Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Imagine that your employer deducts a portion of your paycheck so you can park in the company parking garage.

Now imagine that, weeks after you've left that employer, you're still receiving bills demanding payment for the parking garage that you're no longer using. 

Sound ridiculous?  If you represent Big Labor in Arizona, it's not so far-fetched.

Last December, five Fry's grocery store employees filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that United Food and Commercial Workers union dues were still being deducted from their paychecks even after the workers had resigned from the union.

On March 31 the NLRB, siding with the employees, issued a complaint saying the union erred.  A hearing is scheduled for June 29.

The Arizona State Senate on March 29 passed legislation sponsored by state Sen. Russell Pearce, S.B. 1242, that seeks to remedy this absurdity as well institute new reforms on the employer-labor front.  The bill passed the House Commerce Committee last week.

In addition to protecting employees from having their wages withheld after their union membership ends, the bill clarifies the state's trespassing laws to prevent union demonstrations on private property.

Under current law, unions have manipulated the system by picketing or demonstrating on private property with the knowledge that law enforcement and property owners must jump through numerous hoops before any enforceable action can be brought against the unions as police sort out property lines and other issues.

Senator Pearce's bill, however, would establish a no-trespass list with the Secretary of State's office on which employers could register their business. This list would be distributed to law enforcement so that they could easily discern the affected employer's private property boundaries and quickly remove trespassers.  This bill does nothing to reduce the rights of property owner that choose not to add their name to the list.

With the economy still sputtering, Arizona needs to implement these important fixes to ensure that the state maintains its Right-to-Work status and that employers and workers are free from harassment. This is all the more important as unions on a national level are flexing their muscle with the Obama White House.

With the momentum behind card check legislation - which would eliminate workers' rights to a secret ballot in a union organizing election - slowing in Congress, Big Labor and the administration found a back door path to execute their job-killing agenda.

The administration used a recess appointment to name union lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.

Becker, the former associate general counsel to the AFL-CIO and SEIU, saw his nomination stymied in the Senate last month, thanks in large part to the work of Sen. John McCain, who called Becker "probably the most controversial nominee that [he's] seen in a long time."

Facing a roadblock on Capitol Hill, the president used the recess appointment to make an end-run around the Senate, causing Sen. McCain to say the appointment was, "clear payback by the administration to organized labor."

With Becker on the NLRB, Big Labor now has the advocate they need on the inside to attempt to affect much of their agenda administratively, putting the nation's job creators squarely in the crosshairs.