Show THE VOICE OF BUSINESS Vote nears rs on i J union organizers organizer act By Richard ha rd L. L Lesher President Chamber of Commerce of the United States Very soon now the Senate will vote rote on the so-called so Labor Reform Act ActS S. S 1883 a piece of legislation U tt lat at is unneeded unwanted and unwise J 11 I hope the Senators Senators' votes are me more Ire a reflection of their constituents' constituents wishes than those of the CIO for which the issue is a number one rity The official excuse for this biJ bi ll ii is that employers have been thwart Ing employees employees employees' employees employees' em em- efforts to form unions therefore it is necessary to m mt ike ke union organizing easier and to inc rease the penalties for employer inti int The real reason is quite diff rent The unions have not been ab le Ie to sell themselves to the workers 5 E 10 o now they want to be able to use th e threat of government penalties to cow employers employers em em- into making deal deak j 5 with them over the heads of the wor kers Look at it logically If American workers really have u a bur desire to join unions then th is preference should be reflected in in the union representation election s 3 that do take place But is it In 1976 the tile most i recent year for which the figures arf an available the unions lost 52 perce percer it of the secret ballot i elections conducted condu conducted con con- du ducted ted by bythe the Nation il ul Labor Relations Board the Bunions unions are also losing a majo majority rity riy or of the th the d decer der- C r- r is s that's when workers vote to throw out the union they already have The number of oi elections has doubled since 1970 reaching in 1976 and that year the unions lost in 54 percent of them So the legislation is not needed except by the CIO Is it wanted We sponsored a nationwide poll conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation to answer answer answer an an- that question Here are some of the results Only 22 percent of the general public favor legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize union non-union employees want Twenty five percent legislation that would make organizing union non employees more difficult Forty percent do not believe the current laws should be changed Even among union members the proposal to make union organizing easier does not win majority support third one supported the Idea idea while almost half 48 percent think that the present laws should not be changed So this legislation is not wanted Is it wise Not if youre you're concerned about inflation Unionization is associated with both higher direct labor costs and lower productivity because of stringent work rules and more frequent work stoppages s Therefore the proposed law law labor changes could add to 9 push cost-push inflationary pressures i i. nT Of i r 1 If II as some people expect I fi the e changes caused an additional 12 per per- points of employed workers to tobe tobe tobe be unionized by 1985 then labor costs for each product or service could increase in increase in in- crease by an average of 74 percent Labor costs for small businesses could increase even more by 93 percent because they are less unionized now and could expect to be organized more rapidly than the average for all businesses Substantially Substantially Sub Sub- higher labor costs would probably cause caus some small business failures and mergers with a bad effect on both employment nt and competition The burden on the public in general and on small business in particular particular- would be further worsened by the Increased increased increased in In- creased complexity and arid operating costs of the NLRB itself a seemingly irresistible trend throughout the government today Because labor is a major cost in the production of most products and services services services ser ser- vices the higher labor costs could cause consumer price levels to increase at least 36 percent by 1985 adding 05 percent to inflation rates each year The loss of purchasing power for an average family of four could be 1089 by 1985 That's the story our computers tell tei us It will be a sad day for freedom of choice if the Senate votes S Il s the House already dy has i s s' s to sacrifice th the interests of workers and consumers alike on the altar of union political influence 1 S I i I |