Imagine the following scenario at your company, as you announce changes to your employee insurance benefit plans…
As the HR representative conducts a company-wide meeting to introduce the modified insurance benefit package, it is met with such a negative backlash that the vocal, informal group leader whips out a pen and paper and scratches out the following:
“We, the undersigned, disagree with the changes the company is intending to our insurance plan and demand that they not be implemented. Furthermore, we authorize Chris Adams to act on our behalf as our bargaining representative to deal with management on all issues.”
As the petition is winding its way around the room, the now flustered HR representative snaps and screams, “What is that?”, “Let me see what you are doing.”, “Who is signing that?”, “Why are you signing that?”, “If you will all stop signing that I am sure I can get management to reconsider some of these insurance changes.”, “If you people continue to sign that you will be FIRED!”
Prior to the meeting’s conclusion, the petition has circulated through the room and over half of the employees have signed, expressing their displeasure at the pending insurance changes.
As the meeting ends and Chris finishes the shift, she hops in her car and drives the signed petition to the local Labor Board.
Following the newly-enacted EFCA legislation, the NLRB notifies the company that they have certified Chris Adams as bargaining representative for the company employees.
The Board also notifies the company that it intends to launch an investigation into potential violations of EFCA’s newly-enacted employer unfair labor practice civil penalties. The Board indicates that a filed complaint alleges that employees were threatened, interrogated, promised and surveilled during the employee organizing campaign. At $20,000 per violation this investigation quickly grabs the attention of the company.
Chris, having never previously been part of a union, but having taken time to chat with the friendly folks at the NLRB, learns that under the newly-enacted EFCA law she can demand that the company begin negotiations within 10 days. Although the employees were initially upset only over the issue of the insurance changes, now that they have been certified as a legal bargaining group they decide, “let’s bargain an entire contract.”
Chris polls all of the employees to determine what everyone wants, and presents a lengthy list of demands to the company. The company, aghast that the situation has spun so wildly out of control, decides they are not willing to give Chris anymore credibility and simply refuses to agree to any of what they consider ridiculous demands.
After 90 days of fruitless negotiations, Chris calls her new friends at the Labor Board and requests Federal Mediation. Over the next 30 days of negotiations, during which the Federal Mediator has impressed upon the company the seriousness of the situation, the company has made a number of concessions in order to bring this entire chapter to closure.Under EFCA legislation this nightmarish sequence is not only possible, but imminently likely!
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, whenever a petition shall have been filed by an employee or group of employees or any individual or labor organization acting in their behalf alleging that a majority of employees in a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining wish to be represented by an individual or labor organization for such purposes, the Board shall investigate the petition. If the Board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in the petition as their bar gaining representative and that no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit, the Board shall not direct an election but shall certify the individual or labor organization as the representative.
The arbitration panel shall render a decision settling the dispute and such decision shall be binding upon the parties for a period of 2 years.
EFCA legislation introduced March 10, 2009 (Senate Bill #560) makes three major changes to existing labor law.
1. Employee secret ballot elections are replaced by card-check certification!
2. New civil penalties are created to chill employer input during organizing!
3. Mandatory contracts written by government authorized arbitrators!
The three-prong changes EFCA introduces to bolster unions in their quest to secure new membership dollars will benefit existing labor unions. Just as the original introduction of the NLRA led to the fastest union growth in U.S. history, EFCA legislation will result in a resurgence of the union movement.
An unintended consequence of simplifying the organizing and contract process will be a dramatic increase of ‘Employee Unions.’
Over the past 75 years, since NLRA enactment in 1935, International and National Unions through their individual locals, have organized workers and negotiated labor contracts for newly organized employee groups.
What unions have historically offered unrepresented employees is the union’s perceived knowledge and skill to manage a traditional organizational campaign, and then conduct a protracted negotiation leading to an initial contract.
The leverage the large unions have touted is their ability to mobilize forces to conduct corporate campaigns to force employers to capitulate to their organizational and negotiating demands. They also argued that through their ability to amass membership dues they can create sizable strike funds to be used to support employees who are forced to strike in order to obtain their first contract.
Under card-check, a single employee can handwrite a petition claiming that he represents all the undersigned employees who wish to organize themselves into a bargaining unit. Given 50% +1 employee signatures, that handwritten petition could result in the NLRB certifying the group and employee as bargaining representative.
Unions have made EFCA passage their #1 issue in order to build membership and, through new union dues, increase their revenues and subsequent Democratic Party campaign contributions. EFCA overreach, making organizing too simple and first contracts guaranteed, may end up not only harming companies, employees and the economy, but also the unions who saw themselves as beneficiaries of EFCA’s gifts!
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