FREE CHOICE ACT-Card Check-Introduced in U. S. House of Rep.
March 12, 2009
Mar. 11-Socalled Free Choice Act (EFCA) or "card check" bill was re-introduced on Tuesday in the House of Representatives (H. R. 1409) and in the Senate (S560).
Reported by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce-See below
After months of anticipation and speculation, the misnamed “Employee Free Choice Act� (EFCA) or “card check� bill was re-introduced on Tuesday in the House of Representatives (H.R. 1409) and in the Senate (S. 560).
Both bills were dropped while a Virginia Chamber led delegation was in Washington to stress upon Virginia’s Congressional delegation that this is the wrong bill at the very worst time.
The House measure has 222 cosponsors, including Virginia Congressmen Boucher, Scott, Moran, and Connolly. The Senate measure, introduced by Senator Kennedy, has 39 cosponsors, with Senators Webb and Warner being absent from the list.
If passed, the EFCA would dramatically change the union organizing landscape by:
-Effectively eliminating the secret ballot in union elections, making it far easier for unions to organize in Virginia;
-Imposing binding arbitration in the event a first collective bargaining agreement cannot be reached in 120 days, making it far easier for unions to organize in Virginia, and
-Expanding penalties for employer (but not union) violations of the National Labor Relations Act.
Here’s what you need to do, now:
- Contact, via email, phone or fax, Senators Warner and Webb, and ask that they vote against cloture – every time. Just voting against the bill once debate has ended in the Senate is not enough;
- Contact all members in Virginia’s Congressional delegation, via email, phone or fax, and ask them to vote “NO� on the bill and to accept no compromise.
This measure is so fundamentally flawed that it can’t be fixed by compromise. Explain that if the “playing field� needs to be leveled – a claim often made by unions – the business community is ready and willing to amend the National Labor Relations Act to achieve that goal – but this bill is not the vehicle to do that. Be firm, but polite.
This measure is a bad bill and a jobs killer. It must go away.
If you need more information, please contact Keith Cheatham k.cheatham@vachamber or visit the U.S. Chamber’s website. They have a wealth of information on this issue and have done a masterful job of organizing the troops.
