NOT SO FAST, GUYS

Posted at 7:38 a.m. ET:

Occasionally an idea arises that is so awful that, even when it is off the main political radar screen, it is being fought by thoughtful people.  There is a union-sponsored idea around called the "card check."  It would essentially do away with the secret ballot in union organizing elections.  In other words, workers could no longer expect privacy in deciding whether they want a union or not.  It is an obnoxious, terrible idea.  I'm reluctant to use a charged term like "un-American," but this is un-American.

We're not anti-union here.  The American tradition holds that workers have a right to engage in collective bargaining.  Both political parties support it.  I am a union member myself, a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America.  Okay, it's more of a professional association than a union, but you get the picture.  I've been grateful for Writers Guild services over the years.  However, there are things no responsible union member should support, and card check is one of them.

Now, even during this political lull, I'm happy to report that resistance is building to the idea in the one camp that must support it for the practice to become law - the Democratic Party.  The Wall Street Journal reports:

Take Mark Pryor, Democratic senator from Arkansas. In 2007, Mr. Pryor voted to move card check, Big Labor's No. 1 priority. And why not? Mr. Pryor knew the GOP would block the bill, which gets rid of secret ballots in union elections. Besides, his support helped guarantee labor wouldn't field a challenger to him in the primary.

Postelection, Mr. Pryor isn't so committed. He's indicated he wouldn't co-sponsor the legislation again.

Wise move.  Why buy a ticket for the Titanic?

It hasn't been much noticed, but the political ground is already shifting under Big Labor's card-check initiative. The unions poured unprecedented money and manpower into getting Democrats elected; their payoff was supposed to be a bill that would allow them to intimidate more workers into joining unions. The conventional wisdom was that Barack Obama and an unfettered Democratic majority would write that check, lickety-split.

But a funny thing happened to card check on the way to...

Instead, union leaders now say they are being told card check won't happen soon. It seems the Obama team plans to devote its opening months to important issues, like the economy, and has no intention of jumping straight into the mother of all labor brawls.

Ah, the political numbers don't match the promises to Big Labor:

Paradoxically, it's Mr. Reid's bigger majority that is now hurting him. In 2007, he got every Democrat (save South Dakota's Tim Johnson, who was out sick) to vote for cloture. But it was an easy vote. Democrats like Mr. Pryor knew the GOP held the filibuster, and that Mr. Bush stood ready with a veto. Now that Mr. Reid has 58 seats, red-state Democrats in particular are worried they might actually have to pass this turkey, infuriating voters and businesses back home.

And...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has bolstered opposition by turning card check into a litmus test of Mr. Obama's promise to work with the other side. Even Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, the lone GOP vote for card check in 2007, is backpedaling, worried about a 2010 primary challenge.

Credit for this new environment goes to a business community that has been uncharacteristically unified in a sweeping campaign against the bill.

Time is not on card check's side:

Mr. Obama will never be stronger than in his opening months, and he'll need muscle to strongarm reluctant party members to support such an unsupportable measure. The initial union strategy was to whip this through before Americans understood the debate, but in that they've already failed. The more time goes on, the more likely this issue turns into trench warfare.

Finally...

For the unions, that wouldn't just be a shot to the heart, but to the ego. Democrats may try to fob them off with less controversial legislation -- "fair pay" or more unionization of public safety officials -- but Big Labor feels it is owed much more. We may be about to discover just how patient, or forgiving, those union bosses are.

Kill the idea.  It's an embarrassment.

January 2, 2009.