An issue has been spreading across the U.S. that could dramatically impact how unions gain control over new members. It started in Colorado and has made it to congress within a month. The legislation, commonly known as the “card check” bill, would make it easier for union leaders to bully employees into submission and increase the penalties on employers for improper action taken against employees for organizing. It was introduced in the House by Rep. George Miller, D-CA, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
The concept behind the card check bill is simple: unions want to be certified as the bargaining agents for workers once they get a majority of eligible employees to sign authorization cards. This system would replace secret ballot elections. The new process would be open-ended in terms of time, leaving unions as long as they need to collect signatures. There would seem to be endless ways to get workers to sign cards for reasons other than wanting a union to represent them, from having close personal friends solicit workers to more heavy-handed tactics.
Miller's push for the "Employee Free Choice Act," which Speaker Pelosi, D-CA, has rated a top priority, sets up a fight between labor unions and business interests.
The bill, which has 230 House co-sponsors, would allow workers to designate a union as its bargaining representative by majority sign-up—a check on a card—rather than secret elections. The National Labor Relations Board would develop procedures for validating and certifying the signed authorizations. It also strengthens penalties for employer violations of the National Labor Relations Act while workers are in the process of organizing a union or negotiating a first contract. The legislation allows either party to seek mediation from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service if a first contract has not been reached within 90 days. If there is no contract after 30 days of mediation, the dispute will go to arbitration and the resulting agreement will be binding for two years.
The National Restaurant Association opposes the legislation because it would take away an employee's right to a federally supervised secret-ballot process when deciding whether or not to join a union. "When a union is attempting to organize a workplace, employees sometimes face intimidation and pressure about how they should vote from the union or from management or both," said Association president and chief executive officer Steven C. Anderson. "The only way to guarantee employee protection is through the continued use of a federally supervised secret ballot so that personal decisions about whether to join a union remains private."
"No one—employers or union organizers—should fear an election conducted by secret ballot. It is the only way to protect an individual’s freedom to choose without subtle or overt coercion. Private ballots protect free choice," said Anderson.
Federal courts have repeatedly ruled that federally supervised secret ballot elections are the fairest and most reliable method to determine whether a union has the support of a majority of employees. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote, "It would be difficult to imagine a more unreliable method of ascertaining the real wishes of employees than a 'card check.'" The Second Circuit ruled - "it is beyond dispute that the secret ballot election is a more accurate reflection of the employees' true desires than a check of authorization cards collected at the behest of a union organizer." And, the Sixth Circuit stated that, "an election is the preferred method of determining the choice by employees of a collective bargaining representative."
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Ted Kennedy, D-MA, spoke in support of the bill and indicated that the Senate would soon act to move similar legislation. Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., expressed confidence in the bill's House prospects but predicted a more difficult battle in the Senate. If the bill makes it through Congress, its prospects upon reaching the president's desk are also in doubt. The Bush administration signaled its opposition to the bill in a statement released by Labor Secretary Chao. "A worker's right to a secret ballot election is an intrinsic right in our democracy that should not be legislated away at the behest of special interest groups," she said.
Political minds say that while no bill has been dropped as of this writing, Oregon and Washington business leaders should prepare for similar proposals in Salem and Olympia during this legislative session.
