Opinion
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Binding arbitration could result in "nationalization of small businesses," Overstock.com president says
By: Kevin Mooney
Commentary Staff Writer
07/13/09 6:38 PM EDT
Congress should help to remove barriers that stand in the way of business opportunities instead of advancing costly measures like the Employee Free Choice Act (also known as Card Check), according to Jonathan Johnson, president of Overstock.com.
Under Card Check the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would be required to certify a union without a secret ballot election, if labor representatives obtained signatures from 51 percent of a company’s workforce.
The arbitration provision of the proposal requires that labor and management have just 120 days to reach an agreement before a two year contract is imposed by a federal mediator in a compulsory process
“The government should make it easier for people to get hired, not harder,” Johnson said. “Binding arbitration says to me we are going to have federal agents come in and determine what the labor contracts are going to be.”
The end result of binding arbitration would be the “nationalization of small businesses by the federal government,” he said.
Overstock.com is based in Utah, a “Right-to-Work” state and will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this coming October.
“We feel that by empowering employees and treating them well, they treat our customers well,” he said. “One example is last year my senior executives came to me and said they didn’t want a bonus so that rank and file employees could get a bonus.”
But if a law like card check were to pass, Overstock.com would probably begin to outsource as much work as possible.
“From our experience dealing with unions is not a deal worth doing and I’d rather deal with a third party in a business relationship, rather than a union that’s in a strong arm position.”
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