Lawmakers Need to Hear from Employers: Take Action Today!
Congress on Fast Track to Pass Anti-Jobs Measures
Some of the activity during the first week of the new 111thCongress is cause for great concern and frustration among North Carolina employers. On Friday, Jan. 9th, within the first three days of the new Congress, TWO bills backed by unions and plaintiffs’ lawyers that will increase lawsuits and the cost of doing business swiftly passed the U.S. House. Both of these bills passed quietly without a hearing, depriving you of the opportunity for valuable input into the process. It now appears that the bills may be voted on in the U.S. Senate as early as next week. The North Carolina Chamber opposes these bills.
The newly seated Congress is rapidly steering toward a major rewrite of the nation’s employment law rule book -- an agenda being pushed primarily by Big Labor. At a time of economic crisis and unprecedented job loss in our state, it is inconceivable how any member of Congress would take action to make it more difficult for struggling employers to retain and create jobs. Even so, eight of North Carolina’s representatives in the U.S. House voted FOR these bills. Some of them have even told our state Chamber in response to our staunch opposition to the legislation that they’re not hearing anything from North Carolina businesses.
Let’s make sure – together – that that any decisions made by North Carolina representatives in Congress that harm North Carolina employers, cost jobs and slow economic recovery do not happen because we haven’t weighed in with our representatives! Join us in contacting our Congressional delegation today, and let’s make sure we stay in touch with them (contact information and descriptions of the bills are provided below)! North Carolina cannot afford to lose any more jobs!
Do Not Let Unions & More Lawsuits Cost N.C. More Jobs!
As national labor unions begin to move their agenda forward in our nation’s capital, North Carolina businesses must join forces and build equal momentum to prevent Big Labor’s anti-employer, anti-growth, job-jeopardizing agenda from becoming America’s agenda. Our Chamber’s vision for North Carolina’s future includes prosperity and good jobs for all North Carolinians that will result from a world-class workforce, globally competitive business climate and an economic development toolkit that facilitates growth to generate revenue for the future. But, not everyone shares our vision. Now is the time for North Carolina employers to ask their members of Congress to protect jobs and our economy by voting AGAINST bills that raise the cost of doing business and make it more difficult for employers to compete internationally. Information on specific bills follows:
Three imminent legislative threats are bills with innocuous-sounding, misleading names: 1) The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, 2) The Paycheck Fairness Act, and 3) the Employee Free Choice Act (the “Card Check” bill, which unions’ say is their top priority). The Ledbetter bill and the Paycheck bill passed the U.S. House last week (with the support of eight of North Carolina’s representatives), and the Card Check bill is expected to get consideration soon. All of these bills will fundamentally alter workplace regulations in this country.
The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act: The Ledbetter bill would effectively abolish the statute of limitations for the vast majority of discrimination cases. The North Carolina Chamber and its members strongly support equal employment opportunity and effective mechanisms to achieve this important goal. This bill, however, appears aimed at increasing opportunities for lawsuits and would make it harder to resolve cases in a timely manner.
The Paycheck Fairness Act: The Paycheck bill would prohibit an employer’s ability to justify paying different salaries to workers based in different geographic locations. It would expand remedies under the Equal Pay Act (EPA) to include unlimited punitive and compensatory damages and significantly erode employer defenses for legitimate pay differences. The EPA and Civil Rights Act already provide adequate remedies for gender discrimination in employment; therefore, this bill that would make it easier to file large class-action lawsuits is unnecessary and costly at a time employers can least afford it.
The Employee Free Choice Act (Card Check): Card Check legislation would trash employees’ privacy by throwing out secret-ballot elections for employees when they’re being asked whether or not they want to join a union. It would also remove any incentive for unions to negotiate reasonably with employers in a unionized workplace because when a settlement between an employer and a union cannot be reached within 120 days, government arbiters would take over and the federal government would then be in charge of making decisions for both employees AND employers. It also increases penalties on employers for what is called “unfair labor practices” and not for unions for the same.
Write or Call North Carolina’s Congressional Delegation Now!
The North Carolina Chamber strongly encourages its employer members and their employees to contact their representatives in Congress about the Ledbetter and Paycheck bills. Even though these two bills have already passed the U.S. House, our representatives need to hear from us about their votes on these bills. And we need to urge our Senators to vote against these bills.
If you’re representative voted FOR these bills (“yes”), express your disappointment that theLedbetter and Paycheck bills raced through the House without a hearing, and that your representative voted for the flawed bills that will increase litigation and the cost of doing business – particularly in this time of economic crisis and unprecedented job loss in our state. Also ask your representative to vote against the Employee Free Choice Act (Card Check bill) when the time comes. If your representative voted AGAINST these bills (“no”), thank your representative for supporting North Carolina employers and jobs by voting against these bills being pushed by unions and plaintiffs’ lawyers. And ask your representative to vote against the Employee Free Choice Act (Card Check bill) when the time comes. Contact both of North Carolina’s Senators to urge them to vote against both of these bills AND to vote against the Employee Free Choice Act (Card Check bill) when the time comes.
Information on how members of North Carolina’s delegation in the U.S. House voted on the Ledbetter and Paycheck bills is provided here, along with contact information for North Carolina’s Senators and a link to identify House members and their contact information.
“YES” Votes on the Ledbetter and Paycheck bills
Rep. G.K. Butterfield
Rep. Bob Etheridge
Rep. Larry Kissell
Rep. Mike McIntyre
Rep. Brad Miller
Rep. David Price
Rep. Heath Shuler
Rep. Mel Watt
“NO” Votes on the Ledbetter and Paycheck bills
Rep. Howard Coble
Rep. Virginia Foxx
Rep. Patrick McHenry
Rep. Sue Myrick
Not Voting:
Rep. Walter Jones
To view the votes, click on the following links:
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll009.xml
Paycheck Fairness Act: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll008.xml
Contact Information for Your Representatives:
Click on the following link to identify and contact members of the U.S. House:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml.
Contact Sen. Richard Burr:
U.S. Senate
217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3154
Contact Sen. Kay Hagan:
U.S. Senate
B40A SDOB
555 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6342
Fax: 202-224-1100
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