June 18, 2007
Urge your senators to oppose S. 1041, the Employee Free Choice Act
Current situation
Today, the Senate is expected to begin debate on S. 1041, the Employee Free Choice
Act, which, if enacted, will dramatically increase organized labor's ability to
form unions and their leverage during contract negotiations.
The AFL-CIO and other labor unions have made the Employee Free Choice Act their
top priority and have spent millions to promote it.
Solidly defeating the Employee Free Choice Act next week will be critical in ensuring
this dangerous piece of legislation does not appear in the next Congress.
How your business will be affected
Currently, under the National Labor Relations Act, an employer has the right to
call for a federally monitored, secret-ballot election for employees to determine
whether they want to form a union. If enacted, S. 1041 would replace the secret
ballot election with a "card-check" system, forcing workers to declare their support
or opposition
in public to forming a union. This will expose employees to
coercion and intimidation tactics that are shielded by a secret-ballot system.
In addition, S. 1041 would mandate compulsory, binding arbitration on employers
and employees as part of the collective-bargaining process if an agreement cannot
be reached within the first 120 days of negotiations. This means government officials
would impose binding terms of a labor contract, the terms of which would be in place
for two years, regardless of whether the employer or employees approve of the terms.
What to do
Contact your senators to urge them to
oppose S. 1041, the Employee Free Choice
Act, because it not only runs counter to the basic democratic principles on which
the U.S. was founded but also will allow government bureaucrats to dictate collective
bargaining agreements.
- Telephone your senators by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 225-3121.
- Contact your senators by e-mail. Visit
www.senate.gov and click "Find Your Senators" in the upper right-hand corner.
For more information, contact Nick Tindall, NRCA's director of public affairs, at
(202) 546-7584 or
ntindall@nrca.net.