Quote:
Originally Posted by Uturn2001
Filling out a card does not make a workplace unionized. All those cards say is that the person filling it out is interested in what the union has to say. The union still has to get so many cards on file and then there has to be an election to unionize or not.
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Not exactly. Its called a card check and signing a card is the same as a yes vote. The pending legislation would allow a card check. Basically if 50% plus one sign a card it becomes a union workplace. No vote necesarry and no intimidation from the employer. And the employer has no choice but to negotiate or close up forever. If they cannot reach an agreement then either side can demand arbitration to settle it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uturn2001
In the current economy and the job market being what it is I really can not see too many people risking their jobs by forcing a company's hand.
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I think just the opposite would happen. Alot of people would see union representation as a way to get ahead. The EFCA makes it easier for people to get union representation and makes it tougher for a company to block the organizing efforts. A company like Werner, Swift, Schneider or JB Hunt etc. could easily be organized under the new law. Just get enough cards signed.
The
Employee Free Choice Act (
EFCA) is
legislation in the
United States which aims to "amend the
National Labor Relations Act to establish an easier system to enable employees to form, join, or assist
labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during organizing efforts, and for other purposes."
[1] Under current U.S. labor law, the
National Labor Relations Board will certify a union as the exclusive representative of bargaining unit employees by
card check process or
secret ballot election, which is held if more than 30% of employees in a
bargaining unit sign statements asking for representation by a union. If enacted, EFCA would require the NLRB to certify a bargaining representative without directing an election if a majority of the bargaining unit employees signed cards, the
card check process.
[1]
Pursuant to the bill, a union can demand that an employer begin bargaining within ten days of certification of the union as the exclusive bargaining representative for an appropriate unit of employees via the card check.
[1] In addition, if the union and employer cannot agree upon the terms of a first collective bargaining contract within ninety days, either party can request federal mediation, which could lead to binding arbitration if an agreement still cannot be reached after thirty days of mediation.
[1] Where government arbitration determines terms of the agreement, employees would lose their current right to ratify the terms of the agreement.
[1] Finally, the Act would provide for liquidated damages of
three times back pay if employers were found to have unlawfully terminated pro-union employees.
[2] The EFCA also would impose a $20,000 penalty upon employers for each employer violation of the proposed legislation if the NLRB or a court deems the violation willful or repetitive.
[1][3]
On March 1, 2007, the
House of Representatives passed the act by a vote of 241 to 185. The
Senate on June 26, 2007 voted 51 to 48 on a
motion to invoke
cloture on the motion to proceed to consider the
bill. The bill failed to pass during the
110th United States Congress because of the 60 votes required to enforce
cloture, which may be possible to obtain in the
111th United States Congress.
[4]
Obama's Unionizing Ways
