Danny Castleberry: Choice Act Would Aid Employees' Options

Danny Castleberry, political director for Local 519, wrote a letter to the editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel clarifying a common misperception about the Employee Free Choice Act. The letter, below, was published on April 5. 

Choice Act Would Aid Employees' Options

Greg Johnson wrote a column on March 15 about Sen. Lamar Alexander getting booed recently in the U.S. Senate.

It was during deliberations on the Employee Free Choice Act that was recently introduced. Alexander said it should be called the "Employee No Choice Act," for he went on to explain it will do away with secret ballot elections during unionization attempts.

Now lots of things can cause boos to be shouted, sometimes simple hiccups can cause it. Such as when you suck air into your throat suddenly, and someone wants to scare you into the next world in order to relieve your hiccups.

The columnist was writing in defense of Alexander throughout his column, although he failed to share one important fact about the hiccup that caused the boo in the first place.

The hiccup was when Alexander said, "The Employee Free Choice Act will do away with secret ballot elections." This is the farthest thing from the truth, and this created the boob that caused the boo-boo.

The Employee Free Choice Act does just that - it gives the employee the choice of what kind of election he or she wants. The EFCA seeks to correct what big business has perverted about the National Labor Relations Act over the last 30 years. Alexander has taken several million dollars from business political action committees since 2002.

Mr. Columnist, could these donations be the reason for his misleading comments and the need many felt to shout out his hiccup? As Yogi Bear would say, "Isn't this right, Boo-Boo?"
 

Danny Castleberry
Powell