The Real Secret: Employees Choose How to Organize

What's the real secret that big-business special interest groups don't want you to know? The Employee Free Choice Act does not eliminate the secret ballot.

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The Employee Free Choice Act does not eliminate the "secret ballot"

Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act who claim it eliminates the secret ballot have a big problem. They're lying. The legislation will not take away the secret ballot, but rather will allow workers, not their bosses, to choose which union organizing method to use.

These are the two methods for organizing that recognized by the National Labor Relations Board, Congress and the Supreme Court:

1. Majority Sign-Up: Under majority sign-up, workers sign valid written forms indicating their preference for a union. The Employee Free Choice Act would change existing law so that an employer must recognize its employees’ union when a majority of its workers has authorized union representation using majority sign-up.  Read more about why majority sign-up is needed.

2. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Elections: Under the Employee Free Choice Act, workers are still free to organize using "secret ballot" elections. However, majority sign-up is also needed as an option, because of employer abuses. A shocking 94 percent of employers resist workers' efforts to form unions, 49 percent illegally threaten to shut down the worksite, 51 percent use bribes or favoritism to coerce workers into opposing a union, and 30 percent illegally fire pro-union workers.

Both majority sign-up and secret ballot elections have been in existence since 1935, but under current law, employers can disregard the results of majority sign-up and force employees to use secret ballot elections. In fact, a company's management can refuse to recognize a union even when 100 percent of its employees have signed authorization cards indicating that they want a union.

Here's what the Employee Free Choice Act does do

It gives workers a choice between secret ballots and majority sign-up. Once a majority of workers make it clear that they want a union, they should get a union: employers should not be allowed to hijack the process.

The Employee Free Choice Act also strengthens penalties against employers who break the law.  Too many unscrupulous employers get away with breaking labor laws because the current penalties are too weak.  The Employee Free Choice Act would increase penalties against employers who illegally fire or retaliate against pro-union workers during an organizing campaign or an effort to obtain a first contract.  Read more about strengthened penalties.

And the bill allows employers or employees to request mediation if they’re unable to negotiate a first contract.  Under current law, anti-union employers often drag workers through lengthy negotiations by delaying bargaining sessions, withholding relevant information, and putting forth bogus proposals. Even though these tactics are illegal, there are no effective deterrents to prevent “surface bargaining.” The Employee Free Choice Act will strengthen workers’ ability to achieve a first contract within a reasonable period of time.  Read more about mediation & arbitration.

Here's what the Employee Free Choice Act does not do

The Employee Free Choice Act makes no change to the current union election process. It simply amends the law about majority sign-up to put the choice of how to form a union in workers’ hands, not their bosses’.

The Employee Free Choice Act does not create a "new approach" to forming unions. Majority sign-up has existed since at least 1935, and major corporations like AT&T recognize majority-signup as a completely legitimate way to determine the will of its workforce.

The Employee Free Choice Act does not make workers more susceptible to coercion. In fact, it reduces coercion substantially. Workers in "secret ballot" elections are twice as likely (46 percent vs. 23 percent) as those in majority sign-up campaigns to report that management coerced them to oppose a union. But only 4.6 percent of workers who signed a card with a union organizer – fewer than one in 20 – reported that the presence of a union organizer made them feel pressured to sign the card.

For more information, email info@americanrightsatwork.org