EFCA: Rumors of Its Death Are Premature
EFCA has been pronounced dead by some pundits.
Unfortunately, it didn't show up at the funeral.
To the contrary, EFCA is alive and may be back on the legislative agenda soon.
Of course, card check won't be there. In its place will be "quickie elections," which still pay lip-service to democratic principles, but in fact deprive the employer the opportunity of speech. Other changes are also in the offing. After all, only one Republican vote is needed to make something happen. We shall see.
As predicted, President Obama renominated labor activist, Craig Becker -- you know the one who believes that employers have no right to even be involved in the process of unionization. Last time around, he was put on ice by Senator McCain but it is expected he may get the nod this time after the political wrangling is over.
And that is important because if he is confirmed, there will be three labor activists on the five person Board and they (if they choose to do so) will be able to effectively implement EFCA without the necessity of legislation.
Indeed, the Board could unilaterally:
* Set the time-frame for union elections drastically reduced to a week or 10 days;
* Silence employers during the unionization process;
* Increase fines for interfering in the organization process;
* Issue a mandate to employers to provide organizers with names, addresses and phone numbers of all employees and free access to company facilities to speak to employees about unionization:
* Require organization by card check with signatures certified by a "neutral" third-party examiner.
* Or, any or all of the above.
Of course, law suits would fly but by the time those were resolved, thousands of employers would have been organized.
Stay tuned. We're not at the end of the book, but just starting a new chapter.
Unfortunately, it didn't show up at the funeral.
To the contrary, EFCA is alive and may be back on the legislative agenda soon.
Of course, card check won't be there. In its place will be "quickie elections," which still pay lip-service to democratic principles, but in fact deprive the employer the opportunity of speech. Other changes are also in the offing. After all, only one Republican vote is needed to make something happen. We shall see.
As predicted, President Obama renominated labor activist, Craig Becker -- you know the one who believes that employers have no right to even be involved in the process of unionization. Last time around, he was put on ice by Senator McCain but it is expected he may get the nod this time after the political wrangling is over.
And that is important because if he is confirmed, there will be three labor activists on the five person Board and they (if they choose to do so) will be able to effectively implement EFCA without the necessity of legislation.
Indeed, the Board could unilaterally:
* Set the time-frame for union elections drastically reduced to a week or 10 days;
* Silence employers during the unionization process;
* Increase fines for interfering in the organization process;
* Issue a mandate to employers to provide organizers with names, addresses and phone numbers of all employees and free access to company facilities to speak to employees about unionization:
* Require organization by card check with signatures certified by a "neutral" third-party examiner.
* Or, any or all of the above.
Of course, law suits would fly but by the time those were resolved, thousands of employers would have been organized.
Stay tuned. We're not at the end of the book, but just starting a new chapter.
posted by Jim Karger at 6:28 AM
1 Comments:
Jim - Thanks for keeping us posted on such a critical issue for employers and employees alike. It is difficult to imagine that employees may be stripped of their right to vote on whether they need representation...and employers could lose their right to free speech. I hope someone in DC is thinking about how EFCA could hurt employers and our economy.
Andy Stroud
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