John Boehner Actually Bests a Union

23 Jan, 2012 by Unicorn Jones

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There isn’t that much good news these days, so when it happens, you have to give John Boehner credit for not totally screwing up everything he touches. Last week, despite the overwhelming pressure from the Obama Administration to make any and every bill that goes through Congress as union-friendly as possible, Boehner struck a deal with Senate Leader Harry Reid to toughen the rules in place for airline workers and railroad workers that might want to form a union under pressure from national thug bosses.

In other words, the Republicans actually managed to make it harder for airline workers and railroad workers, whose contracts were killing their respective industries, to form unions, making it easier for major American industries to stay in business.

Lawmakers reached a compromise Friday that: toughens the rules airline and railroad workers: must follow to hold union elections, boosting: prospects for passage of a long-term funding: plan for the Federal Aviation Administration,: congressional aides said.

The compromise – negotiated primarily: between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio: – was the most contentious of a handful of: unresolved issues holding up passage of an FAA: bill. The issue was partly responsible for a: standoff between Senate Democrats and House: Republicans last summer that led to a two-week: partial shutdown of the FAA, including the: furlough of nearly 4,000 workers.

It took more than four years to get this deal underway, but luckily for Republicans and for those who believe in Right to Work, in between the start of negotiations and the ultimate conclusion, the Democrats underwent a bloodbath in the House. The deal will have widespread impact given that it specifically limits the National Mediation Board, which is basically the National Labor Relations Board’s redheaded stepchild, by making all its rule changes and hearing public, and given that it brings the percentage of workers you need voting in favor of a union to establish the union up to 50 percent from 35. The rule also requires the GAO to audit the National Mediation Board, and perhaps even make a recommendation that it be disbanded altogether if the agency appears to be redundant.

So smile, America. Maybe there’s a bad moon on the horizon. Maybe Newt Gingrich won’t have the opportunity to tell any other national news media personalities to shove it. Maybe Mitt Romney will finally develop a human-like personality. But at least something went right this week.