The NLRB Will Start Killing Jobs And Inflating Prices

Next Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will probably pass a ruling that allows unions to organize in as little as 10 days after notifying management. Previously, that time frame was about 38 days; thus giving management an adequate amount of time to present it's case against unionization. The NRLB ruling is sure to pass because, thanks to Obama appointees -- one a non-approved recess appointee -- the board is now heavily skewed as pro-union.

While the unions might think they've scored an easy victory, it's actually labor and the average American who may have lost on this one.

First of all, the shortened turnaround time will certainly blindside many businesses -- especially small ones -- and they will be forced into meeting collective bargaining demands on wages, hours, working environments, and benefits, or suffer the consequence of a strike against them. The result of this will be much higher costs for labor. In some cases, this could spell bankruptcy because, in raising prices, it will have lost all of its competitiveness. If so, all those newly minted union job holders just might end up in the unemployment lines.

For some other businesses, the only option to stay competitive will be to shut down their U.S. operations and move off shore. Again, if this happens, another new bunch of fresh union jobs will disappear. Then, too, for those companies that can raise their prices to cover higher labor costs, it is American paychecks that will suffer the consequence. As I have said many times before, this will only drain the consumer of any discretionary income; causing a slow down in economy due to the lack of any broad-based consumer spending. Further, its the poor and those on fixed incomes who will suffer the most from higher prices.

At a time when our economy is already fragile, the negative impact of the NLRB decision will only be magnified. Years ago, more than a third of this country's private industry workforce was unionized. Today, that number is down to about 7%. The historical reasons that they have lost nearly four-fifths of their membership is that previously unionized businesses either went bankrupt or were forced to move their operations to other countries.

If what I have described above comes to fruition, it will most certainly be Obama's fault. For a President who is supposed to be so intelligent and supposedly focused "like a laser" on jobs, this is just damn stupid. A stupidity that could easily bring this country back down to its economic knees!