Comments on: AFL-CIO Prez Trumka on the Employee Free Choice Act aka “May I Fill the Card Out for You?”

By: Jim Meyer

Jim Meyer — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:45:28 +0000

The EFCA does not strip away the right to a secret ballot…the EFCA strips the right away from employers to force a secret ballot. If workers choose to have a secret ballot, they can still exercise that right. What conservative right wing America fails to mention is that the "election" process under the right wing NLRB takes on average over one month of waiting time before the ballot takes place, in which the union has no right of access to the workplace, an environment where an employer has complete control over his/her workforce during their shifts and can force them to attend meetings and anti-union rhetoric. The problem is not the secret ballot, the problem is the process of the secret ballot, the fact that employers can force one to take place…knowing they will have a month to intimidate the workforce and make examples out of workplace leaders. Conservatives only talk about the possible loss of the ballot (completely out of context) because it will frighten Americans, and Americans frighten very easily, and many of us will give away our rights out of fear.

By: John C. Davidson

John C. Davidson — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:55:10 +0000

Then deal with the problem you state. Why promote an open election. I don't get it, myself. Voters should not be intimidated in any election, period. Abuse of power exists on both side of this situation.

By: Ralph

Ralph — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:39:48 +0000

So let me get this straight. In an EFCA environment I'm forbidden from casting a secret ballot by law on a decision that's going to dramatically affect me, unless I have the balls to run a union gauntlet and try to organize a third of the people in my company into petitioning for a secret ballot? Yeah, that's gonna happen. And speaking of intimidation, I'll take mandatory company meetings any day over union thugs showing up at my door "inviting" me to sign a card.

By: ROSS

ROSS — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:56:39 +0000

MOM

By: I've been there

I've been there — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:42:06 +0000

Anyone who believes an NLRB ballot is "secret" hasn't worked somewhere during a union election. In ours, managers called employees into frequent one-on-one meetings and kept constant tallies of how everyone was likely to vote. For most people it's profoundly scary when your boss – who can lay you off at any moment – is leaning on you this way. Most employees offered the chance prefer to cast their vote by signing a card, without the weeks of company-sponsored armtwisting that precede an NLRB election. But for those who would rather have a traditional ballot election, the Employee Free Choice Act offers a simple option — just a third of workers sign a petition asking for one.

By: dennis dyszel

dennis dyszel — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:52:08 +0000

With or without passage, employers will face an uphill battle with union organizing. The current administration is in need of union support especially in 2010 congressional elections. To this end Ms. Solis was named head of the department of labor. If the current proposed appointee is confirmed the labor board will lean toward aiding unions attract more members. Under the current NLRA the board and Solis can shorten the election process to 21 days, provide equal access to unions through board decisions, and increase fines for ULP's. All of which will handicap employers in their effort to maintain a union free workplace. So passage of EFCA or not employers will face a battle ground in 2010, especially in right to work states

By: News You Need to Know 03Feb10 | Mega Glomerate Main-Stream Media

News You Need to Know 03Feb10 | Mega Glomerate Main-Stream Media — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:34:19 +0000

[...] AFL-CIO Prez Trumka on the Employee Free Choice Act aka “May I Fill the Card Out for You?” Hey, don’t trouble yourself. Let me just sign that union card for you. Richard Trumka, current president of the AFL-CIO, cares about you, the American Worker. He cares so much that he is going to stop those dirty employers from forcing you to have a secret ballot. Until I heard him speak, I never realized a [...] [...]

By: Bobbi

Bobbi — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:47:22 +0000

What the author and Union bosses neglect to note is that the secret ballot also protects workers from employer reprisal for their pro-union vote as well as from intimidation by union supporters. Is it possible that big Union bosses are in cahoots with big employers and big government and actually advocate policy that ultimately hurts workers? Hmmmm, worker demands put stresses on business that only those businesses big enough to be deemed "too big to fail" by government can withstand. Eventually you end up with the situation as it exists in Venezuela – government (and the businesses they've partnered with) determine not only a minimum wage, but who works, where they work and a maximum wage as well.

By: SGM

SGM — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:46:15 +0000

Trumka is nothing but a big fat hog who tries to use his size to intimidate people. To hell with EFCA, Trumka, AFL-CIO, SIEU and all the rest.

By: Jack Samwell

Jack Samwell — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:13:01 +0000

This bill blantantly violates a worker's right to choose what is best in his own behalf so badly that even arch liberal George Mcgovern thinks it is a bad idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afjp4Cx-3W0 Of course, Mcgovern has what few other progressives ever will have and thats actually the real world experience of operating a business -- a hotel/restaurant in his case.