Julie Martinez Ortega, JD PhD – Research Director

EARN Conference 12/9/08

An Election in Name Only

60 million non-union workers say they would join a union if they could, yet only 16 million workers belong to unions

“The greatest achievement is not having [an NLRB election] at all.” - an anti-union consultant

Workers Avoid the Board Process

• 1996 to 2007: 41% drop in election petitions filed with NLRB.

• Over 1/2 million workers have organized through majority sign-up.

• There are now 22 laws in 12 states that grant certain public and private employees the right to form unions through the majority sign-up process.

The Employee Free Choice Act

Allows workers to choose how they will determine majority status: NLRB “election” process –or- NLRB certified Majority Sign Up process

Majority Sign Up:

• 51% minimum (majority)• NLRB validates signatures• NLRB creates model language

NLRA: A Law Without Real Consequences

• 1 in 5 employers fires a union activist• 30% of employers illegally fire pro-union workers

• 49% of employers threaten to close or relocate a worksite if workers support the union

• There are no penalties for breaking NLRA, only compensation for lost pay. Some executives refer to the paltry costs of breaking the law as a “hunting license.” (Average back pay award $4,026 in 2006)

The Employee Free Choice Act

Amends the National Labor Relations Act as follows:

• Increase damages when employers illegally fire or retaliate against workers during an organizing campaign and first contract negotiations (three times the current amount).

• Allow for civil penalties up to $20,000 for violations of NLRA during organizing and first contract negotiations.

• Require the NLRB to seek injunctive relief when it has reasonable cause to believe an employer violated its employees’ rights (currently only available on behalf of management).

Contract Negotiations

• Only one in seven organizing efforts survives from filing an NLRB election petition through negotiating a first contract within the first year of certification.

• Only 38% of unions certified through the NLRB election process sign a first contract within one year of bargaining, and only 56% within two years.

• Contrast Canada, where workers who form unions sign a contract 92% of the time (several provinces require arbitration if the parties cannot come to an agreement).

The Employee Free Choice Act

Amends the National Labor Relations Act as follows:

• Require parties to begin bargaining within 10 days of a request to bargain by a NLRB certified union.

• Enable labor, management or both to request mediation by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), at the party’s discretion, if they are unable to negotiate a contract after a minimum of 90 days of bargaining.

• After a minimum of 30 days of FMCS mediation, either labor, management, or both may request that the FMCS refer the matter to an arbitration board. The arbitration board can resolve the dispute and the decision would be binding for two years, unless the parties mutually agree to change those terms.

Broadening the “We”

Status in Congress

• Employee Free Choice Act has been introduced twice in the past and most recently in the 110th Congress as H.R. 800 by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and S. 1041 by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA).

• Mar. 1, 2007 - H.R. 800 passed the House by a 241-185 vote.

• June 26, 2007 - A motion fell nine votes short (51-48) of invoking cloture to cut off the Republican filibuster on S. 1041.

I've fought to pass the Employee Free Choice Act in the Senate. And I will make it the law of the land when I'm President of the United States of America

Barack Obama

(Philadelphia, 4/2/08)

Politico The Hill

Roll Call National Journal

Monday, Dec. 8th

Our Message

Our Message

Our Message

www.americanrightsatwork.org

www.freechoiceact.org

Decoupling of Wages and Productivity as Union Density Declined

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Base Wages Productivity Family Income Union Density

Benefits of Strong Unions

• Unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20%.

• Unions raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by about 28%.

• Strong unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers follow. A high school graduate whose workplace is not unionized but whose industry is 25% unionized is paid 5% more than similar workers in less unionized industries.

• Unions increase civic participation. In 2000, unions increased political participation among non-wealthy, less-educated people who have lower-than-average voter turnout.

Legal but intimidating tactics used by employers:

a. Predict that voting for a union will result in the employees losing their jobs.

b. Tell employees that unions are linked to workplace violence, and then hire a security guard to patrol the workplace with a 100-pound Rottweiler, despite no actual security problem.

c. Tell employees how a hypothetical employer can legally thwart its obligations to bargain in good faith by stalling negotiations with a union and “not really agreeing to anything.”

d. Interrogate employees to find out whether or not they want union representation.

e. Fire employees for discretely leaving captive audience meetings.

f. Ban pro-union employees from attending captive audience meetings.

g. Prohibit employees from discussing union organizing with their co-workers during work hours and in work areas.

h. Eavesdrop on employees’ off-duty conversations about unions and interrupt their conversations to make anti-union remarks.