TheHill.com - It=E2=80=99s more aptly called the = =E2=80=98Employee Coercion and Intimidation Act=E2=80=99

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Editorial = It=E2=80=99s more aptly called the = =E2=80=98Employee Coercion and=20 Intimidation Act=E2=80=99 =

Editorial

=20

It=E2=80=99s = more aptly called=20 the =E2=80=98Employee Coercion and Intimidation = Act=E2=80=99=20

By Danielle Ringwood =

June 06, = 2007

If I were trying to sell you something called the = =E2=80=9CEmployee=20 Coercion and Intimidation Act,=E2=80=9D you would most = likely not be=20 interested. How could you explain supporting something = with a=20 title like that?

That=E2=80=99s the question supporters of the = so-called Employee=20 Free Choice Act (EFCA) asked themselves when devising = the=20 terrible bill that would rob workers of the right to a = private-ballot election when deciding whether to join = a union.=20 The answer they came up with was simply to give it a=20 nice-sounding name. But a misleading title can only go = so far=20 when attempting to deceive America=E2=80=99s = workforce.

The EFCA sounds great because we all want to be = free to=20 make our own choices. But the Orwellian title masks = the fact=20 that this legislation actually destroys free choice by = stripping American workers of their right to a private = vote.

Organized labor has justified this sweeping change = by using=20 surveys and studies from within their own ranks to = create the=20 myth that employers and our nation=E2=80=99s labor = laws are to blame=20 for organized labor=E2=80=99s dwindling membership = figures.

This is simply not the case. Here are the = facts:

Secret-ballot elections happen swiftly under the = current=20 law. The average time for a federally supervised = election is=20 39 days, and almost all elections take place within 56 = days.
According to the National Labor Relations = Board=20 (NLRB), employees are illegally fired in just over one = percent=20 of all organizing drives. In the rare instance when an = employee is illegally fired, the NLRB has plenty of = tools,=20 including ordering that the union be recognized, to = remedy the=20 violation.

EFCA denies employees the ability to make a private = decision whether to join a union. Section 2(a)(6) = specifically=20 states that once a majority of employees have signed = union=20 authorization cards, the NLRB =E2=80=9Cshall not = direct an election=20 but shall certify the individual or labor organization = as the=20 representative.=E2=80=9D Plain and simple: no secret = ballots, no=20 elections.

Even worse is that the employees themselves are not = the=20 ones who will be collecting the signed cards.

Professional union organizers (often working on = commission)=20 will be running these card-check schemes and they will = not tip=20 their hand until they know they can bypass the = private-ballot=20 election process. One former union organizer testified = before=20 Congress that card check is really intended as a = =E2=80=9Csneak attack=20 on workers.=E2=80=9D

In a May 23 article in the Orange County Register, = nurses=20 organized through an employer-sanctioned card-check = campaign=20 complained that =E2=80=9Cthey were not even aware that = the vote was=20 actually taking place.=E2=80=9D Of course they = weren=E2=80=99t aware, because=20 there was no vote.

That same article quoted an NLRB career employee = stating=20 that it is common for his office to receive calls from = employees who say, =E2=80=9CWe never had a chance to = vote on this or=20 they will say we never understood that signing this = card would=20 result in the union getting in.=E2=80=9D

And this is supposed to be =E2=80=9Cfree = choice=E2=80=9D?

Even more outrageously, EFCA supporters go one step = further. This legislation also contains a compulsory, = binding=20 arbitration provision on first contracts. If the = employer and=20 union cannot reach a contract agreement within 120 = days, the=20 federal government mandates a labor contract that is = binding=20 on both parties for two years.

Compulsory binding arbitration means that employees = do not=20 have the opportunity to accept or reject their new = labor=20 contract. They will be stuck with this contract for = two years,=20 regardless of whether it meets their needs.

Given all this, it is not surprising that 90 = percent of=20 voters think this legislation is a bad idea and want = private=20 ballots preserved in the workplace.

Congress should abide by the wishes of their = constituents,=20 not those of the union bosses selling a terrible bill = packaged=20 with a deceiving name.

Ringwood is a senior director of legislative = affairs of=20 Associated Builders and Contractors and a member of = the=20 Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, which is made up = of more=20 than 300 associations and organizations from a wide = variety of=20 U.S. = industries.

=20

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