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

No one seems to really know what’s going on with the Employee Free Choice Act right now. BusinessWeek, citing AFL-CIO president-in-waiting Richard Trumka, says “A Card Check Compromise by Year End” while The Hill runs with “AFL-CIO suggests a hedge on card-check.” Meanwhile, it’s mixed signals as we get “Employee Free Choice Act” battle renewed” from the Denver Post.

There is considerably less confusion over who opposes the bill, though. In Madison, Wisconsin, a group of businessmen have come out adamantly against EFCA. In California, the Governator has once again vetoed card check language in his state. And in Washington, D.C., leading Republican Senator Mitch McConnell says GOP won’t support EFCA.

The Employee Free Choice Act may be off the menu, but it’s still on the table. And it’s bad news for restaurants. Warner Todd Huston at Publius’ Forum has the story: “Union Expense Forces 92-Year-Old Restaurant to Close.” His conclusion: “And Obama wants to unleash this destructive force on the whole country.”

The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel is running a great interview with Glenn Spencer of the Workforce Fairness Initiative about the state of play and likely future of the Employee Free Choice Act. See:

Editor: I have heard that the card- check provision has been removed as part of the discussions you described.

Spencer: A story was floated before the Congressional recess in The New York Times that suggested that this group of senators had agreed to get rid of the secret ballot provisions of EFCA. However, that story was quickly shot down, most notably by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The AFL-CIO also said that they wouldn’t be supportive of a bill that did not allow them to bypass secret ballot elections. Therefore, I’m not sure that there actually is an alternate bill that’s even close to being ready to go, but obviously we will monitor that very closely.

Even if The New York Times story were right and the card-check provision was definitively eliminated there are other elements in the so-called compromise which would make the bill unacceptable to business.

Read the rest.

Just to continue the food metaphor for no particular reason other than it’s a simple way to get started for the week, the question for watchers of the Employee Free Choice Act is whether the issue is getting cold on the counter or just waiting to be heated and served.

While much of the world focuses on Sen. Harry Reid’s comment that EFCA is not on the table right now, news and commentary around the issue is actually percolating a bit more now than it was a few weeks ago. Here’s a smorgasbord of recent items:

• The Huffing Post crew wants to add card check and binding arbitration to Ted Kennedy’s legacy
• The mayor of Park Forest, Illinois — who also happens to be a teachers union representative, writes: “For Labor, After Health Care Reform Next Goal Is Passing EFCA” … glad to see opinions like this embedded into our local governments and protecting bad teachers
• The influential Advertiser in Louisiana editorializes: “Labor has a history of intimidating employees into voting for a union. Management has a history of retaliating against those who do. The default position should be a secret ballot that protects workers from undue influence by either side. Rep. Melancon is a co-sponsor of the act, although he appears to be moving away from the card-check provision. Sen. Landrieu should do the same.”
• Tampa business leader: “EFCA – with or without the card-check provision – would fundamentally change that, and in the process, change the way we do business. It would have the unintended consequence of damaging our ability to compete and therefore would put in jeopardy the jobs that EFCA purports to protect.”
• The letter to the editor you must read today: “Our Maginot Line”

By now, many have heard that Sen. Harry Reid has said the Employee Free Choice Act is stuck on the back burner because “We have too many other things on our plate.” Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean EFCA is in the scrap heap; it just means it’s staying warm and ready to be served at a later date.

The future of the Employee Free Choice Act remains shrouded in mystery as we head back toward the September reconvening of Congress. There is little “news” but plenty of chatter.

Consider this report from The Hill’s Michael O’Brien:

A top labor official said Monday that President Obama and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have indicated that they will not bring up “card check” legislation until after healthcare reform is done in Congress.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, the expected incoming president of the influential union, pledged during a web chat on the liberal blog firedoglake that organized labor would work to pass healthcare reform in order to move onto one of its top priorities, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

“The President/and Emanuel have both said they dont intend to bring Employee Free Choice Act up until Health Insurance Reform is done,” Trumka wrote on the blog. “Which gives us an additional reason to do Health Insurance Reform now!”

Meanwhile, over at the Washington Examiner, Brian Johnson writes “there is one provision that labor will never give up: binding arbitration.”

He’s absolutely correct. While unions such as SEIU may want to invest themselves in the “card check” provision to increase the dues-paying membership in the short run, many AFL-CIO unions are dead-set on binding arbitration because it’s the key to getting new employees to prop up failing pension funds.

Johnson concludes on this note:

EFCA-Plus leaves too many questions about arbitrators unanswered while simultaneously giving them unprecedented power. There is no provision that lays out how arbitrators will be chosen, leaving questions about qualifications and bias.

Government is increasing its influence in every part of your life, from what car you can buy to your health insurance. Now they want to dictate to employees and employers the terms of negotiation. Go figure.