Key EFCA Ally Withdraws Support for Card-Check Bill
California Senator Dianne Feinstein has withdrawn her support for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), according to this editorial in the Oakland Tribune. Because of the recession, the time is not right, according to Senator Feinstein, who stated that she still hopes a union/management compromise is possible.
Senator Feinstein's withdrawal of support may put the nail in EFCA's coffin - at least in its current form. It remains possible that a modified form of EFCA - without the original bill's controversial card-check provision - will still pass in late 2009 or 2010. A revised EFCA will likely replace the card check with faster election periods, giving employers less time to actively campaign against unionization efforts. Even with an apparently watered-down version of EFCA on the way, employers should be prepared to face a radically different set of federal labor laws as soon as January 1, 2010. The World of Work will continue to keep an eye on EFCA and bring you updates as they occur.
Online Game Educates on EFCA, Tattooing
We have a favorite new website here at the World of Work: Card Checked: The Game (sorry, failblog.org). Card Checked is an online game where you can play a "young and talented tattoo artist living in America where the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has become the law of the land." As a player, you can dodge union organizers, withstand intimidation from pro-union coworkers, and experience the anguish and horror when union thugs threaten your pet cat, Min Min. (Notably, the game includes links to documentation showing that all of these examples of union organizing tactics are real, even down to threatening pets.)
Card Checked is hosted by the Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative group, and its affiliate, the Alliance for Worker Freedom. While we're not endorsing the politics of these groups, their Card Checked site is creative and informative, and presents accurate information on how union organizing will likely be conducted if EFCA's card check and mandatory aribitration provisions become law. For more on EFCA, click here for the World of Work's EFCA coverage.
Democrats Delete Card Check from Employee Free Choice Act
According to this article in today's New York Times, Senate Democrats have dropped the controversial card check provisions from the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
The card-check provision would have allowed unions to organize employees and begin representing them as soon as a majority of employees signed cards saying they wanted a union. Under current law, unions generally form following secret-ballot elections.
Even though the Democrats hold a 60-40 majority in the Senate, several moderate Democrats opposed the card check provision as depriving workers of the right to vote. By abandoning the card check, Democrats have all but assured the passage of some modified form of EFCA this term.
So if card check is out, what will the bill look like? A revised EFCA will replace the card check with faster election periods, giving employers less time to actively campaign against unionization efforts. Even with an apparently watered-down version of EFCA on the way, employers should be prepared to face a radically different set of federal labor laws as soon as January 1, 2010. The World of Work will continue to keep an eye on EFCA and bring you updates as they occur.
