A new law proposed in congress which some say has the potential to alter the union-management landscape more than any other labor relations legislation in the last fifty years.  The “Employee Free Choice Act” (“EFCA”) will deprive employees of free choice regarding union representation and function so as to intimidate employers with increased penalties for certain labor law violations, if enacted in its current form, increase the power of Unions not only in the workplace, but also politically.

The EFCA would provide the following:

1. It would require that employers recognize a union when a majority of an Employer’s employees sign union authorization cards in the presence of union organizers.  Since Congress created The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), secret ballot elections have ensured workers the ability to express their preferences in secret without the threat of coercion.  Authorization cards are inherently less reliable because, unlike secret ballot elections, authorization cards are signed in the presence of a pro-union employee or a union organizer.  Requiring such a public rather than a confidential decision about unionization lends itself to peer pressure, harassment, coercion, and misrepresentation.  With secret ballots, unions win just over 50% of their elections.  Industry insiders predict that if the EFCA is passed in its present form, unions will gain representation more than 80% of the time.  The advantages to the unions of having card checks are enormous, and it will mean that employers will be fighting new battles on an uneven playing field.  It is not too strong to state that the EFCA, if passed in its present form, will radically alter labor relations in this country and tip the balance dramatically in favor of organized labor.

2. It would give unions the power to invoke arbitration to gain a first contract, abandoning the current system of letting the parties settle their differences through good faith collective-bargaining.  If the EFCA is passed, Employers could be forced to binding arbitration on “first contracts.”  If the parties cannot negotiate an agreement, either party could refer the dispute to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (“FMCS”).  The arbitration results would be binding on the parties for 2 years.

3. It would increase penalties against employers for certain labor law violations, requiring reimbursement at three times the amount of wages lost by an employee and imposing civil fines of as much as $20,000 per incident.  The EFCA does not levy any new or harsher sanctions for union misconduct.

If you have any questions regarding the Employee Free Choice Act or any other human resources topic, please contact Jack Lipovac at (515) 221-1718 or lipovacj@hr-onesource.com.