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Employee Free Choice Act One of the most damaging bills now before Congress would eliminate secret balloting in union certification elections, put in place binding arbitration for the first contract after a union is certified and reduce an employer’s opportunity to communicate with employees about a union organizing effort. MSCI has opposed the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), HR 1409 and S 560, from the start and continues to oppose passage of the legislation in any of the amended forms that have been proposed as a would-be compromise. The version of EFCA introduced includes a “card check” provision that eliminated the secret ballot in union certification elections. The compromise EFCA, developed by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) would replace “card check” with quickie, or “ambush,” elections. This provision would dramatically limit any employer communication in the process. The new EFCA would still include the binding arbitration, as well as employer restrictions and fines found in previous versions of the legislation. In addition, the compromise bill would provide so-called "equal access" to give union organizers access to employees on employer premises without employer supervision. If EFCA became law, a union could demand that a company begin bargaining within 10 days of NLRB certification of the union as the exclusive bargaining representative for any appropriate unit of employees. If the union and company cannot agree upon the terms of a first collective bargaining contract within 90 days, either party can request federal mediation to assist their efforts towards reaching an agreement. If an agreement still cannot be reached after 30 days of mediation, the act provides for binding arbitration to ensure that employees have a contract. Finally, the legislation would provide for liquidated damages of three times back pay if employers were found to have unlawfully terminated employees trying to form a union. The Employee Free Choice Act would also impose a $20,000 penalty upon employers for violations of workers' right during their organizing and bargaining efforts if the NLRB or a court deems the violation willful or repetitive. Injunctive relief is available to make sure remedies are meaningful, effective and timely. At the request of the AFL-CIO, the National Mediation Board (NMB), during the week of November 2, proposed procedural changes to assist union organizers. Currently, NMB union representation elections certify labor unions only when a majority of the total workers in a workplace choose to form a union. Under the new proposal, a union could be certified by a majority of those voting in the election, an easier voting standard. While these changes would alter the way unions are formed, they would not change the process to decertify a union or allow employees who did not vote for the union to be exempt from mandatory dues. (Click here for more.) Labor leaders also see an opportunity in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to change the labor law system through the nomination of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) attorney Craig Becker. Becker has expressed views far outside of the mainstream that include objections to any employer involvement in the union organizing process. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has placed a procedural hold on Becker’s nomination, preventing Senate action on the nomination for the time being. The National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others oppose Becker’s nomination. (Click here for more information.) Now is the time to contact your legislators and those who represent districts in which you have operations while they are at home, urging them to oppose the EFCA. While many members of Congress have expressed concerns with EFCA in its current form, it important that we continue to urge members – especially Senators - to oppose votes, especially votes on cloture in the Senate, on the EFCA in any form.
While it is important that every Member of Congress hear from MSCI Members on this important issue, we encourage you to specifically contact the below Senators during the recess period to urge them to oppose all votes on the EFCA in any form.
For more information, we encourage you to review the highly informative website of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, www.myprivateballot.com. The coalition is sponsored by dozens of businesses and trade associations, including MSCI. See all the National Association of Manufacturers EFCA toolkit as www.nam.org/efca. Get involved! Click here to send a letter to your representative or senator today. See also the forward to Forward magazine by Bob Weidner, MSCI's President & CEO: Say "No," Loudly, to Card Check (PDF) EFCA Updates
To contact your Senator, go to: http://www.senate.gov
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