DID SEN. OBAMA DO HOMEWORK ON CARD-CHECK BILL?

In today's Health Education Labor & Pensions Committee hearings on the Employee Free Choice Act, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) displayed a serious lack of understanding of some basic labor law principles.

First, he argued with witness Peter Hurtgen on the silly oft-repeated talking point that a majority of Americans would "join a union if they had the chance." Perhaps he is just trying to keep up with fellow Presidential candidate John Edwards on this fundamental misstatement of the issue. The invalidity of that statistical proclamation aside, the E.F.C.A. is not about "joining" a union -- it's about helping labor unions become "exclusive bargaining representatives" of all the employees in private sector workplaces.

But the more interesting exchange occurred when Senator Obama tried to defend the hypocritical union preference for secret-ballot elections to decertify unions. Sen. Obama stated to witness Professor Cynthia Estlund that, currently, employers have the right to collect cards from employees for the purpose of decertifying a union representation.

This is patently and completely untrue. The law clearly prohibits employers from assisting in the collection of such signatures from employees. An employer may not provide any more than simple "ministerial aid" in a decertification effort, such as providing appropriate names or information for a petition if asked. The employer's circulation, reading or posting of a petition, for the purpose of collecting signatures to support withdrawal of recognition or decertification is plainly unlawful. A quick reading of a labor law hornbook would have revealed this to the Senator or one of his legislative aides.

Perhaps equally amazing was that Estlund, a labor law professor, agreed -- rather than correcting the Senator's clear misstatement.

MORE: efacupdates.com addresses the ongoing "bad information" upon which E.F.C.A. supporters are routinely relying.