A few years ago, the head of a chili contest stood before our group of judges and asked us to vote for our favorite chili sample. I'm certain that his intentions were honorable, however, the fact that he was a contestant AND he was able to see how we marked our score sheets created a strong and somewhat intimidating influence for how some of the judges voted.
In Congress, the "Employee Free Choice Act" has been reintroduced. This is an essentially pro labor union piece of legislation that would allow union organizers the right to secure signed union "authorization" cards from employees...."here you go pal, sign here to let your boss know you want to be part of a union..." Gone would be the secret ballot that exists today.
If this legislation were to pass, the right for a secret ballot election for the unionization process would be eliminated and the ability to impose stiffer penalties on employers, but not on unions, for violations would be created. Government imposed binding arbitration when contract negotiations fail with the newly created unions kicks in at 120 days. And more.
The details and complexity of this legislation are immense and your chamber and others will be trying to provide more information and clarity on this topic to our members and the community over the next few months.
And what about the chili contest coordinator? He won.
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The Employee Free Choice Act (card check) is costing jobs now. Many employers are facing the difficult task of what to do with their excess workforce in these slow economic times. Many are choosing to have a traditional layoff. My own company has been forced to have a layoff. However, fear of passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is forcing some companies to make the difficult decision to permanently fire employees. These fired employees will not have recall rights. If they are rehired, they will have to start all over for wages and benefits. Why is this? Fired employees can not be a part of a unionization campaign. If they have signed cards or sign cards in the future, these cards will not count under the EFCA. Most employers believe the 'card check' legislation will pass this year. President Obama supports this legislation and democrats control both houses of Congress. The House of Representatives has already passed this legislation. Employers are terrified of how easy it will be to unionize their workforces when this law passes. They are taking every step possible to prevent this from occurring. Unfortunately, this has a bad effect on employees who are being downsized.
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