Gerald McEntee, head of the mammoth AFSCME government employee union told the Washington Times yesterday that the "payback" for organized labor’s political efforts in 2008 is passage of the Card Check bill. McEntee seems to agree with what U.S. of Commerce Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel Steven Law recently told Fox Business Network:

This last year organized labor spent $450 million on this election to buy power and influence in Washington, and the very next day they held a press conference saying they didn’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts, and they had a long list of things they wanted to get done in return for their money. And at the very top of that list, as you point out, is what they call the "Employee Free Choice Act" - we call it the "Employee Forced Choice Act," because it takes away the secret ballot vote for workers in union elections.

Aside from effectively ending the private vote, the Card Check bill would allow arbitrators that may know nothing about a particular business to swoop in and dictate contracts after a government-proscribed window period expires. The bill also imposes one-sided penalties against employers for violations of federal labor law without word one about potential union abuses.

Mr. McEntee’s take on the Card Check bill is a refreshing bit of candor from organized labor about what this legislation really is: a special interest payback.