Employee Free Choice Act

The mislabeled Employee Free Choice Act  (EFCA) would give unions the right to achieve recognition solely through the “card check process,” under which union organizers can use high-pressure tactics to collect signatures of employees on authorization cards and present them as representing the true intent of the workers. 

But, as the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said, “Workers sometimes sign union authorization cards not because they intend to vote for the union in the election but to avoid offending the person who asks them to sign – often a fellow worker – or simply to get the person off their back.”

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) provides employees with the right to form or join a union in order to collectively bargain with their employer.  To be recognized by an employer, a union must demonstrate it has the support of a majority of the employees.  To protect employees against undue coercion, this support is determined by secret ballot through a democratically-conducted election process supervised by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).  The Employee Free Choice Act  of 2009 throws these privacy safeguards right out the window!

The week of March 23, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) announced that – unlike in years’ past – he would not support the EFCA or even a cloture vote to debate this legislation. A key moderate vote in the Senate, Specter’s change of heart may effectively derail the EFCA in the Senate. However, rumors of potential “compromise” on the legislation have begun surfacing and it could still move in the House at any time.

Action Needed:  Now is the time for the business community to urge Sen. Evan Bayh and the members of the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose this measure. Union intimidation has no place in our workplace!