Employee Free Choice Act
National FCA Board of Directors Announces Support for the Proposed Employee Free Choice Act
The Current Law
Allows employers to voluntarily recognize a union if the labor organization shows that a majority of the employees have signed authorization cards. However, the employer can refuse to recognize the union by questioning the employees' support. Then the union can petition the National Labor Relations Board to conduct a secret ballot election.
The Employee Free Choice Act
Would allow employees to form a union by gaining a simple majority of those who have signed authorization cards. It would eliminate the secret ballot. The proposed legislation would provide stronger penalties for violations of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
National FCA Position
Provisions to eliminate secret ballots already exist in the construction industry and were approved by Congress in 1959 in amendments to the National Labor Relations Act. Construction contractors and employees are allowed to agree to union representation by signing "pre-hire" collective bargaining agreements without a secret ballot.
Quote from National FCA Statement
"Thousands of pre-hire collective bargaining agreements covering millions of construction workers have been negotiated without any serious claim that such a process has been undemocratic."
Resources
National FCA Statement of Support for Employee Free Choice Act [PDF]
Employee Free Choice Act Summary [PDF]
