Imagine If Anti-EFCA Corporations Used Their Lobbying Money To Pay Their Employees Union Wages…
Imagine If Anti-EFCA Corporations Used Their Lobbying Money To Pay Their Employees Union Wages…
Today, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced the Employee Free Choice Act in both houses of Congress. The bill would give workers a fairer path to forming unions, affording them an opportunity to bargain for higher wages and better benefits.
Predictably, this has set off a swarm of lobbying, as business leaders, in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, try to squash the legislation. The Chamber and and rest of the anti-Employee Free Choice lobby “have said they will spend about $200 million on advertising and lobbying to block the measure.” That’s $200 million dollars to ensure that workers can’t have a fair shot at earning better wages.
But if that $200 million was instead put toward raising workers’ wages to union levels, it could do a lot of good. In fact, about 85,091 workers could earn the union wage premium — the difference between unionized workers’ wages and their non-union counterparts on average — for six months with that money. The Wonk Room examined what percentage of employees working for some of the Employee Free Choice Act’s premier corporate opponents this number represents:
| Company | Number of Workers | Percentage of Workforce That Could Earn Union Wage |
| Starbucks | 176,000 | 48% |
| Home Depot | 331,000 | 26% |
| Burger King | 360,000 | 24% |
Just a few days ago, Burger King reiterated its opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, citing the “significant implications” it could have on small franchises.
But what about the significant implications that higher wages and better health insurance could have for Burger King employees? Big business is betting that $200 million will ensure we never find out.
Methodology: $200 million / $2.26 per hour (union wage premium) / 40 hours per week / 26 weeks (six months) = 85,091
2 Responses to “Imagine If Anti-EFCA Corporations Used Their Lobbying Money To Pay Their Employees Union Wages…”
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I love this post and the stock market reaction post so much. Ordinary investors understand the value of a safety net a heck of a lot more than those Chamber of Commerce Republicans. Those people are so detached from reality on some issues that it’s amazing businesses even want to join their chambers any more. I guess local issues are important enough to business that it makes it worthwhile, but when they try to decimate the labor markets, the real captains of industry and their consumer bankrollers sit up and take notice.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:05 pmThere are 3 components to a successful business – speed, flexibility and adaptability to change. EFCA will stifle all three. Successful and profitable companies attract investors and therefore their stock prices go up. On the other hand, when a company stops being profitable, investors take their money elsewhere and the company’s stock prices fall. When a company loses its competitive edge, it will fail to be profitable and eventually go out of business. If EFCA passes, we will see more companies leaving US soil or just close down. This will cause US unemployment rate to increase exponentially and our economy to sink even further. We need laws that will encourage fair employment practice but also allow the business to thrive, laws such as NLRA not EFCA.
March 12th, 2009 at 4:14 am