Loading...Analysis of Federal Unionization Legislation
Summary
The artfully-named Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1409, S. 560), a top priority of the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats, is designed to give unions a devastating advantage over employers whenever they attempt to organize workplaces across Georgia and the nation. If passed, EFCA would bring Detroit-style labor markets and economic conditions to Georgia and other states, eliminating roughly one job for every three new union members due to increased costs forced on employers.
Criticism and Impact
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce joins the U.S. Chamber and numerous other business and free-market organizations in opposing EFCA. Among other provisions, the bill would:
- Pre-empt Georgia's right-to-work law, which has provided a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining business
- Strip employees of the ability to decide by secret ballot whether or not to unionize, exposing them to intimidation by union organizers (who may also be the employees' supervisors)
- Replace the secret ballot system with one in which a workplace is automatically unionized if just 50% of employees sign authorization cards (the so-called "card check" provision)
- Force employers to provide union organizers access to their property and employees for organizing activities
- Prohibit employers from sharing important information with employees, including the impact unionization would have on the company (such as increased costs or mandates that could lead to workforce reductions)
- Give contract-making power to federal arbitrators if a business does not agree to a union's terms in as few as 90 days -- a process overseen by appointees of the current administration who will naturally favor the union position
- Impose new and costly penalties on businesses -- but not unions -- whose conduct is questioned during the process
- Force even those employees who do not support the creation of a union in their workplace to pay union dues and operate under new contract rules
Congressional Action
Bills were introduced March 10 by House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Ted Kennedy (D-MA). No hearings have been scheduled, but Democrats are reportedly working on a new version that eliminates the card check provision in favor of "quickie" elections that would give employers as few as five days notice before an election is held, preventing them from communicating effectively with their workers.
Links
Read editorials against EFCA in the Wall Street Journal from March 13, May 7, May 29, July 11 and July 21, or visit the Center for Union Facts or the Heritage Foundation for more information. You can also click here to contact Georgia's U.S. Senators and Representatives and tell them you oppose the bill.
