Protect the Right of Employees to Choose Whether to Be Represented by a Union by Way of an NLRB-Conducted Secret-Ballot Election

Background:

• The status quo allows both card-check and secret ballot elections and remains the fairest way to determine whether or not to be represented by a union.  The Employee Free Choice Act would take away a worker’s right to a federally supervised private ballot election when deciding whether or not to join a union.  The legislation is opposed by the majority of business groups across the country.

AGC Message:

• The Status Quo Should Remain.  Allowing both card-check and secret ballot elections is the fairest way to determine the desire of employees to be represented by a union.
• This Card-Check Legislation Removes Privacy.  This legislation takes away a basic tenet of voting, which is the right to privacy.  By removing the ability to cast a private ballot, employees would be forced to vote in a public manner that may not reflect their true opinion of whether or not they would like to be represented by a union.
• Current Law Allows for Employers to Voluntarily Recognize a Union.  An employer may already voluntarily recognize a union if an adequate number of signed authorization cards, signatures on a petition, or other evidence of majority support are presented.  However, if the employer questions the validity of the showing of support, it can refuse to grant voluntary recognition, and the union must petition the National Labor Relations Board to conduct a secret-ballot of the employees in order to become their bargaining representative.   The present system supports the overarching objectives of the Act:  the promotion and protection of employee free choice and labor relations stability.  Legislation that mandates certification of a union based solely on a showing of signed union authorization cards would eliminate the safeguards currently provided in the Act, stripping employees of their right to freely and anonymously choose a representative.
• The Construction Industry is a Unique Place in this Debate.  Construction employers who wish to work with unions have the ability to enter into 8(f) agreements, also known as pre-hire agreements.  This allows an employer “primarily engaged n the construction industry” to recognize a union as its employees’ representative and to enter into a collective bargaining agreement.
• Legislation Imposes Arbitrary, Short Deadlines for Unsupervised Negotiations.  The bills contain language that would impose mandatory mediation and arbitrations on negotiations over wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment.  If an agreement is not reached within these short deadlines, the dispute would be referred to binding arbitration.  As a result, a third party could dictate the terms of the agreement which AGC believes constitutes excessive government interference into business relationships. 

AGC Opposed Legislation:

• H.R. 800 - Employee Free Choice Act of 2007
  02/05/2007 - Introduced
  03/01/2007 - Passed House 241 - 185 (AGC Key Vote)
  03/29/2007 - Cloture Vote Failed Senate 51 - 48 (AGC Key Vote)

AGC Letters:

• 03/01/2007 - AGC Urges Congress to Vote “NO” on H.R. 800, Card Check (AGC Key Vote Letter)