Tough on Union-Busters
Federal Bill to Ease Labor Organizing

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

A bill that would make it easier for workers to join unions was approved by a House of Representatives committee Feb. 14, even as Vice President Cheney vowed the Bush Administration was prepared to veto it.

GEORGE MILLER: Level the organizing field.

The Employee Free Choice Act was introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-Cal.) and is one of labor's top national priorities. If passed, the law would give workers the right to join a union in workplaces where a majority sign union cards. It would stiffen penalties for employers found guilty of violating labor laws and force binding arbitration if no contract was signed within a year of unionizing.

'Current System Broken'

Supporters say the bill is needed, given that half of U.S. workers say they would join a union if given the chance, but only 12 percent are actually union members.

"The benefits of workers uniting to bargain for a better life are clear," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney at a Feb. 6 press conference. "Yet far too few working people ever get that chance. The current system for forming unions and bargaining is badly broken."

Many workers have joined unions using the process outlined in the bill, known as card-check, but employers are not legally required to recognize them. Only when workers hold an election through the National Labor Relations Board, which usually takes about two months once an application is filed, is a company forced to deal with a union.

JOHN SWEENEY: 'Bargain for a better life.'

Opponents of the bill, such as the conservative group Center for Union Facts, say the measure is undemocratic, since it would give workers the option to go around the NLRB process.

'Forfeiting Democracy'

"It's shocking to see Congressman Miller backtracking on a fundamental American principle just to please union bosses," said CUF Executive Director Richard Berman in a statement. "In giving up the secret ballot election, he is forfeiting workplace democracy in order to satisfy organized labor."

But the bill's sponsors counter that the current process is not democratic.

"Today the procedures for forming a union and bargaining for better wages and benefits are stacked against the workers," said Mr. Miller at the Feb. 6 press conference. If the law were to pass, workers could still choose the NLRB route if they preferred.

No 'Free Choice'

Supporters of the measure say that the NLRB procedure gives too much power to the employer by dragging out the election process and imposing weak punishments - months later - on employers who break the law during an election.

"When the person who signs your paycheck tells you the union is a bad idea, you do not have a free choice," said Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of American Rights at Work, a national labor policy and advocacy group. "Employers manipulate current U.S. labor law to deny workers a chance to freely decide."

In addition to granting card-check, the bill punishes employers more severely for breaking labor laws. It mandates that the government seek an injunction against an employer if it believes an employer has fired workers, threatened them or otherwise illegally interfered during a union drive.

The bill would require an employer to pay three times the amount of a worker's back pay when it is found to have fired someone illegally. Currently companies are only liable for the exact amount of back pay owed. The measure also allows for fines up to $20,000 if an employer willfully violates a worker's right to unionize.

A 2005 report by researchers at the University of Chicago showed that 30 percent of employers illegally fire pro-union workers during organizing drives. According to NLRB data, more than 22,000 workers are illegally fired every year for trying to form a union, and there is no financial punishment for doing so.

Even if the bill passes both houses of Congress, labor leaders do not expect President Bush to sign it. They hope, however, that passage will create the momentum necessary to persuade his successor to enact the measure.