Labor Unions Without Elections

After being questioned by a reader, this copied information is a follow-up to an editorial titled Preserve the ‘Secret Ballot’ and dated on March 11, 2009

I trust this copied info, especially the article from "Politico" which often is referred to as the printed news "Voice" of the Democrat Party, will reaffirm my editorial as substantial. I have highlighted the fourth (4th.) paragraph for your reference. Be sure to view and read the additional information.



Card check battle starts tomorrow
By MIKE ALLEN | 3/9/09 11:55 AM EDT

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19786.html

Supporters take their seats under the summer sun at rally in support of the Employees Free Choice Act, Tuesday, June 19, 2007.

Tomorrow, Democrats in both houses of Congress plan to introduce a union-organizing bill that is labor’s top priority for the year, Democratic officials said.

The result could be a high-decibel, high-stakes brawl between business and labor, which strongly supported President Barack Obama. Unions have been getting impatient for attention to the issue, and the push to introduce legislation is a way to ratchet up pressure on Congress.

President Obama, who has said he recognizes that “the business community … considers this to be the devil incarnate,” said in January that he would like to bring the sides together.

The measure — widely known as card check and formally as the Employee Free Choice Act — would allow a union to form after enough workers in a shop sign cards, or petitions, rather than voting by secret ballot.

“The fact that the bill is being introduced so early in the session is an indication of it being a priority and of confidence in the vote count,” said a Democratic official involved in the negotiations.

But POLITICO's Glenn Thrush sees “surefire signs of stall” over the measure, and quotes leaders of both sides as saying it could be hung up for months, perhaps pushing it into the midterm election year of 2010.

The business community claims the measure would have a crushing effect, putting the White House and congressional Democrats in a tough spot as the economy tanks.

Randel Johnson, vice president for labor policy at the Chamber of Commerce, told The New York Times: “This will be armageddon.”

Obama favors the measure, but the White House has not weighed in on timing or tactics. He said in a pre-inauguration interview with The Washington Post that he “will certainly listen to all parties involved, including from labor and the business community, which I know considers this to be the devil incarnate.”

“I will listen to parties involved and see if there are ways that we can bring those parties together and restore some balance,” Obama said. “You know, now if the business community's argument against the Employee Free Choice Act is simply that it will make it easier for people to join unions and we think that is damaging to the economy then they probably won't get too far with me. If their arguments are we think there are more elegant ways of doing this or here are some modifications or tweaks to the general concept that we would like to see.”

Legendary investor Warren Buffett, an Obama supporter, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”: “I think the secret ballot’s pretty important in the country. I’m against card check, to make a perfectly flat statement.”

Obama did not mention the measure in his address to a joint session of Congress. In videotaped remarks to the AFL-CIO Executive Council in Miami last week, he said: “As we confront this crisis and work to provide health care to every American, rebuild our nation’s infrastructure, move toward a clean energy economy, and pass the Employee Free Choice Act, I want you to know that you will always have a seat at the table.”

And Vice President Joe Biden told the group two days later: “[O]ne of the most difficult things will be to reinstitute that basic bargain. And I think the way to do that is the Employee Free Choice Act. “

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions plans to start hearings this week.



http://action.seiu.org/page/s/millionforfreech

Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)

A robust middle class. Economic growth and shared prosperity. The American Dream. None are possible unless workers have the free choice to bargain for a better life—in their workplaces and in our nation.

That's why SEIU members need the Employee Free Choice Act—critical legislation that would restore workers' freedom to form unions and bargain for better wages, health care, and working conditions—and have a voice in our economy.

We're going to show the new President and Congress that there are one million people who want to give hardworking families a chance to get ahead. Can you be one of the first?



Barack Obama on the Employee Free Choice Act

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4qF213IceI



Obama supports the Employee Free Choice Act

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMNVIQqatyU



http://www.bakerlaw.com/employee-free-choice-act-efca-10-29-2008/
Print

10/29/2008

Executive Alert

Union Representation Without An Election? A Reality That Could Be Closer Than You Think

Democrats in Congress have promised to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and, if elected, Senator Obama has promised to sign it. EFCA will amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to take away employees’ rights to secret ballot elections and allow union recognition by card checks only. EFCA will also require binding arbitration of first contracts after 120 days so that an arbitrator (not the employer) will set wages and benefits for the first two years of the relationship. Finally, EFCA stiffens penalties for employers who misstep during an organizing drive or a first contract negotiation.

Senator Obama and Democrats in Congress have also promised to get this bill passed early in 2009. This is the highest priority organized Labor has in its battle for new members. Whether the employees want to be members or not, peer pressure will get the cards signed.

EFCA - What It Is and Is Not
As currently drafted, EFCA will provide:

certification on the basis of signed authorizations (card check);
first contract mediation and arbitration;
stronger penalties for violations while employees are being solicited and stronger penalties during the process of obtaining a first contract; including mandatory applications for injunctions; treble back pay; and civil penalties up to $20,000 per violation.

EFCA will leave to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) many open questions, including:

How will the employee voting unit will be determined?

Will anyone police union conduct in obtaining the authorization cards needed for certification?

What will the certification process be?

Can employees decertify a union once it has been certified?

Will there be any controls over arbitrators who alone decide the wages and benefits in your first contract?

Who will the arbitrators be?

A wide variety of important issues like these will be left to administrative action by a newly-constituted NLRB which will have three new members when a President Obama fills the existing three vacancies. Confirmation is guaranteed by a Democratic Senate.

The Threat to Employers

EFCA will pose a significant threat to the rights of employees of virtually every private sector employer. However, some industries face greater pressures than others. Some of the specific industries which will be under siege once EFCA is signed into law: 1) Small businesses; 2) Industries that cannot be moved offshore; 3) “Hot industries” such as health care, communications, utilities and transportation which are already targets of organized labor; 4) Employers whose work force is partially organized; and 5) Employers with massed employees such as manufacturing and retail and service.

Card check systems in the United States and other countries are designed to make it easier for unions to organize employees. It will be much easier for unions to win if employees are denied their right to vote. Currently, unions in the U.S. may have 80 percent of cards signed going into a secret ballot election, yet they still lose half of the elections because it is a known fact that employees sign cards and then vote the way they want.

Employers Need to Prepare for EFCA

Baker Hostetler Can Help

With a heritage labor relations practice that is second to none in its depth, flexibility and creativity, Baker Hostetler is in a unique position to assist employers faced with clandestine union organizing, dealing with the Labor Board in the regions and in Washington, D.C. over who should be in the bargaining unit, the abbreviated collective bargaining process, labor arbitration of the first contract, as well as strikes, picketing and other economic actions.

Baker Hostetler’s Labor Relations Team will proactively work with your company to help prevent unfair unionization in a post-EFCA America. There is an immediate need to put in place the required infrastructure so that your employees are not the first easily blindsided targets. Multi-faceted information and training, communication plans, flexibility, detailed knowledge of union tactics, as well as time proven strategies and respectability are why Baker Hostetler will help your company successfully navigate a new EFCA reality.

Baker & Hostetler LLP publications are intended to inform our clients and other friends of the Firm about current legal developments of general interest. They should not be construed as legal advice, and readers should not act upon the information contained in these publications without professional counsel. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send you written information about our qualifications and experience. [Florida Rule 4-7.2(d)] © 2008 Baker & Hostetler LLP