Minority hotel owners cite disputed business-backed study in opposing labor bill

Remember those controversial claims made by business groups that the Employee Free Choice Act -- now hanging by a thread, especially after Sen. Blanche Lincoln's (D-AR) defection yesterday -- would lead to massive job losses? After a small flurry of media coverage, the allegations seemed to momentarily disappear.

But a press conference held Monday at the National Press Club, sponsored by the Black Chamber of Commerce, shows the questionable warnings aren't dead yet.

Fox News reported that the event was hosted by "minority business owners," but in reality the speakers came from only one sector -- the hotel industry. The leader of a national black hotel owners led the charge in alleging the bill would lead to unemployment:

"This piece of legislation will cost us 600,000 jobs," said Andy Ingraham of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners.

Fox goes on to report that "Ingraham was citing a study by Anne Layne-Farrar, a anti-trust specialist at LECG, a global expert services and consulting firm." But nowhere does Fox News mention that Layne-Farrar's study was paid for by the Alliance to Save Main Street Jobs, a front group created by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups who have invested tens of millions of dollars in defeating the labor bill.

Fox also declined to report that Layne-Farrar's report has faced harsh criticism since it was released in March. As first reported by Facing South, Layne-Farrar's claims that the Employee Free Choice Act's "card check" provision would result in sharp increase in unemployment is based on surprisingly thin evidence: the experience of just three Canadian provinces over 30 years ago.

Furthermore, economist Dean Baker has pointed out that there's no good scholarly evidence concluding that higher union density leads to higher unemployment.

In the press conference, Ingraham went on to invoke the election of Barack Obama as another reason to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act:

"It takes away the private ballot, that's un-American, if they did thatduring the last election we wouldn't have the president we have today,"Ingraham said.

Labor groups have emphasized -- and the Wall Street Journal editorial page recently admitted -- that the act doesn't "take away" the private ballot: The "card check" provision offers employees the option of either using a secret ballot or signing intent cards to indicate their preference about joining a union.

As for Obama, he is on the record as supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.

Photo: Andy Ingraham of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners.