What I'm Hearing...The Employee Free Choice Act Redux

Yesterday I was at various networking events and other meetings from 7:30 AM until 9:45 PM. Naturally, I'm a little behind on my e-mail as a result! This morning, I discovered the following e-mail sent Tuesday 3/10/09 from SHRM, which I'm reprinting here for you. It's a great summary of the latest news from Capitol Hill.

"Today, the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in Congress! The bill was sponsored by Representative George Miller (D-CA), the House Education and Labor Committee Chair, and Senator Tom Harkin (D-MA).

The legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act to allow unions to use the “card check” process – and bypass the secure, private election format – each time they attempt to organize workers.

Background

The National Labor Relations Act currently provides two opportunities for employees to decide whether or not to form or join a union:

Private ballot election - When a union receives a majority of votes through a secret ballot election administered by the National Labor Relations Board, the union is certified as the sole bargaining agent on behalf of the employees, or

“Card check” recognition - When a union receives at least 30 percent of signed authorization cards, the employer can request that a private ballot election be held. (When a union receives at least 50 percent of signed cards, the employer can either recognize the union immediately or request an election.)

Legislation

The EFCA would dramatically change federal labor law. The legislation would allow a union to bypass the election process after collecting authorization cards from a majority of employees. Thus, employers would lose the right to request that an election be held.

If enacted into law, EFCA would:

Eliminate employees’ opportunity to vote in a federally-administered, private ballot election;

Require binding arbitration within 120 days after a union is certified through a signed card collection process, if the employer and the union are unable to reach an agreement;

Restrict an employer’s communications to employees about the workplace issues involved in the union organizing drive; and

Create new fines against employers for an expanded list of unfair labor practices."

Now's the time to reach out to your members of Congress to show your support or voice your opposition to the law. It's expected that this legislation will move through Congress quickly.

Girl Scout Cookies and Other HR Links

-Workforce Management starts us off this week with an article about why Girl Scout Cookie sales are down: the economy and the Employee Free Choice Act

-The HR Capitali$t asks why we're still using job boards when there's other social networking sites out there?

-Also from the HR Capitalist, an article on personal branding

-From the Workforce Management's Compensation Force blog, an article that says that adversity demands a kick-start with small goals and recognition

-Lastly, George's Employment Blawg, has tips to not get your resume blocked by spam filters. HR professionals should also look at this for tips on how to manipulate spam filters so that e-mails with resumes don't get blocked.

What I'm Hearing...The Employee Free Choice Act

With all the recent political coverage, we’ve heard a lot about the Presidential candidates’ plans for healthcare reform, retirement security, and a host of other topics that impact Human Resources. One proposed law, however, that’s slipped beneath the radar is the Employee Free Choice Act.

Although comprised of a variety of facets, long story short, the potential law proposes that employees should be able to form a union simply by signing authorization cards. A formal election would no longer be required for employees to become organized labor.

The proposed law (H.R. 800, S. 1041) is supported by both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. John McCain opposes the law. Mike Huckabee is silent on the topic.

The Employee Free Choice Act chips away at the cornerstone of our nation’s labor relations code, the Wagner Act, also known as the National Labor Relations Act. When voting this November, be sure to consider how the candidates’ stands on this law will impact your daily job as an HR practitioner. How would your work change if employees could unionize without your having a say in the matter?