It is the first anniversary of Work Matters. Thanks for reading; I truly appreciate it. Lots has gone on in the last year. Here are a few thoughts.
- The Employee Free Choice Act is, at best, stuck in neutral. Maybe it is even going into reverse. But, like the end of the movie "Carrie," it will thrust its hand from its current legislative graveyard, likely in 2010. Here is a modest proposal: Support passage of a modified version. Hey, not all employers are saints, and some corrections arguably are due. A revised bill could provide somewhat faster elections, fines for repeat violators and greater injunctive authority for the National Labor Relations Board. These provisions would handle the worst employer offenders but spare the rest, which make up the great majority. It also will take the wind out of the sails of pro-EFCA advocates who want a radical agenda of no secret ballot and imposed collective bargaining agreements. Sometimes, in law and in life, you have to give a little to get a lot. Anyway,it is worth a thought. People may see it as a compromise because it is a proportionate response to fix the purported problems in the current system.
- And, speaking of proportionate responses, bills to outlaw workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians has been introduced since we started this blog. Isn't it about time they finally passed? Sexual identity is central to human beings' sense of self, no different than our race or our gender -- and it deserves no less protection as a result.
- One other change a-coming that I have been reading about a lot lately: new search engines. Now, type in the Yahoo or Google box, and out pops a couple of thousand responses. In a few years, the search engine will deliver The Answer. Even as I tap this out on my mini laptop, I imagine there are lots of really smart people inking up a whiteboard, figuring out how to make it a reality. If firms thought the last year brought about a change in their practices, this development will be a double wallop. I don't know what it will all mean, but I do know this: The Buddha was right. Everything is in flux, changing from moment to moment. I hope to be writing about all of it in Work Matters.
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