Labor working for Employee Free Choice Act

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/15/BU7B1436S5.DTL

George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The 250,000 volunteers from AFL-CIO unions around the country may still be hoarse and weary from the dogged stretch effort to get out the vote for Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden, but they're taking a victory lap. Labor feels much more confident that their top legislative priority - a bill that would make organizing workers substantially easier - will be passed and signed.

The Champagne will have to stay on ice, however, because the debate will be fiery over the Employee Free Choice Act, which effectively would do away with employers' rights to insist that employees cast pro or con votes in a secret ballot election for whether they want union representation.

Many employers say that election, overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, is sacrosanct. Unions say the process, through which management in many cases tries to make a case to workers that a union is not in their best interests, is fraught with coercion and intimidation.

Under the proposed law, if a majority of employees at a workplace approve by signing authorization cards, a union will represent the group.

The Employee Free Choice Act - opponents call it the forced choice act, arguing the legislation would give labor a disproportionately heavy hand in organizing - would bring sweeping change to the 73-year-old National Labor Relations Act. It would spell hope for labor and anathema to many business interests.

An Obama win meant everything to labor, because Sen. John McCain is an ardent opponent of the legislation, and labor's ground game was impressive: Unions spent about $450 million in the election, and the effort was particularly helpful in battleground states. In all, union members connected with 13 million voters in 24 states, in the process selling the Employee Free Choice Act along with the Democratic ticket.

FULL story at link.

[Eric J in MN]

1. Regarding the compromise of an election within two weeks.

I would approve of that with these conditions:

1) The union is given access to present its case to the employees during that period.
2) No one can be fired during the period between the card check victory and the election.
3) Anyone suspended during that period is allowed to vote.

[skorpo]

2. Are there any good resources on Card Check vs. secret ballot?

I need some fact sheets etc to share with friends that are union members and don't understand the necessity for card check. Most don't know about the tactics used by businesses trying to prevent unionization in the lead up to "secret ballot" elections.

[Omaha Steve]

3. A few here

The first link shows how the company broke the current law for 6 years.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4514814&mesg_id=4514814

http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/

This will get you started.