With a vote expected today from the Senate on the Employee Free Choice Act, I think it is important to take one more look at the bill. Big unions have been speaking out in favor of this bill issuing press release after press release in an attempt to confuse the general public that this bill would be good for the middle class. Taking a page from the Democrats playbook, the AFL-CIO and others have been speaking on the issue as if it is a battle of poor against rich in order to gain support. In doing so they expose the gullibility of those who want to believe unions are as American as apple pie so badly, they choose to look on the issue in black and white, and ignore the grey areas. As we have seen with most laws however, it is the grey area which is important. The grey are is where the working class are generally exploited because they lack the sophistication to interpret the laws, and lack the financial wherewithal to hire an attorney to do it on their behalf. With that in mind I would like to look at a the grey areas of this bill and dispel some common misconceptions.

The most widely challenged clause of this bill is the portion which does away with the secret ballot elections, allowing unions to form using a signature card instead. In a previous article I wrote on this subject one of my readers commented :

“This is so off base. While the Employee Free Choice Act is finally under debate in the Senate, it amazes me the lies that continue to be told about the bill by corporate opponents. In a post last week on Firedog Lake, the AFL-CIO’s Tula Connell shot down a lot of them. For example:

–The Act actually keeps the “secret-ballot” election process and adds the new majority sign-up process alongside of it. “

Of course what Tula Connell said is technically correct, nowhere in the bill does it mention abolishing the secret ballot election. What it does say however is

“If the Board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining has signed valid authorizations … the Board shall not direct an election but shall certify the individual or labor organization as the representative described in subsection”

This means if 50% plus 1 sign authorization cards, the NLRB will certify the union without an election. Although the secret ballot election process is still available, it will never be used.
Tula Connell goes on to say:

–Workers get to decide which of the two methods to use. Most people don’t know a form of majority sign-up exists today but is rarely used because right now employers get to decide the election process. Because workers get to decide the election process, they choose the one most favorable to them, the so-called “secret ballot”.

First I would like to point out that this is now the second time Tula placed the words secret ballot in quotes, this time using the term so-called as well. Much like Democrats use the term “so-called war on terror” to downplay its significance, the AFL-CIO does the same with the electoral process. Once again however the statements are misleading. There is a form of majority sign up currently which would allow the employer to certify a union after receiving a majority of “A” cards. Employers however tend to opt for holding an election in order to decide what their employees want. Does the AFL-CIO consider an election to be unfair?

The next argument used was:

–The “secret-ballot” method is neither free, nor fair, nor uncoerced. Employers control every aspect of the process, including timing and when and where supporters can organize support for the union. Employers also have almost unfettered opportunities to meet with workers individually and groups and try to scare them out of joining the union. And the Employee Free Choice Act won’t change most of that.

For the record, employers can only meet with workers to discuss unionization during working hours, they are prohibited from contacting workers at their home to discuss the matter. Unions on the other hand may contact the workers home, either by telephone or in person to discuss unionization, and generally speaking it is at these in home visits when an A Card is signed by the worker.

The most common misconception laid out by union activists is that their declining membership is a result of the elections not representing the workers true wishes. They cite a poll which they conducted showing 53 percent of non-union workers would like to belong to a union. They have yet to publish this poll however so we cannot be sure the exact question asked. In a published poll conducted by Zogby shows only 20% would like to become part of a labor union as opposed to 74% who would not.

In the same poll non union employees were asked “If an election were
held tomorrow to decide whether your workplace would be unionized or not, do you think
you would definitely vote for a union, probably vote for a union, probably vote against a
union, or definitely vote against a union?”

• Definitely for 13%
• Probably for 22
• Probably against 18
• Definitely against 40
• Not sure 7

According to this poll 58% would vote against unionization while only 35% would vote for it. Maybe this is why the AFL-CIO is afraid of the secret ballot!

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Congress, Election 2008, Politics