I’m not a fan of organized unions, but that’s a discussion for another time. However, I draw the line at the tactics being used by Senator Ensign to promote the Republican line against the “Employee Free Choice Act” … dubbing it the “Employee NO Choice Act.” Clearly, he doesn’t know how the current union certification process actually works, and he hasn’t taken the time to read the proposed EFCA for himself to see what it ‘really’ says.
Here’s a link his latest video release where he’s verbalizing his latest rant about opposing this act to his last dying breath.
A quick read on Wikipedia reveals:
In order for a workplace to organize under current U.S. labor law, the card check process begins when an employee requests blank cards from an existing union, and requests signatures on the cards from his colleagues.[3] Once 30% of the work force has signed the cards, the employer may decide to hold a secret ballot election on the question of unionization.[3] In practice, the results of the card check are not presented to the employer until 50 or 60% of employees have signed the cards to help ensure winning the election.[3] If the majority of votes favor the union, the National Labor Relations Boardwill certify it as the exclusive representative of the employess for the purpose of collective bargaining.
Under current labor law, workers can select union representation either through an election process or through majority sign-up (also known as “card check”). However, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board will certify a union as the exclusive representative of employees only if it is selected by a secret ballot NLRB election. Such an election is held if more than 30 percent of employees in a bargaining unit sign cards asking for representation by a union. Yet a company can refuse to bargain with a union chosen by workers through majority sign-up, even if 100 percent of the workers want to be represented by the union. The choice of whether to use an election process or majority sign-up to form the union is now exclusively controlled by companies. If enacted, the Employee Free Choice Act would require the NLRB to certify a bargaining representative without directing an election if a majority of the bargaining unit employees signed such cards through the majority sign-up process.[1]
If enacted, EFCA would require the NLRB to certify the union as the bargaining representative without directing an election if a majority of the bargaining unit employees signed cards;[1] however, employees may still request a secret ballot election if 30% of employees petition for one.[3]The EFCA would “allow the employees—rather than the employer—to decide whether to hold a secret-ballot election.”[3][emphasis added]
So Mr. Ensign … yell at the wind all you want. Employees DO have a choice … it’s just that it’s the employees, not the employers who have a choice in HOW the union is certified.