The Employee Free Choice Act
The rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively is a longstanding American value. It
has so helped build a strong middle class and a strong nation, that it is a now principle enshrined in international agreements.
It is a core standard that the United States uses to measure adherence to democratic norms throughout the world.
Yet across America, workers are being stripped of this basic freedom.
Each year, more than 20,000 workers are illegally fired or discriminated against for exercising attempting
to organize. Many employers make an art of it - hiring union busting "consultants" to help defeat organizing drives. And even
if employees overcome all the odds, in one-third of all union election victories, workers still do not have a collective bargaining
agreement two years after the election.
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42 million workers who are not in a union have say they would like to be represented by one. 42 million workers
- more than three times the number of workers presently represented by unions in the United States. 42 million workers who
are unable to exercise their rights.
It is in the name of those workers that CWA is fighting for the Employee Free Choice Act.
EFCA provides for the certification of a union as the bargaining representative if the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
finds that a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit have signed written forms designating the union as its
collective bargaining agent
EFCA also speeds along the process of bargaining between employer and employees for their first contract by
obligating both parties to reach an agreement, through escalating procedures of mediation and arbitration, if necessary.
EFCA requires stronger penalties against employers for engaging in unfair labor practices while employees
are attempting to organize or obtain a first contract. The bill mandates that the NLRB must seek a federal court injunction
against an employer whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that the employer has discharged employees or discriminated
against them or engaged in conduct that interferes significantly with employee rights during an organizing campaign or bargaining
for a first contract.
The Act also mandates an award of three times the amount of back pay for illegal discrimination that occurs
during efforts to organize or when workers are seeking a first contract. The legislation provides for penalties up to $20,000
per violation against employers found to have willfully or repeatedly violated workers' rights during an organizing campaign
or pursuit of a first contract.
At the very minimum, American workers should be free to decide whether they want union representation without
experiencing intimidation, indoctrination or misinformation.
Enactment of EFCA would help ensure that workers can exercise the basic human right to organize freely and
bargain collectively.
