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

Outspoken ABC member Brett McMahon of Miller & Long writes:

The mainstream media is already declaring defeat of the Big Labor agenda during Obama

Matt Lewis at The Daily Caller has an excellent look at the desire for the current Administration and Congressional leadership to appease Big Labor. He turned to none other than ABC member Brett McMahon of Miller & Long for some insight, and reported:

A recent letter sent to House and Senate committees by a collection of union and pension sponsors noted that a,

As our sister site, The Truth About PLAs.com noted, Associated Builders and Contractors member Stephen Worth went up to Capitol Hill yesterday to share his concerns about special-interest agendas that could affect the workplace for ABC’s 25,000 member companies and the rest of America’s free enterprise system.

The Employee Free Choice Act was, of course, a key concern. Worth said:

I feel that no true discussion on union favoritism would be complete without covering the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Under EFCA, workers essentially would be stripped of their right to vote in a federally supervised secret ballot election when deciding whether to join a union. Instead of a private election, workers would be forced to use a biased and inferior system known as

ABC member Miller & Long’s Brett McMahon was quoted today offering his analysis on the future of card check and “compromise”:

The compromise being considered on Capitol Hill calls for workforce representation elections to be held 10 days after 30 percent of workers sign cards in favor of organizing. Although the card check phrase would be dropped, the legislation would be still very weighted against business, Greg Mourad, director of legislation for NRTW, has observed.

“This so called compromise is really just window dressing,” he said. “These quick snap elections would give the unions as much time as they want to propagandize the workforce and collect petitions, while the other side has just 10 days. The current average is 42 days when petitions are turned in to when elections take place and we think this is a reasonable time frame.”

Brett McMahon, vice-president of Miller and Long, a Maryland-based concrete construction company, concurs. The maneuvering on card check and proposed substitution of new, seemingly benign language is a typical labor tactic, he warned.

“They usually give ground on one of their most unreasonable demands after all the objections have been made,” he said. “Then they come back with something even worse and claim the moral high ground for having ‘compromised’ on their first demand.”

ABC members continue to stand up against the Employee Free Choice Act. Today, Brett McMahon of Miller and Long writes on Project Labor Agreements, EFCA, and those who will pay the real price for bad laws. He writes:

… unions stand to gain easier unionization if the controversial Employee

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!