I have previously written on this blog that (for me) one of the most important reasons to vote for Barack Obama was his support of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a piece of legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize, and prevent corporations (like Wal-Mart) from calling sudden secret ballot elections they (effectively) know in advance the outcome of.
As the inevitable legislative fight over the EFCA heats up next year we will hear all sorts of myths and distortions about what the EFCA proposes to do. The most common myth I’ve encountered is that the EFCA will “eliminate” the right of workers to form unions by secret ballot.
In fact, as Dean Baker points out, the opposite is true. It will give workers the right to choose to form unions by secret ballot for the first time:
Workers do not currently have the right to a secret ballot in elections deciding whether or not they will have a union. The employer has the option to recognize a union based on card check (a majority of workers sign a card indicating their desire to join a union) or to demand an election certified by the National Labor Relations Board. The Employee Free Choice Act that will be considered by Congress in the next session gives this choice to workers.
Under the legislation, workers could organize by card check, but they can also petition to have an election overseen by the NLRB. Therefore it is incorrect for the Post to assert that the bill’s “intent [is] to eliminate secret ballots in union elections.”
In short, the EFCA takes away an option from employers (which form of union certification they wish to recognize) and gives new options to workers interested in forming unions (which form of organizing they wish to pursue).