cyrusmartin's Blog

Cy, Cy, Cy. This post is taken directly from the Obama website. And, of course, the intent is to portray Wal-Mart as being another example of how everyone is picking on poor Obama. Hint: When you find something on the Obama website that you would like to post, go to the source cited by the website and post directly from the source. By doing this, the credibility of your post will be enhanced.

Wal-Mart and other businesses are not mobilising against Senator Obama and Democrats, they are mobilising against proposed legislation known as the Employee Free Choice Act.

First introduced in 2003, the bill came to a vote last year and sailed through the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, but was blocked by a filibuster in the Senate and faced a veto threat by the White House. The bill was taken off the floor, and its backers pledged to reintroduce it when they could get more support (Wall Street Journal).

The November election could bring that extra support in Congress, as well as the White House if Sen. Obama is elected and Democrats extend their control in the Senate. Sen. Obama co-sponsored the legislation, which also is known as "card check," and has said several times he would sign it into law if elected president. Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, opposes the Employee Free Choice Act and voted against it last year (Wall Street Journal).

Under the proposed legislation, companies could no longer have the right to insist on one secret ballot. Instead, the Free Choice, or "card check," legislation would let unions form i

The link I got the info from was on Yahoo. I posted it at the end of the message. Last time I checked, Yahoo was not Obama's web site. Maybe I missed that though and it is now. Heh.

Walmart corporate is being reported as telling employees to not vote democrat in November. This was even reported by the ***GASP*** Wal Street Journal.


I'm sure that source is not supposedly pro Obama though so maybe you will consider that information credible.

You wont... but I figured I should at least set the facts straight.

Thanks
-Cy

Wal-Mart, like George Bush, is guilty until proven innocent, right, Cy?

Explain to me how this is hearsay

Once again, Cy, you have missed the point. Wal-Mart and other businesses are opposing the enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act, which the Democrats want to become law and Senator Obama has said he will sign if passed. I know that many people believe that the universe revolves around Senator Obama, but in reality, it does not. Regardless of who is elected as President, Wal-Mart and other businesses will still talk to their employees about the dangers of the Employee Free Choice Act. The statement "if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won't have a vote on whether you want a union" is correct. Under the proposed legislation, companies could no longer have the right to insist on one secret ballot. Don't you believe this bit of information is important for employees to know?

Cy, I forgot to tell you that thus far, Wal-Mart is not in violation of law by conducting the meetings.

Wal-Mart may be walking a fine legal line by holding meetings with its store department heads that link politics with a strong antiunion message. Federal election rules permit companies to advocate for specific political candidates to its executives, stockholders and salaried managers, but not to hourly employees. While store managers are on salary, department supervisors are hourly workers.

However, employers have fairly broad leeway to disseminate information about candidates' voting records and positions on issues, according to Jan Baran, a Washington attorney and expert on election law.

Even though this is not hearsay... as it was verified by multiple employees... I will not get into a debate about the definition of hear say.

Scotty, dont write me off like that. If Obama does something terrible then I will absolutely admit it and discuss it openly. We're just expressing our views here. That doesnt make me an automaton.

Also Ivyman, I am not accusing Wal-Mart of breaking any laws. I was just pointing out something they had been doing. Are we not allowed to know the politics of the places we patron?

I think its bad PR for Wal-Mart to be opposed to anything with the words "Free Choice" attatched to it but then again it does have a monopoly on consumer products and distribution and the Waltons and Wal-Mart Inc. have done quite well raking in billions every year by denying employees proper benefits and decent wages ...but I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it, right?

TTB, I disagree with your assessment of unions being to blame. Bad management is to blame the majority of the time.

And I'm curious, as a union railroad trainman, how much do you think I make per hour, and what do you think I should I be paid? While you are trying to figure a fair wage, please keep in mind that our CEO last year was compensated $3,741,667. And if he were to cash out all of his options, he would make approximately 38 million.

I promise, in some fields unions are still necessary. My union not only stands up for us, but the public also. They keep pressure on the railroad to operate safely.