Posts Tagged ‘Wisconsin’
Wisconsin Voters Cheesed Over Employee Free Choice Act
More than 70 percent of Wisconsin voters said they were opposed to ending the secret ballot in union organization, according to a recent survey by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, a state business advocacy group …
About 27 percent of those surveyed were from union households.
Employee Free Choice Act Threatens 800 Jobs In Wisconsin
As we have warned before, the Employee Free Choice Act threatens to dramatically increase job loss. As a story from Wisconsin shows, that’s not just theory:
Proposed federal labor legislation has derailed a large Eau Claire County development, according to a local economic development official.
The project – for which no name or description was given – would have brought a $50 million investment to Eau Claire County in the next five years, along with creating up to 800 full-time jobs, Brian Doudna, executive director of the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corp., said in a news release Wednesday evening. Construction was expected to begin this year. The first employees were to begin work in early 2010, with about 100 new jobs being created.
The project has been placed on hold indefinitely because of the Employee Free Choice Act, federal legislation that would require binding arbitration to resolve contract disputes and make it easier for workers to join unions. The bill has been introduced in the House and Senate.
The bill would require binding arbitration if management and a union cannot agree on a first contract. It also would allow a majority of employees at a company to organize by signing cards – a change from the current practice that allows employers to mandate secret-ballot elections – and boost penalties for retaliation against workers seeking to organize.
Doudna said if the bill is approved, the project will not occur – at least not in the U.S.
Wisconsin, not being known for its reactionary-right politics, offers a good (and specific) reminder that if EFCA passes it would create an untenable climate for large, complex building projects. It is also a good time to remember that EFCA is not dead, as some hope. It still is waiting to come back and threaten more jobs and more projects.
