The Myth of the Employee Free Choice Act

As the New Year dawn’s unions and their supporters, many of whom are legislators that owe their elections to the vast sums of money unions donated to their campaign, are gearing up to tackle the “Employee Free Choice Act”, also known as the “Card Check Bill”. As with so much legislation the words that were chosen to describe the bill don’t necessarily provide an accurate picture of the intent of the bill. Oh sure — free choice – everyone is in favor of free choice. Unfortunately this bill isn’t so much about free choice as it is about weighing the fight to unionize in favor of one group over the other.

Unions contend that employers impede their ability to unionize under the current system and thus are pushing for what they describe as a more streamline approach, which is the card check. Simply put if a union can gather a majority or set number of employees to sign cards indicating that they want union representation then voila the union “wins”, and if the employer drags their feet then the employer can face sanctions and fines. Now to some this may seem a simplified and fuss free approach to what can often be a long drawn out procedure to union recognition for employees who want such representation.

However, I wonder if those who support this approach would be willing to allow for the same approach to decertification? As it stands now decertify is an onerous and tedious task, and for good reason. Just as one should not approach unionizing without thought, full disclosure and discussion one should not decertify without full and complete discussion for all involved. Both the act of unionizing and decertifying can and often has far reaching implications, not only for the employees who are seeking this action but also for the employer and community at large.

Here is a link to information about the Employee Free Choice Act — http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Employee_Free_Choice_Act. However, I propose to my fellow pro-union and “Employee Free Choice Act” supporters, allow the same rules that the Employee Free Choice Act will invoke to those wish to decertify, because those who want to ride themselves of a union should have the same “free choice” as those who wish to bring in a union, n’est pas?

Of course they may argue that the Free Choice Act may subject employees who wish to decertify to undue influence and intimidation and therefore a secret ballot is called for, but the same can be said for those who wish to unionize. A secret ballot protects all individuals and organizations from undue influence, intimidation and tampering. And yes unions are equally culpable of the same bad behavior they often accuse employers of perpetrating. Don’t just take my word for it, you need only look up the hearing transcripts of the NLRB hearing that involved Cedars-Sinai and the C.N.A. where non-union supporters (nurses) were threatened by C.N.A. representatives: Threats such as we know where your children go to school, and where you walk your little doggies (authors emphasis added).

So before you give the Employee Free Choice Act a pass, remember that if the same rules cannot be applied to those who wish to remove a union then the bill/law is flawed and is not deserving of support.