California Apparel News

A divisive new bill has brought the subject of unions and employee rights to the forefront. The proposed legislation, known as the Employee Free Choice Act of 2009, “seeks to amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join or assist labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during organizing efforts and for other purposes,” according to the Library of Congress.

If enacted, the EFCA would take away the right of the employer to demand a secret ballot when more than 30 percent of its employees in any department petition in favor of union participation. If the petition is declared valid, the union would then be certified as the exclusive representative of all the company’s employees in that department.

The bill also proposes federal mediation if a unionized company and a union can’t agree upon a collective bargaining contract within 120 days.

The bill was introduced to both the House of Representatives and Senate in March. Rep. George Miller (D–California), chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, who introduced the bill to the House, said the current process of forming unions is skewed in favor of those who oppose unions. “Sadly, many employers resort to spying, threats, intimidation, harassment and other illegal activity in their campaigns to oppose unions. The penalty for illegal activity, including firing workers for engaging in protected activity, is so weak that it does little to deter law breakers,” Miller said. “Even when employers don’t break the law, the process itself stacks the deck against union supporters. hellip; The Employee Free Choice Act would add some fairness to the system.”

But opponents of the bill argue that the secret ballot is beneficial to both the employer and the employee.

“Currently, during an organizing event, manufacturers and labor present to workers an opposing point of view. With the secret ballot, workers are free to choose,” said Richard Reinis, of counsel to the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson. “Eliminating the secret ballot also eliminates the manufacturer’s opportunity to express its point of view.”

A survey by the National Retail Federation, which polled nearly 9,000 adults in the United States, showed strong support for secret-ballot elections in union organizing. According to a statement, of those surveyed that belong to unions, nearly 84 percent said votes should be kept secret, while nearly 82 percent of nonunion individuals felt the same.

“These numbers tell us the vast majority of Americans believe the secret ballot is a cornerstone of democracy and is just as important in a union election as it is when voters choose a president or member of Congress,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF’s president and chief executive, in a statement. “What’s especially revealing is that union members hold that belief even more strongly than people who don’t belong to a union. Union leadership might want to do away with the secret ballot, but rank-and-file workers want their votes kept private.” Mullin further argues that replacing the secret-ballot process would result in union organizers intimidating and coercing employees “on an unprecedented scale.”

Others argue that the EFCA would create a shortcut to forming unions and adding new blood to unions’ thinning ranks.

“The Act proposes a means of organizing [unions] that doesn’t presently exist. As the unions see it, if the Act is passed as proposed, they believe they will increase organized labor by 1.5 million [individuals] per year for many years,” Reinis said.

The bill, which Reinis said is on the road to being enacted in 2009, appears to have the backing of President Barack Obama. The Detroit Free Press quoted the president as having said he believes there is no economic risk to workers organizing and making a living wage. —Erin Barajas