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So-called 'Employee Free Choice Act' could negatively affect employee rights What it means The so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), or “card check” legislation fundamentally alters labor relations in our country in a way that could be harmful to a recovering economy. It also eliminates important protections for workers that currently guarantee their right to a private ballot in workplace elections. EFCA does away with important protections contained in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). It increases the chances for any business to be unionized without employees being given the chance to understand the implications of that action. It allows unions to achieve recognition solely through the card check process, under which union organizers can use high-pressure tactics or coercion to collect signatures of employees on authorization cards and present them as representing the true intent of the workers. Current law provides that if a labor organization seeks a collective bargaining agreement with a business, then signatures must be retrieved from at least thirty percent of the workers. If the signature requirement is met, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) holds a supervised secret ballot election, and a majority of the vote is required in order for a union to be certified by the NLRB. The Employee Free Choice Act would take away the workers' right to a secret ballot if they want their workplace unionized – a process that guarantees privacy. The NLRB has strict procedures to ensure fair private ballot elections, free of employer or union coercion. An NLRB agent is present and oversees the entire voting process and ensures that neither the employer nor the union can determine how an individual employee votes. Current law protects employees from coercion, intimidation or harassment when they decide whether to join a union. Current NLRB procedures also lead to swift and fair elections. Most elections are held within 56 days, and labor unions prevail approximately 55 percent of the time. It would also impose mandatory mediation and arbitration in first-contract negotiations between the employer and union if settlement is not reached within a short time frame.
The present system supports the promotion and protection of employee free choice and labor relations stability. Legislation that mandates certification of a union based solely on a showing of signed union authorization cards would eliminate the safeguards currently provided in the NLRA, stripping employees of their right to freely and anonymously choose a representative. Allowing both card-check recognition and secret ballot elections is the most fair and reliable way to determine the desire of employees to be represented by a union. This legislation takes away a basic tenet of voting, which is the right to privacy. By removing the ability to cast a secret ballot, employees would be forced to vote in a public manner that may not reflect their true opinion of whether or not they would like to be represented by a union. The bill imposes unrealistic deadlines for labor and management to meet and negotiate a first contract before mandating interference by government-appointed mediators and arbitrators. It would allow a third party to dictate wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment, which constitutes excessive government interference into business relationships and contradicts the express purpose of the NLRA. Opposed Legislation H.R. 1409 - Employee Free Choice Act of 2009
TAKE ACTION - Click here to contact Colorado's U.S. Senators and Representatives to ask them to OPPOSE the So-Called 'Employee Free Choice Act' Click here to link to more sources of information on EFCA
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