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The "Employee Free FORCED Choice Act"
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A Summary of EFCA, the Kill American Jobs Act
What is it?
Two virtually identical bills that were introduced in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate on March 10, 2009.
Although the bill passed the House of Representatives on March 1, 2007, it later was stalled in the U.S. Senate.
What are its three primary provisions?
FIRST, NO-VOTE UNIONIZATION:
The Employee Free Choice Act outlaws secret-ballot elections on the question of unionization if a majority of employees sign union authorization cards (or other form of "authorizations" assigning a union as their "collective bargaining representative").
Here is the text of HR 1409 (the so-called Employee Free Choice Act) regarding banning secret-ballot elections under majority "card-check":
"Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, whenever a petition shall have been filed by an employee or group of employees or any individual or labor organization acting in their behalf alleging that a majority of employees in a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining wish to be represented by an individual or labor organization for such purposes, the Board shall investigate the petition. If the Board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in the petition as their bargaining representative and that no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit, the Board shall not direct an election but shall certify the individual or labor organization as the representative described in subsection (a)." [Emphasis added.]
[Go here to view the entire House bill and here to view the Senate bill.]
SECOND, GOVERNMENT-IMPOSED TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF A CONTRACT:
Following the unionization of employees, the employer and union have 10 days to meet and 90 days to negotiate. If an agreement cannot be reached within 90 days, the parties can go into mediation for 30 days. If no agreement is reached after 30 days of mediation, a government-imposed arbitration panel will force the parties into a binding agreement. This forced agreement shall be binding on the employees, the employer and the union for a period of two years.
THIRD, PUNITIVE FINES (UP TO $20,000) PER UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE.
What are EFCA's likely consequences?
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Closure of small companies under the burden of unionization, resulting in layoffs of workers (view article on EFCA's killing of American jobs here).
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Following the expiration of government-imposed two-year contracts, for those companies that can survive, there is likely to be a sharp increase in labor strife (i.e., union strikes and employer lockouts).
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FOR MORE ON THE EMPLOYEE FREE FORCED CHOICE ACT, CHECK THESE SITES OUT:
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"I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes."
Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776
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