True Cost of the Employee Free Choice Act

WedNEWSday - April 1st, 2009

A Billion Here… A Billion There - by Jacob Ingalls

Since President Barack Obama first put his backing behind the Employmee Free Choice Act during his presidential campaign it has been one of the most highly contested issues in the American Political landscape. Late last week FedEx became the leader (and hero) in the fight against this potentially devastating piece of legislation by threatening to cancel an order for up to 30 Boeing 777’s citing feasibility and cost effectiveness if the company where to unionize. The retail price of this order is $7.7 billion or about 23% of Boeing’s current market cap. Unionizing rules for FedEx are currently governed by the Railway Labor Act which forces a companywide vote to bring in a union; unlike their main competitor UPS who’s employees can unionize on a location by location basis.

Much can be made of the Teamsters efforts to unionize this company and much can be made over the lack of production that will most likely result if FedEx where to be unionized, however this is one of few times that a true number has been placed on the cost of unionization. By saying that FedEx will not be able to afford the jets if they are unionized, FedEx is saying that each employee if unionized will cost FedEx $27,012.54 in investment capital. Boeing is sure to feel the effect of this cancelation tool; in 2008 Boeing’s net Income was only $2.67 billion with total revenue of $60.9 Billion. The FedEx order would constitute roughly a 12% increase in total revenue.

The cost per employee when translated to other companies is devastating. Wal-Mart, the golden goose of labor unions with its 1.3 million US employees is staggering. If Wal-Mart has to deal with an equivalent cost of investment capital that FedEx does; Wal-Mart will be looking at a loss of $35.1 billion. The increase in cost at places like Wal-Mart will have a crushing ripple effect through our economy effecting every person and corporation along the way.

At AmericanSolutions.com, you can join the nearly 180,000 people who have signed the petition being sent to the U.S. Congress to ensure that every worker has the right to a secret ballot when deciding whether to organize a union, as well as the right to ratify the contract terms of their employment, rather than be forced to accept a contract through binding arbitration.  By doing so you can help save nearly 600,000 American jobs.  Please take a few seconds to sign the petition.

AmericanSolutions.com

I did.

Thank you for standing up for fundamental American freedoms. Together we must save American jobs, and protect the rights of American workers.

There are many ways that you can help to further this effort. You can:

1. Tell 5 friends to sign this petition
2. Write a Letter-to-the-Editor
3. Record a video telling us why you signed the petition
4. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

This from The Democrat - March 31st, 2009

http://www.thedemocrat.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1867&dept_id=124331&newsid=20289203&PAG=461&rfi=9

This from The Wall Street Journal - March 30th, 2009

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123846513600072399.html

• Pearl Harbor II: Starring Nuclear Weapons Sunday Paper - June 21st, 2009 As America and the rest of the world keep a watch on the events unfolding in Iran, we must not forget about other hostile members of the international community.  Also making headlines recently was North Korea.  The communist regime accused the United States of plotting......
• Massachusetts Playing 'Welfare Cadillac' Sunday Paper - May 10th, 2009 We know that there are plenty of misguided individuals in the United States who think they have the right to healthcare at another's expense.  Well if healthcare is a right, then shouldn't daycare be a right?  Why has no one mentioned universal daycare?  After......
• Majority of Americans Identify Themselves as Pro-Life Sunday Paper - May 17th, 2009 Increasingly, more and more Americans are becoming aware that ' pro-choice' really means 'pro-abortion.'  In a recently conducted (May 7th-10th) Gallup poll, a majority of Americans identified themselves as 'pro-life.'  In the 15 years that Gallup has been asking U.S. adults the question, it is the first......
• Global Welfare: Taxing the American People Will Lead to the Fall of the Republic Sunday Paper - October 11th, 2009 by Jim Kouri Conspiracy?  Global tax next on Obama's agenda? While the national battle over government-controlled health care is in its final stages, participation in a United Nations-run Global Poverty Tax is expected to come up for a vote in the US Congress any time soon, according......
• Newt's Solution to the Stimulus Bill Sunday Paper - February 15th, 2009 Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker, whose "Contract with America" led the Republican Party to its first victory in 40 years in 1994, is like many of us, skeptical of the new administratoin.  In speaking to a group or local Republicans in Virginia Wednesday night Gingrich......

• How To Save The US Economy Will the $700 Billion bailout save the US economy? I don't think so, mainly because I'm not really sure where the money is going - I don't think even congress understands how it's supposed to work. Keith Fitzgerald, investment director of Money Morning, wrote an interesting hypothetical letter to Ben Bernanke......
• The Real Cost of Credit Cards I get bashed often about my attitude towards credit cards. Responsible users (those who never carry a balance) are very proud of the rewards and benefits they provide. Other personal finance bloggers devote substantial time writing about the various rewards cards available to us, hoping to garner some extra income......
• The Stimulus Package And Green Jobs. Dear EarthTalk: What kind of job opportunities might be opened up by the new federal emphasis on green projects? If it’s a U.S. industry that has the potential to be cleaner and greener, chances are the Obama administration has already set aside some stimulus money for it. In February 2009,......
• Quick Green Reads For The Weekend Volume Forty Three. Not much to say other than only 6 more days till our train trip...I am so looking forward to it! On to the news... The National Labor Committee, which tracks working conditions in developing countries worldwide, released a report Wednesday titled "A Wal-Mart Christmas Brought to You from a......
• Porsche adds $5 b in debt in one week | Reuters zyakaira notes: Volkswagens unlikely to fall for an extra EUR 5 Billion in cost and the Prosche owners have to cough the added debt in this week itself! Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) CEO Josef Ackermann has told Porsche's (PSHG_p.DE) owner families of the urgency to stump up cash in order to......