A Modified EFCA Proposal
At the September AFL-CIO convention, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) announced that he and a small group of others in the Senate had drafted a modified Employee Free Choice Act proposal. In making the announcement, Senator Specter said that he was confident his draft would enjoy the support of the sixty senators necessary to break a filibuster. He predicts the bill will pass before the end of the calendar year.
Senator Specter's proposal would abandon the highly controversial "card check" provision, which would allow the certification of unions based on a sufficient number of signed authorization cards. Indeed, Senator Specter acknowledged that no bill eliminating a secret ballot election foreseeably could be passed. The modified proposal instead would mandate fast union representation elections. Senator specter did not specify how quickly the elections would take place under the proposal, but often repeated speculations pegs the timeframe at five to ten days after a union files a certification petition. (Currently, NLRB supervised elections typically are held some forty days after the petition is filed.)
The proposal would allow outside union organizers greater access to meet with employees at work during the election period. This is an opportunity that, in virtually all cases at the moment, unions do not currently enjoy.
The proposal retains from earlier EFCA proposals the requirement for binding interest arbitration if the employer and union fail to reach an agreement on a first contract. Specifically, Senator Specter said the bill would require so-called "baseball style" arbitration, which would require arbitrators to select either the employer's or union's last, best contract offer - essentially, an all or nothing hammer over the heads of the parties.
Lastly, the proposal also would retain from the current version of the EFCA the enhanced sanctions against employers for unfair labor practices committed during the organizing and negotiating periods. This would include triple back pay awards and fines.
Notably, following Senator Specter's announcement, incoming AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that the long-desired "card check" proposal remained an important part of the labor federation's legislative goals, and that the AFL-CIO had not agreed to any compromise on this point. At this juncture the success of any EFCA proposal remains virtually dependent upon whether supporters can muster the sixty votes needed to end a Senate filibuster and pass the bill.
Posted by Thamer E. "Chip" Temple III
Senator Specter's proposal would abandon the highly controversial "card check" provision, which would allow the certification of unions based on a sufficient number of signed authorization cards. Indeed, Senator Specter acknowledged that no bill eliminating a secret ballot election foreseeably could be passed. The modified proposal instead would mandate fast union representation elections. Senator specter did not specify how quickly the elections would take place under the proposal, but often repeated speculations pegs the timeframe at five to ten days after a union files a certification petition. (Currently, NLRB supervised elections typically are held some forty days after the petition is filed.)
The proposal would allow outside union organizers greater access to meet with employees at work during the election period. This is an opportunity that, in virtually all cases at the moment, unions do not currently enjoy.
The proposal retains from earlier EFCA proposals the requirement for binding interest arbitration if the employer and union fail to reach an agreement on a first contract. Specifically, Senator Specter said the bill would require so-called "baseball style" arbitration, which would require arbitrators to select either the employer's or union's last, best contract offer - essentially, an all or nothing hammer over the heads of the parties.
Lastly, the proposal also would retain from the current version of the EFCA the enhanced sanctions against employers for unfair labor practices committed during the organizing and negotiating periods. This would include triple back pay awards and fines.
Notably, following Senator Specter's announcement, incoming AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that the long-desired "card check" proposal remained an important part of the labor federation's legislative goals, and that the AFL-CIO had not agreed to any compromise on this point. At this juncture the success of any EFCA proposal remains virtually dependent upon whether supporters can muster the sixty votes needed to end a Senate filibuster and pass the bill.
Posted by Thamer E. "Chip" Temple III
Labels: AFL-CIO, card check, EFCA, labor law, unions
posted by McSweeney, Crump, Childress and Temple at
3:22 PM
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