Employee Free Choice Act To Be Reintroduced In Congress

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/5216

Employee Free Choice Act To Be Reintroduced In Congress

By Doug Cunningham

The Employee Free Choice Act will be reintroduced in Congress this week. The labor law reform makes it easier to join unions by majority sign-up and puts teeth in the labor law to punish employers for violating the right to form unions. Kathy Ancil is a member of the Operating Engineers in Michigan. She says this labor reform is badly needed to restore the right of workers to organize without fear of employer retribution.

: “It’s so important to have that law into place. A recent survey was conducted and found that 69 percent of Americans would like to have a union or be involved in a union, except for retaliation or the concern for losing their job, or threatened or intimidated. The Employee Free Choice Act takes away from that intimidation. It takes it away.”

[madrchsod]

1. we will see if the democrats want to do something

constructive to restore the middle class. i`m not getting my hope up that they will

[rurallib]

2. Agreed - we have Fair Share coming up in our legislature

and the lies and the spin are incredible.

[Zhade]

18. As long as they support NAFTA/CAFTA, we know their true level of support.

Very little.

[Solo_in_MD]

3. I still dont see the compelling reason not to mandate secret ballot elections

If the union can not win via the ballot, should it really be there?

[Omaha Steve]

4. Why U.S. Workers Need the Employee Free Choice Act

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/02/02/why-us-workers-need-the-employee-free-choice-act/

by Tula Connell, Feb 2, 2007

Some 60 million workers say they would join unions if they could, according to recent polling.

Yet U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released last week point to a decline in union membership from 12.5 percent of the workforce in 2005 to 12 percent in 2006.

So what’s wrong with that picture?

It’s true, we in the union movement could be more aggressive in recruiting workers to join unions. But a big reason U.S. employees don’t join unions is because they can’t.

And America’s workers all too-often are blocked from joining unions because our nation’s labor laws, originally created in the 1930s, are broken. So broken that employers routinely harass, intimidate and even fire workers who they suspect of trying to form a union.

Let’s face it, how many people want to lose their jobs? (Firing workers for forming unions is illegal, but management does it anyway, counting on the fact that it often takes years for a workers’ appeal to wind its way through the regional and national labor boards and even the courts.)

Our nation’s labor laws need to be changed. And on Tuesday, Feb. 6, the first big step in that process is happening in the brand-new House of Representatives. For the first time since the late 1970s, a bill to reform our broken labor laws is being introduced in Congress.

Some 230 House members—a number that’s growing—already have signed up as co-sponsors of the Employee Free Choice Act. Rep. George Miller and Sen. Edward Kennedy have been with us on this bill from the time we first sought co-sponsors for it in 2003. And even in the not-so-worker-friendly 109th Congress, some 215 lawmakers in the House and 44 in the Senate co-sponsored the bill.
The Employee Free Choice Act would:

* Establish stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.
* Provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
* Allow employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.

A poll conducted in December by Peter D. Hart Research Associates showed a strong majority of the public—65 percent—approve of unions, up from 55 percent in 1981. But that same poll, taken for us at the AFL-CIO, also showed that nearly one-third of the public does not realize how hard management fights workers who seek to form unions.

In fact:

* 51 percent of private-sector employees threaten to shut down partially or totally if the union wins the election.
* 25 percent of private-sector employers fire at least one worker during organizing campaigns.

And management does more, lots more, to intimidate and harass workers seeking to form a union.

Noted historian Nelson Lichtenstein calls passage of the Employee Free Choice Act by the 110th Congress a “necessary first step in the reconstitution of freedom and dignity in the American workplace.”

FULL story (reply) at the link above.

[Solo_in_MD]

9. That does not address why a secret ballot should not be taken

It would seem to be the best and most secure way to get a union in.

[happyslug]

22. The problem is the REALITY of HOW a Ballot vote takes place

Under present law the workers MUST petition to form a union and then have an election. During the time period between the filing of the petition AND the actual election, Management can call the workers in tell them WHY a Union is bad. Lie to the members, tell the members if the Union wins Management will Close the plant etc. All of this can be done on the employer's property and on the employer's time. All of this is LEGAL (But on top of these legal actions, Companies also do illegal actions like firing Union activists so such activists are no longer among the workers during the period up to the Vote).

At the same time the UNION can be FORBIDDEN by Management to talk to the employees on the property of the employer and while the employees are working for the employees (and this can be extended to break times and lunch times if done on Company property).

By the time of the election Management ha had MONTHS to push their agenda onto their employees, thus it is NOT uncommon by the time of the elections that people just vote against the union DO TO PRESSURE FROM MANAGEMENT. Thus while an election is the best way to get people's view, it also gives Management time to run a full press attack on the Union and cut the Union out from talking to the Employees.

Remember in the 1930s most workers WALKED to work, after work they meet at bars across the street from Work. Do to the improvements in income since WWII (Driven by unionization of the 1930s and 1940s) people today can buy a car and drive to work. You just can not stand outside the gate and talk to workers as their exit the plant, people want to go home after work and by going home they go in as many different directions as there are employees. The old days of everyone stopping at the bar for a drink and complain about the foreman is long gone. With this development Union Activists have a hard time talking to the workers at the same time the employer can be talking to them all day long.

The best solution would be for the Government to rule Corporation are Creation of the State and as such can NOT so to the workers (i.e. talking about the union vote) that the Corporation forbids the Union Activists from doing. While such a rule would be a better rule I just do NOT see Congress or the COurts permitting such a rule in the next 20 years. The next best solution is to force corporation to accept a union once the majority of the employees have signed on to be represented by the Union. Such a sign in cuts out the ability of the Corporation from running an anti-union campaign in th run up to the Unionization vote.

We have to do something to strengthen the Unions. Right now the rules are set to high for most workers to get a union (Given the above ability of Management to run a campaign against the unionization vote). Under a union Sign up plan, if a Majority of workers sign up for the union (And in most sign up programs it is NOT a majority that is needed but a Super-Majority for example 60% of the Workers) the union is in and Management MUST bargain in Good Faith with the union. This minimize the ability of Management to use its control over the employees and the employer's property to give management an huge advantage over pro-union forces among the workers.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. Do you see some secret evil agenda in it not being part of the proposal? If so, what? -nt

[Solo_in_MD]

16. Secret ballots eliminates complaints and accusations of arm twisting by the organizers

The anti union people claim that there is a great deal of pressure placed on workers to sign cards. The pro union people claim that there is a great deal of pressure placed on people to sign cards. The secret ballot allows workers to freely choose.

The other point I have seen raised here and elsewhere is that if a card check is good enough to bring in a union, that it should be good enough to decertify one. Not sure we want to go there.

Overall there is also something inherently cleaner in a secret ballot in terms of determining what the true choices of the workers are.

[theHandpuppet]

5. Love the avatar -- where can I get one?

I'd love to have that sticker on my car~!

:thumbsup:

[Omaha Steve]

6. Here it is....

http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/

[951-Riverside]

7. Any bill with "terrorism" "free","freedom","patriot" or "american" in it should be take cautiously.

...IMO

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. Here's a summary (edit: full text too) of the bill. Get back to us if you find anything evil in it.

Summary: http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/upload/Employee_Free_Choice_Act_Summary.pdf

Full: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-1696

[24HRrnr]

8. Does that mean

I'm free to choose not to join a union?

Been there, done it, done with it.

Previous member Teamsters, Local 36

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. It seems the most acute problem right now in the US is the opposite, don't you think?

I don't think Wal-Mart's employees' right not to join a union are being trampled on right now.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. Ooooo mama. I hope no Wal-Mart employee is caught smiling while reading/listening to this news. -nt

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

15. Does this also allow you to stop paying Union dues if you want?

If not, I don't see the "Free Choice."

[Tyler Durden]

17. If one wants the bennies a union negotiates for and obtains....

..then perhaps one should "pony up" or do without.

Granted, this is a UAW site:

http://www.uaw.org/publications/jobs_pay/02/no3/jpe05.html

but if you Google "benefits of unions," I think you'll get a good picture.

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

20. So people who don't pay union dues...

...should not be entitled to a minimum wage, workplace safety rules, child labor laws, etc. These are all a result of union activity.

Retirement--Answered with a fixed SS program

Health Care--No need under a Single Payer system

Disability--See fixed SS program

Paid time off--Progressives are harping on mandatory vacation laws like in EU.

So following a Progressive agenda elimiantes the need for Unions.

[Doremus]

21. Nice theory. Do you also believe in the tooth fairy?

Without any pressure (i.e. support) from organized labor, how long do you think your utopia state will last?

Working conditions have steadily deteriorated in the last decades. Companies are demanding more work for less pay; American productivity has soared even as our paychecks shrink. Management-friendly laws are being passed in record numbers, eroding hard-won progress from years past.

Union membership is at its lowest point since forever (down to 12%).

Coincidence? Yeah, sure.

Working class stiffs who argue against unions are like chickens clucking for the Colonel.

Cluck away my friend.

[Zhade]

19. Hey, if you don't want the benefits and protections a union supplies, why pay for them?

You should save your bucks for another purpose, like the out-of-pocket medical care you'll have no help from the union with once you drop out.

:eyes:

[tom_paine]

23. K & R

[lakeguy]

24. wonder which side of the fence Whole Foods is on this? nt

[gulfcoastliberal]

25. kick /nt

[Toots]

26. Most small business can not afford to pay Union Scale or Davis Bacon

If my employees voted to become Union I would be forced to close my doors and no one would have a job...

[Cassius23]

27. Wilson's Paradox and Unions

This actually reminds me of something I read about that I have taken to call "Wilson's Paradox". I've fleshed it out a bit, so it should be considered a paraphrase.

Our economy depends on individuals recieving compensation based on labor.
Technology depends on reducing the amount of labor(and laborers) needed generate the same amount of productivity.
Even in a consumerist society, only a finite amount of productivity is needed.

This eventually produces an imbalance in which we can generate massive amounts of productivity with very few people.

Those very few people don't consume as much as a vast number of people,

Therefore the economy experiences problems.

An example.

Gary works in a steel factory. His job is made redundant by robotic technology. Now the factory line requires only one person when it used to require 10. Traditional economic theory says that the business owner will increase their production of steel, but it will only increase production as far as the market demands, which, more often than not, will leave workers out in the cold.

Now let's move to the person that replaced Gary, we'll call him John.

John consumes a lot. He has a big car, eats out often, has a McMansion, etc.

However, he still doesn't consume as much as Gary and nine of his co-workers.

Therefore the amount of goods bought goes down, which decreases demand, which decreases how much production is required.


A "way out" of this paradox is as follows. People will, over time, have more and more jobs that have no real link to production(i.e., making steel, Nike shoes, or houses), this is obviously true by looking at our "service based" economy.

As far as unions?

The problem that unions have is that they are linked to jobs that actually produce things and that is the source of their leverage.
"If you don't give us X we won't produce Y"

Unfortuantely due to Wilson't Paradox, there are fewer and fewer jobs that can say that. Most jobs today aren't based in production and therefore can't hold that over the management.

I'm still not sure how to fix this one. Still working on it.