Which Would Eliminate Secret-Ballot Elections That Shield Workers From Privacy Concerns And Intimidation. "President Barack Obama told AFL-CIO union leaders Tuesday in a videotaped address that the controversial Employee Free Choice Act will pass, signaling his full backing for legislation that makes union organizing easier. ... The bill would make it easier for unions to recruit workers because it would let them join unions simply by signing cards rather than through secret-ballot elections in which companies can campaign against the union." (Kris Maher, "President Tells Unions Organizing Act Will Pass," The Wall Street Journal, 3/4/09)

• In January, President Obama Abused His Recess Appointment Authority To Install A Big Labor Ally On The NLRB. "On January 4, President Obama took the unprecedented step of declaring the Senate to be in recess — although the Senate considered itself to be in session — so that he could install several appointees ... [T]here has been far too little attention paid to the most radical of these appointees: Richard Griffin. ... The appointment was a direct reward for the union bosses who made an enormous contribution to Obama's 2008 campaign and will be critical to his reelection effort. ... Griffin will accelerate the NLRB's illegitimate bureaucratic rewriting of our labor laws to tilt the playing field to union bosses." (Phil Kerpen, "Obama's Union Point Man," National Review, 2/7/12)

As President, Mitt Romney Will Promote Free Enterprise, Free Choice, And Free Speech

Free Enterprise

As president, Mitt Romney's first step in improving labor policy will be to ensure that our labor laws create a stable and level playing field on which businesses can operate. As they hire, businesses should not have to worry that a politicized federal agency will rewrite the rules of the employment game without warning and without regard for the law.

• Appoint to the NLRB experienced individuals with respect for the rule of law
• Amend NLRA to explicitly protect the right of business owners to allocate their capital as they see fit
• Reverse executive orders issued by President Obama that tilt the playing field toward organized labor

Free Choice

Mitt Romney believes in the right of workers to join a union or to not join a union. To exercise that right freely, workers must have access to all the relevant facts they need to make an informed decision. This means hearing from both the union about the potential benefits and from management about potential costs. This also means being able to act on that decision in the privacy of the ballot booth.

• Amend NLRA to guarantee the secret ballot in every union certification election
• Amend NLRA to guarantee that all pre-election campaigns last at least one month
• Support states in pursuing Right-to-Work laws

Free Speech

As matters currently stand, unions can take money directly from the paychecks of American workers and spend it on politicking—each election cycle, unions spend hundreds of millions of dollars. In non-Right-to-Work states, employees have little choice but to watch their money go toward such expenditures, even if they do not support the union and its political agenda. The result is the creation of an enormously powerful interest group whose influence is disproportionate to its actual support and whose priorities are fundamentally misaligned with those of businesses and workers—and thus with the needs of the economy.

• Prohibit the use for political purposes of funds automatically deducted from worker paychecks