If the Employee Free Choice Act sounds unfamiliar, you arenâ??t alone. The proposed legislation is getting little coverage
this
election cycle.
But the measure could emerge as a flashpoint in the next Congress as business and labor groups battle for power.
Business lobbies hate the act because it would eliminate employersâ?? ability to demand secret ballots during union organizing votes. The law in effect would allow organizers to see which employees vote against representation, swinging doors wide for coercion, detractors say.
Backers say the legislation is needed to bring fairness to the balance between companies and unions, whose muscle has been dwindling for decades.
A vote in the House in March 2007 went 241-185 in favor of the act, with Indianaâ??s delegation falling along party lines. The Senate ended debate on its bill without bringing it to a vote.
Barack Obama supports the legislation, while John McCain opposes it. Business groups fear it will pass if Obama wins and the Senate gains enough Democratic seats to end Republicansâ?? ability to stop it through filibuster.
Several questions:
What do you think about the balance of power between business and unions? Which side has the greatest power, and is the imbalance harmful?
What about the question of doing away with secret ballots? Thumbs up or down?
If the legislation were signed into law, how would it affect the odds of a union representing your company or work place?
But the measure could emerge as a flashpoint in the next Congress as business and labor groups battle for power.
Business lobbies hate the act because it would eliminate employersâ?? ability to demand secret ballots during union organizing votes. The law in effect would allow organizers to see which employees vote against representation, swinging doors wide for coercion, detractors say.
Backers say the legislation is needed to bring fairness to the balance between companies and unions, whose muscle has been dwindling for decades.
A vote in the House in March 2007 went 241-185 in favor of the act, with Indianaâ??s delegation falling along party lines. The Senate ended debate on its bill without bringing it to a vote.
Barack Obama supports the legislation, while John McCain opposes it. Business groups fear it will pass if Obama wins and the Senate gains enough Democratic seats to end Republicansâ?? ability to stop it through filibuster.
Several questions:
What do you think about the balance of power between business and unions? Which side has the greatest power, and is the imbalance harmful?
What about the question of doing away with secret ballots? Thumbs up or down?
If the legislation were signed into law, how would it affect the odds of a union representing your company or work place?
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Business currently has a wide edge on unions ie. workers and the results are obvious in the form of our current economy. There are a lot of factors but the lack of collectively bargaining in the work place certainly has a lot to do why workers have been losing wages for the last decade and so many are facing economic crises due to health care costs, and lack of job stability.
This bill doesn't do away with secret ballots. It gives the choice to the workers not to the company about how they want to certify their union. Right now the company can decide if workers can certify their union via card check or if they should have an election. Many employers seem to feel it is their decision whether thier employees should have a union or not. It should be the employees decision. .