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

Shopfloor.org’s Carter Wood points readers to an important item regarding the binding arbitration provision of the comically misnamed Employee Free Choice Act.

Of particular note should be one attorney’s reminder of a 1970 law involving the National Labor Relations Board:

Allowing the Board to compel agreement when the parties themselves are unable to agree would violate the fundamental premise on which the Act is based

An avid reader and friend of The Truth About EFCA points us to an alarming story…

A federal judge has ordered Illinois Central Railroad Co. to reinstate a conductor who spent 16 months in federal prison for embezzling union funds (United Transp. Union v. Illinois Central R.R. Co., N.D. Ill., No. 08 CV 4001, 3/16/10) …

Click through for the entire absurdity, Aside from being bothersome, why does it reach to the level of alarming? Simple: It shows how ridiculous an arbitrator’s decision can seem, and the so-called Employee Free Choice Act — even if stripped of the most notorious “card check” provision — carries language that would impose a government arbitrator into the labor-relations process. That spells trouble, and it’s yet another reason EFCA is the wrong track for America.

There’s a fantastic letter to the editor running up in Detroit that discusses the all-too-infrequently discussed binding interest arbitration provision of the Employee Free Choice Act. James Wahlman of Troy writes in:

Parties to first contracts could arbitrate their issues now, but rarely do, because they would be turning over their wages, benefits and working conditions to a third party who probably has little or no expertise in the parties’ business, no practical experience in their operations and, most important, will not have to live with the consequences of the decision.

The very important business of labor relations and bargaining is best left to the parties involved, no matter how imperfect the process may be.

Indeed, even the best-intentioned arbitrator can not know the full business needs of any firm or any single workforce. It’s like asking a general practitioner to do open heart surgery: you could get lucky, but more than likely the patient isn’t going to make it.

To leave an employer and employees in such a position as to have their interests superseded by a government bureaucrat is to totally abdicate business and moral responsibility.

Interesting news out of our friends at the Workforce Fairness Institute, which has released a new poll examining attitudes of Nevadans about card check and the tragically misnamed Employee Free Choice Act. The poll is of sufficient interest to garner the attention of the Las Vegas Sun, which reports:

The poll showed 57 percent of respondents oppose changing the way unions are organized and 64 percent oppose allowing mandatory arbitration to settle organizational disputes between workers and managers, as is proposed under the bill.

The poll also showed more voters would be less likely to support political candidates who support such changes.

The second figure — the one showing opposition to allowing the government to impose labor contracts on small business — is important because it shows that even if card check were dropped from EFCA, the bill would still be disastrous and unpopular.

Nevadans — well, most of them — know that EFCA is the wrong way to go. Check out this video from the state’s own Sen. John Ensign on why he opposes the Employee Free Choice Act.

One of four Democratic politicians hoping to fill the vacant seat left by the late Ted Kennedy has received a glowing personal portrait about his efforts to live up to Kennedy’s legacy, especially with respect to the sadly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act.

The Valley Advocate writes of Mike Capuano:

“I think that actually one of the problems in this country right now is that too few people are organized,” said Capuano, noting that the rise in union membership in the U.S. corresponded with the rise of the middle class

Richard Greeley, a legislator from Massachusetts, says card check doesn’t pass the smell test:

Here