NEWS ALERT: Card Check Legislation Defeat

June 27, 2007

Dear IAHI Members in the US,

As a result of the efforts from many of you and others in the business community, the Senate yesterday defeated a motion (see official statement from the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace below) to proceed to consideration of H.R. 800, the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act."   This defeat means the issue is effectively dead for the remainder of the year.

Many thanks to all who weighed in with their Senators to oppose the bill – those messages paid off!  While this is good news, we need to stay vigilant.  The issue is not going to go away as long as the Democrats control the House and Senate.  IAHI will continue to stay on top of this and other federal issues that affect our industry.

Again, thanks for your help in defeating this effort to strip workers of the right to a secret-ballot election.

Sincerely,

Michael Hoffman IAHI Chairman	Greg Schahet INN-PAC Chairman

Statement from the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace on Defeat of HR 800

WASHINGTON – The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace today released the following statement on the defeat of H.R. 800, the so-called Employee Free Choice Act:

“The defeat of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act today represents a clear victory for working men and women across the country.  As it has been for decades, the private ballot in the workplace remains safe and secure.  At least for now.

“This bill represented one of the greatest assaults on worker privacy, employee sovereignty and American global competitiveness that we have seen in Washington in years.  We salute those senators, as well as members of both parties in the House, who voted to protect private ballots and defeat H.R. 800.

“This bill was defeated because it is wildly out of step with the views of the American people.  A recent survey found that fully 87 percent of likely voters agree that workers should continue to have the right to a federally supervised secret ballot election when deciding whether to join a union.  Among union households – at 90 percent – the number is even higher.  Voters also plan to hold Members of Congress accountable for their vote on this issue, with 70 percent of all voters and 75 percent of union households saying they are less likely to support someone who voted to take away private ballots.

“Worker privacy may have carried the day today but we know that this fight is not over. Union special interests have made banning the secret ballot their number one legislative priority. Our coalition intends to remain active in this fight for the rest of this year, next year and beyond. We have won this battle, but the larger fight to protect private ballot elections still looms large. This bill will come back, and when it does, our coalition will be there to defeat it again.”

The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace is made up of more than 500 associations and organizations from all 50 states.  For more information and a listing of our membership, please visit www.MyPrivateBallot.com.