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

Many in the employer community are concerned that proponents of the sadly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act have seized on a confusingly timed bit of news suggesting the “card check” provision of the bill is dead. That’s not the case — we hear constant stories about folks up on Capitol Hill trying to re-brand EFCA because it has become, in the words of Sen. Tom Harkin, “toxic.”

So we recently weighed in with a reference to The Usual Suspects, adding our two cents to musings by our friends at Shopfloor.org. Now we want to draw your attention to analysis of EFCAreport.com, the great resource from McKenna Long & Aldridge management attorneys. They write:

The response to the Times story was immediate and forceful. Business interests and EFCA opponents quickly condemned the possible development and began to focus more intense criticism on EFCA’s mandatory interest arbitration provisions.

Lest it be lost in the shuffle, however, there appears to have been a simultaneous increased effort on the part of labor to re-brand the mechanism proposed by Section 2 of EFCA as “majority sign-up.” While that has been terminology used by supporters for some time, and increasingly as labor realized how politically toxic the term “card-check” had likely become. But in the wake of Friday’s developments, there appears to be a stronger and more concerted effort to change the vocabulary of the discussion on this particular issue — perhaps to soften it politically while we await the ultimate announcement of what comes next. We shall see as the conversation continues.

Click through for their links and to check out the blog.

Republicans on the House Committee on Education and Labor point us to these words of warning from Michigan’s experience. An editorial from the Detroit News says the state’s pain from binding arbitration ought to be a warning against the Employee Free Choice Act’s binding arbitration provision:

ABC national president Jerry Gorski has been hitting the airwaves and news pages as part of the big team effort to educate the public and legislators about the danger of passing the unfortunately misnamed Employee Free Choice Act. Another contractor, Glen Philips of Philips Brothers Electrical Contractors Inc., wrote in to the Pottstown Mercury in Pennsylvania (a pretty important state in this fight) to offer his own view:

In the article, “Labor leader speaks in support of Card Check bill,” I would like to applaud Jerry Gorski of Associated Builders and Contractors and Nancy Keefer, president of the Chamber for their intuitive input into the misconceptions of Card Check legislation.

As a local contractor, I also oppose this legislation and the government-aided union control of business. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is an anti-worker, job-killing piece of legislation that will undercut any effort to stimulate our economy. The bill will drive up costs for employers, especially small businesses, at a time when they can least afford it.

First, the main provision of EFCA effectively eliminates secret ballot voting in union elections. Secret ballots are the backbone of the democratic system. Taking away this right will open workers up to unnecessary intimidation tactics.

Second, the bill also contains a less known provision that would impose government-mandated labor contracts on employers who are unable to reach agreement with unions after only four months of negotiations. This binding arbitration will be overseen by individuals from the federal government who may know nothing of my business. Under EFCA’s binding interest arbitration rules, employers would have no right to appeal the decision of a federal arbitrator and workers would be unable to reject the terms of the employment contract. In essence, federal bureaucrats would be empowered to establish labor contracts for two years without any accountability to the employer or workers. Binding arbitration will tie the hands of employers and hinder their ability to manage their workforces during difficult economic times. Without this flexibility, many employers will struggle to remain viable in the face of global competition.

In a time of economic crisis, it’s more important than ever for our policy makers to listen to what job providers have to say about legislation that impacts their ability to create jobs. EFCA is a poison pill for our ailing economy, which is why every major business organization from every industry sector has come out in strong opposition to it.

We urge all contractors to keep engaged in this battle. Keep up the fight!

A couple items worth keeping an eye on:

• A former NLRB chairman weighed in with thoughts about the significant changes needed in the Employee Free Choice Act. Also of note from the San Francisco Chronicle: He “cautioned that it is an ‘urban myth’ that labor law alone can ‘restore the middle class.’ Other factors, he said, include globalization; imports from low-wage countries that ‘decimated union-organized manufacturing;’ the rise of undocumented workers and part-time work; the growth in services and ‘union lethargy.’”
• The Las Vegas Sun reports “Card check might be yielding to other goals” (also noted here)
• Leading card check proponent SEIU is now aggressively using the term “majority signup” for card check since the term has become toxic on Capitol Hill
• The editors of National Review weigh in: “With or without card-check, EFCA is a bare-knuckles power play by Big Labor and the Obama administration
  

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” It’s a scheme that worked for the devil, for the speaker of this quote in The Usual Suspects, and the increasingly-toxic card check provision of the Employee Free Choice Act.

First it was the canard that EFCA didn’t eliminate secret ballots. It is just a plain fact: once union organizers collect more than 50 percent of union cards — even if employees were uninformed, under-informed, misinformed, or “nudged” as they signed — the National Labor Relations Board cannot direct an election. It’s a myth that has been busted again and again, but like all great lies it continues on among the darkest corners of the Internet (and a few of our own lesser-hinged commenters).

But now it seems that rumors of card check’s death have been greatly exaggerated for a specific purpose (or several). Our friends at Shopfloor.org have been tracking the mysteriously timed pronouncement of card check’s death, even while Beltway insiders say it’s not so. So herein the latest analysis from Shopfloor:

The flogging of the

The Wall Street Journal this morning writes:

Labor is desperate to rig the bargaining rules because most workers show time and again that they don’t want a union. Americans know unions promise higher wages and benefits and more job security. But workers can also see what has happened to such highly unionized industries as steel, autos, airlines and many others. Unions couldn’t save those jobs, and in fact they contributed to their demise with contracts that made the industries uncompetitive. Most workers would also rather not hand over a chunk of their paycheck in mandatory dues to finance the political agenda of labor leaders.

Democrats and the AFL-CIO are hoping that if they dump the unpopular secret ballot ban from card check, they can get to their magic number of 60 Senators. The business community and Republicans shouldn’t be fooled and let Democrats from swing states off the hook. Card check under any cover is still a job killer.