ABC To Indy Readers: Say No To Employee Free Choice Act

Sunday, May 31st, 2009 by Admin

The Indianapolis Star was kind enough to publish a letter from Associated Builders and Contractors President Kirk Pickerel and ABC Indiana President J.R. Gaylor warning readers about the Employee Free Choice Act:

The merit shop construction work force has never been stronger. More than 84 percent of all workers in the industry have made the decision to use their professional craft skills in an environment that is free from union coercion and intimidation.

John Sweeney, AFL-CIO national president, and Ken Zeller, Indiana State AFL-CIO president, argued in their recent letter (“Workers deserve freedom to join unions”) that the Employee Free Choice Act would “restore workers’ freedom to choose how to form a union and bargain for better lives.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Employee Free Choice Act actually deals a double blow to workers by robbing them of the fundamental American right to a secret-ballot election when deciding whether or not to join a union, and allows a federal government arbitrator to dictate the terms of the union contract without a vote by the employees.

Current law requires that both the union and employer bargain in good faith after a union is certified. However, under the proposed act, if both parties have not reached agreement after 120 days, the union can call for mandatory, binding arbitration.

In the end, workers could end up in a union they didn’t vote for, and forced to abide by a contract they didn’t vote on. No secret-ballot election. No vote on a contract. Where is the free choice in that?

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