Senate Proceeding on Feb 9th, 2010 :: 0:43:45 to 0:48:15
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0:43:44 to 0:44:05( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: mr. isakson:ious to make sure the record -- to amplify the record on the lilly ledbetter case, the supreme court did not rule against ms. ledbetter. they ruled against the statute of limitations of 180 days that applied to almost all the civil rights era laws and she had come to the court 10 years after the alleged incident and then tried to make a case. subsequently, the congress changed that statute. but the court was upholding the

0:43:45 to 0:48:15( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Johnny Isakson

0:44:06 to 0:44:27( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: law, which this congress passed. secondly, i rise reluctantly to oppose the nomination of craig becker, and i do so based on experience, not based on a whim, not based on politics, but based on what i've experienced in the last six months in terms of confirmation in labor-related positions. as you may know, i am from atlanta, georgia.

0:44:28 to 0:44:49( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: that's the home of delta airlines. that's recently merged with northwest airline to form the largest airline the united states of america. the national mediation board oversees labor issues with regard to the aviation industry. in the mencher of delta and northwest, -- in the merger of delta and northwest, it's a

0:44:50 to 0:45:10( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: merger of two different companies with two different cultures. delta much less organized, northwest more. one of the major questions about that merger as it related to labor law would be what would the law be to govern an organizational vote, in this case of the flight attendants. northwest flight attendants were organized, delta's were not.

0:45:11 to 0:45:31( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: for the 75-year history of organized labor law in the united states of america, the principle under the national diation board called for a majority votef all members of the compa in the employee class, meaning if there were 1,000 flight attendants in the class, it would take 501 votes to pass a motion to organize.

0:45:32 to 0:45:53( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: as we consider the nominees for the national mediation board in the "help" committee last year, i spent extensive time questioning the nominees that were nominated as the two democrats for this position. on this very issue. want to go try to ensure that we had what senator durbin referred to, and that's absolutely equal

0:45:54 to 0:46:14( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: treatment, not a bias in determination of labor decisions. i listened to these appointees over and over again say they would be fair, say they would not be biased, and they did not have a preconceived position. within weeks of -- and i voted for them. within weeks of being seated, they passed a resolution 2-1 to

0:46:15 to 0:46:35( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: change the 75-year-old law in the front face of an organizational vote getting ready to take place to change the 75-year history of a majority of the total number of employees in the class to a simple majority of the number of people voting in the class, which meant in the case of the example i gave you before if there were a thousand people in the class, under existing law it

0:46:36 to 0:46:59( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: would take 501 to organize. that's fair. by changing to a majority of those voting if only 100 of the 1,000 voatd, it would only take 51 to vote to organize a class of employees within the company. that's a shift of the balance between labor and management. secondly, under those that moved

0:47:00 to 0:47:20( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: so much for efca around here, always talking about the employer free choice act and organizing. in 2008, 67% of all organization votes under existing law were in favor of unionizing. this is a movement towards a problem that we don't have. and mr. becker, mr. becker is a very gifted, talented attorney.

0:47:21 to 0:47:41( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: i sad in for senator enzi as ranking membeon the second confirmation hearing or markup hearing we had in the committee two weeks ago, and i asked him about these specific questions and he is crafted in his answer. but i came away not convinced that the statements of mr. acuff, the statements of

0:47:42 to 0:48:02( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: mr. iglesias and the statement of others who said mr. becker's appointment offers an opportunity to do by regulatory authority what could not be done on the floor of the senate in terms of efca. followed on by the national mediation board's about-face of evenhanded, nonpreconceived notion to complete move 75 years of law.

0:48:03 to 0:48:15( Edit History Discussion )

Johnny Isakson: out of an abundance of caution, i'm going to vote against the confirmation of mr. becker in hopes the administration will send a more convincing nominee to the floor that's committed to the equal treatment and the balance between labor unions and organized labor and between