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By
Dan Pilcher
CACI Senior Vice President
&
Chief Operating Officer
Phone: 303.866-9600
E-Mail:
dpilcher@COchamber.com
October 10, 2008
Former Louisiana Governor to Address CACI Annual
Meeting Luncheon October 17th on National
Economic Crisis
In
the midst of the nation’s worst financial crisis
in decades, Former Louisiana Governor Buddy
Roemer, who also served in Congress and is now a
banker, will speak at CACI’s Annual Meeting
Luncheon about “Taking Back Our Economy.”
Born
Charles E. Roemer III in Shreveport, Louisiana,
he graduated president and valedictorian of his
high school class. Roemer received a bachelor's
degree in government and economics from Harvard
University in 1964 and a master's degree in
business and finance from Harvard Business
School in 1967.
He
then returned to Bossier City, Louisiana, where
he founded two banks and ran a computer company
and a political consulting firm. Roemer was
elected a delegate to the Louisiana
Constitutional Convention in 1972.
In
1980, Romer won election to Congress, and he was
reelected three times without opposition. In
Congress, Roemer served on the House Banking
Committee and the Small Business Committee and
founded and co-chaired the House Grace Caucus, a
bipartisan group recommending cost-saving
measures for the Federal Government.
After
winning the Louisiana Governorship, Roemer
balanced the state budget for three years,
increased teacher pay, strengthened the
department of environmental quality to enforce
environmental laws, and toughened the laws on
campaign finance.
Roemer is currently President and CEO of
Business First Bank, which is part of the Shaw
Group, Inc., in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
CACI Board Votes to Oppose Amendment 58, the
Governor’s Severance Tax Proposal
At
its annual fall retreat in late September, the
CACI Board of Directors voted to oppose
Amendment 58, entitled “Severance Taxes on the
Oil and Natural Gas Industry.” The initiative’s
main proponent is Governor Bill Ritter, who
presented the measure to the CACI Board of
Directors at its June meeting and urged CACI to
support it.
Amendment 58 would eliminate as a credit from
the state’s severance tax the amount of local
property taxes that oil and gas companies pay at
the local government level. Of the estimated
increase of $321.4 million, 60 percent would go
for college scholarships for students from
middle-income families, he said. The rest of
the increased revenue would go for wildlife
protection (15 percent), renewable energy
projects (10 percent) and local governments (15
percent).
The
Board’s main reasons for opposing Amendment 58
included concern about a measure that increases
taxes on only one industry while also earmarking
the revenue for specific programs. CACI prefers
that such funding decisions be left to the
Colorado General Assembly because it takes away
the legislature’s discretion in making spending
decisions in light of the state’s revenue
situation and policy priorities. In addition,
CACI remains concerned that, if Amendment 58
were to pass, Colorado would still not address
the serious funding problems that face the
operating budgets of the state’s higher
educational institutions.
The
campaign organization formed to oppose Amendment
58 is called “Coloradans for a Stable Economy”:
http://www.voteno58.com/
Organized Labor’s Top Federal Legislative
Priority Will Drastically Affect the Workplace
NOTE:
The following article was written by Loren
Rachel Furman, CACI Director of Governmental
Affairs, phone: 303.866.9642, and e-mail:
lfurman@COchamber.com
On
Tuesday, CACI and CACI-member Littler Mendelson,
an employment and labor law firm, hosted an
important seminar for CACI members on the
proposed federal “Employee Free Choice Act,”
which is a top legislative priority for
organized labor.
Despite its deceptive title, this proposal would
abolish the secret ballot election that workers
currently enjoy when making their decision about
joining a union. The bill also includes several
harmful provisions that will seriously affect
both employers and employees and harm
management-labor relations in the workplace.
CACI wants to ensure that its members are fully
informed on the likely effects of this
legislation if it passes the U.S. Congress next
year and is signed into law by the new President
The “Employee Free Choice Act” and How it Will
Affect You . . .
The
Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)--or “card-check”
legislation as it is commonly known--makes
sweeping changes to the federal National Labor
Relations Act (NLRA) and increases the chances
for any business to be unionized. Certain
members of Congress have been working with
organized labor to get this legislation passed,
and it could become law in 2009 if the bill is
signed by the new President. It is critical
that, as an employer or employee, you become
aware of how this bill will significantly affect
your workplace.
How the Current Law Works. . .
The
federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
currently provides that, if a labor organization
seeks a collective bargaining agreement with a
business, then signatures must be obtained from
at least 30 percent of the workers. If the
signature requirement is met, a supervised
secret ballot election is then held by the
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and a
majority of the vote is required in order for a
union to be certified by the NLRB. Right
now, employees can vote by secret ballot process
if they want their workplace unionized--a
process that guarantees their privacy.
Current law also protects workers from coercion,
intimidation or harassment when they decide
whether or not to join a union.
Why EFCA will be Harmful for Employers and
Workers . . .
The
Employee Free Choice Act as proposed would
significantly change current federal law, and
nullify workers’ NLRA protections that are
necessary when they decide whether to support or
oppose unionization. There are three provisions
in the legislation that I’ve outlined below that
dramatically alter the National Labor Relations
Act to favor organized labor and increase the
potential for unionization:
1. Card-Check Authorization
This
provision requires the National Labor Relations
Board to certify a union representative if a
simple majority of employees have signed card
authorizations. CACI sees three major
objections to this provision:
-
It takes away a worker’s right to a secret
ballot election and forces workers to
publicly decide whether or not to join a
union;
-
It increases the potential for intimidation,
coercion and harassment of workers by
allowing unions the opportunity to
“persuade” a simple majority of workers into
joining their organization; and
-
By removing the secret ballot election,
workers will not have the option to
independently decide whether or not to join
a union, which a critical decision that is
currently allowed in a private voting booth.
2. Mandatory mediation and binding arbitration
This
provision mandates mediation within 90 days if
no bargaining agreement is reached and mandates
binding arbitration if no agreement is reached
within 30 days. The arbitration decision would
be binding for two years. Again, CACI has three
objections to this provision:
-
It requires employers to negotiate critical
terms of a union contract in a very limited
time;
-
It forces binding arbitration if an
agreement is not reached, and the parties
are stuck with a contract that cannot be
changed for 2 years; and
-
It is silent on the arbitration process and
lends itself to inconsistent decisions by
arbitrators.
3. Enhanced penalties and expanded grounds for
injunctions
This
provision enhances the penalties for unfair
labor practices committed by an employer during
a union campaign, and mandates injunctive
relief. Concerning this provision, CACI’s
objection is the following:
-
This provision creates unfair and excessive
penalties against an employer by awarding
treble damages (three times back pay), and
civil penalties up to $20,000 in favor of an
employee. The bill does not apply the
same increase in penalties, however, against
unions if unfair labor practices have been
committed by a union against a business or
worker.
How You Can Protect Yourself . . .
Employers should take steps now to protect their
workplaces from the potential impact of this
legislation. These steps can include
identifying and pursuing a strategy that helps
provide a better workplace while remaining
union-free. On the CACI Web site, we’ve
provided a resource paper written by CACI-member
Littler Mendelson, a national employment and
labor law firm, that outlines steps for
employers that are concerned with the potential
impact of the EFCA bill and who wish to protect
themselves from unionization.
http://www.littler.com/Pages/Home.aspx
What You Can Do To Fight This Legislation . . .
Because the EFCA legislation could become law in
2009, you should contact the Colorado
Congressional delegation. Please contact your
member of the U.S. House of Representatives and
Colorado’s two U.S. Senators through
correspondence, phone calls or office meetings
and urge them to oppose this legislation!
Congressional contact information is available
from the Colorado Prosperity Project at:
www.coloradoprosperity.org.
The
Colorado Prosperity Project is a collaborative
effort between CACI and the Business Industry
Political Action Committee:
www.BIPAC.org
Additional information can be found at the Web
sites of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the
National Association of Manufacturers, two
organizations with which CACI is affiliated:
www.nam.org
www.uschamber.com
CACI Receives National Recognition from Peer
State Chambers Association:
Honors Include Top Membership Retention and
Revenue-Building among Large Chambers
CACI),
the statewide chamber of commerce, has been
recognized with four prestigious awards
at the recently-concluded annual conference of
the
Association of State Chamber Professionals (ASCP)
in Tunica, Miss.
CACI
placed first in the “large business-base”
division in the categories of membership
retention, retention improvement and growth of
“non-dues” revenues. CACI also placed second
for the highest percentage growth in membership
revenue. Placement in a division is determined
by the number of businesses in a state.
As a private,
non-profit organization, CACI's work is funded
solely by its members. |
