Bill to Ease Unionizing Efforts Introduced In Congress; GOP Resists

MARY BETH MAXWELL: 'Level the playing field.'

The Employee Free Choice Act was introduced March 10 in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, making way for a battle that could end in the biggest legislative victory for organized labor since the enactment of the National Labor Relations Act by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The act would create harsher penalties for employer violations of labor law when workers are engaged in organizing and contract negotiations. It would also ease unionizing by requiring workers to merely sign union cards, rather than going through a lengthy National Labor Relations Board election, which many labor leaders believe gives employers the ability to intimidate workers into voting against a union.

'Will Level Playing Field'

"In today's uncertain times, the Employee Free Choice Act will restore America's promise to its workers—that if you work hard and play by the rules, you deserve a voice in the workplace," Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of the group American Rights at Work, said in a statement. "It will level the playing field by letting workers, not their bosses, choose the process with which they form a union. The bill will toughen penalties on employers who violate the law and help workers secure a contract in a timely manner. The legislation has support from the White House, a majority in both houses of Congress, and the American public."

The question is whether Democrats in the Senate, who are in support of the bill, can overcome a Republican filibuster. Currently, the Democrats are two votes short of defeating such a move. President Obama voted for EFCA as a Senator and has vowed to sign the bill. He told AFL-CIO leaders in a videotaped address earlier this month that he expected the bill to pass.

Business lobbyists have vigorously opposed the bill, arguing that higher union density would slow economic recovery and the right to a card check would rob workers of their right to a secret ballot election.

Unions' Counter-Argument

ARW countered that the legislation merely grants the majority of workers in a workplace the right to opt for a card check instead of an election, and it also argued that countries with more collective-bargaining rights tend to have higher rates of productivity.

Union leaders have said that the biggest impediments to unionization are the lengthy NLRB elections and scare tactics by bosses against workers. They believe that with EFCA's passage, the labor movement could reverse the trend of shrinking unionization that started during the Reagan Administration.

'There's actually a moment in time here where while there will be a downturn, there's a new energy and an anger about the system that's not working," Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ President Mike Fishman said. "If EFCA passes and it is possible for workers to organize easier, there'll be a movement to organize many workers."

David Kusnet, a scholar of presidential politics and organized labor based at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington D.C., also noted that the economic downturn, which the World Bank recently projected would worsen this year, would make the time ripe for unions to organize workers who are struggling to make ends meet, just as it was during the Great Depression.

"Most people in this country understand that they're working harder, earning less and paying more," he said. "There was a growth in unions