Two Arkansas institutions, two positions

Since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2002, Sen. Mark Pryor has successfully straddled the ideological fence. The Arkansas Democrat replaced one of the Senate's best conservatives in Republican Tim Hutchinson, and is now in the enviable position of facing re-election without any real opposition, a feat his father, former Sen. David Pryor, also managed to do.

Over the past decade, Wal-Mart has grown into the world's largest retailer by spreading its low-price model to nearly every corner of the U.S. and all over the globe. While the Arkansas-based retailer's economic dominance has increased, so too has its influence in the nation's capital as it has developed an effective governmental affairs operations aimed at maintaining a hospitable business and trade environment.

But now, these two Arkansas institutions Pryor and Wal-Mart are on different sides of a very divisive issue.

Less than two weeks ago, Wal-Mart made The Wall Street Journal's front page because the company's efforts of "mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies."

Wal-Mart, not unlike many U.S. businesses and trade groups, fears that the election of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and/or a filibuster proof Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate could put the country on a one-way track to leftist labor policies aimed at unionizing American workers at both large and small businesses, which would increase their cost of doing business, result in slower job growth and Americans paying more for goods and services.

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There is reason for concern.

Earlier this year, all but one Democrat in the House of Representatives voted for a measure that would allow workers to form unions without secret ballot elections. The pro-union "card check" measure has yet to clear the U.S. Senate, but when it comes up for a vote, it will enjoy Pryor's full-throated support.

The so-called "Employee Free Choice Act" is the Democrats' response to the country's decreasing union rolls. Union leaders have had a hard time demonstrating their worth to American workers, especially in the face of more manufacturing jobs moving out of the unionized industrialized Midwest, along with the influx of jobs into regions of the country where union membership isn't mandatory.

The "card check" measure is designed to stop declining union roles by making it easier for Labor leaders to add to their numbers not just in manufacturing, but retail and other service-based sectors.

But, by overturning the secret ballot vote, which has been a long-standing policy governing union formation, "card check" would open up American workers to the potential of open intimidation by allowing pro-Labor forces to "obtain" workers' signatures on union "authorization cards" any time and any place.

Unfortunately, Pryor either doesn't care or realize the effect the "card check" could have both on U.S. workers or on the broader economy. Earlier this year when the Arkansas state Chamber of Commerce began lobbying Pryor against the supporting measure, he pooh-poohed its opposition and belittled its leaders by claiming the state chamber was "taking its marching orders from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce" and "exaggerating" the potential effects the measure could have on future job growth.

But, it's clear that Pryor, not the state chamber, is heeding the marching orders from his (Democratic) leadership. As for what the measure would do to employment in the U.S., perhaps Pryor might want to assess the health of the heavily unionized sectors of the nation's economy, and decide on his own if the country needs more unions or jobs.

David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock and is a host of the Arkansas Education Television Network's "Unconventional Wisdom." His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com.