Dear Carol Marak,

Federal Legislative Action Alert!

YOUR ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED!  Next week, the U.S. Senate will vote on  the Employee Free Choice Act!  This bill would take away the private ballot voting rights of American workers in choosing whether or not they want to be represented by a union in the workplace.

Back in March, we originally asked you to contact your senators to express your views on the bill.  Over 8,200 letters were sent to the Senate from SHRM members.  Now, before the critical vote on this legislation, we are asking that you take a few moments to remind your senators of your views - even if you have written previously.

The stakes for employers and HR professionals could not be higher.  The U.S. House of Representatives already passed the Employee Free Choice Act by a vote of 241-185 on March 1, 2007.  Thus, the legislation is one step away from the President's desk.

Please write your senators and urge them to VOTE NO on cloture and VOTE NO on the Employee Free Choice Act. (Cloture is the Senate procedural step in which senators vote on whether to end debate and vote on the matter under discussion, in this case, the Employee Free Choice Act.  Supporters of the bill would need 60 votes to proceed, and so we must encourage senators to vote NO on cloture.)

Background

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) provides for how employees are able to form or join a union.  There are two main ways:

1. Private ballot election administered by the National Labor Relations Board (the Board)-after the union has petitioned the Board and forwarded at least thirty percent of workers' signed authorization cards or,
2. Recognition of a union by an employer following the union's submission of signed authorization cards to the Board from a majority of employees in a bargaining unit. 

In most cases, employees and employers use the first process and initiate an election.  After an election, the Board reviews the results and certifies the union as the bargaining representative if a majority of employees voted in favor of the union.

The second process is known as "card-check," which is similar to signing a petition in favor of a union.

Legislation

The Employee Free Choice Act, sponsored by Representative George Miller (D-CA) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), would amend the NLRA to change the way workers choose to become part of a union. The proposed measure would effectively eliminate the private ballot election during union organizing campaigns by requiring the Board to certify any union that secures a simple majority of signatures through the card check process.

If the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law, non-unionized employees would lose their right to a Federal government-administered, private ballot election.  Moreover, since the bill would make public an employee's position on a union to both their co-workers and employer, it could make the workplace more hostile by exposing employees to coercion from both proponents and opponents of the union.

Circumvention of Private Ballot Election-The bill would force employees to make their important decision on whether or not to support a union in public-potentially in front of their co-workers, union organizers and others who have a stake in the organizing process.  SHRM strongly believes the secret ballot election process is the best way to ascertain a worker's true view on union representation.  By eliminating the private ballot, SHRM believes the bill would actually take away an employee's private and "free choice," expose employees to coercion and promote a threatening work environment for employees.

• Binding Arbitration on First Contracts-The bill would effectively send any bargaining disputes to binding arbitration after 120 days-90 days of negotiations and 30 days of mediation on a first contract.  SHRM believes that mandatory binding arbitration is unnecessary because it would provide motivation for either a union or employer to engage in bad faith bargaining until the end of the allotted period, thus allowing an arbitrator to impose unwanted employment conditions on both employees and management.

Action Needed

Write or call your elected officials in Washington today!  Your two U.S. senators need to know your views on this important matter before the private rights of employees are changed.