Employee Free Choice Act:
Republicans Begin Their
Misinformation Campaign
by John Davis

The Employee Free Choice Act is currently being debated in the halls of the United States Senate. The bill passed the Congress earlier this year by a vote of 241 to 185. The fight in the Senate will be harder as Republicans are lining up to follow the lead of President Bush who has promised to veto this pro-worker legislation.

In a nutshell the Employee Free Choice Act would require employers to recognize unions when a simple majority of workers indicate they want a union. Employers have taken advantage of the current lengthy and cumbersome National Labor Relations Board election process to thwart union drives. In Region 8 we have seen first hand anti-worker forces at work such as the National Right to Work Legal Defense Fund, who have tried repeatedly to interfere with our brothers in sisters in the Carolinas from gaining union representation. If the Employee Free Choice Act became law, then card checks would be automatically recognized as a manner of workers exercising their wishes for union representation.
I recently emailed Tennessee Senator Bob Corker about the Employee Free Choice act. Senator Corker is the Freshman Senator from Tennessee, narrowly defeating former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. in a contest where race was played to the hilt to insure Corker’s victory. In true party fashion, Corker sent me the following reply to my email:

“Thank you for taking the time to contact my office about H.R. 800, the Employee Free Choice Act. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts.
I agree with you that workers should be free to make decisions about their work environment without having to worry about intimidation or harassment from their employers, and reasonable people can disagree on the best way to make this happen. There are certainly sound arguments on both sides of the issue, but I am troubled by the “card checking” in H.R. 800 that would replace the federally supervised secret ballot elections for union membership. I feel that secret ballot elections are a worker’s right rather than a threat to his or her independence in the workplace, and I cannot vote for any legislation that takes that right away.”

Just who does Senator Corker think he is fooling? How does a card check eliminate a worker’s right to choose? If a worker signs a union card, does that not say they desire representation? A union card can be signed without the fear and intimidation that frequently is present in NLRB elections. After all, in an election the company has full access to the employees while unions are kept away. Particularly with the Bush NLRB companies have been given free reign to make all the threats and intimidation they desire.

In Region 8 we have a vast potential for new members with the growing automotive sector. To insure social justice we must take every effort to offer union presentation to all workers. In doing so, we grow our union density and provide a greater voice for all working people.

Make certain you contact your senator and tell them how important the Employee Free Choice Act is to working Americans. If your representative takes the same old company line that Tennessee Senator Bob Corker takes, then remember them come election time. As working people we must begin to vote the bread box and keep these anti-labor candidates out of Washington.