thetruthaboutefca.com | The Truth About The Employee Free Choice Act & Card Check

*Note: This is a guest article from employment attorney Eric B. Meyer. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent those of Associated Builders and Contractors of the Free Enterprise Alliance.

All signs indicate that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is dead for the rest of 2009. This is primarily because enough senators believe that EFCA effectively deprives employees of the right to choose, through a secret ballot election, whether they want a union to represent them.

In response, some union supporters have already begun proposing subtle changes to EFCA. One such change, discussed at length here, would be to design a modified card that employees could choose to sign during a union majority signature drive (i.e., card check). In short, the modified card would afford an employee two choices:

• Request a secret ballot election in order to vote on whether a union should act as the bargaining unit representative

- or -

• Authorize the union to become the bargaining unit representative and expressly waive the right to a secret ballot election.

Advocates tout this as the cure-all to employer concerns over depriving employees of their right to privately express preferences through a secret ballot election. But don

A letter from Lafayette, Louisiana resident Joyce Thomas calls on her fellow citizens to do their part and urge Sen. Mary Landrieu to oppose card check for a number of reasons. Thomas urges:

There is talk that our own U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu may end up casting the deciding vote to determine whether this bill will pass. Therefore, I suggest that those of us who are against this forced unionism bill express our feelings by calling Sen. Mary Landrieu, as well as our other senators and representatives, urging them to vote against this union boss power bill.

Sounds like a good idea to us. The fight over the Employee Free Choice Act is far from over. There is still misguided whispering for “compromise” — but there can be no compromise on a bill this bad.

An anti-Employee Free Choice Act letter recently released by Associated Builders and Contractors has caught the notice of many, including the influential Beltway publication Roll Call. This morning, the paper reported on EFCA proponents’ insistence on pushing ahead with the anti-democratic, job-killing legislation. It also noted:

The Associated Builders & Contractors also turned up the heat Tuesday, sending a letter detailing the group

Yesterday we told you about the letter signed by more than 3,000 construction and related firms opposing the Employee Free Choice Act. We wanted to let you know that the message was heard, including by other well-respected trade associations (such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the Chamber of Commerce), by major blogs such as the National Review’s Corner, the National Journal, and many more.

Associated Builders and Contractors is not giving up the fight against EFCA and reminds our elected officials: there can be no compromise on the critical underlying issues of secret ballots and binding arbitration.

Today, Associated Builders and Contractors released a copy of a letter sent to elected officials and signed by an amazing amount — more than 3,000 — employers in construction and related fields. The simple message: The Employee Free Choice Act is bad for employees, employers, and the free enterprise system. Click here for a copy of the letter.

Dear Member of Congress:

We, the more than 3,000 undersigned construction companies and related firms, are writing to express our strong opposition to the deceptively named

From the it’s-good-to-remember-what-we-should-already-know file:

According to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation, more than 81 percent of the 8,667 U.S. adults surveyed said votes to join unions should be kept secret… And of those surveyed that belong to unions, nearly 84 percent said votes should be kept secret, while nearly 82 percent of nonunion individuals felt the same.