Posts Tagged ‘SBPA’

Word out of Washington DC is that EFCA, Employee Free Choice Act, is now going to be introduced tomorrow. The National Chamber of Commerce is getting hit with union protesters today.  According to some reports, unions will start a media blitz aimed at Congress in DC starting tomorrow. At this point, it is all speculation, but the game is ON, no doubt. If you haven’t taken steps to prepare for EFCA, you should take action immediately.

In short, I recommend companies take the following action:

1. Conduct a Threat Assessment to determine where your company is vulnerable to union attacks.

2. Survey your employees, by an outside, unbiased professional to ascertain if there is currently union activity.

3. Train your managers, supervisors and executives in union avoidance.

4. Talk to your employees about union cards and what their rights are if they are asked to sign one.

These are the key building blocks to a labor relations strategy that will not only help keep your company union free, but will improve the morale of your workforce, improve productivity and  improve profitability of your operations.

On Monday, March 9th Congressman George Miller and Senator Ted Kennedy are expected to introduce the Employee Free Choice Act into the House of Representatives.

No official word has been released but inside sources attending the AFL-CIO Executive Council Meeting in Miami with Labor Secretary Solis and Vice President Biden have been assured the Employee Free Choice Act will be introduced to Congress Monday March 9.

The reason for the early release is because both labor, Congressman George Miller and Senator Ted Kennedy believe we have the 60 votes needed to get EFCA passed in the Senate.

February 25, 2009, a group of over 100 House Republicans led by Congressman Jonathan Kline of Minnesota and 16 Senate Republicans led by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina introduced the “Secret Ballot Protection Act of 2009″ (SBPA)

The bill would amend Section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to guarantee that workers have the right to vote in a secret ballot election to determine whether they want labor union representation.

In addition, it would create a new unfair labor practice (i.e., a new Section 8(b)(8) of the NLRA) prohibiting a union from causing or attempting to cause an employer to bargain with a labor organization which had not been selected via a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). While the prospects for passing SBPA may not appear encouraging in light of even larger Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, the introduction of the bill will help frame the anticipated battle over EFCA.

Today, an employer can recognize a union, if the union presents signed authorization cards from a majority of the employees, BUT, an employer can insist upon a secret ballot election. The SBPA would prevent even voluntary employer recognition of a union based upon a method other than an NLRB-conducted secret ballot election.

Battle lines are being drawn. EFCA vs SBPA

In the end, I suspect SBPA will be used as a tool to alter EFCA in a way that is palatable Republicans and business leaders, while enabling the Democrats to claim they have paid their debt to union leaders.