More on the Candidates and Employment Law
Last week, we posted a “no spin” review of the candidates’ positions on various employment law issues here. For another interesting take, click here.
As discussed previously here, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is the proposal that’s creating the most buzz. Yesterday, Business Week posted a “pro and con” piece on the issue, with Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus expressing the anti-EFCA view and George Miller (D-CA), the bill’s co-author, advocating the pro-EFCA side. Here’s a glimpse at what they have to say . . .
Marcus on why EFCA is a “betrayal of a bedrock principle of U.S. democracy”:
Most CEOs in America are unaware of a planned hostile takeover of their human resources. And yet it’s right under their noses. The takeover idea is simple — labor unions and their supporters in Conress want to change federal labor laws to virtually guarantee that every company, larger or small, becomes unionized.
The act, deceptively named the Employee Free Choice Act, eviscerates traditional democratic principles by effectively taking away an employee’s right to vote by secret ballot in union elections. Worse, EFCA would give unions the option to have federal arbitrators write the terms of a binding contract, setting wages, benefits, hours, work rules, and all other terms of employment if negotiations between the employer and union fail.
Miller on how EFCA will “ensure economic progress for the people who are the backbone of the U.S. economy”:
The current system for organizing a union is broken, undemocratic, and rife with intimidation. A quarter of all employees in organizing drives illegally fire at least one worker for union activity. More than half of employers threaten to close the business if the union wins the election. And 92% of employers force employees to attend mandatory anti-union meetings during campaigns.
The Employee Free Choice Act would fix this broken system so workers can freely exercise their right to organize. It would do three things. First, it would allow workers to use a majority sign-up process to form their union, without their employer vetoing that choice. Second, it would increase penalties on employers who violate workers’ rights. Third, it would ensure that, once workers form a union, collective bargaining leads to a first contract — not delay and more union busting.
Click here to read the entire article.
